Kingdom Hearts 1. Prologue

**Authoress' Note:** After a suicidal consideration of rewriting _Kingdom Hearts: Secrets of Memories_, I have decided to create something along the lines of _Kingdom Hearts Versus II_. Deeply unhappy with _Kingdom Hearts II_ and unable to attempt _Kingdom Hearts III_ without some closure, I have decided to write a 'What if?' This is it.

**Diclaimer:** Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is a copyright of mine. I hope this to be perhaps my last serious attempt at an epic in fandom.

**Theme Song:** Gravity of Love by Enigma

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«Prologue»**

A smooth line. Jagged edges. Circles. Dashes. Long strokes. A smile. The pupil of an eye. A perky nose. Perhaps…a wider grin. Longer hair. A defined chin. A cocky stance. Confidence. Exude confidence. Weapon on the shoulder. Legs spread apart. Confidence. Exude confidence.

But he's a child. He's still a child.

The girl sighed, lowered her pencil. Her hand relaxed; the pencil fell away, hit the paper pad. She stared at the drawing, had spent the better part of the day drawing in the lines of the sketch she etched out yesterday. And tomorrow, she'll color it, with her dwindling supply of color pencils. She'll color it and shade it and tear it out of the paper pad. The day after tomorrow, it'll go up on the wall of the room, taped amongst its sibling art. And she'll start a new sketch, clean it up, color it in, and tape it on the wall-

Tossing her head, she sighed and slammed the paper pad on the table. She brushed back her long golden hair, brushed eraser remnants off the lap of her white dress, and rose to her feet. Break the rhythm, the cycle, for once.

She sighed again, then decided to visit the subject of her art, the object of her drawings, the focus of her creative eye.

Pushing open the door, she stepped into a huge white room, so blindingly white that she could not see where the floor ended and the walls began. A few steps in and she saw hazily the outline of double doors across from her. But it was not her intention to cross the glowing room; there was something else in the room she had come to see. Someone.

A child with wild dark hair, sleeping.

She smiled as she approached the huge egg-shaped mechanism in the center of the room. Beyond she could see several more of these strange machines; two were also occupied but she ignored them. She had come to see the boy. She would deal with his two companions later.

She smiled when she found herself tip-toeing towards the pod. There was nobody but her; she was the only one in the room awake. And they were sleeping, behind thick walls. They would not awaken until she had restored all their memories. The castle may go up in flames and yet they will remain sleeping, enclosed in the pods; they could sleep forever, if she chose so.

But she made some promises. One of them was giving the boy and his friends back their memories. And he promised to find her. She hoped he would hold his promise, even though he would not remember her.

She raised a slim pale hand and pressed it against the smooth surface of the machine. She looked up at the peaceful face of the boy, felt a sudden want to run her slim fingers through his dark spiky hair. She wanted to touch his face, wanted to hug him, feel him next to her. He gave off a warmth that she had never felt before, a sensation that had never existed in her vocabulary, her experiences.

He was the one person missing in the short life she has lived, and now here he was, within her reach but still so far away, so distant. Why did it have to be this way? Why was she fated to adore him from afar, never to truly touch him and embrace him and tell him how much she cared about him? How was she even able to say that? Did she really care for him? Was that…possible?

She sighed, stared down at her feet. Then she looked up and touched the glass again, reached up to his slumbering, peaceful face, and traced his features. The curve of the closed eyelids, the slight feathering of eyelashes, then the bridge of the nose and the delicately flared nostrils, and the soft strong lips, and the chin. She pulled back her finger, then reached up and traced his eyebrows, then his bangs. She paused here, noticed the change in his hair. She had been drawing him with his short chocolate-colored spikes but now his hair had gotten longer, lighter. Sunburned, in her opinion. She'll have to remember that the next time she decides to draw him.

"…no, absolutely not! That color is disgusting…"

"…about the clothes! We're here on…"

"…but he won't remember everything. How terrible…"

She froze, swallowed a gasp of surprise, and quickly turned towards the double doors far from her and the memory pods. The three rather female voices were bickering but they were nearing. They were here. Who were they? Her hands slid away from the glass and she took a trembling step towards the pods. If the owners of the voices meant harm to the boy or his friends, then they'll have to go through her first. Her priority is the boy; her duty is to protect him and make sure he successfully has his memories restored to him. She'd die before someone interferes.

"…now listen, we'll explain to that poor girl what he said. That should be enough to clear things up for her…"

The voices were at the doors. Her mouth went completely dry and she shook as the doors opened.

"…I'm sure she won't mind us intruding-oh! There you are, my dear! I hope you don't mind us interrupting you and your business," the tiny woman in green chuckled as she flew in with a woman in red and one in blue. They _flew_.

"Yes, see, we're here to talk about that boy you have in that…that thing, whatever you call it," the woman in blue hemmed and hawed. "What do you call it, um…"

She made some hand motions.

"Naminé. My name is Naminé."

"Ah, right. Naminé," the one in red said decidedly. "I think Yen Sid said that. You do know who Yen Sid is? He's a wizard. We're here to deliver some orders. His orders."

Naminé blinked. Yen Sid? A wizard? What did a wizard have to do with this?

"That boy's grown some," the one in green mused as she circled the pod. "We're going to have to change the measurements, I think. What do you think, Flora?"

"We're not here about the clothes, Fauna. Get down here. We're not here for measurements. Do understand, Naminé, that we don't mean to interrupt you and your-your processing his memories, if that's how you'll put it."

"Restoring his memories," Naminé clarified. "Yes, that's what I'm doing. But…why…?"

"We're going to have to wake him up, that's what!" the dumpy one in blue declared. "That's Yen Sid's orders-"

"Merryweather, please!" Flora cut in. "Please lower your voice. Now, Naminé, we did get orders from Yen Sid. He wants you to stop the process. He's…detected something that requires the boy's immediate attention."

"What?" Naminé gasped, quickly looked at the sleeping boy. "But-but his memories! His memories haven't come back; the restoration's been unusually slow. We're trying to speed it up. We need more time!"

"We know," Fauna said sweetly. "We understand, dear, truly we do. But we have to leave out some of his memories. There are more important things at stake, dear, and that's why we came to you. We need you to help us."

"Yes, His Majesty King Mickey has also met with Yen Sid and has expressed concern about that-that Organization," Merryweather added. "His Majesty is worried about the Organization's activities. Something about a…_simulated town_…if you know what I mean."

"Merryweather we can hear you. There is no need to whisper," Flora said calmly. "But yes, we're also here because of your fake…city, if you put it that way. We need you to destroy it immediately."

"He won't like it," Naminé declared. "DiZ won't delete it. We're not done with him yet. His memories haven't restored yet. We're waiting-"

"Yes, we know dear but if you'll hear us out, maybe you'll understand," Fauna said quickly.

"Yen Sid," Flora said, now studying the boy's two sleeping companions. "Yen Sid…has been keeping track of things, from the boy's whereabouts to the activities of the Organization. The boy is to open the Door of Light to save the realm of light and the Organization seeks Kingdom Hearts to become complete beings. That means unleashing the darkness Kingdom Hearts has been storing. Two opposing forces are right now at play here in the Universe. However, Yen Sid's detected a third force. A third enemy."

"A third enemy?" Naminé whispered. She only heard that term used few times before, and never sincerely.

"Yes, a third enemy," Fauna agreed with a nod of her head. "We don't know what this new enemy's up to but it's no good, we can tell you that. Yen Sid thinks…this third enemy is working against both the boy and the Organization. It seems to be moving against us all."

"Even the Heartless?"

"This third enemy wants to take down _everything_!" Merryweather exclaimed.

"And that's why we need you to wake up Sora," Flora said, pointing at the sleeping boy. "Now."

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** There's no point in asking if it was good or bad or should I stop writing. I already have compiled serious material for this new story, amongst all my other stories, and I only ask for your acceptance. After that, let's play. So be good and do review, even if you're not the type to review first chapters. I only need to know, then you may do whatever you wish with the following chapters. Arigatou gozaimas'.


	2. This Is Love

**Authoress' Note:** Luckily I was able to update this when I could because I could not find English translations to a song by Utada Hikaru. Thankfully, a request to have it translated was not ignored, though the translator had serious trouble dealing with the Hikaru song. I think you should find this song and listen to it. I really mean it.

**Disclaimer:** Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is a copyright of mine with a few differences. The song This Is Love is by Utada Hikaru, which also lends its name to this chapter.

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«1 – This Is Love»**

…_if we remember, that far, far away…the future is shining somewhere…we only have to be afraid a little bit…as we sit here under the beautiful blue sky…_

予期せぬ愛に自由奪われたいね  
Oh 一目で分かったの  
冷たい言葉と暖かいキスあげるよ  
This is love, this is love

(The love I didn't know, I want to take away the freedom.

Oh, I found out at first sight

I'll give you cold words and a warm kiss.

This is love, this is love)

…_remember, Kairi?_

夜と朝の狭間 震える手で  
デジカメ支えて とらえる人  
後ろからそっと 抱きつく人  
なにか言いたいけど  
次の瞬間 もう朝なの

(From the night to morning, my hands shake

A person comes up with a digital camera and takes a picture

A person comes from behind and hugs me

I want to say something but)

…_if I can be with you again, before I turn to the future that is shining somewhere…I want to see our time change…underneath that large sign…_

激しい雨も ふいに芽生える愛も  
Oh 不安と安らぎの  
冷たい枕と暖かいベッドになるよ  
This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love

(It's already morning but,

The rain falls, and the love sprouts,

Oh, the uneasiness and comfort

It becomes the cold pillow and warm bed

This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love)

…_promise, Kairi?_

夢と夢のあいだ 怯えた目で  
デジカメ覗いて さまよう人  
私からそっと 抱いてみたの  
とても言えないけど  
もしかしたら これは愛かも

(Between dreams, with a scared eye

A person comes up with a digital camera wanders

I hugged that person

Even though I can't say anything,

This might be love)

…_if we remember, that far, far away…the future is shining somewhere…we can sleep forever…under the beautiful blue sky…_

激しい雨に 鳴り止まない遺伝子  
Oh 咲かせてあげたいの  
運命の花を、  
あてどないソウルの花を  
This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love

(With the pouring rain,

Oh, I want to make it sprout,

The destinies flower, the legal flower of soul

This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love)

…_don't forget, Kairi._

もう済んだことと  
決めつけて損したこと  
あなたにもありませんか?  
閉ざされてた扉開ける呪文  
Oh 今度こそあなたに  
聞こえるといいな

(Even though this passed, in the end, we'll both face damage

Hasn't there been something like that to you?

Opening the doors that were closed,

Oh, I hope you can hear it now)

…_it's the things we can't do…that we long for so much…_

悪い予感がすると  
わくわくしちゃうな  
Oh 痛めつけなくてもこの身は  
いつか減びるものだから  
甘えてなんぼ  
This is love, this is love

(If I have a bad feeling, my heart beats

Oh, even though you don't give me pain, this body

Will disappear one day, so it's okay

This is love, this is love)

…_we'll go together._

予期せぬ愛に自由奪われたいね  
Oh 一目で分かったの  
冷たい言葉と暖かいキスあげるよ  
This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love

(The love I didn't know, I want to take away the freedom.

Oh, I found out at first sight

I'll give you cold words and a warm kiss

This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love)

"_Wherever you are, I'm always with you."_

This is love, this is love

This is love, this is love

"_Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"_

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** I'm doing two updates because this is short and a song. I trust you to use your imaginations and make up your own version of the intro video. You don't have to review this chapter but arigatou gozaimas' for reading!


	3. Sleeper's Wake

**Authoress' Note:** Here's the second part of tonight's update - the second part is the beginning of the story. I had to redo this because I screwed it up big time. I hate it when that happens. Anyways, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is a copyright of mine with major differences.

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«2 – Sleeper's Wake»**

The only thing worse than having a dream at night is having a dream during the day. The dreams have become more and more frequent, and sometimes during the day he'd have flashbacks, relapses of what occurred in his head the night before. Very rarely, though, an entirely new imagery would flash into his mind.

…_he knew she'd be here. His heart told him so, his heart, mind, and soul. This was the last place, the very last place where she would be, and he knew he had to find her _now_. Letting his companions deal with the remaining Heartless, he dashed up the steps, two at a time, sometimes three, all in hopes that she would be there at the very top, where the keyhole to the world was. And she was. He reached the top, panting for air, his calves burning, but his heart soared at the flash of red. But then his heart dropped a thousand feet, when he saw how she was laid out flat on her back, unmoving, lifeless, cold. Fear rushed through his limbs and drove him to run to her side. He fell to his knees next to her, lifted her upper body up in his arms, shook her slightly as he begged her to wake up._

_Someone spoke behind him, a murmur of words that rippled through the dream air, but he automatically understood its meaning. He whirled around, desperate but knowing the voice well, and said-_

_Roxas stared as Naminé stepped forward in front of a teenage boy with long silver hair. He was frozen in the act of walking towards Roxas._

_She was smiling at him sadly. Her hands clasped behind her back, she tilted her head to the side as she regarded him. Words spilled forth from his mouth, unchecked by his mind, and he heard himself say, "You look like her."_

_He was referring to the lifeless girl in his arms._

"_Do you remember?" Naminé whispered. "Remember what she looked like?"_

_No image came to his head. He only saw Naminé, her smile and her stance. "No…but you remind me of her."_

"_Do you know why?"_

_Again he shook his head. "No…I don't."_

_Naminé now looked deeply sad. Now it was a frown that graced her lips. "When you remember you will understand. You know who she is, Roxas. You know her; you know her as well as the boy behind me. Look at her, Roxas. Look."_

_He wondered at her words but then he turned his head and looked down at the girl in his arms. His eyes widened as a force roared through the length of his body. He quickly turned back, his face flush. "Naminé, who is she?"_

_She shook her head, then stepped to the side. Roxas realized the boy behind her had changed as well, had suddenly become taller and more muscular. His hair was longer, sweeping past his shoulders, and he was wearing a long black coat, one just like the one that mysterious man who stole his munny several days past wore. Something else rocked through his body, a forcible recognition of someone he could not recall._

"_Who…"_

_Naminé shook her head again. "Once you understand why you don't remember, you are free to ask. Until then…"_

_He looked at the girl in his arms, at how her long reddish hair fanned out and brushed the floor he was kneeling on. He didn't really think as his hand slid out from under her back to brush aside the bangs on her face. He looked at the older teenager still frozen in place, his stormy gaze and his greenish blue eyes. He seemed so intense, so serious; Roxas shuddered as a jolt ran through his body. For some reason his mind was telling him the boy used to be cooler, more self-assured, self-possessed, not brooding, dark, and hard._

"_I know you," he whispered. "I know both of you."_

_Roxas looked at the lifeless teenage girl in his arms, held her tightly, closer to his body. He heard footsteps behind him, the distinct slap-slap of sandals, then he noticed a pale hand resting on his shoulder._

"_And yourself. Don't forget, Roxas. You know your self."_

_And the girl in his arms opened her eyes._

"Hey! Roxas, wake up!"

His shoulder shook violently and Roxas leaped up, his conscious torn out of the dream world, and he landed back down in reality violently, slamming his head against the wall he was leaning against. Swearing, he clutched his head and looked behind him to glare at what had been his headrest.

"What was that for?" he demanded, whipping his head around at the assailant.

"You just fell asleep all of a sudden, that's what. Roxas, what do you do at night? You're always suddenly falling asleep. What's going on?"

The blond teenager shook his head, blinked several times to get rid of the crusty buildup in his eyes. He rubbed them, then blinked a few more ties, and focused his eyes on the three people standing over him while the hazy dream fog dissolved away.

Hayner, the other blond teenager, then straightened his back and crossed his arms, a look of impatience and questioning evident in his face. Pence, the rotund black-haired teenager, was busy eating what appeared to be his fifth helping of sea salt ice cream bar, and Olette, the brunette, was trembling with the need to fawn over him and see if a fever had taken hold of his body or some other bodily illness that made people sleep randomly and often.

"I-I'm fine. I'm just tired. That's all. Really, I'm fine," Roxas muttered, trying to keep them away while he recollected himself. He ran a hand through his messy hair, then rubbed at his face to work the sluggish blood. He looked at his friends and forced a smile on his face. "Really. I mean it."

"If you say so…" Hayner muttered. He then turned around to the other two teenagers in their secret hideaway. "As I was saying…"

Roxas found it incredibly easy blocking out whatever Hayner was saying. He felt pretty badly about it but it wasn't his fault – at least he hoped it wasn't – and there was nothing he could do about daydreaming about his sudden dream while Hayner talked endlessly about the 'street police' – Seifer and his band of merry men and one woman.

He didn't even know why he was daydreaming. As soon as Hayner started talking about more of Seifer's empty accusations, his mind drifted away on a little fluffy white cloud, up, up, and away to the gothic world of his dream.

_Naminé, you're there again, in my dreams. But was that really a dream? You're asking me to remember those two people…and myself. Then it must be more than a dream. But is it my past? I don't remember either one of them. I don't remember that room, that world. So what can it be? Naminé, tell me the truth. Please…what's happening to me?_

He remembered when he begged of her the same question as he fell off the station tower the other day. His head felt lightheaded when he stood up, lost his balance, and fell. It was so sudden he started calling out to Naminé…and _somebody else answered._

Someone who thought he was…he was…

"…Roxas, you're doing it again. Roxas? Roxas. Roxas!"

Someone shook his shoulder frantically and he pulled out of his reverie to find Olette's face only inches from his. He stared, his eyes wide with surprise while she studied his face with burning intensity. Behind her were Hayner and Pence, and they were just as worried. And annoyed.

"I…I think I'm gonna have to go home," he said quietly, looking up at the hues of twilight in the sky. It was only the afternoon and it wasn't long since the clock tower rang twice.

"But we haven't done anything yet," Hayner protested as Olette stepped back and gave Roxas room to jump off the huge box he was sitting on. After landing on the floor squarely on both feet, he looked at Hayner apologetically.

"I know, Hayner. I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can do anything today. I'm kind of…tired, I suppose."

"Mind sharing with us your night escapades, then?" Pence asked, taking a bite out of his ice cream bar. "I mean, what else makes you tired? You hardly do anything interesting during the day unless we're involved in it, too."

Roxas scowled at Pence. "I don't do anything at night other than sleep, thank you. I just…I think these dreams…I've been having…they're getting to me. That's why. And I do have a life. You just don't see it happening."

"Hey, I'm sorry. Meant no offense," Pence quickly said.

"Hope you're feeling better, Roxas," he heard Olette say quietly as he wove his way out of the hideaway into the streets of the town he lived in.

"That's not my problem," he muttered as he headed towards the train station. "That's not-"

A white blur. Roxas yelled, jumped back and crashed to the ground as a white and gray creature – a monster – bounced off the shop he was walking next to and landed in the middle of the street. It spun in the air like a gymnast, then landed on its feet and looked at him. Or rather, it turned its head to him; this monster had no eyes, only a mouth lined with what looked like reflective fine teeth and a rather flat head.

Roxas gasped. He scrambled to his feet and backed up against the store wall. "You again!"

The monster cocked its head to the side, in almost comical fashion. He nearly burst out laughing but bit his tongue. And then he found a reason not to laugh.

There were others on the street, too, and they had all frozen. One woman was in midstep and a man was pushing a door open. Roxas quickly looked around and realized he and the monster were the only mobile ones on this street. This had happened before. Not again! But why?

"What did you do?" he demanded of the monster. Again it cocked its head, this time to the other side. Now its mouth was shut and the tiny little teeth gleamed in the light. Wait…not teeth but…then something flew across its mouth and it was gaping at him again, its jaw wide. "Hey, can you talk? You got a big mouth. What did you do? Hey-hey, come back here! Get back here!"

The monster bounded away. Roxas frowned, then was shocked when the monster stopped several yards up and cocked its head at him.

_This thing wants me to follow it!_

He ran to the monster, only to watch it leap away. Its body seemed naturally elastic; it stretched and spun as it led him towards the town's perimeters, where Roxas knew there was a forest and a locked-up castle up ahead. He'd been there before, when he first encountered the monsters. That's where the huge key first materialized in his hand.

Through the forest he ran at the tail of the monster. No matter how hard he tried, he could never overcome this spinning acrobat. That was until the monster dove ahead, then ricocheted off the wall that surrounded and sealed the towering castle. It landed on the mossy ground in front of Roxas, somersaulted, then suddenly remained on its feet, its shoulders rolling back and forth and its mouth agape. Roxas came to a standstill and stared at it.

"Okay…now what?"

He looked around but nothing changed. The monster kept swinging its head back and forth but it remained in one position, wiggling around.

"Hey, what do you want me to do now? Hello? Answer, damn it!" he yelled, frustrated that he got led to nowhere. "Fine, I'm going home, since you obviously got nothing left to show me-"

"Don't go back. Do not go back."

Roxas looked around frantically, felt his body clench up in shock and fear at the unknown voice. He swallowed, then yelled, "Why? Why can't I? Who's going to stop me from going back?"

"You can't go back, Roxas," the voice said. "You have nowhere to go but forward."

"Of course I can go back," the teenager snapped. "Who's gonna stop me-"

"You have nowhere to go, Roxas. You're alone but not if you go inside the mansion. If you turn around and go back, you will find things are not as they seem. You'll find…that you've been living a dream."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you go back, nobody will know you. You don't exist anymore, Roxas. If you enter the mansion, you will know why."

This was complete blasphemy and bullshit. Roxas had no idea what this voice was talking about and he did not want to enter the mansion. He turned around to go.

"I'm leaving."

"I don't think so."

Roxas blinked, then bumped into something. He stumbled back, surprised and a bit furious. "What-you!"

It was that man in the coat and hood, the one whom he was sure stole his munny. "You again! What do you want?"

The hood turned to him and in the hazy twilight he saw contempt in the smile. "Follow me."

The man walked by Roxas and to the gates of the wall surrounding the mansion. The strange creature was gone; Roxas looked around frantically. "Where's that monster?"

"What monster?" the man questioned coolly as he pushed the gates open. "Come here."

"No," Roxas retorted, digging his heels into the dirt. "Not unless you tell me why I should follow you."

"You want to know why you've been dreaming the way you do, boy?" the man spat. Surprised, the teenager stepped back. How did this man know about his dreams? But even worse, why was the man talking to Roxas that way? Did this man have something against Roxas? Did he hold some deep dark hatred of him? But what did he do? Roxas knew nothing of this man, except that this man beat him up and stole his munny. And Roxas knew he should stay clear of this man simply because he was a thief. But his dreams?

"Yes…" he whispered. "But…why treat me like this?"

"Why shouldn't I?" the mysterious man snapped back. "Now follow."

Roxas hurriedly jogged to the gates and past them as the man quickly strode towards the doors of the mansion.

"Someone's occupying this place, huh?" he asked the man between breaths and not expecting him to answer. "They say they saw people moving around in this mansion. I guess they're right after all-"

"_They_ know nothing about this mansion," the man interrupted harshly. Roxas recoiled at the anger. "Now shut up. I don't know why I have to deal with _you_…"

"What did I do?" Roxas demanded, anger slowly creeping into him. "What did I do wrong, huh? Why treat me that way? What did I ever do to you?"

"What did you ever do?" The man stopped abruptly and Roxas nearly collided with his back. He stopped just in time, just in time to hear the man say, "Be you."

And then the man was off, left Roxas gaping and staring at his back.

_Be you._

Roxas ran to him, grabbed his shoulder and stopped the man again.

"What the hell does that mean?" Roxas snapped. "Tell me, what does that mean! What the hell does that mean!"

"If you shut up and follow, you'll know soon enough," the man retorted, shook his shoulder away from Roxas's hand, then continued walking down the hall. Roxas was left staring and wondering, then decided that the only way he could get answers from this man was by doing what the man wanted him to do: follow.

At the end of several halls – they had made several turns that left Roxas dizzy and without any sense of direction – the man stopped at a door. His head turned to Roxas, who stopped several feet shy of both. He had grown more and more distrustful of the man and prepped his body to run in the opposite direction if anything went wrong.

"Normally," the man said calmly, turning the hood towards the door, "this would have never taken place. You would have found it on your own. But given the circumstances…"

The man reached up and pulled off his hood. Roxas stared as the man turned to look at him. It was a horrifying face, handsome but full of loathing and hatred. The amber eyes seemed to burn with inner fire. It seemed to burn through him. And the silver hair…wait a minute…

"_Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?"_

"_SHUT UP!"_

"…I must guide you here. Beyond this door…you will see."

"Do I know you?" Roxas asked quickly. It sounded like the man was going to leave him here. The man tilted his head to the side, appeared to be regarding his question.

"Do you remember?"

Then man then walked past Roxas and down the hall in the opposite direction from the door. Roxas turned his head, watched the man pull his hood back on. Then the man…disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Roxas wondered. Again, the man's gone off and disappeared. It must be habit for this mysterious person.

Roxas sighed. Then he turned to the door.

_What would I find? Would I find…answers? Or just more questions? Or is this all a ruse? But for what reason? What would they get out of it? I'm just a normal person, after all…I just have weird dreams. Isn't that all?_

He took a step forward, took hold of the doorknob, and twisted it open. He pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. Then he gasped.

"Naminé!"

She looked up at him and smiled. She was sitting at the far end of the long white table in the blinding white room, and on the walls was posted paper, lots of paper. Roxas found his eyes distracted, drawn to the imagery. Dark cityscapes and someone, a person, a person who appeared so often in his dreams. Then he saw a piece of paper, that boy…_Sora_…and him, Roxas. But…why was he drawn with that black coat, the one that man was wearing?

For some reason, that looked very familiar-

"Roxas, sit down," she said, her voice a soft melody in the ringing silence. He quickly looked at her, suddenly realized that he wasn't alone in the room. Then he remembered he had seen her and even named her, and felt deeply embarrassed for forgetting she was there the next minute. He looked at table, at the chair positioned nearest to the door, and quickly walked to it. He pulled it out and slowly seated himself. Then he looked at Naminé, who appeared to be etching into a paper pad with a pencil.

For a few minutes there was silence. Roxas felt the need to fidget but in the silence he felt incredibly uncomfortable. Then his eyes got distracted again, went straight back to the drawings up on the wall behind the blonde girl. He studied them again, noticed the various doodles of _Sora_. And, once in a while, of himself. Roxas found this incredibly curious. Why both of them? Why _Sora_ in the first place?

"Do you remember anything beyond Twilight Town, Roxas?" Naminé suddenly asked. He heard something drop onto the table and quickly turned to the sound. It was the pencil, lying flat on the table. Next to it was the paper pad. And Naminé was sitting still, her blue gaze upon him. Roxas shifted in his seat, found it unsettling.

"I-I don't know. Am I supposed to remember something?" he asked. "Is this…does this have anything to do with the dreams I'm having? You know anything about them?"

Naminé suddenly averted her eyes and Roxas realized he hit a soft spot. A vulnerability. "Naminé?"

"Sigh…if you want to know, promise me you won't say anything about it," Naminé whispered, her whole face turned away. "I don't think you'll like it."

"Why?"

"Because…because the reason why you remember nothing beyond Twilight Town was because of me. I took your memories, Roxas, and hid them. There's a whole lot more hidden about you than you know. Would you like for me to open your memories for you?"

He was struck stupid. What was Naminé saying? What was she talking about? Why-what memories? What memories was she talking about? He recalled nothing…other than the strange dreams, the monsters, the way the people and places sometimes froze, and the people, those strange people who kept trying to entice him away with words and force…but what did that mean? What did Naminé have anything to do with it?

He looked at her, at her open, honest face. Should he trust her? Should he believe whatever she was going to tell him? Or was she going to do something worse than steal that hard-earned munny that strange man had stolen from him? He had a feeling there was something else she was hiding other than his memories, something powerful hidden deep within her fragile frame.

"Roxas…I shouldn't have…offered you such a choice," Naminé suddenly said, her voice breaking the silence and his train of thought. She no longer looked so innocent; there was a dark light on her face, a guilty secret pulled out and shown before the world. "I meant for you to come here…so I can give you your true past. I…and some others…have been hiding your past from you, because of an outside threat. But it seems…things have changed. There is another danger, and we need you to help us. You need to help us ward off this danger."

"Why should I help you?" Roxas asked quickly, pouncing on her words. "I don't even know why I'm here. Give me a good reason why I should help you and maybe I will. Or maybe…I'll just go home."

"You have no home to go to, Roxas," Naminé spoke. There was something about the way she uttered her words, the sad solemnity, that struck him. She looked at him, her blue eyes utterly tragic. "That's the first thing you have to understand. You have no home to go to. We destroyed it. The Twilight Town you know…doesn't exist anymore. If you go back…you'll have no home to return to. You'll have no friends to greet you, no…secret police to accuse you. You know why?"

"…_why_…?" Roxas whispered, his voice shaking. There was something utterly horrid in her words, in the way she spoke. It was like she was telling him one of his friends died.

"Because they don't know who you are. You were never there. In the real Twilight Town…you never existed, Roxas."

xxx

"Have you made sure he entered the room?"

"Why should I care? I don't want to deal with that punk anyways."

"You should have made sure. He is required and she needs to tell him the truth."

"I don't care, DiZ. He's nothing to me."

"He's everything to you. Sora's memories are coming back slower than they should. If he doesn't merge with Sora, it could be years before we finally wake him. That is not what we want to do."

"I thought you said-"

"I'm only saying. Words don't always equal action. Sora will wake without all his memories. Who knows how that will affect him and to what extent that would affect his ability to reach his potential."

"Why do we need _him_ anyways? Isn't Sora enough? Why don't we just get rid of him?"

"Just because he floored you doesn't mean-"

"I just…I just don't like it when this guy walks around, when this guy _breathes_. He…he just shouldn't exist. He shouldn't."

"But he does. What are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do? You said we need him, therefore I can't touch him. Why do we need him, though?"

"If I indulge in my plans with you, I think you will protest so strongly I'll have to make changes that will agree with no one but the threat. I'm sorry but you'll have to guess for now."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. In the meantime, you should leave."

"Why? Why suddenly banish me?"

"I'm not banishing you. Let me put it this way, actually – I want you away from here because you'd be accomplishing nothing in this manner. Leave…and search for what you desire, what you need. That'll be more helpful to us in the long run and that would be a considerable blow to the darkness. You've a power deep inside you but in your current state you are disabled. Get rid of the disability."

"You seem to have high hopes on my 'potential'. Why?"

"Must I say?"

"Give me some answers for once, DiZ! Why?"

"You were supposed to be the Keyblade Master. You aren't now but your potential and your power are still there. Destroy your disability and you'll be free to do what you will. Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes…but-"

"No more hesitations, Riku. Leave Roxas to Naminé and me. The only way you'll help Sora is if you help yourself."

"Sigh…if you must. But DiZ?"

"Yes?"

"Don't…don't let King Mickey know about my-my condition. Could you do that?"

"His Majesty knows nothing. His Majesty will know nothing…until _you_ are ready. Do you understand that?"

"Yes…"

"We'll meet again, Riku. But not for a while. Good luck."

DiZ waited until he knew he was alone in the control room. Then the man swathed in red returned to the controls before him. Without further ado, he finished compiling all the data on the Twilight Town he had built up from the real city and moved them to the recycle bin.

It was done. Roxas's home, friends, and livelihood were destroyed. Now there was no place for Roxas to go but forward.

Wherever Naminé, King Mickey, and DiZ ordered him.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** I swear I will try and update _Best Deceptions_ next week. I swear! Anyways, please review. Compliments, questions, inquiries, whatever. Any and all are welcome. Arigatou gozaimas'!


	4. Longing For Dreams

**Authoress' Note:** Joy. My laptop crashed three times and was reformatted three times. Luckily I had saved everything on my two external hard drives so no damages done. Onward.

**Disclaimer:** Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is a copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada Hikaru and **Gravity of Love** – _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«3 – Longing For Dreams»**

"Kairi!"

She pretended to ignore the whining call, kept her eyes fixed on the far horizon.

"Kairi!"

She knelt down onto the warm sand, touched the tiny crystal grains, and curled her fingers into the deepness. A wind came whipping towards shore from far across the sea, wrapping itself around her in its brine and rot. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and tasted faint flowers and fruit. The offshore islands were in fruit. Around this time, she and the other children would have gone there and plucked them from the tall trees, and eaten them.

"Kairi…Kairi…what…are you…doing?"

She opened her eyes, craned her neck centimeters, and looked up at Selphie's panting face. Her green eyes were aglow with excitement.

"Hmm?"

The younger girl straightened up and her flushed face shifted into a happy carefree grin. "Blitzball game. It's at the islands! Let's go see it!"

She shook her head slowly, solemnly, then brushed back her deep red hair. She looked at Selphie and smiled slightly. Her voice was soft, nearly lost in sound of the ocean.

"Not today, Selphie."

Kairi rose to her feet, tapped her black shoe against the sand, but knew this was only from habit; you couldn't hope to shed yourself of sand when it was all around you. Behind her Selphie made a loud moan of protest.

"Aw, but Kairi, you never go anywhere," she complained. "All you do is go to school, to this spot on the beach, then back home. That's so _boring_. C'mon, Kairi. Just once. Please? Let's go see the blitzball game."

She sighed, brushed at her plaid skirt. Kairi looked at Selphie, at the hope in her eyes.

_False hope_, she thought sadly. She wished she could make Selphie just a bit happier. Selphie was already a very happy person but she had chained herself to her idol, Kairi. And Kairi didn't want to go to the offshore islands. Selphie knew. Kairi had given her reason a long time ago. But still, she persisted.

"I…I don't know, Selphie," she murmured, more to herself than her friend. "I…made a promise. Can I break it now? I said I wouldn't go…not until I remember his name, not until he comes back. But…"

"Kairi, please, you need to…you need to take a break," Selphie said glumly. She bent over and picked up Kairi's school bag before the next rippling wave reached it. "I know he's bothering you but you can't worry yourself like this. It'll-it'll _kill_ you!"

Kairi jumped at Selphie's intense, convicted voice. She whipped her head about wildly, then looked at Selphie. "Selph, sh!"

"But I mean it," Selphie replied with all honesty. "Please, please, please, just once? Even if you can't remember his name, maybe he remembers yours. Maybe he's out there, wondering if you're happy. Are _you_ happy?"

Kairi hesitated. That was a good question, she realized. Was she happy? Kairi felt content, maybe, but maybe that feeling was just a mask, a web cast over the gap she felt. Something was missing and she wanted it back desperately. Someone. Riku and that boy. The one that…that other person named…wait. Who was that other person?

"Maybe I'm just…okay with what's going on," she answered slowly, carefully, trying to sort through the murkiness she was feeling deep inside. "I mean…I'm here, aren't I? I'm home, with you and all our other friends. This is a normal life, going to school, hanging out on the beach, going home to a family. Isn't that…happy?"

"Hm…I don't know. I always dream about a life beyond this town," Selphie said thoughtfully. She sounded so oblivious, so cheerful, so _naïve_. Kairi blanched at the thought. Why did she think that way? "Sometimes I think I'd be happier if I left town but why should I? I'm already happy. Why do I need to be happier?"

_What if you were never happy? Then what?_

Kairi sighed. "Dreams…I'm always dreaming…and sometimes I'll find happiness. And I'm not alone, Selphie. I'm with those two boys. We're over there-" she pointed to the offshore islands, ignoring the stream of rowboats headed in the direction of her finger "-and we're running down the beach. We're laughing, smiling, saying nonsensical things. We're plotting, too. We were trying to find a way off the islands. We wanted to…we wanted to go see new worlds. Leave town. But the dream's gone. One night…it all changed."

"What happened?" Selphie asked curiously. Kairi looked at her and smiled softly.

"Many things. All I know is…I'm here…they're…"

She pointed up at the sky.

"…there…"

Awkward silence. A sea gull shrieked in the wind.

"Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna go?"

Kairi sighed. Not all promises are forever upheld and fulfilled, she finally decided. Not all promises but the most important. Yes, the most important; he promised to come back home and she promised to be there for him, no matter what. That was the promise, the one she'll always hold in her heart until fulfilled. Everything else…

She looked at Selphie and smiled. "Let's go."

Selphie squealed for joy and clamped onto Kairi's arm, pulling her sideways and nearly losing balance. Kairi yelped, began to laugh as the spunky brunette dragged her along, tugged her towards the dock.

For some reason, she never felt so open and free.

Kairi looked up at the bright sunny sky as Selphie guided her to the dock. In some way, somehow, she felt like she was dreaming. The day was perfect, a wonderful sunny dream. She felt like she was floating. Her mind was soaring-

"Kairi?"

Someone was calling her. But it was too late. She was already running, her shoes trying to gain traction as the sand flew out from underneath. Laughter drowned out her name. Someone else was with her, somebody else running with her, laughing. Two voices. Two different people. They were together. Riku and-

"Kairi!"

Something hot and strong wrapped around her forearm and pulled her back. She gasped and the dream dissolved, rose up into the sky in wisps of smoke. She looked up at the sky, watched the dream of Riku and that other boy disappear as the vice grip on her forearm pulled her back. She stumbled through the wet sand, the heels of her shoes digging in. In the distance, voices rose.

"…knew it was bound to happen…"

"…that's not true…"

"…gone mad…"

"Wakka!"

Kairi whipped her head around and nearly collided with a familiar face. She stared. A face hovered before her, with eyes bright like the sky. There was a smile on the face, a wide easygoing grin. Her heart skipped a beat, then came back racing when she realized who it really was. The face melted away.

"T-Tidus?"

He looked her over, his electric blue eyes frantic. She stared at him blankly and wondered how he got there.

"Kairi, are you alright?" he asked as he pulled her to where Selphie and someone else – Wakka – were. "Kairi?"

Silently she followed him, her eyes glued to the sand. She purposely let her limbs drag, made him work to pull her to where Selphie and Wakka were standing. She refused to meet any of their faces, any of their eyes, hid her own face in her bangs in shame. She had given Selphie hope of returning to normal and seconds later had started walking-no, running towards the sea like the possessed. Why else was she breathing so hard?

Maybe she was possessed. She'll never know if she really was crazy. Maybe she was dreaming about everything. Maybe nothing was real. Maybe it was all in her mind.

"…Kairi?"

Someone was calling her voice again. It ricocheted off the wall of dreams she didn't know existed. It seemed old, dreams piled upon dreams, memories of children's giddy laughter and high summer days mingled with gray school days and lonely walks by the sea. She wished she could sort them, find the ones she treasured the most, and relive them at will.

Who was she kidding? Was that life?

"Kairi, please…wake up. Please wake up. Kairi-"

"Man, she's gone. She's lost her mind now-"

"Oh shut up Wakka."

"Oh yeah? Like you're any help, Tidus. If you really care about her, why don't you-"

"Wakka, you're not helping!"

"Neither are you!"

"Stop it, you two! Stop it!"

Kairi took a deep ragged breath, then let her eyes follow to the enraged voices. Tidus and Wakka stood facing each other, their noses only inches from touching. Their faces were contorted in rage, fury, and frustration, and Selphie stood between them, her green eyes wild with fear and shock.

"Stop it," Kairi whispered while Tidus and Wakka went off on another shouting spree. Selphie held her hands up, palms forward; her arms were trembling, shaking violently as she tried to mediate between the two. Kairi slowly tilted her head to the side as her eyes took in what was playing out before her. Anger crackled between them, live with feral fury. Because of her.

And then it hit her. How long, she suddenly realized, how long have each of them been keeping in the frustration, the tired anger as day after day each of them watched her mope and wait and watch for people who had vanished one day without a trace? How angry were they, really? How full of fury? Had she…had Kairi caused all this?

_I am the Princess of Heart. My heart is pure and full of light. There is no darkness in me. If that's so, then how did I create this? How did I…how did I open darkness in them?_

"Stop it," she heard herself say. "Stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!"

Tidus and Wakka stiffened. As one they turned themselves to face her. Selphie was a frozen expression of helplessness. She was the poster child of the confused and the hopeless.

Kairi felt calm wash over her as she gazed full at Tidus's stern unsmiling face and the twitching in Wakka's temple and corner of mouth. It was the most eerie of coolness; suddenly she felt detached and heads taller than all three of them. Why?

But of course, it was because she _knew_.

"Let's go. To the islands," she spoke softly and smoothly. "You said you were having a blitzball game, right?"

Now both boys looked shocked. Selphie looked uncertain, hesitant. "Um…Kairi-"

"Let's go," she interjected, cutting the brunette off. To assure her friend, she smiled, no matter how painful it was. "I'm fine. I was just…I was just thinking too hard. It's nothing."

It was hard for her to miss the look of daggers Tidus passed to Wakka as the two teenagers stalked past her towards the wooden dock. Kairi watched them go, then looked at Selphie, who was nervously tugging at the plaid tie of her uniform. Sadness washed over her. She was sorry Selphie had to see that side of her.

"I'm sorry, Selphie," she said with a sigh. "I…I guess I was thinking too hard."

"His name started with an 'S', Kairi. Remember?" Selphie muttered, and not too gently. She moved stiffly past her, left her standing there, abandoned just as abruptly as she was spotted walking towards the sea. Kairi whirled around, saw Selphie's back as she moved stoutly towards her row boat. The younger girl with her bouncing brown curls was clutching both school bags and she didn't notice that she was carrying one too many as she tossed them into the rowboat and climbed into it. Kairi felt herself deflate and the inhuman calm flee her as Selphie untied her row boat and started after the two teenagers towards the offshore islands.

"I'm sorry, Selphie. I'm so sorry…" Kairi whispered as she bowed her head and her field of vision became shrouded by a curtain of vibrant red. Her left eye became blurry and she quickly wiped away any moisture before it gathered into an unneeded tear. "It's just that…"

She raised her head and began walking quickly to the dock, to the one row boat that remained tied, rolling on the waves.

…_I love him, whoever he is._

xxx

"Merlin," King Mickey asked, his voice jumping in time with the wheels of the train, "what do you plan to do now?"

"The pieces are all nearly set and we're near ready to put everything into motion," the wizard replied. "I just need to give Riku a push in the right direction, that's all."

"DiZ said he sent Riku to the town, where you're going. It's going as planned, but how much farther will you go?" the small king questioned, while his eyes turned to the window and watched stars fly by.

"Enough. It's high time Riku exits his hell hole and do something he thinks is good for a change. I won't control him directly but the incentive should be enough."

"True," King Mickey agreed. "But…is it what he wants? He will do whatever will help Sora but will it help him?"

"Let him dream of redemption through his friend. When it is over, his nightmare will be over."

"Nightmare," King Mickey snorted. "Whose? If only Ansem didn't…"

"Your Majesty," Merlin interjected as he removed his spectacles and rather daintily began wiping them on the blue hem of his robes. King Mickey watched the meticulous cleaning and waited patiently for Merlin to continue. "You should know that it wasn't your fault. You came too late to stop it but you can still change things now. Stop beating on yourself for the mistakes of the past and decide what you're going to do from now on."

"Twilight Town," King Mickey said immediately after. "I'll meet Sora there and tell him what needs to be done. Take care of Riku."

"You have nothing to worry about, Your Majesty," Merlin said humbly. "I won't be the one at the brunt of his temper, after all. Someone's already offered to do such a thing for our cause. Useful fellow, I might say. Yen Sid thinks highly of our volunteer."

The wizard's moustache lifted up in a corner as he could not help but smile at the grimace on the king's face. The wizard looked out the window and saw a world draw near. Somewhere throughout the train, a voice full of static made an announcement.

"We are now approaching Traverse Town. Please have your belongings ready. Five minutes to arrival."

King Mickey was already on his feet and pulling down suitcases from the overhead shelves. Several cases piled at Merlin's feet, and even more filled the empty seat next to Merlin.

"Merlin, you ought to realize that normal people don't carry this much luggage."

"If you were there when Her Majesty entered my rooms, you would be saying no such thing," Merlin remarked lightly as King Mickey slid back into his seat across from the wizard. Despite his small size, King Mickey had to make himself smaller, in order not to push the huge suitcase near him out into the aisle in the center of the train.

"You make me glad I wasn't there," was the mouse king's reply as Traverse Town loomed into view.

"Ah, but she wishes you were there," Merlin countered. "I think…after all this is over…she'll tie you to her arm and drag you wherever she goes."

The king chuckled. "I can imagine that. It's something she would do. Sigh…yes, I think I will visit home. For a few days, perhaps, but just long enough to see her and assure her…"

The king was solemn now, and he seemed to shrink into his black coat, his face withdrawing in the hood. Merlin watched him, then reached out and placed a frail hand on his shoulder. The pale skin contrasted strongly with the color of the coat. King Mickey looked up at the wizard's concerned face.

"A few days will be worth more than all the love in the Universe, Your Majesty. You should."

King Mickey nodded, let out a long low sigh, and seemed to inflate into his coat. He then turned his head and leaned as far as he could towards the window without knocking over smaller boxes piled precariously next to him.

"There aren't going to be many now that Radiant Garden is being rebuilt."

"As expected. Life is slowly returning to normal, after all. Slowly is the key word here. What I fear is the progression of things gradually coming to a stop as the struggle continues."

"Don't fear. I've talked to Yen Sid. Although we've agreed that Sora should know nothing, we're going to make sure he's on the right path. Now if I'm right, your stop's here."

"Ah…so it seems," Merlin agreed lightly rising to his feet and knocking over some of his cases. The wizard barely flinched, although he did earn stares from several other passengers in the train car.

"Good luck, Merlin," King Mickey said, rising to his feet as well but Merlin held up a hand.

"Please, Your Majesty. I will take care of my belongings. And, I wish you luck as well. You and I, and the rest of us, will surely need it."

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** All I have to say is please review and write down anything on your mind, and arigatou gozaimas'!


	5. Star Over the Bay

**Musing of the Authoress**: I am off to Canada next week so I am updating early to make up for it. Don't expect another update until near the end of Labor Day/New School Year week – for Americans. Onward!

**Disclaimer:** Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is a copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada Hikaru and **Gravity of Love** – _Enigma_.

Also, the title of the chapter I owe to a lovely good short-lived turf racehorse. It was unfortunate he broke down on the racetrack so here's to him because he'll soon be forgotten by Time and History.

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«4 – Star Over the Bay»**

His eyes watched her silently. He knew, by the way her head remained bowed, that she couldn't afford to look him in the eye. And despite all she had told him, he felt glad. He always knew there seemed to be some sort of cage trapping him but now that she explained it to him completely, he felt no need to feel guilty about his anger.

"I…I'm sorry, Roxas," she whispered. A hand reached out and felt about the table for something. He watched as her fingers enclosed around an object and he saw a pencil in her grasp. "I'm terribly sorry…"

"Sorry? What a pathetic word. That's all you can give me?"

"Roxas, you have to understand that we had no choice but to hide everything from you. If you knew, you would have made a mistake. You know how powerful ignorance is, don't you?"

"Ignorance brings folly and stupidity. I don't like being stupid, and especially not if I was used while being stupid," Roxas snapped. He shifted in his seat as he became aware of something boiling over somewhere inside him. An incredible heat was pressing down on him and he closed his eyes briefly to immerse himself in it in order to dispense it. It was a technique he learned long ago, but he wasn't sure how long. Was a few months a long time? Was a year eternity?

"Ignorance is what kept you away from Sora, up until right now," Naminé said. She sounded tired, and something sharp and painful struck through him. He twitched slightly, then let his mind distance itself from the sudden biting pain. "We would have kept you away longer, but given the present circumstances we had to call you here now. The Organization knows of the secret Twilight Town. Had you stayed a moment longer, they would have taken you away. Our real concern is how they knew."

"Axel."

It made the most sense, Roxas decided, replaying in his mind the various encounters he had with the man he once considered his closest friend. Strangely, though, these revelations maintained the chilly wall he set up between them. He knew that any future encounters with Axel will only end badly, despite the older man's wishes.

"No, I think not," Naminé countered. Roxas looked at her, startled at her disagreement. "I think…they must have found out on their own. Did you thoroughly study Axel with the memories I gave to you? You know he will never let the Organization find you. They most likely want you dead. They can't risk you getting so close to Sora again."

"And if I did?" Roxas barked challengingly. "What if I decided to go back to Sora and complete him? Then what will Axel do? What will the Organization do? What will _you_ do?"

"You said 'what if'. That's all it'll ever be, Roxas. A series of suggestions, all beginning with those two words." Naminé sighed and ran the pointed end of the pencil across the paper. She wasn't really trying to draw, he knew. She was trying to relax. Her blue eyes looked up, caught him staring at her, and he had to look away. He couldn't understand why she always won these 'contests'.

"Then what do I do?"

"I told you already," Naminé said quietly. He heard the pencil lay down on the table. "By the time the Organization comes, you will be long gone, but you must keep your defenses up. They must never get wind of your movements, do you understand? Later you will have the chance to complete Sora but he is not ready, and neither are you. Are you really ready to say goodbye to the world you live in?"

"You said all that I am is data. I never had to say goodbye, because someone else said the goodbye for me," Roxas hissed, leaning back in his chair, forcing his back to conform to the solid form of the chair.

"Don't think on him badly. He only tried to do what was good for the whole. Although…although I do wish he hadn't chosen to reopen himself to darkness in order to do so-"

"Is it dangerous?"

"What is?" Naminé asked, looking at him sharply. He could feel her eyes. Roxas shifted in his seat yet again and grimaced as his back conformed badly with the chair.

"The real world. The real Universe. Is it dangerous…compared to the life I've been living?"

He looked at her when all that came was a strange small sound. Naminé looked strangely aghast and horridly pale. Roxas quickly rose to his feet, pushing the chair back behind him, and quickly made his way to the slender young woman. He knelt down next to her, touched her forearm, and earned a wary glance in his direction.

"Naminé?"

She swallowed, then took a deep breath. "We used data from real people. They behave as they would in the real Universe. However…"

She failed to speak and yet Roxas didn't feel the irritation and the need to snap something furious at her. It came to him that maybe it was simply difficult for her to speak of it. But what could that be? And why would she find it so hard to tell him? What told her to hide from him?

"I need to know, Naminé," he said softly, trying to convey trust. But the look she gave him was the look of eagles.

"The real Universe is nothing like the walk in a park that was the simulated Twilight Town," she declared abruptly, rising quickly to her feet. Roxas rose also, stumbled back to avoid getting hit by her chair as she shoved it back and swiftly picked up paper pad and pencil. She turned, began walking towards the door. "Before you go, I want to show you someone."

Roxas was no fool. As she opened the door and began walking into what seemed to be a blinding white light, he knew she meant that he was to see someone. Someone who no doubt would be named Sora.

"I want you to see him, just once, before you go on your way," she said, her voice dropping quickly. Perhaps she didn't like her voice to echo; this room seemed to have the capacity for vocal vibrations that could shatter glass. "I think it would be best. This is to give you internal strength, because when you step beyond those doors-" she gestured to a set of double doors on the far side of the room "-you will enter a world where data won't reverse itself to save you. Every move, every thought, every word will resound in your destiny, and will play a part in your present and future. Unlike the Twilight Town you called home, we won't be there to make sure people forget. You will have to make sure people don't have the reason to forget. Understand?"

Roxas set his face into a stern, rock-faced frown. "Show him to me, Naminé."

She nodded rather demurely – he felt the wall he set up between himself and the world crack – and began walking to her left. He had to blink a few times to get a clear view of her. In this eerie white light she seemed to glow. Everything about her features amplified the light, in particular those blue eyes that seemed to shallow and endless at the same instance. You could read her but she was still hiding things from you.

Roxas shook his head and wondered at his ability to understand that much that far. Then he quickly walked towards her, his feet making soft padding sounds across the white floor. He wondered if someone came in daily to wash it; it seemed so white even his relatively clean shoes must appear to be making mud tracks across the flawless surface. But one look behind him told him otherwise. He couldn't even see the other door, the one he first walked through.

"Here."

He gasped, jumped back, then caught himself and cursed silently, his mouth moving to form the words. Roxas was not one to be caught unaware like that. No way.

"Roxas, he is here. Come."

He did. He followed the voice, followed it like a bloodhound on the scent of the feeing fox, and he saw three monstrous forms form as he came closer and closer. His eyes fixed on the strange shapes; they were oval, like eggs, yet there was curvature, sculpture, surrounding them, holding them up on pedestals. He cocked his head to the side, unsure of the best way to get a view of this strange…things.

"They are memory pods. While you sleep, your memories gather and reconstruct themselves." Roxas froze, a chill racing up and down his spine, as Naminé suddenly materialized next to him. She wasn't looking at him, though; rather, she was gazing fondly at the nearest pod, and the human figure adrift in the space the curved walls enclosed.

When Roxas saw who was floating inside, he felt himself turn cold and thought he was going to die.

"Sora."

xxx

"Beyond these doors, you will find the way," Naminé said quietly as Roxas peered at the said doors. They were simple white doors, creating the image of an arch in the middle of blinding white light. Even the handles were white. He stared at them; were they painted or was this the material's properties?

"…you must be careful, Roxas," Naminé said softly. He felt a sudden pressure on his shoulder and turned to see a hand resting over the checkered design. He followed that to her, and saw worry glimmering in her eyes. "Light has a way of shining through even the strongest of lies. She will find out if you do not watch yourself. Touch her for more than five minutes, and she will be able to see through the guise."

He stiffened when Naminé leaned in, and a shiver tumbled through him as he felt her hair brush against his face. Hot air puffed against his ear as she murmured, "I trust nothing will happen that will compromise your position, Roxas. You may be a Nobody, but you were created out of a human concept called 'love'. Be careful."

Her last words she whispered, her voice dropping so low the vibrations sounded like the beat of feathered wings. Roxas turned his head slightly towards her, surprised and in awe as he felt her lean against his shoulder. The pressure grew with every second, until he finally stumbled back into the wall next to the doors. Now startled, Roxas looked at Naminé, saw her hanging to him as though for dear life, her hands clutched around his arm. She pressed her forehead against the wall, the side of her face resting on his shoulder, and it bewildered him. Confused him.

"Be careful…" she murmured, her half-lidded eyes studying him. Roxas felt so small under the gaze. "So much depends on what you do…although you never asked for it. Nobody did. But here we are…caught up in things beyond our control…"

He felt a hand detach from his arm, then flinched as she touched his face gently with one long finger. He felt pressure on the side of his face, something that slid down to his jaw, then she pulled her hand away.

"Don't fail us," she murmured. He felt a soft heat where her hand touched him, then something even softer and hotter brushed over his skin. It moved with her words. "Promise me, Roxas, that you won't fail us…"

Then something touched his cheek, a gentle warm pressure, then cold air swirled in as it disappeared. Roxas quickly looked at Naminé and a jolt rushed through his body. She was gone. Her words lingered, as did her presence. He exhaled slowly, then realized that he was feeling lightheaded. How long had he been holding his breath?

_I don't understand. What was that? What was Naminé doing?_

Roxas blinked, then shook his head and looked the other way, looked left to the double doors. He almost couldn't see them, if the handles didn't cast a light grayish shadow, a powder of something negative in this positive space.

He pushed himself off the wall and stepped in front of the doors. He tilted his head to the side, wondered what would happen if he opened them. What would he find beyond them? What will happen to him when he reaches his destination from here on? How will he get there?

Roxas took a deep breath, then another one, and another, and another, as he found himself strangely immobilized. He could see himself reach for the doors with both hands, and pull them open, only to be enveloped by a bright light that blinded him where the room didn't. He replayed the scene over and over again but he couldn't make it happen. Why?

Roxas looked over his shoulder, saw the child floating still inside the glass. It was so strange, seeing a carbon copy of himself – no, he wasn't a carbon copy. He was something…solid, someone who was _there_, who beat with material life. Roxas looked down at himself, at his hands, then rolled his eyes up to study his flaxen hair. Roxas was a shadow, a light shadow. He was the carbon copy of that child, a clone drained of the colors of life. A pale shadow.

"Sora…" he murmured, as his hands sought the doors. Then he pulled them open.

Darkness rushed up and swallowed him.

xxx

"…that was completely unnecessary and you _know_ it! Why did you do that, Naminé? Why?"

"I don't know what you mean," she retorted stiffly, her mind bent on sketching the face that was Sora's. "I did nothing unnecessary and that you know."

"Perhaps to you but to me it is different. No, it's not unnecessary. You are right. It is _dangerous_, full of risks, and you dove headfirst into it! After everything we've discussed, you've gone ahead and done whatever you felt like doing!" DiZ barked, banging his fist on the table. Naminé flinched but her pencil never failed to add in short strokes. It may be Sora's face, but the hair proved differently.

"I didn't do it on a whimsy. Yes, I felt it, I felt the need to do it. But it wasn't for the heck of it. I admit it. I don't know what I started when I did what I did. But…it was the right thing to do. I know it."

"No, you don't," DiZ countered, shaking his head. "You don't know. How can you know, Naminé? You know who you are. _What_ you are. You are incapable of understanding. How do you know if it was a memory that fueled your actions? I doubt they are of your own choice."

"I know," Naminé said, adding steel to her voice. She looked up at the man briefly, then returned her focus to Roxas's lost face. He seemed so naïve in the image, so innocent, if it weren't for his eyes, so hooded and heavy, full of confusion and anger and sorrow. "But if that's so, explain Roxas's reaction."

"If you so choose, you can shed yourself of the faux humanity you carry. You don't have to care, Naminé. You could sit here, all by yourself, drawing your whimsy. All you need is food, drink, sleep, and the world could destroy itself. You won't need to care…because you don't know how to care. But you, and Roxas, and the rest of the damned Organization, you studied the humans and copied them. You taught yourself to react to certain triggers in certain ways, as if it were a class and if you didn't learn you'd fail. That's why Roxas behaved the way he did. He knew that this…lying…hiding from him…would trigger anger in normal people, and that's why he raised his voice and spoke such 'hurtful' words."

"Then what is your real worry, if we don't truly feel anything?" Naminé demanded, looking up again. This time her eyes did not look down on the drawing but fixed on DiZ's visible eye. "I did what I did because something told me to do it. That's all."

"He is a Nobody born of love. Like you, he is unstable. I don't know what will happen if your show of affection lodges itself in him and I don't want to know. You should have never done that, Naminé. It could affect his mission."

"You think-"

"Yes. After the incident in Twilight Town, when she disrupted the flow of data, I lost faith in him. He is…shall I say, _tainted_. The incident could have slept inside him and never return but after what you did…if it awakens in him, the memory, the mission may be over the moment it begins."

Naminé still didn't understand DiZ's worries. "But we restored all his memories to him."

"I know," the man said coldly, turning around and walking to the door. She watched him as he placed a hand on the handle. "That's what frightens me."

"It won't happen," Naminé said, scrambling to find some common ground between the two. She didn't expect her actions to create such an abrupt divide between them, when they were allies of sorts towards a common cause. "I know it won't. He's still…angry. And what I did…I did it, DiZ. He won't stray."

"If he's still 'angry', then you've done nothing to help the situation. Study humans a little more, Naminé. Perhaps then you'll understand."

She felt a scowl form on her face as the man opened the door and closed it behind him. She had a feeling he wasn't explaining something to her, and that was not at all to her liking. Naminé knew what she was, but did that mean she should be pushed away from what is deemed to be too 'human' for her?

"I was created from a human, DiZ. Understand that…" she whispered as she returned to Roxas.

_He looked just like Sora…_

xxx

_I know what you're about to do, Roxas._

In the sinking darkness, the voice boomed everywhere. Roxas had long since given up struggling for a source of light in this shroud of night, although he had no idea if this was part of the road to his destination.

"What of it?" he immediately responded. He was surprised his voice carried. The way the darkness pressed around him, he didn't think the words would roll off the tip of his tongue and out of his mouth.

_How about we talk, before you begin your mission? Do you know what lies ahead for you?_

"What do you know about my mission?" he spat.

_Enough. The Organization will pursue you, Roxas. You know what the Organization desires, which is why you have been sent on this mission. They will destroy you, if you do as you're told._

"Nobody tells me what to do," Roxas retorted, resenting the accusatory words.

_Then why are you doing this? You think you have no other alternative, but I'll give you the chance. Embrace the Organization and they will leave you alone. All you need to do is bring her to their headquarters, and they will bother you no longer. You will be considered one of the Organization again and they will let you be. Maybe, along the way, they will protect you and make your mission easier, but that only comes with the promise._

"It's over between me and the Organization," Roxas said, his voice chilly and calm. "I've found my purpose. My heart beats within the one I will rejoin. Why should I embrace them again?"

_Then they will end your mission before you get there. Her world is open to access. The ones who sent you are foolish to think our focus is on the Keyblade Wielder, and she is of second concern. Come back to the Organization, and we will let you be. Rejoin the Organization and bring her to the headquarters, and we will bother with you no longer._

"Some contract, Superior," Roxas snapped.

_They will be there. She will be gone and everyone will be killed. And when you come, they will kill you without mercy. How can you possibly hope to win against all of them? Say you'll become number thirteen again, and all I demand of you is that you'll bring her to us._

"And if I promise and don't bring her?"

_Let's not dwell on that possibility. I have faith that you will hold to your end of the contract. Of course there are other matters that will appeal to you, if you return to the Organization. I think you would know what that means. Will you return or not? Answer, for your destination nears._

And Roxas realized that his vision was slowly being enveloped by an endless canvas of undulating shades of blue.

xxx

"Wakka, make up a new move! You're boring us!" Selphie yelled. She made her point with a huge, loud yawn.

"You're the one who's bored, man!" the redhead teenager retorted. "Watch this!"

He threw his blitzball up into the air, at least six feet higher than someone his height, and watched the ball reach the apex of its climb. As it began to fall as gravity commands it, he leaped up as well. Wakka pulled his knees to him in fetal position, somersaulted, then walloped the ball with his foot while spinning. While Selphie gasped in awe and clapped excitedly, the ball shot straight down, a blue and white blur that smacked itself on Tidus's blond head and knocked him facedown into the sand.

"Hey, man, where's your head?" Wakka demanded breathlessly as he straightened his limbs, having landed safely back on the turf. "You're not focusing, yo. That's not gonna help in next week's match. We Island Tigers need to win the next game in order to move up in the tournament, ya?"

Tidus muttered as he staggered to his feet. He dusted sand off his navy pants, then looked down at the blitzball, which had bounced off his head and landed nearby. He pulled it out of its crater and tossed it into the air. Balling his hand into a fist, he pummeled it at Wakka.

"Hey, man, don't kill me!" Wakka yelled, diving to the ground. The ball rolled off towards the little shack that led to the bridge from the main island to the small neighboring one. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," the younger teenager replied. He was quite clearly distracted; a frown was on his tanned face and he kept rubbing his head, pushing sand grains in his hair. "I'm just-"

"Mooning over her, eh?" Wakka interjected, gesturing towards the lone figure standing near the waves. "Let her go, Tidus. She's not interested in you, the least I can tell, ya."

"I don't know, Wakka," Tidus sighed, kicking at the sand. "She's so…so _obsessed_ over the person she can't remember. Why does she hang onto him, when she can't even remember how he looks like? He's not coming back, so why's she so…so loyal to him?"

"Man, maybe something happened between her and that dude," Wakka suggested as he went to fetch the blitzball. He had to raise his voice to make himself heard as he marched all the way over to the shack. "I don't know, maybe some confessions or something. That could keep any girl stuck on one man, even if she hasn't seen him for a long time."

"That's romantic," Selphie chimed as Wakka returned, bouncing the blitzball on alternate shoulders.

Tidus made a face. "Everything is romantic to you, Selphie. But that's not what reality is like. Maybe she doesn't get that. The guy's not gonna return. If he was, he would have sent her a letter or something."

"Kinda makes me wonder about Riku, ya?" Wakka suddenly said wistfully. "Best man. He was the only one who could kick my ass-"

"So can I."

"-and not make a big show of it when I kick his. I wonder where he is. Parents so worried sick about him."

"I know," Selphie nodded. "I hope Riku's okay."

The brunette looked at Kairi, who was staring across the sea. "But mostly, I hope she's okay. Whenever we came here, she'd always do that. She'd stand right there and she'd stare across the sea. Sometimes she'll sigh and look really sad, and never say why. I wish she'd stop doing that for once."

"I'm kinda amazed she finally decided to come with us," Tidus admitted. "I wonder what changed her mind."

Selphie looked at Kairi, then at Tidus and Wakka. "You guys go and play. I'm gonna talk to Kairi, see if she wants to join for a little game of volleyball."

"Ugh, volleyball?" Tidus demanded while Wakka groaned. Selphie stuck her tongue out at them and blew a raspberry, then began walking over to Kairi.

"Kairi?" she said tentatively when she was within two feet of the older girl. There was something about the look on her face, that sad wistful look, that drove all the spunky energy out of her. Kairi was probably the only person who could turn Selphie solemn and gloomy.

The red-haired girl looked at her and the corners of her mouth lifted up in a slight smile. "Hi."

"Kairi, do you wanna join us for some volleyball?" Selphie asked quietly, wondering what Kairi's response would be. She could hear sand shuffling as the two boys flew over the surface, and the sounds of the ball hit this way and that way resounded in her ear.

When Kairi didn't answer, Selphie decided to let her in on an idea of hers. "You know, I think Tidus has a crush on you."

The smile never changed but her blue eyes darkened, turning bluish and grayish and violet at the same time. Selphie wondered if that upset her and decided to change course again. "Well, I mean, do you want to see the Tigers game next week-"

"Selphie," Kairi murmured, turning her eyes to shore and pulling back her bangs. "Selphie, I made a promise and I'm gonna keep it. I'm gonna wait for him to come back to me, no matter what. And I can't let anyone get in the way…even if it's Tidus. I've known him for a long time, too. But he's not the one. He's not."

"You love the boy, don't you?" Selphie sighed as she brushed at her skirt. "I wish there was someone I could love, too. I don't know what its like but it seems so romantic, listening to you talk about being faithful to the one you made a promise with."

"Romantic?" Kairi echoed, her smile growing slightly more cheerful. Perhaps she was amused. "Well, maybe romantic. Except…except I think it goes deeper, Selphie. I think it goes much deeper."

"Like soul mates?"

Kairi considered it for a moment. A strand of hair fell over her left eye and she blew it back into place. "Yeah…I guess you can say that. Soul mates…like we're connected forever and ever-"

Selphie knew something must've distracted her because Kairi normally didn't stop talking just like that. "Kairi?"

She noticed Kairi was breathing hard. "Kairi? Kairi, are you alright? Kairi, what's wrong? Kairi!"

And then Selphie realized that she wasn't the only one who had fallen silent. Selphie quickly looked at Tidus and Wakka, and saw that while Wakka had the blitzball in hand, both of them were staring up at the sky. And the sea gulls that usually circled from above had all fled.

"It's…" she heard Kairi whisper. Her voice was shaking and high-pitched and a whisper. "It's…a shooting star…"

"So beautiful," Wakka was heard saying, which was atypical of him.

"Wow."

Tidus had finally uttered a one-word sentence. Selphie didn't have to snipe at him, though. She had looked up and seen why everyone had fallen silent, even the gulls.

There, across the azure sky, tearing through wisps of white clouds, was the most wondrous shooting star she had ever seen. Blue fire trailed in its wake as it scorched through the firmament.

"It's so near, man. It could kill us," Wakka blurted. "It could make a huge tidal wave and that could come here, man, and wipe us out-"

"You're so negative," Selphie retorted, though her voice was weak in amazement.

"This is even better than the ones during the night," Tidus murmured.

"There were shooting stars before?" Kairi suddenly asked. Her voice was sharp, alert. "When?"

"Why?" Tidus looked at Kairi, baffled.

"I-"

"H-hey, you guys?" Selphie said, now raising her arm and pointing at where the shooting star was. "It's…it's not – oh my god!"

The blazing blue bullet vanished, then hot white light streaked across the sky in all directions. And from the center, the source, something dark fell. And Selphie, and the others, cried out in astonishment.

The shooting star had exploded in the sky but it was already very close to the islands, and falling into the sea before them was a person.

And then Kairi rushed past her, ran into the roiling waves. Tidus yelled for her to stop but Kairi forced herself in, through the turquoise shallows to the more violent deep sea, and began swimming towards the person.

Wakka ordered Tidus after her, then ran to the dock and threw himself into a rowboat. While Selphie shouted indignantly that it was hers, he undid the rope and began rowing towards Kairi. Tidus was already there, overtaking the redhead and grabbing her arm. As Selphie watched, helpless and frozen with the suddenness of what had just occurred, Kairi struggled against Tidus's grip and pulled them both under the surface.

"Kairi! Tidus! Wakka, find them! Oh my god!" Selphie heard herself scream. Her voice was rising, escalating at a fast rate, until her voice vanished. Selphie choked and sat down on the wet sand, pounding herself on the chest.

Then Wakka gave a sound of exclamation.

Selphie sat up, astonished at Wakka's use of explicit words. Then she heard Kairi yell at Tidus to let her go.

"Let me go!"

"Kairi, are you insane? You're going to drown if you go out any further-"

"He needs our help! Let me go! We have to get to him or he'll be the one drowning-"

"How do you even know-"

"Wakka, get her in the boat. I'll go find the person-"

"No, let me go! Let. Me. Go!"

"Stop moving or you'll capsize the damn rowboat! Kairi!"

"No! Let me go!"

"Kairi!"

Selphie and splashed into the shallows, wincing slightly as her shoes filled up with seawater and her high dark socks soaked up the sea. She peered towards the sea, tried to see them. Wakka and her rowboat were the only things visible, then she saw something being heaved into the rowboat. For some strange reason, she hoped it wasn't Kairi.

"…c'mon, Kairi. We got him, now let's go!"

They found the person, and they were coming back to shore! Selphie shifted, paced back and forth, worried about the person. The others were fine but-

Wakka was rowing furiously, and Tidus wasn't far behind. He seemed to have a death grip on Kairi's arm, and she wasn't resisting this time. They bobbed in the water; the surface seemed to be boiling, and Selphie felt a sudden pang of fear in her chest. Could that explosion over the sea caused something? What if a tidal wave did happen?

"Selphie!" Tidus yelled, then sputtered as seawater rushed into his mouth. "Selphie, help me!"

Selphie ran deeper and deeper, now grimacing as her skirt, then her shirt, got splattered, then soaked. Wakka had leaped out of the rowboat and was now pushing it. Right behind him was Tidus and Kairi. The teenagers were dripping; Selphie pitied them.

Wakka stumbled as he hit the shallows and Selphie ran over to pull the rowboat in. Kairi staggered into the shallows and fell; Tidus quickly pulled her back up. She leaned against him as he pulled her to shore but once Selphie and Wakka grounded the rowboat, she pulled away and splashed through the shallows. She fell and landed hard on the sand, but quickly leaped to her feet and grabbed the rowboat. While Wakka and Tidus tried to catch their breaths and Selphie sat on her behind staring blankly at the bow of the boat, Kairi leaned in and pulled out…

Selphie gasped as the body dropped into the sand, Kairi collapsing next to it. Shouting, Tidus and Wakka ran up, helping Selphie hoist up Kairi and pull the person higher up the beach. Kairi was still awake, just enough to keep walking after Selphie and Tidus pulled her to her feet, with Wakka carrying the body to the freshwater waterfall.

"I…can't…believe…this," Tidus gasped as Wakka placed the body down next to the pool and splashed water on the face. "How…"

Selphie had no answer either. She looked at Kairi, who had fallen to her knees and was staring at the body, her eyes wide, her red hair streaming all over her face and down her shoulders.

And Kairi whispered one word, one single word, two syllables, as the person they pulled out of the deep waters began to stir.

"_Sora_."

**X X X**

**Last Musings of the Authoress:** Please review! If you'd like a spoiler pic, check out my deviantArt account. I am planning a five-chapter follow-up on my short **Lights and Sounds** which addresses my other Crack! obsession – Zexiri. It'll take at least a few months until **Best Deceptions **is updated again; thank you for your patience. Arigatou gozaimas'!


	6. Murmurs of Infinite Wisdom

**Authoress' Note:** MAJOR EDIT! Deleted the old chapter, uploaded the new version. Perhaps this will explain more clearly things that weren't clear before. And I suppose every chapter before it had a bit of editing, too, but I won't force you to read it. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is acopyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

Shall we begin?

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί****†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«5 – Murmurs of Infinite Wisdom»**

The moment the man wiping the countertop in the shop looked up at him and bit back what must've been a high-powered scream he knew something was wrong. He must be that something that was wrong. Until he entered the store, there was no screaming. Actually, until he strode through the creaking town gates, he was pretty sure the town's sparse residents didn't gasp and gape and hide their faces. And truth be told, he didn't know why he deserved this treatment. He wasn't sure whether to loathe it or welcome it; he always hovered somewhere between the two. He decided to settle for tolerating the stares and the shocked whispers.

Only problem was, he just didn't know why. What was wrong with him in the eyes of these people? Was it his appearance? His manner of dress? Or just the way he watches people? Was that harmful, looking at other people? When he focused his eyes on someone, that person would shy away. And what did he do? Nothing but stare.

_What did I do wrong? What am I doing wrong?_

Riku scowled while the man leaned heavily against the countertop, his whole body heaving with the sudden shock. The man looked meek, pathetic, with a long bulbous nose and a weak chin. Gold-framed bifocals perched on his nose and he had sideburns. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a brown vest of unfamiliar material. What caught Riku's eye, though, were the faux jewelry that crusted the man's fingers. He was sure they were fake. And the man was wearing dark brown _breeches_? Riku resisted the urge to twitch at this man's style…or rather, the lack of it.

"H-h-h-h-hi…m-may I h-help you?" the man stuttered as Riku slowly eased himself into the tidy store, carefully shutting the door behind him. The small fire in the fireplace crackled cheerful, unmindful of human worries.

"Where's…Cid?" Riku asked. "Cid Highwind, the guy who owns this store?"

"C-Cid? I-I-I-I don't know," the man returned. He clutched the rag in his hands tightly. "He-he left…months ago. I-I'm renting t-the s-s-s-store. C-Can I-"

"Save your breath," Riku snapped, his ears on edge at the high stutters. "I get what you mean. Are there any rooms left in the Hotel-of course there would be. It's been months-"

"Act-actually, y-you'll have t-to share a-a-a-a room," the man stammered as he carefully, almost daintily, adjusted his wire-rimmed spectacles. The gold reflected the dim light and distracted Riku for a second. "The-the Green Room. A-all other ro-rooms were-were-were taken."

"What? What do you mean they were taken?"

"M-many people h-h-have been c-c-c-c-coming here now-nowadays," the man returned, still nervous…or was that how he normally talked? "E-ever since…"

Riku was now studying the glass case on the countertop and the brilliant crystalline _thing_ housed in it but he noticed the sudden silence. He looked at the man, who was watching him with blatant apprehension, and asked, "Ever since _what_?"

The man looked away. His hands reached up and shakily pulled off the spectacles. As Riku watched, impatience welling up in him, the man unsteadily rubbed his lenses with the ends of his white shirt, which stuck out from underneath his vest. Then, with Riku biting his bottom lip furiously, the man carefully placed the bifocals on his ears and pushed the bridge up his nose.

"T-two worlds," the man whispered, his voice dropping spectacularly from a hard stutter to a stammering whisper. "T-two worlds…were-were _destroyed_."

"No…" Riku gasped, shocked. He did not just hear that! Impossible! "How did that happen?"

Against his better judgment, he marched up to the counter and shoved his face into the man's. "How did that happen? Tell me, now!"

"I-I-I-I-"

Riku could _see_ himself leaping over the counter and grabbing the man by the neck, but before he could make that a reality, the doors opened again.

"Riku, at long last!" Quick light footsteps neared and Riku flinched as a hand clasped his broad shoulder. "Don't mind the chap, Rupert. He's been on a long journey here. Came from one of those worlds that takes hours to reach, if you know what I mean."

The man, whose face was awash with a pallor of death just moments before, looked alive enough to nod his head. Then Riku spotted a slender pale frail hand from the corner of his eye imperiously shoo the man away.

"A-as you w-wish," Rupert stammered and slowly began to wipe the countertop again. Riku watched him, then felt the hand on his shoulder tighten its hold on him, the fingers digging into the muscle. He was pulled backwards and to the side, towards the couches.

"Sit."

Riku had no choice as the hand pushed him down on one of the seats around the coffee table. Almost immediately he noticed how reflective the polished wooden surface was; he could see himself, the foreign face and the burning eyes. He grimaced as the foreign face turned hideously fearsome.

"Now, I understand that DiZ sent you here-"

"How do you know?" Riku fired, looking up to face the person who interrupted his talk with the man Rupert.

"I know everything," the wizard said airily as he sat perched at the edge of the couch like a sparrow. Riku stared at him, while his mind kept muttering about how familiar he looked. Yes, the person was a wizard; he could sense the living magic deep inside the old man. "Well, I know almost everything. I'm not omniscient like some people like to think I am. Sorcerers and necromancers! I don't plan on raising an undead army for the simple wish of obtaining kinder sugar pots! The past anyone can study, anyone can research, anyone can read and listen and speak of, but certainly nobody knows of the future. It's ever changing! If you did something instead of nothing, then that future would be far different from the future in which you did nothing. Of course we all always try and change the future that doesn't exist for the better, either for ourselves or others. But who's the say what's better, what's right, what's wrong, and what's not?"

The man leaned forward and looked directly at Riku. The wizard occupied Riku's vision, loomed right in his face.

"You're saying something, aren't you? You're trying to tell me something but you're making it all fancy. I'm not stupid. What are you suggesting?" Riku asked softly. Through the fancy extended sentences and random exclamations he was able to pick and choose and formulate the message the wizard was saying.

"I mean exactly as I do," the wizard said calmly, leaning back to let his back conform to the soft curves of the couch. "I know DiZ sent you here but I can only guess at what he told you. Away from Twilight Town and far away from Castle Oblivion I assume you will be able to clear your head and look at what's laid out before you. When you think too much of one thing, you blind yourself to everything and everyone else, including yourself-"

"Shut up, old man," Riku interjected coolly. He leaned back as well, trying to look as confident and self-possessed as Ansem's face possibly could. "You're talking about the stuff I've seen, the stuff I've been through, but you know nothing of it. You talk like you know everything just like you said but you have no damn clue what's going through my mind and my heart."

"I'm not trying to," was the wizard's easy reply. He didn't look the least bit offended, which bothered Riku to the point of annoyed. "You're here to look after yourself, look after your image, your power, your potential, your destiny. Enough of Sora, Riku. It's time to find yourself."

The old man then turned and began fishing through his blue robes. Riku watched him, slightly apprehensive, as the man reached into some hidden pocket. He relaxed, though, when the man pulled out from his voluminous robes a long near-black stick. The wizard began tapping it against the nails of his other hand while his rather grandfatherly eyes remained on Riku.

"You carry yourself as though you know the world, because of the damages done to you. It is far more difficult, Riku, to clearly differentiate right and wrong, despite the darkness you traveled in."

"Damages? You call this-" Riku held out his arms, suggesting himself "-damages? You have no idea, old man. There was more done to me than simple changes in appearance and loss of the Keyblade."

"Appearance?" the old man snorted. Riku bristled. "Ha, like I wanted to make fun of your appearance! Your appearance is of some concern but not enough. It only suggests the darkness you walked in, and the man you are connected to. Oh no, Riku, it's much more than that! I'm not talking about how you look but what's inside you, inside your mind, your soul, your heart."

Riku growled and crossed his arms. The wizard continued to chuckle.

"Don't be offended, Riku. I didn't mean to. You've been in the darkness far too long; it's all getting in your head. Perhaps we should discuss your personal matters another place, Riku, hm?" The wizard looked over Riku's shoulder to Rupert. "Rupert, if you don't mind?"

While Riku watched in confusion and also imagined himself storming out of the store mumbling about some 'old man shit', Rupert nodded and left the countertop. He went to the doors, peeked outside, then closed them. The stuttering man looked at Merlin and nodded.

"I trust you sent him to my house, Rupert?" the wizard asked, now looking up at the trapdoor built into the ceiling. Riku remembered the Moogle Synthesis Shop quite well.

"O-of course. H-he knew y-you-you were c-coming."

"Ah, excellent! Thank you, Rupert. Remember, neither of us were ever here, in particular this certain man. You know the drill. It's for your own good."

"O-of course."

Now Riku was looking at the wizard, perplexed at the words exchanged between the two men. The wizard merely smiled, then rose to his feet. He adjusted the spectacles on his nose, then gestured to Riku to rise also.

"As I always say, it's always better to land on your feet than your bottom," the wizard remarked lightly, and Riku thought he winked. Then the wizard pushed his sleeves up and cleared his throat. "Get ready."

"Ready for what?" Riku demanded.

The wizard ignored him, and instead gave a flick of his long stick with his wrist. Riku suddenly realized, to a rush of cold horror, that it wasn't a stick. It was a wand. A very lethal wizard's wand.

"Oh no-"

xxx

"Sorry about that! Didn't mean to miss. Please accept my apologizes," Merlin the wizard remarked in a light annoying tone while he adjusted his robes and settled in the chair on the raised stone platform in the middle of the messiest house Riku had ever landed in. His behind still smarting from the violent impact with the hard bed crammed into a corner of the round house and the wind was knocked out his lungs, but he was quite fine. Oh yes, very fine and very pissed. He shook his head a few times to clear his head, then looked around at the piles of books teeter-tottering next to the bed, the small coffee table piled high with scrolls, an antique cupboard crammed with odds and ends and various china and silverware, and a small model of a pumpkin-shaped horse carriage without the horses near the door, which was nothing more than a long piece of moth-assaulted cloth tacked up just above a random hole punched into the side of the circular wall. There was a trapdoor on the ground, which Riku assumed _must_ lead down to Traverse Town's sewer system, and then there was the raised circular stone platform, which hosted a large varnished pine table and several chairs including the one Merlin sat in. The wizard was busy tapping a teapot and several teacups that weren't there the last time Riku checked, which was at least a minute ago.

"I asked but you didn't answer, if you really must know," he muttered, remembering well the way the wizard ignored his question before taking them from the Accessories Shop to this house from hell.

"What? Speak louder! I have a bad case of earwax!" Merlin asked loudly while white steam curled out of the spout of the teapot. "Do sit down. Tea's nearly ready. Scones?"

He held up a plate of buttered raisin scones as Riku walked the short staircase up the platform and to a chair that was a safe distance from this mad wizard.

"Oh no need to fear me, I won't do anything to you," Merlin chuckled as he reached for the teapot. He winced and quickly pulled back his hand. "I forgot it would be hot when it steams like that. Impudent piece of crockery!"

Riku resisted the urge to roll his eyes or say something that might insult the wizard. Who knows, Merlin might do something to him with that wand.

"Ah, now where were we, hm?" Merlin asked cheerfully while two teacups sent up twisting white towers of steam that dissolved into the air. The wizard plucked a scone from the plate and stuffed it whole into his mouth. While Riku stared at him in disbelief – under the white moustache and the beard he couldn't tell how big the mouth was – Merlin then took a sip of tea and swallowed. Then he smiled. "Have some."

Riku decided the man's attention span was so short it defied the legendary memory of fish. He looked at the wizard, then said, "You were going to tell me something about myself."

"Ah, yes, yes…" Merlin nodded, closing his eyes, and tapping his fingertips together. "You, we were on the topic of you. We were discussing…your prejudices."

"Uh, no we weren't," Riku replied as he decided to settle on a scone. "You were talking about what's happened to me besides what I look like."

"That is _exactly_ what I'm talking about, Riku," Merlin said with much emphasis. "You. Your prejudices are a part of it, and it was something I was meaning to get to. What happens around us shapes us. You live by the sea; certainly you know much about it. When you were surrounded by darkness you learned much of it. What the darkness wants, needs, thinks, behaves, acts, reacts, you know it all, don't you? Ah, but before you answer you must also consider who you could have been. This is the part where I get to the study of the past and the 'what if' of the future. If you had chosen the Keyblade over the darkness, what do you think would have happened? You would be the center of the story, the focus of all eyes and hearts and minds. But then…you cast it all away."

"That was long ago," Riku mumbled, recalling the fatal blunder that also changed his best friend's destiny. "What about it? It's done, isn't it? It's done and over with."

"The 'what if' still haunts you, Riku. You're not aware of it but it's still there. Because you couldn't be _it_, you would choose to follow _it_. Is that really what you want? Because you threw aside your destiny as _the_ Keyblade Master, you would throw away the rest of your destiny to follow the Keyblade Master's heels?"

"I'm not a dog!" Riku snapped. What the hell was this madman talking about? "You make no sense, with that shit you're telling me. All you're talking about is the past! Why!"

"The past is your fear, Riku. Face it," Merlin said calmly. "You must learn to stop fearing your fear, which is that you will sink back into the darkness and be lost to the light. You are between light and darkness, between what Sora can offer you and what you have gone through while with Maleficent and Ansem. Already you have risked losing yourself again, when you immersed yourself in the darkness embedded in you to aid Sora, but you still have your heart and your mind. See? You can do your own thing. Sora isn't your savior. You are."

So Merlin was giving him some shit-loaded pep talk. What a waste of time; Riku didn't have any problems with himself. The dominant finality in Merlin's voice was pushing Riku to the very edge of morals and reason. He was beginning to see his gloved fingers wrap around the wizard's apparently frail neck and-

Wait a minute.

"So you know His Majesty, King Mickey," Riku demanded.

"We are old friends, yes. He has confided in me what he knows of you and clearly he knows you well. All those words just to say that His Majesty fears for you because you are afraid of yourself. Well, I suppose I shall have to help you face that fear."

"And how are you going to help me with that?" Riku asked bitterly. He hated to admit it but Merlin was right; in a way he really did fear losing himself to the darkness of Ansem. But strangely enough there was something about Merlin's words that made Riku think there is something more than just Ansem and the evil he represented.

Looking at the smug all-knowing look on Merlin's face (at least that's what Riku thought) Riku did not resist openly glower at the old man. But then a chill ran up his spine, and his muscles tightened in anticipation of something – danger, a surprise, horrible news, great news, etc. But Riku quickly guessed that he and the wizard were not the only ones in this miserable house. He quickly scanned the place but either it was his imagination or he didn't have the vision that could see through anything. Not that he wanted to.

"Calm yourself, Riku," Merlin said, smiling and lacking in worry. He apparently noticed how tense Riku got, or he knew there _was_ something here but was probably harmless. "You mustn't be so uptight and suspicious about people. They're not going to harm you…not all of them at least. It's not like everybody in the Universe knows what you've done. You have nothing to fear."

"I have the right. I'm human; aren't you?" Riku demanded. "Who else is here?"

"Trust, trust, trust, that is the foundation of relationship. Fear much, lose much. Scones!"

Riku switched at the singsong voice that spoke from nowhere. Surprisingly enough, it didn't shock him so much as irritate him.

"Stop the nonsense, thank you," Merlin said calmly as he reached for another scone to obviously devour. "Singing sentences that don't rhyme gets you nowhere. Neither will scatterbrained talk. Prove your worth and stop hiding."

A crescent shape took shape, hovering over the plate of scones. Riku stared wide-eyed at the long crevice running from corner to corner and the consistent vertical lines. It was a bizarre thing and Riku couldn't figure for the life of him what the hell it was.

"Well hello. SO _this_ is the infamous Riku, eh? Merlin, I'd like nice cooled tea, thank you-"

"Cheshire Cat!" Merlin barked while Riku felt the blood drain from his face. It was a mouth, talking mouth with teeth and tongue and throat but the throat went nowhere.

And who was Cheshire Cat?

From behind the mouth came a series of purple dark stripes followed by a pink background, and the purple stripes attached themselves to a dumpy very ugly-looking wild-eyed pink cat who had its-his paws on all the scones on the plate. He looked manic, with the insane grin and the two scones he gripped in each paw.

"The Cheshire Cat's my name, if you so please," he said. His eyes were on Riku. "Not possible hiding from you, it seems."

Riku didn't know what to say.

"He _is_ special, like I've said. Excellent timing, I must say. How's the search? Have you found a willing third person?"

"A _what_ person?" Riku asked. He was feeling left out, with Merlin so wholly focused on the Cheshire Cat.

"Here and there, I went everywhere. Too many are afeared, too few have spoken to a voice in the wind, but one, I say one, considers it. When you lose everything, you will do anything."

"Oh…oh dear. And he's that willing?"

"If I understood him, yes."

Riku wondered exactly what it was he was missing. He looked at the wizard and the cat, trying to make a guess at the meaning behind their words but he failed. "What are you talking about? What third person?"

The looks they gave him made him madder. It was like they just noticed he was there for the first time.

"Three is a good solid number, yes, yes. You'll need two people with you when you leave the relative safety of Traverse Town. We've been-"

"What? Excuse me? Since when was I leaving Traverse Town-I mean, of course, I'm going to leave. But right now? At your command? You're making plans behind my back?"

"There's nothing behind your back," the Cheshire Cat remarked. "No, we just have an idea of what we want to do and we want you to help us."

The Cat gave him a big toothy grin. Riku imagined his fist breaking off many of his gleaming white teeth.

"Yes, we have an idea of what we want to do-no, no, no, what we _need_ to do. And you're the perfect person to help us. You just can't do it alone. Therefore we have sought out a third person to help you-"

"You didn't even tell me who the second person was," Riku pointed out. "Who is it?"

He wondered if Merlin himself was going to offer himself. Of course he'll turn that invitation down with a "hell no, go shit in hell" and then walk off but there was that really annoying Cheshire Cat grin.

"Are you allergic to cats? Feline-phobic? Scared of the meow?" the Cheshire Cat suddenly asked as he curled around the teapot. "Ooh, warm…"

Riku couldn't comprehend the question. "No. I don't like dogs. Why?"

"He's going with you on your journey. Of course, we need to discuss with you about that-"

"Wait-WHAT! _HIM_! He's coming with me? On a journey? What journey! Merlin, what the hell is this! What's the meaning of this!" He slammed his fist on the table, furious.

"You sound just like him," Merlin commented immediately. "Stuffy, boring, formal, all the horrid stuff that would put me to sleep for centuries. That tells me you are very indeed close to falling back to where you were-"

"Whatever." Riku knew Merlin was talking about Ansem. "What do you need me for? He knows better what's going on."

He looked at the Cat, who suddenly decided to cross his eyes. Riku silently took that last sentence back.

"We need you, Riku. It's quite plain and simple. Though you are full of fear and doubt and anger, your potential is not lost to you. We need your potential, not the consequences of a past choice, to help us. We need you to look for something."

"Will it help Sora?"

"Tsk, tsk, again with Sora," the Cat scoffed as he plucked off the lid of the teapot and peeked inside. "Perhaps it will help him. Certain it will help us. And maybe it'll help you. We seek a way to destroy a darkness-"

"You're kidding." Of all the explanations he thought Merlin, the Cat, and possibly His Majesty could have thought up of for sending Riku off on a journey he had no clue about with some people he didn't know at all, this was the most incredible. Wasn't that Sora's job?

"Note: he said 'a' darkness, not 'the' darkness. Indeed we all want to eradicate the darkness from the Universe," Merlin said calmly when he apparently noticed the rage in Riku's face; Riku intentionally focused his fury on his face to alert them, "but the manner in which we do it has changed drastically. Oh we thought it would be simple, as you already know, but it isn't. I have been studying the libraries of His Majesty and Ansem the Wise, and I have discovered something which was lost to us. Of course it's not lost now. I mean, I found it and-"

"What is this new thing? I hope this isn't some sort of goose chase," Riku said, some cool settling in his mind.

"He doesn't get it," the Cheshire Cat declared abruptly. "He doesn't see it. He is blinded by his past. His enemies take the form of the Heartless, the Nobodies, the Organization XIII, anyone who stands in the way of the Door. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, it's far more than that. Broaden your mind-"

"Oh shut up you-" Riku fired but Merlin abruptly held up a hand. Steam shrieked out of the spout of the teapot but by this time the Cheshire Cat was down at the other end of the table, curled up and grinning.

"There are many faces of evil," Merlin said calmly and decidedly, placing his words with care, "but they do not express the darkness. In the days of one world, light and darkness held court side by side in peace. Day and night. Then evil was born. Not darkness, Riku. Evil."

"Bullshit," Riku automatically retorted. "What are you talking about? The night is evil. You can't see what might kill you."

"Explain the owl," was the Cat's counterattack.

"Some benefit from the day and others from the night. Some benefit from the fire of light and others from the cool of the dark. But evil doesn't need the darkness to _be_. An old story of the Universe is a traditionalist view, like the view you hold but it's much more complicated than that. And more difficult to tell. Cheshire Cat, escort the third member here. He has decided to join, for the sake of those he lost to the primordial evil. I shall tell Riku the story, written by an apprentice to Ansem the Wise. Then our friend shall understand the dire need for his potential."

"Of course," the Cat said with a smile. Then before Riku's eyes, the pink background of the cat dissolved into the air. Then one by one the strips from the tip of the tail to the head vanished with a popping noise. The large smile remained.

"Tootles."

The mouth vanished. This time, though, Riku knew the Cat was gone. He wondered how that was possible, though. What a freakish freak of nature.

"Riku."

Merlin no longer sounded silly, airy, random, or downright insane. He was all business, the tone deep and dark and solemn. He meant business. Riku obliged and looked at the wizard.

"His Majesty once heard of a story, when he was young and didn't know of life beyond the boundaries of his world. It's a legend to him, a legend that he soon discovered was told almost everywhere. Coincidence? I think not. Everything is, if not word for word, still the same. Of particular importance to him was confirmation by Ansem the Wise, who seemed to know the story to a deeper greater degree but refused to explain why or how he knew it so well. It is an old story of our origins, of what in some worlds is called the Garden of Eden and the downfall of us, man and mouse and more. This is what I discovered in the libraries, a story about how a perfect world was destroyed and remains destroyed to this day. Almost no one knows of this past but everyone strives for it. We all seek a perfect world, a perfect life. Even the Heartless and the Organization seek this paradise. But now the Organization is beginning to realize what I and Yen Sid have discovered. No, I'll explain Yen Sid later. This is a story that we need answers to, because if the holes in it remain, all will be lost. Including the Door."

xxx

"…sixty-nine percent complete…"

The ends of DiZ's cloak flitted from the control room, the computerized voice following him as he hurriedly made his way to the room where Naminé sat, drawing as always, waiting for the moment to disrupt Sora's sleep and awake him.

She looked up as the man barged into the room, his agitated actions clearly stating his state of mind. Naminé instinctively drew her sketchbook to her bosom, protecting it and protecting herself from whatever fury she knew would spew from his mouth.

But no, she was not the perpetrator. DiZ leaned heavily against the table and seemed to take several deep breaths that shook through his body.

"Naminé…"

"Yes?"

"…Xemnas was here," DiZ hissed. "Xemnas was here…intercepting Roxas…"

The sketchbook fell to the floor.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Don't mind Riku's cussing, thank you very much. Consider the shit he's been through. Who WOULDN'T want to use "vulgar" language, since he obviously can't turn to a religion like other people do...yeah, and forgive my language, too. All thoughts, comments, ideas, suggestions, etc…are accepted. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	7. Insomnia in Incognito

**Authoress' Note:** Thanks for the patience. I don't know what I want from you guys but I hope you enjoy this.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is acopyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«6 – Insomnia in Incognito»**

The steady beat woke him. It was strange to him, the unhurried soothing rhythm against his chest and the warmth he felt himself enveloped in. It was an unfamiliar sensation that he took a while to identity; it made him drowsy and he blinked several times to stir his mind from…from the desire to drift back into the cocoon of dreamless sleep. Then he felt an irritation, a numbing sensation at the back of his neck, and knew his neck was cramping. He needed to move his neck.

Roxas groaned, let stale air hiss out of his slightly ajar mouth, and turned his head slightly. His limbs felt watery and itched for movement. And with that was an aching deep in his bones and all throughout his body. There was an incredibly oppressive heat pressing down on his forehead, and a pressure on his ribcage. And the beat, the steady beat that he could feel. He tried to sense his foot, decided to curl and wiggle his toes to stretch them out, and hissed as deep pain shot through his leg and up his spine.

Then he heard a garbled moan.

Roxas froze and a chill replaced the heat he was feeling. He moved his left arm, felt it twitch, but he couldn't pull it up; something heavy was on it. His right arm was free, though, free and aching terribly. He turned his wrist, grimaced as muted pain spread. He wished he could exploit the numbness inherent in him but something disturbing came to him. The numbness was disappearing; the warmth that woke him was invading his body slowly and thoroughly, and was refusing to relinquish hold to his alert mind.

_Where am I?_ Roxas wondered as he looked right and left. He saw nothing much but a wall tinted whitish blue – no, that was a ceiling; he spotted the arms of a white fan and the round edge of a light. He couldn't see farther, though; he was immobilized wherever he was, soaking in heat that held him paralyzed. _I have to move, I have to get out of here!_

But what about the pressure he felt on his ribcage, on his chest, and that strange soft beating he felt against him?

He tried to shift his body but heard a clearer sound, and froze. He became aware of – and didn't know why he never noticed - how the wind gently brushed his face and died, only to return to caress his face for a few seconds, like when Naminé pressed her lips against the side of his face.

Breath. There was someone in the same room as he.

"_Sora."_

That was the last word he heard uttered by a voice before his world, briefly lit by painfully bright light and blue sky, darkened into dreamless oblivion. The word faded away though, the name of the Keyblade Wielder, as the voice, the flow of vibrations, echoed in the deepest darkest corners of his mind, again and again until it had shaken the dust off the memories of Sora, the memories Naminé had given to him to aid his mission.

Her. It was her. The girl Sora liked. The girl he was to spirit out of Destiny Island and take to…

_Radiant Garden._

_The World That Never Was._

Roxas slightly curled the fingers in his right hand and the tips touched fabric. He was under a blanket but it was light. He easily pushed it away and froze as fresh air rushed in and swirled around his bared arm. Roxas raised his hand and stared, turning it this way and that in the bluish light of the room. A slow horror grew deep inside him.

This wasn't Sora's hand. It was his hand, Roxas's hand. How long had he been in contact with the girl he was supposed to take out of this world?

Roxas closed his eyes tightly and hoped he was only dreaming. His task was to convince her that he was Sora and he would take her to Radiant Garden but already he was in a fix. He needed to get away from her, wherever she was, and wait for Naminé and DiZ's magic to reassert their strength and guile over him.

Slowly, very slowly, he pushed his upper body up with support for his right arm. He felt something slide off his chest and both the pressure and the beat vanished. Blankets slid down to bunch up around his waist and cool air hit him. Roxas looked down at himself and was astonished as he beheld the pale skin on his chest. He slowly tapped at his skin with his fingers, then slid his hand up and worked the muscles on the back of his neck. He then looked down on the rest of him, surely buried by the blankets, and…

The full force of Sora's memories scattered his thoughts as he beheld the slender sleeping form of the red haired young woman sprawled over his lap, her right hand clutching his wrist. He tilted his head as he looked at her, Sora's memories comparing the young girl of the past with the teenage girl before him. Her face had become more slender, hardened in places. She apparently allowed her hair to grow out, and she was wearing a white blouse over a short plaid skirt and long dark socks. Her clothes looked ruffled, like she slept in them. Or perhaps, she was sleeping in them. If Roxas guessed correctly, she would have fussed over him until she finally collapsed on top of him, her hand clutching his arm.

Roxas felt a smile form in the corners of his mouth as he looked at her, thought he could see hot air rippling out of the slight gap between her lips. There were things tied to the memories Naminé gave him, sensations that made him wonder if something was internally wrong with him. He shrugged off the airy bubbly feeling inside him and tried to pull his wrist out of her grip. He needed to get away from her, at least five minutes, until the magic came back. If he could leave her without disturbing her sleep, all would be well.

Roxas hesitated, looked around. He was lying on a simple bed, at the very edge. Nearby was a varnished oak stool and a small dresser. On top of the ceiling was a fan and light, and there was a desk across the room from him. At his right hand was a large window; a full white moon was shining in and he could see its reflection on the surface of the sea. The edge of the horizon was dyed purple.

He curled the toes in each of his feet, satisfied that they could both move without much pain and more ache. He then tried to slide to the side, out from under the girl's reading head and arms, and then slowly get off the bed and walk out of her room.

When he finally succeeded, the only setbacks were the continuous small sounds she kept making as she turned in her sleep and her hand tightening its vice grip on his wrist. He carefully and gently pulled the fingers off and lowered the hand to the mattress, then slid out from under the blankets and touched the cold wood-paneled floor with his feet.

Right now he knew he had his original appearance and that his shirt had been removed. Did they have to take his pants, too? At least they – whoever they were – didn't remove his boxers, too-wait, this wasn't his…

He scowled as he slowly stood up but he was on stable footing for only a second. Then the world heaved and he staggered into the wall, breathing hard. His feet may have been able to flex without much problem but his knees were weak and his legs were cramping, aching so much he clutched at the wall to stand on two, no matter how awkward he appeared.

_Damn it!_ Roxas swore deep in his mind as he took a step. A sharp hiss later, he took another step, grabbed at the wall when his legs started to fail. He leaned his whole body against it, took several deep breaths as the cool surface penetrated his body. He touched himself for a moment, felt intense heat under his fingertips. He was burning up.

Roxas looked over his shoulders at the girl, who was still sleeping, undisturbed by his awkward movements along the walls of her room. He then turned back, decided to make his way to the window, and was more than pleased to see that there was some sort of a platform there, a long seat built into the wall and opening out on the window. He'll sit there, rest for a few minutes, then leave the room and find his clothes. He didn't like feeling so much air around his body. It felt…well, not right.

Slowly, carefully, he walked to the windowsill, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Each calf burned with each step but he was determined to make it to the window. He could handle a bit more pain.

_Naminé said nothing about falling thousands of feet into the ocean! It hurts, Nam, it really does!_

Roxas blinked. 'Nam'? Since when did he give her a nickname? He shook his head, then eased onto the windowsill. He took a deep breath, felt air fill his lungs, then escape softly and swiftly. He looked behind him, meant for a quick glance to see what was out there beyond the window, but he soon found his attention captured by what the moon illuminated.

There was the moon, hanging high in the blue-black sky. He saw silhouettes of shapes in the horizon, across the sea with the glittering surface. The window opened up on a beach, stretches of bluish white sand and a wooden dock, with clusters of rowboats surrounding it. He saw other buildings, houses, all dim and lifeless. Palm trees were everywhere, lining the beach and scattered amongst the houses.

Sora's memories of his home did nothing to quell the serenity, the thrill, the awe that filled him. He wondered if Sora felt this way whenever he looked out on the beach at night. But then again, Sora _lived_ here. He was never truly here so for him, being able to physically experience Sora's home was an unforgettable experience.

"_Roxas? Roxas, are you there?"_

He was hearing voices in his head. Did the fall do more to his mind than he assumed it to?

_Nam? Nam, is that you?_

"_Oh, you've made it-"_

_Nam, why-how are you…contacting me?_

"_That doesn't matter. You did make it, did you?"_

_You told me nothing of _how_ I was gonna get here! I fell thousands of feet into the ocean and I'm sore all over._

"_You heal fast-"_

_That doesn't matter when you're feeling painful right now and you know you're never going to blindly follow instructions again. But I've made it. I'm in her room actually. She's sleeping, though. Should I wake her now and get her out of here?_

"_Roxas, there's something I need to ask you."_

_What?_

"_Did…did you meet someone, talk to someone on the way to Destiny Islands?"_

_Like…like who?_

"_DiZ found an intruder. Somehow the Organization found out about the falsified Twilight Town. We don't know how or when but they know now what we've been doing to you. You're in danger, Roxas. If they know this much, they might know what you're up to right now-"_

…_no. I don't think there was anyone-no, there was no one. Nobody._

"_Roxas…are you hiding something?"_

_Are you accusing me of lying to you?_

"_Roxas, I have to be sure. The Organization infiltrated the mansion and we have to make sure they weren't going for you."_

_They're not. I hope they're not. What do I do, Nam? She's here. Should I take her away now?_

"_She's not ready. Tell her you're taking her with you so that you can both go find Riku. I don't know how much of Sora's memories tell you about her but she's not going to let you go once you leave Destiny Islands. Offer her before she decides; it'll be better for both of you in the long run."_

_I only want to drop her off at Hollow Bastion. What do you want me to do after that, though? Go merge with Sora? Or-_

"_We have been in communication of sorts with each of the factions for some time. DiZ isn't stupid. He knows what the Organization's doing with 'Kingdom Hearts'. He feels that their goal will hurt the Universe, not-"_

_Cut the crap, Nam. That's your side of the story. What if their goal doesn't do anything other than give them their hearts back?_

"_They're not supposed to exist, Roxas. You're not supposed to exist. Don't you realize that? See what the problem is?"_

This time he formed no words in his mind to send back to Naminé, wherever she was. What problem? What was the problem she realized but he didn't? Wasn't supposed to exist? Did she say that?

"_Roxas, are you there?"_

No, he must be imagining things. How could she say that? Nam wouldn't just be talking about him and the Organization, because she's a Nobody, too. So why was she saying this? A ball of simmering resentment formed in his core as her words kept running in his head over and over again.

"_Roxas, speak to me!"_

_Nam, there is no problem. There has never been a problem. Now tell me, what do you want me to do once she's awake?_

"_Roxas, listen to me. You just don't understand-"_

_You didn't answer my question._

"…_take her straight to Hollow Bastion. We'll determine what takes place from there on."_

_That's it?_

"_That's it. And remember, Roxas, to stay on your guard. We've just started reforming your body, and we don't know how far we'll go, if we decide that the best thing to do is to merge you with Sora."_

_Then why-_

"_We don't know. Good luck, Roxas. From here on, we'll see what you do…or what destiny does. She awakes."_

_Wait, what do you mean-_

"So you're awake."

Flashes. Autumn-red hair, blue eyes brimming with joy, and smiles that spoke of untold happiness. But there were changes; she had changed. She didn't sound so happy now. She was tired, very tired, and weary, too. She was not the girl of Sora's memories. She was someone waiting for Sora to come home. And she still is. She just doesn't know it.

"Yes…" Roxas murmured, keeping his eyes fixed on the far horizon. There was a faint pale haze settling along the separation between sea and sky. "I'm awake now…Kairi."

_Princess._

There was a long low sigh and he couldn't resist it, had to turn and see. She stood there, half-sheltered by the shadows cast into the room, while half of her was dimly lit by fading stars as dawn began creeping across the dark sky. He could see a wry strained smile on her lips, a smile nonetheless, and couldn't help but smile in return. He wondered what she saw and what she thought and what she felt.

"You remember my name," she said softly, stepping closer. The shadow drew back further, revealing more of her face. Dying starlight glistened in the eye not shielded by her hair.

"Of course."

"Even if…even though…" she continued, her voice dropping even lower. He wondered if she practiced that. "Even when I…I forgot yours."

She sat down on the window sill opposite Roxas, drew her whole body onto the platform and pulled her legs under her chin. Resting her head on her knees, she looked at him. Roxas returned the gaze steadily, though his mind kept flashing with Sora's memories of moonlit nights on the beach and talks of childish innocent nothings between them as they watched the tides of the sea.

An easy smile formed on his lips as he said, "Its okay, Kairi. It's been a year, after all. I can't blame you…for forgetting a lot of things. A year's been a long time, right?"

He looked at her sharply, watched for her response. This was how Sora talked, right? This was the Sora she's been waiting for, the Sora she's been thinking about, the Sora she loves. And now, what will she say about the Sora she sees now?

She only smiled, slightly tilted her head to the side so the bangs swayed before the eye they covered. "Yes…it's been a very long time…"

And she fell silent. He turned his head and looked out the window as the horizon began to lighten considerably. He could hear the muted cry of gulls waking.

The silence was awkward for him, though he told himself and thought himself as used to it. His world was filled with silence, and he knew, as did other Nobodies did, that the silence was what filled in the void left by the emptiness in their bodies. They had all gotten used to it, accepted it, and ignored it in pursuit of more important goals. But right now, the silence reminded him of the first time he woke up in a world he knew nothing about, knowing not even his own name. It was an uncomfortable presence, pressing in all around him, taunting him in ways that used to make him angry.

But the silence in the dark room was not so strong a presence as a medium through which he could hear other things, things that were too often silenced by the louder noises. For one, he could hear the living sea throwing itself onto shore besides the gulls' cries. There was an insistent rhythmic tick-tock of a clock somewhere in the room, probably a small piece with either a chiming pendulum or an annoying little second hand that clicked with each second. Wind whistled in the tiny cracks in the windows. And he could hear her breathing. So quiet he had to pick for it out of the ticking of the clock and the crashing waves but loud enough for his ears to pick it up out of the silence.

"I never thought…" she murmured, breaking the long quiet, "I never thought…that I'd see you again, especially…the way you came home…"

_Home._

Destiny Islands. Sora's home.

"So long," he murmured, his mind studying Sora's memories. "It's been such a long time. I want to…"

What did he want? Or…what would Sora want if he came home? Yes, what would Sora want?

"Want to what?" the Princess asked. She yawned.

"See the sea," Roxas said. He looked at her, saw her rubbing her eye. "Sleepy?"

She shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine, I'm awake. It's just…you want to go outside?"

Roxas looked out the window again. The sky was light enough to define the clouds drifting through. He could see the seagulls now. Then he looked at her.

"If you'll find me my clothes, then we'll go."

He watched her leave the room, a smile on her face.

_Sora's going to kill me._

xxx

Roxas wondered why he wasn't cold, while he watched the small slender form ahead of him shiver. The sea tempest wasn't through with the night yet; it was howling at its worst and the sea answered, boiling and foaming as the morning waves crashed against the beach. Kairi, the Princess, looked back at him, she being wrapped tightly in a thick dark blue jacket and he followed in Sora's red jumpsuit and white jacket, while they walked down the shores to the wooden dock where the rowboats were tied.

Her home was so close to the seashore she didn't wear any shoes as she quietly stepped outside and he followed her, deciding to neglect his shoes, too. He did get a good look at them, though, but decided to hold his thoughts to himself.

_Are Sora's feet really _that_ big? Then what about mine…_

And because of that, during the three-minute walk into the sand, he stared at her feet, slender and disturbingly flawless. He wondered if she always wore shoes, because her feet were so pale. Then again, he decided, she must be used to walking barefooted, the way she traveled so easily over the concrete and the places were dirt and sand and dry seaweed and bushes met and clashed.

_Then she must wander alone at night. Never during the day, when people could see her. They will wonder and point and whisper and ask, and she'll have nothing to say, because they won't know who Sora is. She won't, either. His name would be lost. But…it's not like her to wander alone on the beach in the darkness. No…she's changed._

He sorted through Sora's memories while they picked their way through the deep soft sand, but found nothing that could explain her behavior. There was nothing in these year-old memories to explain how and why the Princess changed.

_And if she changed, what would she be like? How differently would she see the world? And if she's changed just enough, how much harder would my job get?_

That was the one thing he worried most, as he involuntarily shivered at the wetness on his soles. His feet slapped on the wet sand as he tried to stay as clear as possible from the frothy fingers of the sea. Kairi didn't seem to mind; the water swirled around her ankles as she continued to the dock, looking back once in a while to make sure he didn't fall behind.

To make sure Sora didn't fall behind.

_She must think this must be all a dream, seeing Sora fall out of the sky._

He followed her, while the roiling sea filled in the silence between them, as they went up on the wooden dock and walked towards the end. He could see in the far distance an irregular shape. A group of islands. Destiny Islands.

The memories Sora had of the place were in sharp contrast to the now. He couldn't imagine those gloomy islands to be so full of sunshine and laughter as he looked up at the dark sky. There was a slight haze in the corner of his eye of dawn coming. One need not wonder why it was cold. He was starting to feel it, the natural external cold that throbbed with a life of its own, tearing and pulling and raking its fingers through his hair. It drowned out the chill deep inside him, the dead heavy chill and the echoing aching silence that was his heart.

"Do you remember…"

He looked at Kairi sharply. She was speaking, right? She looked at him, her eyes a bit sad, and for some reason it made him feel…sad.

"Remember what, Kai?" he heard himself say as he stepped towards her, just one. She was standing at the edge, hugging her jacket, now watching either the islands or the sunrise.

"Remember…when we used to play on the islands, Sora?" Kairi murmured, looking at him again. There was a smile on her face, a sad smile.

He remembered. Oh, he remembered, all right. Roxas nodded, remembering without experiencing. But did he have to?

"They still do…I don't," he heard her say.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed, and the low rushing sound was whipped away in the morning wind. "When I forgot your name…I stopped going there. But the one time…the one time I did go, it was because I caused trouble, and really hurt Selphie. I didn't mean to but…I went, just for her. And then I saw you…falling out of the sky. It was…amazing…"

_It was _NOT_ amazing. You try doing that._

"Well…I don't know how I did it…" he said with a rather embarrassed chuckle. He really didn't. A door that led to an endless drop into a big blue sea?

There was a slight sound, enough to distract him and pull him out of his thought, and he saw her sitting down on the edge of the dock. Despite the weather and the heavy jacket, she was wearing shorts. That confused Roxas. But the more he stared at her, he began to realize that his confusion didn't stem from the contradiction of her versus the weather – why didn't she wear long pants to go with her jacket and counter the weather? There was a boiling inside him akin to the sea sloshing around the posts of the dock and all he was doing was stare at her legs as she kicked back and forth, her eyes focused rather fiercely on the islands.

_Sora's memories. It must be Sora's memories._

She looked up at him and smiled. "I used to sit here, imagining the three of us – you, me, and Riku – running down the beach together, going into our boats, and sailing to the islands. There, we'll finish making that raft, getting everything we need, even writing our goodbye notes to our parents, and then casting off and sailing for those faraway lands you always read in books. But…it never happened, Sora. It never did…"

Roxas sat down next to her, started swinging his legs back and forth, too. He looked up at the islands, could see everything so clearly in his mind. "Yeah…I know. We got off the islands, off this world, but it wasn't the way we wanted it."

"So many dreams…" the Princess sighed. He looked at her, wondered if it was the morning that was putting a damper on the girl of Sora's memories. Was she ever this…this sad? This…nostalgic? She looked at him. "Sorry about that. I was…it just seems so strange. I've waited so long, imagined what it would be like to see you again, and now…I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say."

He chuckled at the thought. "Well…I didn't either. I just knew that I had to get back to you…no matter what."

He felt a slight pressure on his shoulder and looked to see that Kairi had leaned over and put her head on it. A burst of cold fear, colder than the wind, flooded him as he remembered Nam's warning.

"_Touch her for more than five minutes, and she will be able to see through the guise."_

Did Nam really mean it? Roxas had to wonder if simply touching his clothes constituted as 'touch'. As he watched her, she slid her nearest hand over the worn sea-bitten wood and touched his. He thought he'd stop breathing. She slid her fingers over the black and white glove, and gently touched his fingers as they gripped the wood tightly and the sea sighed a breath of cold brine on them. He hoped that was the meaning for the cold shiver that vibrated in him.

"Amazing…isn't it…" she murmured. She seemed so close. Roxas felt a sudden urge to pull away. He had never been touchy with people in the first place. People only do that when they're…well…close with each other. That's what it seemed to him. His friends at home – his 'imaginary' friends – would hug and poke and punch and push each other but he didn't often join in with their antics. Well, once in a while, for good reason, but it wasn't his nature. It just wasn't.

But it was Sora's nature. What choice did he have?

"_Touch her for more than five minutes, and she will be able to see through the guise."_

How many seconds had gone by?

"Hey you two! Early birds trying to get some worms, ya?"

She pulled away completely and he turned, rubbing his hand as he spotted two teenagers standing all the way back at the beach. Tidus and Wakka. The redhead was bouncing a blue and white ball up in the air while the blond tapped and poked at the sand with a long wooden stick. He narrowed his eyes and saw looks on their faces he decided he didn't like.

"How you feeling, Sora?" Tidus called out.

_Sora. I'm Sora. My name is Sora._

There was a ring to that thought and to the way Tidus used the name-his name with familiarity. It was so strange to him to hear others call him by the name of who he's supposed to be, when he had already designated a name for himself – Roxas.

"I'm fine!" he called back. "What are you two doing up so early?"

"Island Tigers got a match afternoon, man, so we gotta train up!" Wakka shouted back. "Blitzball match! Remember blitzball?"

"Of course!" Roxas climbed to his feet and heard Kairi rise to her feet as well. Deciding he'll sound more like Sora if he said the first thing that came to his mind, he added, "Can I join?"

"Hah, like you can do better than we can!" Tidus said. "You've been gone a year, you think you can keep up with us?"

Wakka tossed the ball up and, with a fist, pummeled it. The Princess yelped while Roxas quickly held his arms up and braced for the impact. His hands quickly formed to the blitzball and clutched it tightly as he lowered his arms and stared. Blitzball? Roxas couldn't really believe it, and Sora's scant memories of serious blitzball play didn't help him, either.

He looked at Kairi, saw her uncoiling herself from her cringing position. The smile she offered him though, the smile she offered Sora, set a fire inside him, a drive to add to Sora's bare moments with blitzball. He gently tossed the ball in the air, and flung a fist into its heart. He heard Kairi laugh while Tidus and Wakka yelled and ducked the fast-flying blur. It landed in the dry sand with an explosion of sand and dust.

"Oh you are so on!" Tidus shouted as he climbed to his feet. "C'mon, then!"

Roxas had to shake his head as he headed down the dock and jumped off the side onto the wet sand. He looked behind to Kairi, who continued down the dock to land, then to Tidus and Wakka, who had fetched the ball.

Wakka winked, then gestured to Roxas to follow him. "School starts in a few, man, so let's have a quick match, ya?"

Roxas nodded. He hoped he was making the right move, as his first day as Sora began.

xxx

On the silver train marching out of Twilight Town, three figures in the back seats of the last car sat near each other, heads bowed into a little circle, conversing. There were a few others on the train and whenever they looked at the back, they saw shiny steel boots underneath the long deep wine-red cloaks and hands encased in leather and metal.

And what they were saying, in low whispers, made no sense to them. Perhaps that's why the whispering was so loud and silvery. They knew the people who could hear them and eavesdrop on them couldn't understand the meaning of their words. Therefore they spoke freely.

"Oh this won't do at all!"

"Well what do you want us to do? We can't just barge into their headquarters and lay waste to it all! That's a fine collection of hearts they've got there, that's for sure!"

"Dears, we simply can't raid the old man's tower, that's all! He may not have what we need so that's now how we should approach him! We should ask him, not rob him!"

"Well I don't want to bother with being diplomatic. That old crackpot's mad!"

"Look at our alternatives. If we're one _second_ late, it'll be _too_ late and everything will be over. The Organization won't know what hit them, and the Keyblade Master will be hunted down once he wakes up. We know where he's headed and that tells us the young man's a target. If we kill him while he sleeps, that won't solve a single thing. He's supposed to open the Door and it's our job to make sure he does it. Killing him won't stop him and countless years' searching will result in nothing."

"Oh stop fussing over this boy; we get what you mean! Forget I even suggested it! What I say is we step in before he does wake up and let him go home while we deal with our business!"

"Like you think you can take him on single-handedly!"

"And I bet you have a better plan!"

"I happen to use my head quite more often than you do yours-"

"Oh stuff and nonsense! Look, it's quite simple, isn't it? We find him, we stop him, and we end this madness! Even without the prophecy! What you say?"

"Me? I say we do nothing, and watch how the game unfolds."

"Everything's a game to you, dear. Frankly, it confuses me."

"It's simply a way of thinking. Eventually everyone will know what's at stake here, and that's when they'll stop fighting each other. If the boy wants to go home and the Organization their hearts, they will put aside all conflicts and all hatred. The prospect of complete annihilation is often the greatest diplomat for unity, don't you think?"

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Well I suppose this is an interesting person. I'm not belittling you but I am wondering if you understand what's unfolding and what will end up taking place throughout most of the story. Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	8. The Modern Crusaders

**Authoress' Note: **It appears that whenever I write about Riku, everything relevant to him is close to the storyline. I implore you to pay attention. Thanks. Look for the surprise at the end of the chapter. Hint, hint. On a side note, I rewrote this whole chapter. Enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is acopyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._ The chapter title is also copyrighted by Enigma and comes from the same CD as **Gravity of Love**. This is a very powerful song.

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«7 – The Modern Crusaders»**

A story. Merlin was going to tell him a story. Riku was not in the mood to act like a little kid waiting for his grandfather's latest addition to the bedtime adventure. But he had no choice. And it did sound interesting, he had to admit. If His Majesty and Ansem the Wise had the stories in their libraries, that must account for something.

Hopefully.

"You may not believe it but once a very long time ago there was just one world. Quite strange, since the advent of gummi ships, to imagine just one world spinning and crashing through space, but it's true. Of course we weren't the only worlds but we were the only world to have life. There were many kingdoms, many realms, many lands, many people, all kinds of people, and they all lived peacefully side by side. Day and night did not bother them. Light was within everyone, light and darkness that they did not fear. It was a balance, Riku, a perfect balance for you cannot have one without the other. Light is not light without darkness and vice versa."

"Right."

"It was a time of paradise and bliss. Imagine a life without trouble. Oh of course you have your petty thieves and your rebels and troublemakers but that's just a part of this paradise. Keeps things interesting or nobody will have the will to live any longer. But there was no such thing as evil, no such thing until some of the wealthier people in this world began to desire and covet. How did that happen, I don't have a clue. But it happened."

"They're wealthy. Of course they want. They want gold. Jewelry. Mansions. Big deal." Riku couldn't quite believe he was hearing this child's story.

"You forget power. They were once satisfied but perhaps someone disobeyed them or something happened in a manner they did not wish it to happen. When something like that occurs what do you wish you had? Power. They desired power and they decided that light had power. They began to covet the light. They wanted the light for themselves, and perhaps dole it out to those who needed a bit of cheer in the quiet and gloom of the darkness, perhaps for a bit of munny. But of course, that is impossible. Light is within each person; it cannot be extracted by ordinary natural means. But this thought, this desire was enough for the downfall of those inhabitants of paradise."

"Is this world called Paradise? Just wondering."

Merlin glared at Riku. "I'm telling you this so you can understand where we are coming from. Listen.

"Jealousy, desire, hate, they are all sources of evil. And from here evil was born, true evil. It was born out of nighttimes of plotting and scheming and that's why people consider evil to be dark. They see the night as sanctuary for harm and cruelty. But this evil was born blazing with light. Here things become strange, like talk of the earth rupturing and the seas storming and a great cleansing fire that sank everything into nothingness, into what we still call darkness. But evil was void in children; their light was strongest and defied this evil. They turned back the evil and used what light they had to rebuild. But they didn't have enough light and strength. Each separate realm and kingdom broke apart and that's why Destiny Islands isn't connected to Agrabah."

"Okay. And?" Riku asked. Silly, perhaps, but the story was beginning to grow on him.

"That's it." Merlin turned to his cup of tea and scowled after a sip. "I loathe cold tea. Impudent piece of crockery."

Riku looked away while Merlin set off on a barrage at the teacup in his hands. The wizard failed to notice the nearby teapot cheerfully puffing up white clouds.

"That is not the end of the story!"

Riku jumped at the excitement and stared at the old man.

"No, not the end! It is the end of the past and now this is pure myth I will speak of. It concerns the form, the shape of this first evil. It is neither Heartless nor Nobody and is far more powerful than both. The Heartless and Nobody is created from us, except for the artificial Heartless of course but we best not go that way. This evil is, like I said, blazing with light. But of course nobody knows it now; it has been thousands and thousands of years since the last sighting of this evil. Thank the three unnamed hunters who hunted it down for that. It is a beast, a fearsome beast that knows nothing but destruction. It is the child of the men who desired power through the coveting of light. I wonder what they think now, realizing that they have unwittingly given life to a creature that won't die."

"It's a creature? This evil is a creature?"

"Why else the hunters? Legend says the creature hid away and escaped its hunters but these three will not stop chasing the creature until its end is come. Around this time an old, old man in the sunken city of Atlantis spoke of this primordial evil. For that, we must seek an anomaly. Strange, don't you think? Something impossible will destroy the first evil."

"Ridiculous," Riku snorted. "There's no such thing as an anomaly."

"You'll never know. Neither will I. But that the old prophet spoke. Since then both demon and hunters have been on the move. Of course, they have never been sighted. The world barriers, if you remember, kept everyone from knowing everyone else. But ever since the nights of the shooting stars and Ansem the Wise's experiments, we now have greater freedom. And so does it."

"Wait…"

"Do you remember of two worlds that were destroyed?" Merlin asked intently, leaning over to peer at Riku's contemplative face.

Indeed Riku had. Rupert told him so.

"_T-two worlds. T-two worlds…were-were destroyed."_

"Then is this story for reals?" Riku demanded, astonished. "But-but you said it was a story-"

"That and more. You weren't listening. There are more worlds that have been obliterated but their passings have gone by unnoticed. Only the influx of refugees to Traverse Town and other places note the destruction." Merlin leaned forward, leering at Riku. "Don't you see? What you call a story, a myth, a legend, it's all true. They say…a white fire swallows the world, and then it explodes. Some say they saw _something moving in the fire._ A terrible beast-like fire wraith, more terrible than the most fearsome Heartless, more terrible than the likes of any Organization member. It's out there, Riku. The primordial evil, the evil born in the hearts of men who desired power, it is real and it will destroy."

Riku sat stunned. He found it hard to believe Merlin but he found it even harder not to. But then he shook his head. It must be the side of him, the gullible side. There is no such creature. Why hasn't he heard of it before, if it had been alive for so long?

"The world barriers, Riku," Merlin answered when he asked. "You were never aware until now."

"Still," Riku challenged. "Where's the proof? The evidence? It could be an Organization member, a new Heartless, some machinery of Hades, anything. This is a _story_, Merlin. What is the proof that this-this thing is real? Eyes can deceive. You can't trust eyewitnesses."

"No," Merlin admitted, "you cannot. And there is no evidence, save that you yourself hunt the beast and find the ones who were supposed to chase it."

"They're still alive? I thought they-"

"They will live as long as the beast will and more. I suppose they'll remain in existence until the Door is unlocked. Their sole purpose is to stop the evil from destroying the Universe, and making sure the Door is opened. When the Door of Light is unlocked, the light within will undo all damage."

"It can bring all the worlds back together?" Riku asked. To him, things were starting to get a bit farfetched.

"Perhaps. I don't know the nature of the light behind the Door. You'll have to ask Sora when he finds it. And speaking of Sora-"

"Is it really safe to wake him up without all his memories intact?" Riku asked worriedly. A sense of relief washed over him; finally they could talk about something a little less ridiculous than this preposterous story that for some reason also made some sense.

"We'll never know until we find out, and we will. Where would the Cat be…"

"This seems…weird," Riku blurted out, extremely bothered. "I mean, is there really a creature like that? It sounds ridiculous."

"I told you," Merlin said calmly as he poured himself a fresh cup of tea. "If you go seek it, you'll see for yourself."

And then it hit Riku in the head with the strength of a sledgehammer.

"You want me to go out there and see if the story's real!"

Merlin sipped the tea. "Perfect. And yes. Even if the story's not real, we need answers to why so many worlds are being destroyed. The Organization cares less about the worlds than their own missing dear hearts, and the Heartless currently have no master, only instinct. So what else could be wiping us out? What third enemy exists? Until I put the two and two together, neither I nor His Majesty nor Yen Sid our good colleague could discover a true reason. All the puzzle pieces fit…except the puzzle may not exist at all."

"Brilliant. That is brilliant, Merlin. I commend you for trying to convince me to do something that's a total waste of my time. Anything more to say?"

"Hum, hum, dum de dum…"

Riku twitched, bristled as the Incredibly Annoying Voice returned. In a series of stripes, the Cheshire Cat re-materialized on the table. The smile on his face instantly drowned out all evil thoughts of his voice, and resentment focused on the toothy grin. The Cat looked like true insanity.

"I do have something to say, Riku, and it is that some of us need closure," Merlin said intently, his attention wholly focused on the Cheshire Cat. "Where's he?"

"He?" Riku echoed."

"What's he?" It wasn't the Cheshire Cat.

Riku was instantly on his feet, the chair upended and flung to the side. The Cat sat there, his grin now monstrous and prideful while Merlin busied himself with pouring tea. They clearly didn't hear the guttural primitive voice.

"No, really, who just said that?" Riku demanded, annoyed and a bit embarrassed that he overreacted while Merlin and the Cat didn't do anything at all. Riku wasn't quite sure what to do with the man standing at the doorway, and neither of the others were the least bit helpful.

"Glad to see you're here, Tarzan!" Merlin abruptly exclaimed cheerfully. "Come, do sit."

The man's green eyes darted warily from Riku to the blue-clad wizard then back to Riku. He looked utterly confused and out of his element.

"I mean here, Tarzan," Merlin clarified just as cheerfully, gesturing to a chair with his wand. Sparks flew from its end and the chair exploded. Riku fell backwards and landed painfully on the stone floor, then quickly sat up. He rose to his feet hurriedly, brushing dust and dirt off his black coat, then glared at the absentminded wizard, who then gestured to another chair. The Cat had not reacted at all; he had his face buried in a cup of tea. And the man called Tarzan – where the hell did he go?

"My, my, control your wand, Merlin. You've scared him up," the Cheshire Cat remarked, pulling his face out of the china cup. He then snatched the third-to-last scone off a plate nearly devoid of all food.

Riku stared up just in time to see Tarzan drop straight down to the floor on his feet and knuckles. He reflexively winced, knowing it should hurt. He's played Bloody Knuckles with Sora before, and landing on stone floors on knuckles was far worse. But to his astonishment, the man stood up in a half-crouch and warily inched to the stone platform and pulled himself up, like nothing had happened and falling from the ceiling to a stone floor on knuckles was something he did daily.

The man moved like an animal, his movement fluid and powerful. His weapon, a spear, was questionable for its simplicity. His clothing was quite bothersome, and his brooding stare unsettling. And the fact he could easily traverse the ceiling piqued his interest.

"Who are you?" Riku asked wonderingly as he righted the chair he knocked over and returned to his seat.

The man sat perched and uncomfortable in his seat, his back permanent bent and obviously unable to conform to the chair's back. His eyes were fixed on the tablecloth like he had never seen it before.

"Tarzan."

It wasn't the answer he was looking for but it'll have to do. The gruff speech wasn't exactly endearing to his ears. "Um…Tarzan, where are you from?"

The man looked at him, his heavy eyebrows slightly raised in what looked like confusion. He made a strange sound in the back of his throat, giving Riku a feeling he should clarify.

"I mean, where are you from, Tarzan? Your home, where's your home?"

The Cat answered instead. "He's from Deep Jungle. It's a world you won't be seeing anytime soon. It was destroyed, like mine."

The Cat has to be lying. These were the two worlds Rupert said were destroyed?

"_T-two worlds. T-two worlds…were-were destroyed."_

"But-but how?" Riku stammered, now sounding exactly like Rupert.

Tarzan shook his head, his thick dark brown hair swaying. "Like fire…it came like white fire. I…I have never seen white fire. It came…it wanted…what Sora had taken away. The blue butterflies…the keyhole…it opened the keyhole…and ate the light."

The Cat leveled his gaze on Riku and Merlin. "It comes in white fire, blinding light, and yet it reeks of pure evil, utterly foul air. Everyone fell before its path, devoured. It went to the doorknob and destroyed it. It ate the light while Wonderland fell all around it. It is a terrible thing to watch. And the chasers were not there. The three hunters were not in sight when the demon fox destroyed Wonderland."

"Demon fox? What fox?" Merlin had not once referred to this evil as a fox before.

"It looks like one, from the bushy tail of never-ending fire to its tapered face. It has a face, Riku, and coal black eyes, eyes like black fire. It is like a beast of sorcery but it is beyond magic."

He shuddered as he conjured a picture in his mind of a snarling fox made of white fire, with burning black eyes. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

It was real. The story Merlin told was _real_. Or was it? He still doubted, still hesitated. This was surreal. There was no such thing as a fox made of fire, alive and burning for thousands and thousands of years.

"You hesitate," Tarzan suddenly said. "You hesitate because you have not seen."

Riku stared at the man, who had been so silent he forgot Tarzan was in the room.

"Riku," Merlin said seriously, "we want you to find the chasers, its hunters. We need you to find this demon fox also, and find out how we can stop it. If you can sort that out, if you can determine the facts from the old stories, then come to Radiant Garden and tell us everything. We're converging there-"

"Where?" What was Radiant Garden?

The Cheshire Cat looked at Riku intently. "Hollow Bastion was its new name, but its name of old was Radiant Garden, written in the old legends as the seat of power when all the worlds were one. It was once blessed but is now cursed. When the time comes, it will be blessed again."

Merlin nodded. "Yes, yes, we are all gathering there. Radiant Garden is the source of all the upheaval, the birthplace of the Heartless and Nobodies, and therefore it is the source of all intertwining destinies. That is where we'll meet and determine what's to be done. You understand?"

"Maybe." Riku was starting to feel miffed, knowing all this was plotted without his knowing. How did they know he would cooperate so easily with them? Were they expecting him to agree at all? "How'd you set all this up? Is Sora going to end up at Hollow-Radiant Garden, too?"

"Gradually, yes," Merlin said. "And before you ask-"

"Funny," the Cat butted in abruptly. Alarms set off in Riku's head. "Of all the things, you fail to mention your precious Princess Kairi."

He felt his face go hot and Riku scrambled for a response. "I-I-what are you-she's not mine!"

He flared up even more when he saw Merlin and the Cat share a look. "What are you two conspiring again? Haven't I had enough of your scheming behind my damn back? First I'm doing what those bookworms and professors are supposed to do, and then you make fun of my feelings for Kairi?"

"No," the Cat said plainly. "I'm just saying that I'm entirely intrigued by the way your mind works. A competitive youth for her attentions, you sink into the darkness and rise out to devote your energies to helping your friend and rival. An entirely enjoyable story. I hope you don't be blinded as you venture."

"I'm not an idiot," Riku said coldly. "I don't see her that way now. She's a friend, and I only care that she's safe."

"Safe?" Merlin chuckled. Something grappled in Riku's chest; they had something planned for her, too. "Oh, she'll be fine, but I can't guarantee her safety. Her journey will be different from yours or Sora's-"

"You're mad!" Riku shouted, jumping to his feet. He was horrified at the thought, the unexplained rationale for pulling Kairi back into the mess. "You planned _that_ out! You decided to include _her_, too? No, you're mad, you're all mad! Not all three of us!"

"You are a fool, Riku, if you think we can control all destiny," the Cat interjected in a cool singsong logic. "We know you and Sora are deeply involved with the Heartless and the Door of Light, but did you really think Kairi will remain anchored to Destiny Islands until you two come home? One would go mad if one were her. And you seem to have forgotten that she's a Princess of Heart and her home was Radiant Garden. We are simply initiating her destiny, intertwined as it is with both of yours."

"No, that I already know of and I don't care. If you know anything about DiZ, then you know what he's done. You know what I'm talking about, Merlin! That-that _thing_! What about _him_?"

"Who, Roxas?" Merlin asked, plainly puzzled while Tarzan pulled the teapot to him, plucked off the top, and sniffed at its lukewarm contents. Then he was studying the brown book on the coffee table next to the bed, obviously not worried about the conflict of interests taking place at the table.

"Of course, Roxas!" Riku roared, banging his hand on the table. "He's out there! With _her_! He's a Nobody!"

"So?" the Cat asked nonchalantly. "Loathe him all you want; it's too late now. He's taking her to Radiant Garden, if you really must know. And what an adventure that will be, a Nobody and a Princess of Heart."

Riku wished he could just strangle the stupid Cat. "That's the damn problem, you miserable stupid cat! Why the hell would he help us? We're everything he's not, and he's everything we're not! We're not friends, we're not allies, we're in no way similar in mind and heart to each other – he doesn't have a damn _heart_!"

"But he is gone now, and he has arrived safely at Destiny Islands," Merlin said, as he reached for the teapot. "He will provide protection for Kairi while taking her to Radiant Garden. I daresay the Organization will be outraged by this new development, and will try to stop them. They may in all likelihood kill Roxas and kidnap Kairi but that would incite the wrath of the Keyblade Master, which will bode ill for them. And the demon fox would definitely use that opportunity to destroy more worlds, which will leave us hanging and scrambling, for we are all about to die."

The very last word hung in the suddenly chilly air.

When there was no reply, just deep ragged breathing, Merlin looked at the Cheshire Cat.

"I did not?"

The Cat grinned. "Oh you did."

The Cat needed not to further detail the three words, as they both knew the silence was Riku's inability to exactly word out his outrage.

xxx

When Riku stormed out of the Third District, people fled. He could see it happening in his mind, a tall richly tanned man with long silver hair and eyes that positively burned, barging into the First District and ready to do violence to anyone who so dared to breathe his air. He could hear Tarzan running after him, but the Cheshire Cat he did not know. He hadn't seen the Cat since he stomped out of Merlin's cheapskate home, marched across the moving stone steps, and shoved open the Door of Fire into the Third District and so on and so forth.

But given the Cat's demonstration of his very sneaky teleporting magic, he knew the Cheshire Cat could come and go at will. Riku hoped the Cat would decide not to tag alongside Riku and Tarzan.

Which reminds him…

Riku looked at Tarzan, who stopped immediately and set his spear butt on the ground. "Tarzan, don't follow me. I'm not going on this chase after this so-called "primordial evil" and I don't think you should either."

He was utterly disheartened when the older man shook his head. "Tarzan…saw. It…it is real. It is…where stars are."

He gestured with the spear tip towards the sky. Riku looked up, but saw only a healthy scattering of stars across the night sky. "Um…right…"

"The demon fox travels wherever it will, though it takes time," that annoying singsong voice waltzed through the air. "It would be traveling to a world right now, perhaps already upon it and destroying it."

"And I supposed I am to hunt it, too, like the three hunters?" Riku demanded. "I have to go help Sora and Kairi! I'm not wasting my time and energy on that!"

"But you will," the Cheshire Cat remarked as Riku sensed a sudden weight on his head. "You will because you have to do. Oh there is no denying it. This is something you _must_ do. It'll do good for your heart, Riku."

"Something I _must_ do?" Riku echoed. He didn't like how authoritative it sounded.

"We should start with the Coliseum," the Cat suggested, diving straight into the demon plans of doom he and Merlin must have concocted, that damn cat! "Yes, the Coliseum. We have heard of a disturbance on that world but no more; let us go and see to it. Yen Sid is also of the belief…that Hades holds information we desperately need."

"Hades…" Riku muttered under his breath, recalling very well the hot-tempered sleazy god of the dead. "Why…"

He sighed as his feet began leading him to the great gates of Traverse Town. Then he stopped again. "How do we get there?"

The Cheshire Cat padded around the top of his head, kneading his paws and stretching. Through an enormous yawn, the Cat said, "Cid left several of his ships behind. We have permission to hijack one, if that's what you're asking."

"Hijack?" Tarzan echoed, puzzled. "What…does that…mean?"

"Means we're allowed to steal one," Riku interjected. "Sigh…I suppose His Majesty agreed to this, seeing how close he is with Merlin…"

There was a ripple of murmurs behind him and something crashed. He winced, tensed instinctively as someone muttered and something metallic was slammed into the ground. Then there was a rush of footsteps towards him and Tarzan – and the Cat – and Riku felt obliged to turn around.

There was Merlin running towards them, his spectacles askew. His hat was lying pathetically next to a trashcan next to the stairs that Riku did not recall being there. His left hand had gathered his robes to give his legs freedom to sprint towards him, and his right arm was waving around his wand madly. Sparks were flying and the people of Traverse Town were backing away quickly as some of the sparklers came dangerously near them.

Riku watched with interest as one of the sparks hit a candle on one of the café tables, and the little firelight became a geyser. People were shrieking, leaping away from the Volcanic Candle of Doom while Merlin screeched to a stop in front of him and Tarzan – and the Cat, of course.

"What's this, Merlin?" the Cheshire Cat asked curiously.

The old wizard panted heavily, then righted his spectacles.

"Riku…news…word from the outside…fire…the beast has been sighted."

The beast. The 'demon fox'. Riku's ears suddenly sharpened, his mind demanding Merlin continue with his words. "Where, Merlin, where?"

Merlin shook his head. "I'm…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry, Riku."

"Where is it, Merlin?" A chill began creeping down Riku's back and his arms as Merlin kept shaking his head. "Where's the damn thing!"

Merlin's eyes were full of pity, sympathy, as he looked at Riku in the eyes.

"Destiny Islands."

xxx

She looked up. She smiled sadly, raised her arm, and brushed the smooth glass.

"Naminé."

DiZ was calling her. He was calling her to come. She had to go.

"Promise me," she whispered, tracing the downward curve of the eyelid. "Promise me…that you'll find me. Don't forget the promise…Sora."

"Naminé, it is time."

She turned to leave, then looked back again. She sighed deeply, knew it would be a long, long time, before she would see that face again.

"When you remember…you will understand."

She had said the same thing to Roxas. Now it was time for Sora to hear her words and take them to heart.

The doors closed.

Silence.

There was a hiss, a change in air pressure. One by one, all the pods in the white room opened. One by one, the sleeping began to stir.

The pod in the very center of the room remained sealed. But the hissing meant the pod was about to open. The living within it will awaken from the long sleep.

The eyes were closed.

The memory pod opened.

The eyes opened.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Next time you'll get to see exactly what Merlin's talking about. Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	9. Conquest of Paradise

**Authoress' Note: **As part of the challenge, I am making each PoV different. People always say that different minds see and think differently on the same subject. Why not take advantage of it?

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._ The chapter title is taken from Vangelis. They have really hot music.

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«8 – Conquest of Paradise»**

It took a long time for Roxas to realize this was the very first time he's been to the beach, the very first time he's seen the ocean and smelled the brine. But on a deeper level, Roxas knew he was at home with this place, with the roar of the sea and the soft sand under his feet.

After all, this was Sora's home.

He sighed and looked at his hand, at the black and white glove that Sora wore. He wondered if anybody else wondered why Sora was wearing the same clothes as one year ago. Maybe he should get some new clothes. But where?

Roxas looked around. The beach was oddly empty except for a few adults either sunbathing or tackling the waves. Every now and then they'd look over in his direction and give him an odd look but he ignored them.

He was waiting for school to end.

The blitzball match against Tidus and Wakka was entertaining, although after a while he got bored. It was difficult trying to play at their level; he found himself mastering the game almost immediately and it took all his willpower not to overwhelm the other two teenagers. He didn't want to toy with their morale on the day of the match.

He was also preoccupied while dodging the blitzball and flinging it back at the other boys. He was immensely bothered by what Xemnas was relaying to him, enticing him back to the Organization with. The Superior said they'd leave him alone to his own devices if he joined…and he suggested vengeance as well. That was no laughing matter and Roxas knew it; the Organization may have been reduced to half its number thanks to the antics of Sora and his friends, and Riku too, but it was still a powerful force, and it was not stupid.

_He knows I'm angry, I'm hurt and I'm angry at what they've done to me. He knows they hunted me down and took me away, destroyed me and prepared me to be returned to Sora. He knows they used me, and he knows I will never forgive them for that. But what kind of revenge is he talking about?_

He pondered endlessly throughout but more and more he had found himself utterly distracted by the lingering feeling of eyes on him, eyes that followed his every movement in the match against Tidus and Wakka. He hated being made a spectacle. He had no choice, though, because the spectator was the Princess, Kairi. Sora had come back and she was going to make sure he wasn't out of her sight for more than a minute…or seven hours, depending on whether it was a school day or not.

_Sora's come back but Riku's out there. That's how I'll get her off this damn world. We'll go world-hopping; I'll take her closer to Hollow Bastion while telling her we're getting closer to him, then I'll leave her there and see what else people demand of me, Organization or Nam._

"So this is where they dump you at," an annoyingly familiar voice sounded aside him. Roxas scowled, looked up at the man in the black coat and hood. "Wish I was you…besides the looks. I like my hair, thanks. Isn't the ocean _beautiful_?"

"No, and what the hell do you want?" Roxas snapped. He was _not_ in the mood for a minute with Demyx.

"Oh, just doing as the boss says," the hooded man remarked. "He's checking up on you. Wants to see how you're doing. You sure don't look like yourself."

"You don't look like yourself," Roxas muttered, sinking behind the barrier of his arms which were resting, crossed, on his knees. He threw a death glare through dark brown bangs at the Organization member. "Go away."

"He wants you to bring the Princess to headquarters," Demyx said smoothly. "That's all he wants."

"And how's that going to help me?" Roxas retorted. "What am I going to get?"

"Playing free agent, are you? Well firstly, you're still a member of the Organization, like it nor not, so you're obliged to listen to the Superior. If you don't, we won't leave you alone."

"Who said-"

"You're not a normal Nobody," Demyx interrupted. "You're their liege. That makes you an Organization member. And the boss wants her because he's scared. We all are."

"What do you mean, 'scared'?" Roxas asked, shocked that Xemnas would be scared of something. "He's scared of her?"

"Maybe I wasn't supposed to say that…" Demyx mused. "Well, I guess there's nothing to do but pester along while you go do _their_ business like the little slave you are. Be a good boy, why don't you, and don't try to die."

The man actually petted him on the head and vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Roxas glared at the hand that was no longer there.

_Be a good boy, why don't you, and don't try to die._

Roxas was instantly on his feet and walking quickly towards town. He knew that despite Demyx being Demyx, sometimes his words were not to be tossed aside.

…_don't try to die._

Was Demyx trying to warn him? What was he talking about? What was he warning Roxas of? And if he was telling Roxas to watch out, was he doing it under orders or was he saying it secretly, for Roxas's sake? Nah, that wasn't Demyx. But he had a feeling the Superior wouldn't have told Demyx to tell Roxas something like that.

The Superior wanted the Princess at headquarters because he was scared. Scared of what?

Roxas came to the front of the school and saw the gates had been flung open and there was not a soul in sight, except for a few young teenage girls in those obnoxiously short blue plaid skirts and collared white shirts with rolled-up sleeves. They squealed as he stopped in front of the school and started giggling madly amongst themselves. He looked at them, openly curious about their strange behavior, then walked towards them.

"Uh…excuse me…" he said haltingly; they wouldn't stop poking each other and giving each other knowing looks. The tallest one amongst them, a blonde with streaks of bleached hair, smiled at him cheerfully and asked in a high, carefully controlled voice, "Do you need help?"

"Uh…actually, I just wanted to know…did school just finish?" he asked carefully. The girls looked at each other, consulted amongst themselves, then the dark brunette with long wavy hair set in two loosely tied pigtails chirped, "Yeah, fifteen minutes ago! School got out early 'cuz of the blitz game! Are you gonna go? The whole town's going!"

Fifteen minutes early?

Roxas whirled around on the heels of his feet and quickly walked in the opposite way and down the street, while girls called out to him disappointedly. He decided it was safest not to look back. He didn't know what was wrong with them.

Kairi. He had to find the Princess, and fast.

He ran down the street, scattering people. A small terrier started growling and barking at him as he rushed past it and its owner; he pushed his way through a blockade of high schoolers who he presumed were on their way to the blitzball match. While they cried out in indignation he kept running; he had no time to say sorry.

He made leeway to Kairi's house and leaped up the stairs to the porch, then banged on the screen door. He waited, leaning against the wall and trying to catch his breath, and the Mayor's wife answered.

"Oh Sora, Kairi's down at the beach. She was looking for you. Something about the offshore islands-"

"Thank you!" he interrupted, turned on his heels, and ran. Following the same tracks he ran through the bramble, soil, and sand, and out into the deeper, dryer part of the beach. He struggled his way through the sand, kicking up clouds, as he managed to make his way down to the wetter, stiffer surface. He ran alongside the crashing waves, was able to make out the slim figure of someone standing on the dock, back to him.

She was staring across where the sea and the land met in a roar of water, sand, and foam; far, far away the shore curved inland and the view opened up to an endless blue horizon. Here the sea wind tumbled, pulled like taffy in a hundred directions, and she raised a hand, pressed her red hair against her neck to keep it from whipping around her head.

Roxas stopped for a second, then continued towards her.

"…darling, darling, ah…questions make me blue…darling, darling, ah…tell me something good…" she was singing. The voice of the sea nearly drowned her out but he heard the long low words as he ran up the beach and jumped onto the dock.

She turned to him at the sound of his feet on the wood and smiled. "Hey, Sora."

He smiled hesitantly as he slowed to a halting walk towards her. "Hey…Kairi."

She turned back to the sea and the shore. "You're not going to the game, either?"

Roxas shook his head. "No…I came here…to find you."

"Really?" she said. As he watched, she reached for the left side of her face, then pulled out something small and black attached to a long dark cord. This she bunched in her hand and, turning to her left side, she put away in a black pouch hanging from her black belt. Roxas watched her curiously, wondering what that was.

When she noticed his open stare, she smiled, a pink flush creeping into her face. "Music. I was listening to a song."

"Oh…" was his very small reply. He didn't get it; what music? Then he had to ask, as soon as he noticed her wardrobe. "Aren't you…cold?"

"I could ask the same of you," she answered good-naturedly, referring to his short red jumpsuit. She looked down at her short pink dress and its lack of protection against the natural elements. "No…not really."

She tapped the tip of her pale pink shoe against the dock. "You wanna go to the Islands?"

The Islands. Roxas looked over her head and at the offshore playgrounds. "Why? Why aren't you at the game, anyways? A lot of people are…the last time I checked."

"You went to school to find me?" she asked softly. There was a certain awe in her voice.

"I…" What did she mean? Roxas scratched his head. "I was actually…I needed to talk to you. That's why."

"Oh…well, let's go to the Islands first. Until you came back home, I haven't been on it," she suggested, making her way down the dock to where there were several boats bobbing. "You wanna take yours? It's over there."

She pointed to two lonely boats tied at the same spot. They looked rather…uncared for.

"No," Roxas decided. They didn't look safe and he didn't trust himself with something so flimsy anyways. "How about…I go with you?"

The Princess was silent for a few minutes, then nodded. She brushed the bangs out of her eyes but then turned away, lowering her head so the bangs fell over them again. "Let's go."

Using what knowledge of the rowboats he had from Sora's memories, Roxas helped Kairi with the boat and then they were off towards the offshore islands. Roxas insisted on rowing but her "No" was firm and he knew she was unmovable when she was so sure.

"Afterwards," she suggested, while gulls flew overhead from the islands to the mainland and back, "let's go see your mom. I haven't told her you came back. Be careful, though; she's gonna go nuts over you."

"Oh I can't wait," Roxas heard himself say sarcastically. Kairi giggled as the islands drew near. "Kairi…"

"Yeah?"

"How come you didn't go to the islands for a long time?" he asked.

"Oh…that…" Kairi suddenly looked down at her feet and stopped rowing. Now the boat was bobbing about in the waters, closer to the islands than the mainland but not close enough. They were surrounded on all sides by the deep blue. Roxas waited for her to answer but she didn't move, didn't make a sound. He hesitated, then touched her on the shoulder. She looked up then, her face bright red. He nearly recoiled, shocked by the sudden change in appearance. "I…I guess there's something I have to show you…"

Her words ended in a whisper.

"Show me what?" he asked curiously.

She smiled widely at him then, took up rowing the boat. "You'll see, Sora. I guess it's okay to show you…and then I'll tell you why…no, maybe I'll tell you now. See…for some reason…until you came back, I kinda forgot you. No, wait…I remembered before you came back…"

Now she was talking rapidly, stumbling and pausing here and there. Words seemed to be spilling out of her mouth like how fountains spewed out water. He smiled with interest, didn't bother to slow her down as they drew nearer to the islands.

"…and this guy, he was saying some other name, and I thought, "I'm not her. Who are you?" The next thing I know, he says that he knew me, that I'm the girl you like…"

The smile froze on his face.

"…he said his name was Roxas and I told him my name, too, then I asked him who the person he was talking about was, and then I heard you. You were kind of surprised I forgot your name and you gave me a hint, just enough for me to remember your name, Sora," the Princess finished in a huff, her face flush with exertion. The rowboat bumped against the shallows.

"Roxas…" Suddenly the name seemed foreign to him. But no, it was his name. Roxas was his name. He was just masquerading as Sora, after all. "That's weird."

"I know," she nodded as she rose to her feet. The boat wavered and she nearly fell. Instinctively he reached out and grabbed her arms. "Sorry…after all these years I still don't know how to stand on a boat."

She laughed nervously as the boat kept tipping this way and that. "Now I don't know how to get off without capsizing us…"

Roxas didn't hesitate. "Do it."

He let her go and threw his weight to the side. The rowboat didn't quite follow; while it spewed the two out into the waters, it righted itself and snobbishly bobbed there, nice and dry.

Kairi was laughing as he quickly sat up, spitting out sand and water. He wiped at his face, then splashed saltwater and blinked several times. She was sitting a few feet away, drenched head to toe, and she couldn't stop laughing. Roxas sat there, watching her for a few minutes, felt his slight sheepish smile grow.

"That was clever of you," she said as she rose unsteadily to her feet. She was still catching her breath but she didn't seem to have any trouble on land. He followed after her, then reached out and snagged the rowboat before it escaped out to the open waters. She splashed her way over and together they pushed the boat up the beach. Then they walked up to the waterfall, Kairi slightly in the lead, and one by one they rinsed off the sea under the freshwater waterfall.

"The others always come here after school," she said, sitting on the edge of the pool as he ran a hand through his wet hair, water pouring on him from above. "I just went home…studied…went to sleep…Selphie always asked me to go with them but I didn't. I decided that until I remembered your name I wouldn't go. I mean…I felt horrible, remembering Riku but not you. Don't you wonder, Sora, why you seem to have slipped my mind? I don't know why I forgot you. You're such an important person to me…maybe the most important person…"

She stopped talking, stared down at her lap, and began picking at the zipper on her pink dress. Roxas stopped doing whatever he was doing and stood there, staring at her. It was weird being addressed as someone of importance to another, because he had never heard anyone speak to him that way. Not even the Organization, with all their claims of needing his keys, considered him in that fashion.

_She's talking about Sora. Sora's the most important person in her life._

He still thought it strange as he stepped away from the waterfall and wiped away water as it dribbled down his face. She didn't move and he took a step in her direction before Demyx's words suddenly came blasting back into his mind.

_And the boss wants her because he's scared. We all are…be a good boy, why don't you, and don't try to die._

"Kairi," he said slowly, his eyes sweeping away across the sea to mainland. He decided the dark clouds gathering over the town was not his imagination. "Kairi…if I were to leave now…and go look for Riku…would you come, too?"

She had mentioned Riku in the same breath as Sora, cared for both of them deeply and he knew that now that one of the missing has come back to her, it was time to go out and find the other. She could never say no.

And he had to get her off the world. A cold wind rushed past them from mainland and she shivered, went stiff. Then she straightened her back and whispered, "That…was unnatural."

The clouds were gathering en masse. Roxas narrowed his eyes as another cold wind blew towards them. Something reeked in this wind, something foul. It was a breath of cold ugly air.

"Yes…" he heard himself say. "It's not normal."

The Princess abruptly rose to her feet and turned to mainland, too. She gasped at the black clouds gathering. "What-is that Heartless?"

No, he knew. Heartless do not come heralded by storm clouds. Not even the Nobodies arrive announced in such a fashion. He took a step forward and out of the pool onto sand. "No…I don't think its Heartless…"

Then his ears picked up something high-pitched and filled with something…painful. There was another, and another, and another…

"Something's happening," Kairi breathed and began walking towards the waters. "They're…there's screaming…Sora, something's happening! We have to go back!"

No, she couldn't go back. They couldn't go back. They were stuck on the offshore islands, alone together, while a nightmare seemed to be unfolding across the sea from them. A horrid, horrid gathering of cries clung to the next cold wind blowing towards them and he winced at the fear and the pain.

Kairi was pushing desperately at the rowboat but it was stuck in the sand and would not budge. Roxas ran to her, pulled her hands away. The Princess pushed him off, continued throwing herself at the rowboat to get it back into the waters. Roxas staggered back, then saw the waves were boiling against the shore, foaming and spitting angrily. The sea was turning dark blue, almost black.

"Kairi. Kairi! Kairi, stop! Kairi, stop it!" Roxas grabbed her forearm and pulled her away forcefully. She cried out and fell onto the sand. "Get away from the waters. Kairi, get back!"

"Sora-" she began indignantly, still sprawled on the sand, but she propped herself up and gasped at the sea. Then she stared at the sky. The black clouds hadn't covered the firmament but the sky itself was turning an ugly purplish black. "Oh my god, what's happening? Sora!"

The water began to boil, throw itself upon the shore. The screams and wails were reaching them now without the help of wind; shadow was cast upon the town across the sea as the black clouds began to spread horizontally.

"Selphie…" he heard her whisper.

A pinprick of chill told Roxas to turn around. He stared at the glowing yellow eyes, took a step towards Kairi. There was another pair alongside the first…and another one. Three, he counted three. And then he noticed the pools of purple darkness forming a wide ring around the two.

"Kairi…" he said softly, touched her shoulder. "Kairi, they're here."

"What?" he felt the shaking under his fingers stop. Her skin was cool to the touch but as he pressed deeper against the shoulder he felt hot blood coursing.

"Heartless."

A violent tremor raced under his fingertips and he pulled away, looked at her. The Princess had gone pale, her mouth slightly open, her blue eyes wide. She could see them for herself, the huge humanoid Heartless surrounding them.

"Sora…" she whispered. "Sora…what do we do? There's so many of them…"

Roxas knew what to do all right. He could have thrown himself at them minutes ago, Keyblades flashing. But he realized that wasn't what he had done. Almost immediately he had taken someone else into account, a handicap to his instant reflexes.

Kairi. The Princess.

Roxas frowned. He hadn't given much thought to how he'd fight off danger with her tagging along. She was the kind of person that brought attention upon herself, welcome or no. And – this he was quite aware of – she didn't fight. She didn't know how to fight.

This was a serious liability. Roxas was going to have to find a way to get them off Destiny Islands fast.

"Kairi, get up," he hissed as he held his hands out before him. Two Keyblades – the Oathkeeper and the Oblivion – flashed into his hands. He gripped them tightly, gave each a spin, then held them out, blades pointing at the Heartless. "Kairi!"

She was still kneeling on the sand, completely frozen. The sight of the Heartless must have shocked her. Furious, Roxas was about to shove her into the sand and bring her back down to reality but caught himself. That was something Sora would _never_ do.

"Kairi, listen to me." His voice sounded cold, even to him, but he hoped she'd ignore that. "Get up. Get up on your feet and get ready to run."

She nodded slowly, then slowly rose to her feet. He took a step backwards, pressed into her shaking body.

"They're surrounding us," he whispered to her as the Heartless took a step closer, shrinking the circle. "We're going to have to fight our way out, okay?"

"And then what?" she asked.

"And then…" Roxas hesitated. "And then…I know how to get away from here. Once we break away, I can get us out of here. Okay?"

"O-okay," she answered. "Sora…"

The Heartless stepped even closer. Roxas suddenly realized there was no way they could do just as he explained without the Princess being able to do something more than just tag along beside him. "Kairi, take this."

He whirled around and pressed into her sweaty hands the Oathkeeper. She gasped, nearly lost her grip but her fingers tightened around the handle. She stared at the Keyblade, then at Roxas. "You-you want me…"

"Just swing it at them if they get too close," he said, gesturing to the Oblivion in his right hand. "Ready?"

For one horrid moment he thought Kairi was going to faint; she had the pallor of death. Then she bit her bottom lip and nodded, some color returning to her face. Roxas took a breath, and then another, while his body tensed considerably.

"Now!"

xxx

While the wind roared and the skies boiled over in inky black hues, a fire seemed to spread through the seaside town from further inland. It was hot white, reaching up for the black clouds boiling overhead. The flames crept up the sides of buildings and swirled around the sidewalks and streets, melted lamp posts and street signs. A wind from above blew down and stirred up the fire.

An inferno of white and blue flames roared down the streets towards the beach, devouring people and buildings and all other things that stood in its path. It was a living beast, roaring and rushing down the roads to the beach. It drove the survivors there, to the very shallows where the sea tossed and twisted at their ankles and they stood bunched together, huddled and quaking.

Selphie whimpered. It was the only sound she had made the last ten minutes. Her eyes were wide and she kept them that way, small tears streaming down her hot dry face. She clung to Tidus and he in return hugged her, shaking violently. The few people around them muffled their tears and their screams of utter despair as the fire licked at the wet sand but dared not reach over the raging sea.

Selphie had seen the fire devour Wakka, swallow him as he pushed Selphie and Tidus away. The teenager had not bothered running with them, didn't even make a sound as he vanished in the licking, writhing arms of the white flames.

Wakka was dead. The whole town was laid waste to, and the inland where the fire came from, and the few people backing away into the sea were next. Selphie was going to die.

"There's something in the fire," Tidus whispered, his voice so hoarse she wasn't sure she heard him right. But she looked straight into the white fire, squinting, and saw something moving deep within it. No, she saw many things writhing and twisting about, as though they were on fire. They were already on fire-

"All dead!" a little girl, covered in soot, chirped up abruptly. "They're all already dead!"

Already? What was that girl thinking? Selphie dared herself to look at the flames, at the slightly dark shapes clutching themselves in apparent pain and thought she could see Wakka standing there, fire swirling around him. But there was something else in the white fire, tinged blue and orange. It was a strange shape, fluid and long and slender. It flowed amongst the many things, its slender front swiveling here and there. Like a head.

There was a creature in the fire, moving amongst the flames, unaffected.

The head suddenly swiveled and vanished into the form. She saw hot coals, black holes in the flames giving off grayish smoke. They were eyes and they were staring straight at her.

"What-what-w-what-" Selphie stammered, could not speak properly.

_Where is she?_

She looked up at Tidus, saw his eyebrows shoot up and his blue eyes widen. He looked at her, too. "Y-you hear that…"

_Where is he?_

The bedraggled Mayor spoke aloud, "It's looking for someone. But it's killed us all. There's no one else! No one! It's killed us all! We're all dead!"

_Where are they? They're not here. They're not dead! You're hiding them, all of them! Where are they?_

"We-we're not hiding anyone," Selphie whimpered. "Just-just go away."

Nothing would ever be solved if the fire died away, the clouds vanished, and the sea became bright, calm, and blue once more. All Selphie wanted, though, was for that strange beast of fire to go away, far, far away, and never come back.

_You lie!_

The creature roared and leaped forward, mouth opening to black fire inside this horrid beast. Selphie screamed.

xxx

She had never handled the Keyblade before, didn't even know how to use it, but Sora depended on her to help him fight off the Heartless, and she wasn't about to disappoint him. The weapon was rather heavy, compared to the wooden sword she once used to shut Tidus up in the early days after Sora had gone to find Riku. It was much heavier but in a sense much lighter. And yet it was so strong; she managed to strike a Heartless in the head and it was thrown back.

She saw Sora stab a Heartless right into the chest with his black Keyblade. There was a dark grimace on his face, splattered with black liquid, as he viciously yanked out the Keyblade and the Heartless collapsed at his feet, melting into a black pool while a translucent red heart floated upwards into the angry heavens. More black liquid splashed on him as he twirled the Keyblade around in his hand and took a side swipe at a Heartless bolting towards him. Then he swiveled the Keyblade and thrust it backwards. Kairi yelled and stumbled to the side and away as the Keyblade stopped short a Heartless from latching onto her free arm.

A rush of black on her right side; Kairi whirled around with the heavy Keyblade swinging and struck the Heartless. She didn't swing hard enough, though, and a jagged tooth of the Keyblade got caught on the side of the Heartless's neck. It jerked this way and that, slowly pulling the Keyblade out of her sweaty hand. She grasped on with her left hand and pulled back, her feet sliding through the sand.

"Sora!" she yelled out in panic. The Heartless grabbed the long body of the Keyblade and was pulling her towards it. She shuddered violently as it cocked its head to the side, its yellow eyes gleaming at her. "Sora, it's got the Keyblade. It's too strong!"

The Heartless's head suddenly jerked up grotesquely and it collapsed in melting black ink. She shrieked and jumped back. The Keyblade dropped into the surf, mixing with the Heartless remains while the red heart drifted up in the hellish sky. She stared at the gleaming white body and then looked across the black sea at the white fire burning on the mainland.

"Kairi, pick it up!" Sora shouted angrily. "Pick it up!"

Home was no longer home; it was a raging inferno, a white hell. She had read books about heaven and hell, thought hell was red and black, and heaven all manners of light and white. But no, the books were lying. This was hell; it was white hell.

"Kairi, pick the damn thing up-duck!"

She jumped for the Keyblade, threw herself down into the surf as something whirled shrilly above her head and she felt hot wind rush across the back of her neck. She whipped her head to the left and saw a Heartless collapse. Something black whipped back over her head and she followed it to Sora, who snatched the black Keyblade and thrust it immediately at a Heartless that tried to jump him when he was open. Kairi stared at the coldness in his face. It wasn't savagery or hatred or disgust of any sort, not even righteous anger.

It made her cold. That was all she knew she was feeling. She couldn't read his face; it was impenetrable.

And then something monstrous and black rose up behind Sora, with horrid yellow eyes and body layered with muscles. Its feet were curled at the tip like jester shoes, and its hands revealed claws. There was a gapping hole in its chest, a great empty maw hat opened up into the inky sky.

"B-behind you!" she screamed, pointing.

Sora whirled around, stared up at the huge Heartless, then looked back at her. He beckoned to her desperately and she didn't hesitate, snatching up the Keyblade and willing her aching legs to move.

"Stay with me!" he ordered while the Heartless glowered at them. Wind was blowing, hot and cold and foul. "Stay close! They know-"

A fist came down and he pushed her to the side, jumped away as the fist slammed into the ground. She cried out as she fell into the sand, then stared at the black and purple spiral forming outward from the fist. Small Heartless were pulling themselves out and jerking their heads about, confused. Then a handful of them spotted her. She scrambled to her feet, held the Keyblade in front of her, whimpered as they scurried towards her.

The hand withdrew and suddenly Sora was in sight again. He twisted his waist as he slung his black Keyblade towards her. It flew in an arc, spinning, and cut a path, opening up space between her and the next nearest Heartless. It returned to his hand as she grasped the Keyblade tightly with both hands and swung.

The Heartless scattered and a hot scorching wind blasted across the beach. She winced as sand blew in her face. Kairi doubled over, coughing, then yelled at the vice grip on her upper arm. She forced her eyes open and saw it was Sora. He was dragging her along, towards the sea, and suddenly she felt hot dry wind blast at her right arm. She instinctively looked at its source and gaped at the huge Heartless; it was staggering about, its arms wind-milling, white fire devouring it from behind.

"Oh god, it's on fire," she whispered. Sora suddenly let go. Kairi staggered at the loss of momentum and stumbled into the water.

"Stay in the water!" he said loudly. She nodded, rose to her feet, stared as white fire stormed the great trees at the center of the offshore islands. It stirred up the sea winds which spun the sea into a storm.

"Oh my god," Kairi murmured as fire suddenly skyrocketed upwards into the clouds. It spun in a cyclone, glowing hellish white, and she saw burning coal, a hulking creature tinged bluish white with a tapered face and a mouth that seemed to be made of black fire.

_I found you._

"Sora!" she screamed, grabbed onto him. He stared at her but then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders tightly and yelled, "Hang on!"

She closed her eyes as the creature of fire leaped towards them from the cyclone. A roar in her ears, a rush of wind everywhere, and everything was black.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** As I have stated in my latest update for one of my other stories, I will begin answering in-depth to questions concerning this story. I feel that because this (and its possible sequel) is the last time I'll be writing a fanfiction I should challenge myself and you, the reader. If you have questions regarding the structure, style, technique, story, characters, etc. please say so in your review. I will answer on my livejournal. The address can be found on my Bio page.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	10. Wayward Voyagers

**Authoress' Note: **The chapter following this one will include a little extra information regarding this story; every ten chapters will have something extra, and no, this is the ninth chapter, not the tenth as the site lists it as. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«9 – Wayward Voyagers»**

Riku threw himself into the cockpit, not caring he had no idea how to take charge of one of these-these hovercraft spaceships. He stared at the controls wildly while the Cheshire Cat materialized on the control board, sitting rather comfortably next to the windows, and Tarzan scrambled onto the ship the conventional way. Merlin was outside, shouting words, but Riku did not hear them. He heard Merlin's voice but he did not know what the wizard was saying.

"_Riku…news…word from the outside…fire…the beast has been sighted."_

"_Where, Merlin, where?"_

"_I'm…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry, Riku."_

"_Where is it, Merlin? Where's the damn thing!"_

"_Destiny Islands."_

The Cheshire Cat and Tarzan told him their worlds were destroyed by this strange beast of fire. The way they described it, with Tarzan's apparent ineptitude with words and the Cheshire Cat's calm cold explanation, chilled him deep inside.

"_Like fire…it came like white fire. I…I have never seen white fire. It came…it wanted…what Sora had taken away. The blue butterflies…the keyhole…it opened the keyhole…and ate the light."_

"_It comes in white fire, blinding light, and yet it reeks of pure evil, utterly foul air. Everyone fell before its path, devoured. It went to the doorknob and destroyed it. It ate the light while Wonderland fell all around it. It is a terrible thing to watch. And the chasers were not there. The three hunters were not in sight when the demon fox destroyed Wonderland."_

Riku shuddered in his swivel seat as he stared at the controls. He stared at the various buttons and levers and had absolutely no idea what to do with them.

"Start the engines, Riku," the Cheshire Cat said calmly. "Close the door or Tarzan will jump out and hurt himself."

"I-I don't know how!" Riku retorted angrily. "I never-never drove one of these before!"

"What does this do?" Tarzan wondered curiously. He banged a fist against the ship's side and the ship issued forth a hissing sound.

"D-don't touch anything!" Riku blustered, looking frantically at the controls while still ignoring Merlin's shouting. "Don't do anything yet!"

"Look at the red button," the Cat remarked, sprawling across the controls and wagging a finger at a conspicuously large round red button to the very left of the controls. Etched into it was the word 'START'.

"Some joke," Riku snorted.

The ship suddenly jolted, jumped to the side. Riku scrambled, his hands raking at the buttons and switches and levers. His large frame practically lodged him in the seat while the Cat slid the length of the control panel and scrunched up on the other side. There was a huge cluttering and crashing and Riku whipped his head around to see Tarzan scrambling up the side of the ship. Riku groaned, ran a frustrated hand through his long silver hair, and turned back to the controls to see all the buttons alight.

"Riku! Riku, damn you, listen to me!" Merlin shouted outside but his next words, whatever they were, were blasted away by the roar of engines. The ship shook violently and the lights flashed on and off all over the control board.

"I can't hear you!" Riku yelled back, hoping Merlin could hear him over the roar.

"You might want to start the ship," the Cat remarked lightly.

"I already started the damn ship!" Riku shouted, jumping to his feet. "What else am I supposed to do?"

The Cat didn't answer; he carefully – daintily – picked his way down the control board to the lever sticking out on the right side of the cockpit. The Cat yawned and stretched out; he grasped the lever and pushed down on it.

The ship jumped forward and something crashed into the seat; Riku slammed forward into the control panel. The Cheshire Cat clung to the lever and wasn't subject to the physical banging up that Riku and Tarzan were dealing with. In the mess that ensued, the ship somehow rose in the air. Riku shot his head up and smacked it against something that wasn't there. Rubbing his head, Riku growled at the offender but found it to be some strange contraption that stuck out of the control panel.

"Use it to steer the ship," the Cheshire Cat remarked. "We're headed for the wall of the hanger."

"Shit!" Riku scrambled out of the mess and threw himself into the seat, then grasped the contraption with both hands and twisted it violently to the left. The ship flew left, the wing scraping the wall of the hanger. He peered out the window and saw three other ships sitting scattered throughout the hanger and a blue figure jumping up and down emphatically. Then it stopped hopping madly and a voice boomed throughout the hanger.

"WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T TRY AND FIGHT THE DEMON FOX! WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW STRONG IT IS OR WHAT ITS PLANS ARE! JUST HUNT DOWN THE STORY AND THE HUNTERS! YOU GET THAT? DON'T DO ANYTHING FOOLISH OR-"

Riku looked at the Cat questioningly.

"Next destination: space," the Cheshire Cat said and banged his fist on a second, smaller lever. Riku had just enough time to grab onto the contraption as the ship rocketed out of hanger and Traverse Town.

Space welcomed the erratic ship. Heartless ships skittered about amongst the asteroids and rings and various strange floating objects. Riku stared at one particularly menacing purple and green boulder, then realized what he was supposed to do and jerked the ship out of the way. There was a crash somewhere behind him but he ignored it.

"There," the Cat remarked. "There."

"What?" Riku stared at him. "What do you mean 'There'?"

"The wrong way you go. That's debris from Wonderland, my former home."

A chipped teacup floated by. Riku took the cue and quickly turned around. "Then where the hell do I go?"

"Not that way. The other way."

"I was just heading in the other way!" Riku yelled back, finding the Cat's voice much more irritating than before. "Which way to Destiny Islands?"

"Why bother?" the Cat drawled. "Oh dear, I did not say that."

Riku stared at the Cheshire Cat in astonishment. "Why bother? Why _bother_? WHY BOTHER! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHY BOTHER!"

"Too late, Riku," Tarzan whispered from behind him. He was shaking his head sadly. "Once there…uh…um…"

Then came a series of gibberish. Riku, already at a head with what the Cheshire Cat told him, glared behind him and yelled, "What's wrong with you? Why can't you talk right!"

Tarzan backed away, gripping his spear tightly. His mouth was set in a thin grim line and he looked sad. The Cat was tsking.

"His family consisted of gorillas. His familiar speech is their speech. Human speech comes difficult to his mind. Patience, Riku, patience."

"I don't _have_ patience!" Riku snapped. "I rushed the ship and it's too late? What do you mean, too late?"

"It kills quickly. A ball of fire that sweeps over the world, hidden from view by black clouds. The world will burn while the beast rips open the Keyhole and destroys the world's heart and the world itself. Once it devours the light in the world, the world is gone. It doesn't take long. Very few survive, if at all."

"You-you mean…" Riku stammered as he collapsed in the seat, deflating, defeated. What about Kairi? "Too late…I can't go…and-and save Destiny Islands? I can't…I can't save Kairi?"

"You heard Merlin. Don't attempt to face the beast. Do you really want to face it? Perhaps you should witness its method of destruction. Yes, yes. You want legend, see it. Destiny Islands is that bright star."

There were many stars in space. Riku glared at the Cat, wondering if he was mocking him. The Cat, though, pressed a finger against the window and when he removed it, there was a hot bright star, glowing in various intensities. As Riku watched, as he unconsciously steered the ship towards it, he saw blood red stain the pure white glow, slowly turning the white light into a scarlet shade. And then…it went black. The star disappeared.

"Where'd it go!" Riku yelled, startled. He grasped the lever the Cheshire Cat and leaned on, the small lever that had slid back up, and yanked it down.

"Quick study," the Cat said as the ship jumped forward rapidly. There was more crashing in the back and the lights in the ship went out. Riku sighed and turned around to see Tarzan hastily shove cords back into a large crack in the wall.

"Eyes on the wheel, Riku. There are several ships headed for where the star was," the Cat said, jumped off the control board and rather daintily sauntered off. Riku stared at the purple and pink cat, then swiveled back in his seat only to see a Heartless ship loom into view, its guns locked on his head.

"Oh shit!"

The ship shot downwards but as it did bolts of light flashed to the Heartless ship and it exploded. Riku stared as he pulled the ship back up and straight for where the Heartless ships were congregating. The ship jumped abruptly and as Riku watched a missile from underneath the ship screamed towards the ships, ricocheting off of ships and damaging them considerably. A good handful shuddered and exploded.

Tarzan made a sound, which sounded a lot like awe. Riku couldn't help but swivel in his seat and saw Tarzan staring into a room that previously wasn't there. Tarzan caught his eye, pointed into the room, and said haltingly, "It…it…good. Good…aim."

Aim? Riku leaped out of his seat, not caring if the ship could take care of itself without him at the cockpit, and ran to the room. He peered in and saw a strange sight: the room had different controls in it, including what looked like a machine gun with some sniper stuff added to it and the Cat was sitting in the backless swivel seat in front of it, leisurely taking aim at the various ships flying past towards where Destiny Islands was.

"You're kidding me," were the first words out of his mouth. A cat manning a gun? He's seen and experienced very strange things in the one year he wasn't on Destiny Islands but this was by far the strangest.

The Cheshire Cat then said, "I suppose you know nothing about autopilot."

"What?"

"Autopilot. The ship steers itself."

The ship suddenly lurched forward and Riku grabbed at the doorframe as the ship tipped forward. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tarzan hurtle himself at the other end of the ship and though more cords spilled out of the cracks in the walls, the ship leveled itself. However, and Riku could see this through the window in the room that wasn't there before, the ship was drifting aimlessly; it was going off to the side away from where the Heartless ships were.

"They're there for the Princess of Heart," the Cat suddenly said, while Riku carefully let go and began walking backwards back to the cockpit. "That's why they're massing. The world is about to go and they're here to collect the prize before that happens. I gather…no I don't…yes I do…no I don't…"

"They want Kairi? Oh shit, of course! Of course they want Kairi! How'd that slip my mind!" Riku demanded, peeling his eyes away and throwing himself into the cockpit seat. He scrambled over the controls a bit, then got it together and turned the ship towards the Heartless. "They'll have to get past me first!"

"But…but they are…ahead…of you," Tarzan pointed out in rather obvious fashion. Riku sighed, grimaced.

"That's not what I meant!"

He forced the engines to high power and the ship streaked towards where the Heartless ships were. But as he neared, the other ships began turning around and soaring off in all directions, scattering.

"What the-"

"I suppose you want to die," the Cat sang out, setting Riku's teeth on edge. Again he rose to his feet and stormed to the Cat.

"What the hell are you talking about, you goddamn fucking cat!" Riku shouted.

The Cheshire Cat, amazingly enough, slowly and casually craned his head to Riku and grinned. Riku hated the grin. He _hated_ it. It was a mocking grin, gleaming white with huge teeth. It was a grin that told Riku there were many things he didn't know. It was a smile that told him that he was stupid and foolish and naïve and a child. He itched to put his fist through it.

"It is no more," the Cat hummed out through the grin. Riku stared at him, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. Slowly he raised his head and stared out the window.

A pinprick of light became an explosion, a terrible force of sound and light that blinded and deafened him instantly.

xxx

He stood there, looking around, his shoulders raised in sign of confusion. He looked at his two companions, saw that they too had their shoulders raised. They had no answers, either. None of them knew where they were or how they got there. They had no recollection of how they went from charging into the Chapel with Beast, looking for the Princesses of Heart, to a stark white room full of egg-shaped contraptions housed within a rundown mansion with high gates in the midst of trees under a sky painted with hues of sunset.

And when they consulted the journal of their fourth friend, they found the last entry to be just as enigmatic as the place they had come into.

'Thank Naminé'.

Sora looked at Donald and Goofy once he had finished reading the two-word sentence. "Who's Naminé?"

Donald shrugged. "Like I'd know."

Goofy scratched his head, pushing his lopsided hat to the side of his head. "Beats me."

Jiminy Cricket shut his journal and tucked it under his arm. "I bet if we find people and ask, they'll tell us something about this 'Naminé'."

Sora nodded in agreement. "How long do you think we were in there?"

He looked pointedly at the mansion and got no answer from any of them. He looked back, saw them staring at him rather openly and unabashedly. Suddenly self-conscious, he shifted weight onto one leg and scratched his head. "What?"

Donald marched up to him and gave him close sharp scrutiny. Sora stared back, more confused than offended. "You've gotten older."

Goofy nodded emphatically. "Yup, he's right! You gotten taller and, er, skinnier and, er, you got longer hair!"

"Really?" Sora asked, then touched the top of his head, carefully feeling his spikes. After several minutes, he decided that they must be right; his hair did feel longer than he remembered. He then stared at the mansion again and repeated his question. "How long were we in there?"

"More than a month," Jiminy Cricket input, pulling out his journal and flipping through it again. "People don't grow and change like that in a month. Maybe a few months…maybe a whole year!"

"Year!" Donald shrieked indignantly. "We were in there for a-a whole year!"

He jumped up and down furiously, outraged by the idea that they were in a mansion in the middle of nowhere for a whole year without even knowing it. Sora had to agree with Donald, though; that was a crazy idea. Why would they go into those strange egg machines for a year? What would they have been doing? How'd they get in there in the first place?

"Hey, huyuk, look over there!" Goofy exclaimed, bounding forward towards what looked like a path through the wooded area. Sora perked up at the discovery.

"There is hope after all!" he cried out and ran after Goofy. Donald squalled madly behind him while Jiminy Cricket gave a startled shout and grabbed onto the hood of Sora's jacket for dear life. "A light at the end of the forest!"

"Sora, get back here!" Donald yelled, running after him. Jiminy Cricket flew off and Donald caught him as he followed Goofy and Sora to a high wall and a large makeshift arch in the wall. Beyond the wall there seemed to be life.

People stared at them as Goofy, Sora, Donald, and Jiminy Cricket tumbled into town, all gasping for breath, breathing hard. Sora was the first to jump to his feet and recover but noticing eyes on him, he looked down on himself and cringed. His clothes may have fit him well the last time but if Jiminy Cricket was right and they were in those things for few months, his clothes were now awkwardly short and ridiculous on him. Sora deflated and turned to tend to his friends. Somehow Goofy had flopped himself onto Donald and knocked himself out in the process. Donald pushed him off and got to his feet, muttering and brushing at his sleeve.

"Where are we?" Sora asked as Jiminy Cricket jumped onto his shoulder and dusted his hat.

"I have no idea."

Sora sighed, looked around town. There were buildings taller than Traverse Town and bigger, too. The road they were on was enormous by Sora's standards. And there was-what was that?

"Hey, what's that?" Sora asked loudly, pointing at a strange contraption that went by them on wheels. It seemed to be following a track on the ground that sauntered around a corner and disappeared.

"A tram, by golly!" Goofy hiccupped, apparently now awake, while even more people stopped walking around to stare at them.

"Maybe we shouldn't be shouting these things out," Jiminy Cricket suggested. Sora looked at his shoulder and saw the cricket with his head in his journal. "I think its normal things for these people and us shouting out how outlandish it is would probably bother them a lot."

"I know," Donald retorted. "That's why I didn't say anything."

"Oh hush, you're nothing special," Sora replied good-naturedly. Donald flared up and took a step towards him but already Sora had turned his back to the wizard and walked off into the streets, whistling.

"But we don't know where we're going, do we?" Goofy asked, looking at Donald.

"_He_ doesn't know where he's going," Donald said, crossing his arms crossly. "We'd better follow him before he does something stupid-"

As if on cue and as if Fate wished to make Donald's nightmare come true, a very rude voice demanded, "What do you want?"

"What do you mean what do I want?" Sora countered. "I wasn't doing anything!"

"Oh leave him alone, Hayner," another voice, definitely female, added.

Donald sighed deeply and jogged towards the voices. Goofy scratched his head, then followed, holding onto his hat tightly. He crossed the tracks just before the tram whistled, hooted, and nearly ran him over, then followed Donald down the street to a corner, where Sora, and Jiminy Cricket, seemed locked in conversation with three teenagers about his age. The rotund one was eating a light blue ice cream bar, the wavy-haired brunette was shaking her head, and the intense-looking blond boy was waving his arm about while Sora stood there scratching his head. Donald and Goofy caught up to him and the boy stopped talking.

"What are they?" the rotund black-haired boy asked, his mouth lined with something blue.

"My friends, Donald and Goofy," Sora explained. "Hey, they said this is Twilight Town. Any of you know where that is?"

"Uh, here?" the blond teenager suggested sarcastically. The brunette elbowed him, then said, "Name's Olette. That's Pence and this is Hayner. Hayner, be nice! He didn't try and trip you on purpose just to get back at you for something he never did! Remember, we never saw him before!"

"You sure?" Pence remarked. "Sora looks familiar to me, I think."

"I don't know," Hayner muttered, now just disgruntled. "Let's go."

Olette tugged at his arm. "C'mon, he asked about Twilight Town. We should tell him."

"Where'd you come from, anyways?" Pence asked. "We don't get a lot of people coming in from outside Twilight Town, and you three definitely look weird."

"Weird!" Donald snorted under his breath. Jiminy Cricket looked outraged; he'd been overlooked again.

"Well…we did come from outside of town, didn't we?" Goofy asked, looking at Sora, Donald, and Jiminy Cricket. "We woke up in this weird mansion and…der…yeah, a mansion, in the middle of the forest! And there was a trail and we followed it and came here."

Goofy looked proud because he remembered the details so well but the look slipped off his face when he noticed how Hayner, Olette, and Pence gaped at him.

"The _mansion_?" Pence repeated. "But-but it's haunted! How'd you-maybe you magically got into that mansion from another place! Like, it's haunted and-"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket stared at him. Sora decided he had absolutely no idea what Pence was saying. Maybe that ice cream's making him crazy.

"A while back we saw shadows and lights in one of the windows. But everybody knows nobody lives in the mansion; it's been abandoned for as long as we remember," Olette explained over Pence's low continuous mutters. "So how'd you get in there?"

"I said we really don't know," Sora explained. "Well actually, I have no idea how it all happened. The last thing I remember I was running through this really dark, creepy hall to this big round platform in front of a huge keyhole. Yeah, a real keyhole. I knew I'd find this person I've been looking for there. I-I remember running up the stairs, two at a time, and when I reached the top, I saw her, I saw Kairi, and…and I don't know what happens next. I remember her lying on the floor and then I remember waking up in this white room and Donald and Goofy were outside of this thing I was sleeping in, waiting for me to join them. Does that make sense? I don't think so."

Hayner, Olette, and Pence were staring at him. One by one they shook their heads, each saying, "No."

"Plus," Hayner added, "we don't know your story. Not that I want you to share it."

"Oh don't be so mean," Olette retorted.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, it's a long story, and weird, too. Whatever happened and happens to me will probably never happen to you so why bother?"

"You just want us to bite the bait," Hayner accused. His eyes, though, spoke differently, and his mouth soon followed. "How'd you meet up with that-those-those things?"

"He calls us things!" Donald snorted to Goofy, who was apparently not paying attention.

"Huh?"

"I met them," Sora said rather simply. "I met them in this world, Traverse Town. They were looking for their king; I was looking for my two friends-"

"Are they still looking for their king?" Pence suddenly interrupted and with great interest. Sora scowled at him, his story spoiled, but shrugged.

"That's hard to say. I don't think we did. I don't even know what he looks like. And I think there's something missing, too, something I can't remember…"

"What about your friends?" Olette quickly added before Pence could open his mouth again.

"Well…I don't know. I remember I was still looking for them, for Kairi at least. Riku was there but-but he turned against me, fought me. You have any idea what it's like," and here his voice began to waver, pain-filled tears filling his eyes, while he remembered his clash with his best friend, "to fight your best friend over another friend that I'm looking for? He-he already knows where she is, and I was about to find her, too. And then…and then I don't remember…"

Why was his mind bringing up an incredibly annoying blank wall every single time he tried to figure out what happened beyond Donald, Goofy, and Beast fighting off Heartless while he ran up the stairs to find Kairi?

Sora wiped his eyes and looked at the three teenagers. Olette looked sad, Hayner looked confused and a bit put off, and Pence-

"We met a king," he blurted out. "We were at the train station waiting for the local train and we saw this weird guy. He didn't look like anyone from around."

"What did he look like?" Goofy asked before Sora could.

"Short, really short. Had these huge disks on the top of his head," Pence said, taking a bite of his ice cream bar. "He was wearing this black coat and he had a whip. At least I think it's a whip-"

"I think it's a tail," Olette input.

Sora scratched his head. "Don't sound like any king to me-"

"Why, that's His Majesty!" Jiminy Cricket suddenly exclaimed, jumping from Sora's shoulder to the top of his head and down to his other shoulder. "That's His Majesty alright! What do you say?"

"Huyuk, that does sound like him!" Goofy agreed. "C'mon, he's around town then!"

He loped off. Donald sighed. "Goofy, get back here!"

Sora turned back to the teenagers. "When was this?"

"Days ago," Hayner said nonchalantly. "That was only the first time. Last time we saw him, it was the train station earlier today. He actually talked to us. He said if we met some really weird people, tell them to go to the train station-"

"Right, then!" Sora declared and whirled around on his heels to run after Goofy, who was still loping along and totally ignoring Donald's demands to come back.

And then Sora realized he didn't know where the station was.

"Uh…you know where the train station is?" he asked, embarrassed.

Olette giggled, then pointed at the huge clock tower reaching for the skies. "That's the station tower. You go to that, you'll find the train station."

"Okay, thanks!" Sora waved and ran towards it, Donald in tow. He yelled to Goofy, "Goofy, wrong way!"

"Oh, right then!" Goofy replied, turned immediately, and fell over a street lamp. He was quickly back on his feet and running to Sora, Donald, and Jiminy Cricket, dodging people as he went. For someone with such an ungainly gait, he was quite the agile one.

Eventually people began to disappear…more like they just weren't there as they kept their eyes and their sense of direction glued to the huge clock tower. Down a couple more streets, past some squares, and then they were running up the stairs to what must be the train station. They pushed open the doors, more like barreled through them, and came out to a very vacant station. There were no trains, no people on the benches or pacing, nobody at all.

"Wow, that's weird," Sora remarked, scratching his head. "There's no one-hey!"

Something streaked past his left eye, flashed gray and white. He quickly turned to it, saw some long elastic thing flip over the floor and over the tracks to the other side. Sora looked at Donald and Goofy, then said, "Hang on, Jiminy."

He ran and jumped over the train tracks. Donald and Goofy soon followed, with Goofy landing on his face and Donald barely making it. Sora ran over and helped the wizard up, then looked around wildly for that mysterious streaking grayish thing. He couldn't put any stationary features to it; it kept bouncing around, flipping this way and that.

And then there was another one! It bounced off the walls and over their heads but as soon as it landed, it seemed to multiply into threes. Now there were four of these strange things-no, six. Sora quickly took a step back, bumped up against Donald and Goofy. He felt Jiminy Cricket slide down into his pocket.

"G-guys?" he asked worriedly as one of the bouncy things landed and didn't take off again. It was a bizarre creature, with sharp narrow deadly-looking hands, and a flat head. Its mouth was a zipper. "What is that? Exactly?"

"They don't look like Heartless to me," Goofy suggested.

"Of course they're not Heartless!" was Donald's immediate comeback. "And no, I don't know what they are, either. They look _dangerous_!"

He put a special emphasis on the last word, as if to warn Sora. He took the cue and held out his hand. A smile formed on his face as the familiar form of the Keyblade flashed into his grip in an explosion of light. He felt the handle, grinned at the familiar feel of being 'dangerous'.

"_I'm_ dangerous," he declared pompously, then the grin froze when he noticed how all the strange grayish creatures stopped jumping around. All their heads pointed to him, to his beloved weapon.

"You think," he muttered to the others, "they know about the Keyblade?"

"Der…" was Goofy's reply. "I dunno."

One of the creatures took a step forward, bent over, its head leaning forward towards Sora. He swallowed and took a step back as the creature nosed towards the weapon. It then pulled back, stood up straight, and the zipper flew back and forth across its mouth, again and again, open and close.

"You are not our liege!"

Sora felt his mouth drop open and he quickly looked at Donald and Goofy, who were both shocked the creature talked. More than that, though, they had no idea what it meant by calling Sora a 'liege'.

"What does that mean?" Donald demanded of one of the other creatures. It turned to him and its mouth zipped open.

"You are not our liege!"

From the corner of his eye, Sora spotted a gray flash and whirled around, instinctively flinging his Keyblade up. He felt himself jump back as the gray creature ricocheted off the weapon and bounced off the wall of the train station.

"That means they're definitely not nice," Sora declared shakily as Goofy immediately summoned up his round shield. Donald sighed.

"I hate this."

He held his Wizard's Staff out in front of him and watched the creature warily. That was a bit difficult, as they kept bouncing around, never staying in one place for longer than a handful of seconds.

"They just won't stay still," Sora growled under his breath as he watched them bounce all around them, the ceiling, the walls, the windows, everywhere and anywhere there was a foothold. A few of them flew across the train station and bounced off the far wall all the way back.

"You hafta admit, they are good," Goofy offered tentatively as something positive. "They're like gym-gym-gymancisistic…what's that word again?"

"Gymnasts!" Donald supplied. Then suddenly he turned around and yelled, "Fire!"

The tiny orange fireball met the streaking gray creature full in the face and it bounced away, shrieking. Sora stood up straight and blinked, lowered the head of the Keyblade as he watched the creature shake its head madly. That proved rather foolish and stupid on his part as he was instantly knocked sideways by another creature, which quickly bounced off and was replaced by two more creatures. This time their dagger-like hands were out and they did not look remotely nice.

"Sora!" Goofy shouted and threw his shield like a discus. The blue and cold weapon plowed through both creatures, carried in a wide arc, and knocked out another creature about to ambush Donald before returning to the knight's grasp. Sora, cursing his foolishness, leaped back to his feet, and swung out the Keyblade, immediately catching one of these gymnast creatures and throwing it into another of its company. While those two crashed into the wall, another creature jumped forward and did something that insulted Sora: he held his Keyblade up to deflect its momentum but instead it grasped the body of the weapon and flipped over his head. Sora didn't react in time to avoid its dagger hands slashing at the back of his legs; they nicked his calves and he stumbled to the side, making a very angry sound in the back of his throat. He backed into the wall and took a quick look, saw his blood dribbling down into his yellow shoes.

Suddenly thinking about the shoes made him suddenly realize how uncomfortably small they were. His toes were hurting but it would be worse to just kick off the shoes, even if to relieve the pressure. Sora looked up, bared his teeth, and charged at the melee in front of him, Keyblade ready to attack.

Unfortunately they weren't Heartless; they weren't stupid. As if everything was coordinated, all the creatures bounced away and out of his path and Sora barely yelled out a warning before tumbling into Donald and Goofy. Jiminy Cricket dropped out of his pocket and ended up elsewhere; Sora shut his eyes tight as he rolled and flipped over the floor like a Dodge Roll gone wrong. Goofy was yelping and Donald was cursing. And the creatures-what of the creatures!

He quickly sat up but he didn't know what direction was and fell over, smacking his head against the ground. There were bright white explosions in his head and he cried out in sudden pain as the wounds on the backs of his legs burned hotly as they grated against the floor. Somewhere he heard Donald yell, "Fire!"

Goofy was yelling unintelligibly but he managed to hear the knight say, "There's no Potions on me!"

Sora suddenly realized they were in a very bad situation. These creatures obviously were not stupid and they readily proved it, making short work of Sora. Although Sora wasn't ready to give up, he also wasn't ready to die in the train station of a town he never remembered setting foot on until only an hour or two ago.

Sora felt around desperately for the Keyblade, having lost it in the mad tumble, but it wasn't anywhere near. He opened his eyes and as the hazy aftermath of the head trauma faded away, he realized he was still lying on his side, not sitting up as he thought he was. Donald and Goofy were standing in front of him, both tired but both furiously fighting off these freakish bouncing monsters.

Sora quickly climbed up onto his knees, took several deep breaths as the world swayed violently, then rose to his feet. He looked around him and stared at the dull red smears on the grounds of the train station. He wondered who had gotten hurt when he saw the Keyblade balancing precariously on the edge, just ready to tumble onto the tracks. Two creatures were pointing their heads towards it hungrily, and the others had Donald and Goofy preoccupied.

"No!" Sora yelled and jumped forward as one of them dashed for the Keyblade.

Then Jiminy Cricket jumped into the fray – where'd he come from? – and walloped the creature on the snout with his umbrella. It lost momentum and fell onto the tracks. The second one finally decided to snatch the Keyblade but the distraction had been enough; Donald sent a fire spell its way while Sora grasped the Keyblade and somersaulted over the creature onto his feet. Jiminy Cricket quickly jumped up and onto his shoulder.

"That…" Sora panted, "was…totally awesome…Jiminy."

"And I hope it never happens again," the cricket agreed, then said, "Here, I found a spare Potion."

The burning on the backs of his legs went away and Sora felt rejuvenated, ready to take on these creatures again. "Hey Jiminy, you really don't know what they are?"

"Nope."

"Sora!" Donald screeched indignantly. "Get over here and help!"

"Hang on!" Sora ordered Jiminy Cricket, then grasped the Keyblade with both hands and charged.

Unfortunately, the creatures were even more devious and cunning than they had shown themselves to be. They let Sora in, then slipped away from Donald and Goofy, who was heavy into the battle. Goofy looked around wildly, confused, while the creatures – and the ones climbing out of the tracks onto the ground, one with a smoking face – formed a semi-circle around the foursome, pushing them backwards towards the tracks and the deadly drop to them.

"I hope a train doesn't come right about now," Goofy whispered loudly.

Sora scowled. "Thanks, Goofy."

Donald didn't look to be quite through with these creatures yet. He set his hat straight on his head, then gripped his Wizard's Staff tightly and stepped forward. Sora grabbed the wizard's shoulder and hissed, "What are you doing!"

"What do you think!" Donald snapped back then pointed his staff at the semi-circle of the creatures. "His Majesty isn't here and they're in the way!"

"You're not – Donald, if that spell hits us, too-"

"We've done hand-to-hand combat, Sora! That didn't work so we've got to try this! Thundaga!"

There was no thunder but bright yellowish white lighting streaked through the air and crashed to the ground. Sora threw his free hand up and blocked out the lights, his body tense and ready to dodge any that came his way. Luckily none of the lightning bolts struck him, Donald, Goofy, or Jiminy Cricket who was safe in his pocket and therefore safe unless a bolt of lightning did hit Sora. Not so luckily, when the spell was over, all the gray creatures were still standing.

Within seconds and when the smoke cleared up, they were gone, streaking and bouncing and in generally ricocheting towards them. Goofy seemed struck dumb by the powerful Thunder spell and Donald was a bit spent from the effort, and they were the first to be taken out. Sora looked around wildly as the creatures closed in on him and Jiminy; he wasn't sure if he could take on all of them and within seconds, he found out he couldn't. They all converged on him and Sora, despite flinging about his Keyblade and tossing some aside, the rest attacked him and slashed at him. His clothes protected him from the more fatal jabs but his arms and legs burned from fresh wounds and he was forced to drop his Keyblade. Then the creatures leaped back, bounced around while he stared at himself, at what the creatures had done to him. Live blood slowly dribbled down his arms and legs, staining his bright yellow shoes and the floor.

"Oh-oh my god," he whispered while the shock was gradually overwhelmed by pain, hot furious pain that ate at him, made him fall to his knees. He could _feel_ his strength seeping out of the cuts and stabs on his arms and legs, tried to will himself to use the Cure spell but nothing happened when he uttered, "Heal."

Donald and Goofy weren't responding. He didn't know what happened to Jiminy. He felt all alone, alive and awake but defenseless in the face of these freakish gray creatures. This, he decided, was one hell of a way to die.

One creature leaped forward, its hands stained with his blood, but something small and black barreled into it midair and it slammed into the opposite wall. A flash of gold and the creature dissolved in a gray mist while a blue heart sailed upwards and disappeared - just like a Heartless in its death throes.

Sora gaped at what was once the creature, then watched as, in quick succession, the tiny black thing finished off the other creatures. Like the creatures, it bounded about, somersaulted and ricocheting off walls. With gold flashes, blue hearts kept soaring up and vanishing, and with each blue heart, the gray creatures reduced in number until not one remained.

By now he could see Donald and Goofy; the wizard was climbing to his feet while apparently dumbstruck. Goofy just sat there on the ground at the very edge of the platform, gaping.

"Heal!"

Magical green-gold lights showered over Sora and the wounds suddenly melded back into clear unbroken skin. The pain disappeared although the blood remained and Sora rubbed at his arm, then stared at the palm of his hand and the clotting liquid on his fingertips. He quickly looked up and searched for the foreign voice.

His thoughts fled at the sight of the shimmering golden Keyblade, with its silver handle and ruby band. Grasping it was someone so small the weapon looked rather monstrous and clumsy in its hands. And, as he recalled Pence relaying it to him, there were two black disks on the top of its head and a long black whippy _tail_ under the black coat. Olette was right after all.

Filling in for the emptiness in his mind was Jiminy Cricket's unabashed astonished cry, quickly followed by Donald's and Goofy's.

"Your Majesty!"

The King of Disney turned his head to acknowledge them, and Sora.

"Hello, boys."

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** I BS'd the Twilight Town scene, as I have never played the game and have seen very few clips involving Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Anything regarding _Gravity of Love_, including questions and suggestions, will be posted on a freewebs, as listed on my Bio page.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	11. Thieves, Princesses, Liars

**Authoress' Note: **I'm in a sour mood. Hear me roar. – stomps away -

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«10 – Thieves, Princesses, Liars»**

_Naminé was there. Because she was there he knew it was a dream._

"_How is everything?" she asked softly but firmly, before he could open his mouth. Roxas scowled at her but knew better._

"_Demented. The longer I'm with her, the more I'm forgetting my own name. _She_ had to _remind_ me that my name's _Roxas_, not _Sora_. And she's so…so touchy. That's some fucked up magic you've got working on me."_

"_It's the best we could do, with such short time given to us," Nam admitted, looking away. There was nothing to look at other than him, though; they were standing in utter darkness except that underneath them something shimmered, glimmered, like ripples radiating outwards. The shine was bluish with a little bit of white. "We were so ready to dispose your body but when the emergency arose…don't worry. We'll recover your body as soon as possible so just hang in there a little longer, okay?"_

"_You sound like you're talking about a dead body. I'm not dead," he retorted, irritated. "And where's Sora?"_

"_Twilight Town. He's woken up but he doesn't remember anything beyond the few minutes before you were born. But _you_ remember the moment, don't you? You have the memories he's missing."_

"_And is that supposed to make me feel special?"_

"_Those memories, Roxas, should tell you how to deal with Kairi…and Riku if you should run into him again. You need to understand how much Sora cares for Kairi, because if you don't act up to that, she'll start doubting and things will only go downhill from there. As for Riku, you won't be meeting him head-on anytime soon because if you did, he will spill the secret and your cover will be blown. But you need to know enough of Riku to keep Kairi with you. He's their friend, their closest friend, and Sora's out there looking for him, although he doesn't know it now."_

_Roxas sighed. "How would Sora remember all that? You said he doesn't remember anything beyond searching for the Princess. If he doesn't remember finding her, he'll go after her."_

_Nam nodded, smiling. She seemed rather pleased. "Now you're getting it. King Mickey is going to set Sora straight and fill in all the holes except Castle Oblivion. Sora will need to figure that out for himself, because…"_

_And she stopped talking and turned her head again. She seemed to depress suddenly, shrink into the darkness of Roxas's dream. The white glow around her was eating away slightly._

"_Do you know where I am?" Roxas asked suddenly. Being self-aware in a dream was a strange thing._

"_No, we don't. But as of now you're safe. Both of you are safe. Where you are is the big issue. You just randomly opened a portal and took her somewhere you didn't plan about. If it's The World That Never Was-"_

"NO_, I did _not_ take her there!" Roxas snapped. "I know that for a fact so don't even suggest it!"_

_Nam leaned back slightly at the accusation, then shook her head. "You'll need to wake up soon. I have a feeling that where you are could be jeopardized by your presence, yours and Kairi's. The thing that destroyed Destiny Islands, it was looking for the both of you, wasn't it?"_

"_How am I to know?" Roxas demanded. "It could have been talking about either us! 'You' implies a lot of things!"_

"_Oh it doesn't matter!" Nam replied impatiently. "Even if it wasn't referring to you, you're in a pretty precarious situation being with Kairi. When you wake up, figure out where you are and get her out of there fast. It might be hunting her, you, or both of you, and we weren't planning on you demolishing half the Universe getting the Princess of Heart to Hollow Bastion."_

"_Right, right, right…" Roxas muttered, feeling rather putdown by Nam's anger. "So…I'm just supposed to wake up and start walking around, is that it?"_

"_No," was Nam's curt reply. She walked up to him, stood toe-to-toe, and peered at his face. Roxas leaned back slightly, feeling she was too close for it to be a good thing, whatever 'it' was. She sighed and he winced slightly at the rush of hot air on the skin between his nose and lips._

"_Sometimes…you remind me of Sora…you know that?" she murmured, now suddenly a totally different person. _

"_I wonder," he replied, sarcastic and bitter and questioning. "Is it because I-"_

_His eyes widened as Nam placed a finger on his lips and he fell silent. The presence pressing against his lips felt strange, left his body tingling although he didn't have a clue why. Something about the very act triggered this strange sensation, which disturbed him greatly. The body, he finally decided silently, was a very peculiar thing indeed._

"_Unlike Sora, you have a lot to say, and not much of it in a very kindly manner," she began explaining softly, her eyes fixated on him, on his face, on his eyes. Beneath them the ripples continued, like water dripping somewhere soundlessly. "But like him, you can be very, very stupid and bullheaded. He seemed to have mostly grown out of that phase during his adventure last year but you…you just end up saying stupid things because you're angry."_

"_How do you know anything about Sora beyond Castle Oblivion?" he asked curiously._

"_I'm a Nobody, Roxas," Nam said. "Kairi's Nobody. And that let's me know…what you're like, what both of you are like…and you're both very much alike…and so very different…"_

_Her voice drifted and it echoed in the darkness of the dreamscape. He shivered, slightly befuddled by her words and confused even more by the intense depths of her eyes, hooded in this darkness. He felt her lean in, closer, closer…_

"…_if only you _were_ him…" she whispered._

_He closed his eyes as though it was the most natural thing to do and he felt something soft press against his lips. There was a sudden rush in his ear, a roar of something unnatural, like the terrible white fire that reached up into the sky over Destiny Islands, and then darkness flooded in, darkness within darkness, sleep within the dream._

When he came to, he was abruptly confronted by intense white light and he winced, closed his eyes again, but the light penetrated his eyelids and he saw fuzzy dark shapes. Slowly Roxas opened his eyes again, until he was squinting, but the light was still so blinding and intense.

"…turn off the damn light…" he whispered hoarsely. Then he felt something moist and soft brush over his mouth and his tongue slipped out, scraped itself against what seemed like wet fabric in search of something liquid, something to drink. He was thirsty.

His ears were dulled and he couldn't define the noise that came from far away. But slowly and gradually he picked up garbled dialogue – or he thought it was dialogue – and then his eyesight gradually became more precise and sharp and he saw someone's face hovering over his. He saw yellow hair and sky blue eyes.

"…Nam?" he uttered, now completely disoriented. He was just talking to her in his dream, wasn't he? Or was it a hallucination? Maybe he was in the midst of that portal and she came up to him and-and did something to him. But what could she have done? And why?

"Who?"

No, that was not Naminé, not at all. He blinked again and realized that it was indeed a woman, very young woman staring down at him, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. No, a girl, a young girl clutching a damp white towel in her hand.

She seemed familiar, to the point he was gnawing deep inside, searching through what memories of Sora he could pull out at the moment. Roxas kept blinking, again and again, while the girl said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Sora, but at least you're awake."

_I'm Sora. My name is Sora. Damn, this is hard._

Alice. Her name was Alice. Sora first saw her in Wonderland, before a scuffle with some of the Queen of Heart's guards gave way to her sudden disappearance. Wasn't Sora looking for her and wasn't she at Hollow Bastion? Then what was she doing here? Her home _was_ Wonderland…and Sora's memories echoed of a very red room in Traverse Town.

"Where…" he croaked, his voice going under. He tried to form the question again but all that came out was a garbled hiss.

"The Red Room. You're in Traverse Town," Alice answered plainly as she turned away and vanished from the field of his vision. She reappeared with a red cup in her hand. "Come on, let's get you sitting up. Here's some water."

His body was aching, he could faintly sense that. He felt rather tired, come to think of it, but not too tired to fall back asleep. Roxas pushed at the covers and eased himself up against the pillow his head was on and the headboard of the mattress. Alice handed him a cup of cool water, which he quickly emptied. She placed it back on the bedside table while he wiped his mouth and took several deep breaths to finish clearing his mind.

"Traverse Town?" he echoed. His voice wavered but the water had done its magic.

"Yes," Alice confirmed. "I…I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here, too, Sora. Right?"

"Why aren't you back at Wonderland?" he asked.

"Well…" and here Alice heaved a heavy sigh. "It's a long story but to cut it short…there is no Wonderland to go back to. Sora, a creature came to Wonderland. It's not a Heartless, it's nothing like a Heartless, and it went straight for the Keyhole. You remember it, don't you? It went for the Keyhole and…it destroyed Wonderland. It's gone. The Cheshire Cat and I have nowhere to go now."

"The Cheshire Cat?"

She nodded. "He's gone, too. He went to meet with the wizard that lives in the underground but he hasn't been back since. I suppose I should be happy about it. He is a very strange cat."

Roxas had to agree. Sora thought him crazy, too. "Yeah, I know. But Wonderland?"

_What kind of creature can destroy a world like that? Is it…is it like that beast of fire back at Destiny Islands? Wait…Destiny Islands is gone?_

"What about Destiny Islands?" he asked quickly, his breath suddenly shortening. That wasn't possible, was it? "What happened to Destiny Islands?"

"Destiny Islands?" Alice repeated. Then a flash of recognition crossed her eyes and she bowed her head in sorrow. "I think…yes, the wizard, Merlin, he mentioned it. He said the Islands were no more and that he was surprised there weren't anymore survivors other than you two. It was rather sad, I think-"

"The-the Prin-I mean Kairi, she's here? She's all right? She's alive?" Roxas demanded, all the more fearful that somehow the demon fox had come between them and whisked her away the moment he opened the portal.

"Kairi?" Alice seemed uncertain for a bit, and Roxas felt his gut drop down the endless pit of despair, and then her face brightened up. "She's fine. Actually, she was better off than you. You should've seen her; she was screaming her head off when you two suddenly appeared in the middle of the First District. Scared a lot of people."

"Oh…" Roxas said quietly and under his breath. "Where's she now?"

"With Merlin, I think," Alice replied. "I don't know, actually…she's staying the Blue Room, though."

Roxas sighed and then nodded. "Okay, that's all I need to know, I guess."

Alice smiled, then rose to her feet and lifted off the bedside table a half-empty bowl and the wet towel. "Actually, there's more I think you should know about."

"What's that?" Roxas had already sunken into the bed, was staring up at the ceiling and considering his dilemma.

"Riku was here a few hours ago. I never saw him but I heard. The Cheshire Cat went with him. When you're feeling better, I'll take you to Merlin and he can tell you everything."

He heard her footsteps and a door open and close. Now he was left all alone in the Red Room, mulling over what Alice had said. Riku? Riku was here a few hours ago? That would provide a jumping-off point towards wherever he needs to take the Princess, as long as it was nowhere near Twilight Town. Then again, after what Nam told him, he was glad Riku didn't stick around any longer than a few hours.

"I should get up," Roxas muttered, then pushed away the blankets and slid out of bed. He looked down on himself and sighed in relief; nobody tried to undress him this time. He staggered to a chest drawer and mirror, and stared at the reflection. He was Sora. This was Sora, through and through.

A sudden thought plowed into him; what did Roxas look like?

_I don't even remember what I look like. Oh shit…_

He looked around, then walked backwards until he bumped into the bed, and sat down. He stared at his hands, large, gloved, and so familiar they screamed at his doubts about himself.

Roxas hadn't expected this the moment he agreed to do whatever Nam wanted – no, he was forced into this. She said he had no choice but to go forward and help 'them' by getting Kairi away from Destiny islands. She never said anything about how much parading as Sora was going to do to him. He thought it would be easy pretending to be the Keyblade Wielder but he was counting his eggs before he even had them. He hadn't expected Kairi's reactions to him nor did he realize how serious this game of charades was going to affect him.

"Traverse Town…this is Traverse Town," he said to himself as he kept staring at his hands and once in a while at his huge yellow shoes. "What am I supposed to do now?"

As far as he can tell, Hollow Bastion was far, far away from here. And with a beast like the one that destroyed Destiny Islands possibly on his or Kairi's tail, things were going to get a lot harder. And then there was the warning Demyx gave him, the one about the Organization and how frightened the Superior was. Of what? Of who? The Princess? That monster? Possibly…him? Or Sora?

And then there was Merlin. Alice said Merlin was here, Merlin was in town. Merlin had helped Sora last year, gave him magical aid and much-needed information. If Roxas went to him now and pretended he was Sora, maybe Merlin could tell him something about the fire monster.

Good idea.

He stood up and headed to the door.

xxx

Another thing that puzzled him as he walked down the stairs of the First District was the lack of familiar people. All the people he's seen so far were not very familiar to him or Sora's memories at all. Where were Cid and Leon and Yuffie and Aerith? What about Huey, Dewey, and Louie? The Moogle Synthesis Shop was still there; he peeked in while walking by it and spotted those strange tiny little creatures working in the middle of all this sparkle. The place where Geppetto and Pinocchio lived seemed dark and lifeless; Roxas pointedly avoided that place as he reached the front of Cid's Accessories Store. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what he was going to see or who he was going to meet, but then he remembered that he was Sora and all he had to worry about was how touchy Kairi was going to get once he found her.

Goddammit but this was hard. Nam gave him one hell of a task and she was going to pay dearly once the mess was cleaned up.

Roxas heard voices. One sounded remotely feminine. He sighed, then drew himself up and readied himself, then walked into the store. He nearly deflated almost immediately in a rush of relief when he spotted the Princess sitting on the couch talking to an old bearded man in blue robes. She seemed unbothered by the fact her home had demolished and even had one of those…cords…plugged in her ear. Her head was bobbing slightly in a rhythm he assumed came from the music she said she was listening to earlier that day.

The old man – Merlin – was listening intently, with only a word or two to say. The Princess was in control of the conversation. One of her arms was constantly moving in tempo with her words.

"Ah…"

Merlin had spotted him. Roxas worked up a friendly smile as he approached. Kairi turned in her seat on the couch and grinned as her eyes fixed on his. Then, and to Roxas's consternation, she jumped to her feet and ran to him, throwing her arms around him and exclaiming, "Finally you're awake!"

"Finally?" he repeated questioningly. He felt squeezed and a bit claustrophobic.

"I've been waiting for like two hours. You're a lazy bum if I was up before you were."

"And this is what I get for saving you from the Heartless," he input half-heartedly. He thought it just felt so out of place, him feeling nothing towards her while she was clinging to him with joy and apparent relief. Should he say something? Should he feel something? Anything?

His eyes fixed on Merlin, who had an odd studious look on his face.

"Kairi, you could let him go now. I need to talk to both of you and him especially, if you please."

Savior! She let him go slowly but fast enough that he was free of her touch. He turned to Merlin, knowing he couldn't show his gratitude because that was absolutely the wrong thing to do.

"Sit down, Sora. She's been telling me how you got to Destiny Islands and what happened before you got here. Where were you before you went there?"

The question slammed him in the face. He hadn't considered it.

"I…I…um…I…"

The Princess was watching him. She was biting her bottom lip and her hand was removing the black cord from her left ear.

And then he remembered the last place Sora was at was Castle Oblivion, and Nam had erased his memories.

"I'm sorry but…" he heaved a sigh. "I don't remember."

"What do you remember?" Merlin then asked.

What was with this man? "I remember Donald, Goofy, and I were chasing Pluto through this…I don't know where it is. It was beyond Kingdom Hearts…and we went to sleep one day and…here I am. You know anything about that, Merlin?"

"I would if you were awake and found out how you got from where you were with Donald and Goofy to here, with Kairi after Destiny Islands was destroyed. We'll have to find Donald and Goofy, but what I really want to know is how Destiny Islands was destroyed."

"Riku was here, Sora," Kairi immediately said. "He was here, a few hours ago. He left when he heard something about our home. But…if Destiny Islands is gone, where'd he go? Won't he come back here? And then we can all go find the Door of Light, right Sora?"

She was piling on ideas and suggestions and hopes one after another. Roxas stared at her, tongue-tied with no way to answer.

"I'm afraid Riku won't be here, Kairi," Merlin said slowly. "On every ship that is commissioned here there is a transmitter, a tracking device. The people here don't like their ships to be hijacked. We keep track here in the store, and Rupert there-" he pointed to the oddly dressed shaky-looking man counting metallic accessories at the counter "-reported ten minutes after you two came to town that he lost track of the ship Cid let Riku and his companions use-"

Companions? Riku had gone somewhere with some people?

Kairi got there first with the questions. "Riku was coming home? With who? Did he meet Donald and Goofy? Or-"

"He went in search of a force I must ask you about, both of you. He went with two people who lived on two worlds that this force, this beast, destroyed. And now it's destroyed Destiny Islands. How did it do that?"

Roxas gaped at him a bit, then looked at Kairi. She pressed into a corner of the couch, watching Merlin warily. Her eyes were wide and restless and she was chewing her bottom lip with gusto. Then the Princess pressed her finger to it and stared at the bloodstain on the fingertip.

"That's…some question," Roxas finally said. "I guess…it came like a storm. It was like a storm…and then everything was on fire."

He looked at Kairi again and she was nodding and staring at her pink shoes. She kept her finger pressed against her bottom lip. "It was…are we really the only ones, Merlin? The only ones left…from Destiny Islands? Just me, Sora, and Riku?"

Roxas found that just plain odd. And a bit suspect.

"Traverse Town picks up refugees, but we don't pick up all of them. Traverse Town isn't a magnet. If you want to look for others, you'll have to go to several other worlds to look for them. Kairi, you told me something about the beast, though. I think…you would have to move quickly, if you're going to look for Riku and whoever might have survived Destiny Islands."

"You think…you think it's hunting us?" Kairi whispered. She shivered visibly. Roxas stared at her, then watched as his left hand reached out and gently touched her arm. She looked at him then, and smiled slightly.

"This…is the first time we've heard of its goal," Merlin explained just as quietly. "See…this…creature has been alive for countless years but we were never able to understand what its purpose was. We didn't have the time to find out either; the Heartless was our immediate concern and-" here he gave Roxas a very sharp look "-the Nobodies a new worry. Now we're reaping our reward for ignoring something that stank in the dark corners of the earth until it decided to make itself known to all of us!"

He had his arms raised up high like he was calling down lightning upon himself. There was an oddly crazed look on his face and Roxas worried.

"Merlin?" the Princess asked tentatively, wondering if he was still a bit mad.

"I suppose…it's very late, isn't it?" Merlin remarked. He looked at the man, Rupert. "Rupert, the time?"

"I-i-it's near-nearly n-n-n-nine," was the stammering answer.

"Ah…well then…Kairi, why don't you go get something to eat while I talk with Sora about where we're going next?"

Kairi looked at Merlin with some consternation. "But I-"

And then Roxas immediately understood Merlin's intent. "Kairi, it's okay. We're just going to talk about that monster. You won't be missing anything."

Kairi closed her mouth and looked at him hard. She obviously wanted to stay and listen and perhaps add in what's on her mind. It was a pity, he thought, that he wasn't one so easy to break. Unfortunately, he also thought, Sora gave way to her easier. He wondered if the Princess was going to notice that minute difference between the Keyblade Wielder and his Nobody. But at length, she nodded, rose to her feet, and stiffly left the store. Roxas twitched as the doors slammed shut. A cascade of metal soon followed and he turned in the couch to see Rupert frantically picking up the pieces he dropped.

"Sorry about that," Merlin called out, then looked at Roxas full in the face. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave, Rupert. It would be most unfortunate if you end up permanently deaf. Also notify the Moogles so they have the heads up, please."

"O-of course, M-Merlin," Rupert stuttered. "I-I'll be o-off…"

Roxas looked at Merlin questioningly and the old man didn't hesitate to reply. "I'm going to soundproof this store so nobody, absolutely _nobody_, can listen in on us. It'll be a sound bubble of sorts, focused on only the two of us. If anybody else was within the confines of this room when I cast the spell, he or she would've gone deaf, possibly permanently. Of course that cannot happen. The Moogles have their own magic but Rupert is just a person. Most terribly unfortunate, Rupert. I hope you don't mind."

Just as abruptly he was talking to the stammering man, who merely nodded and let himself out of the store. Merlin cleared his throat as the doors closed, then pulled out a wand from the sleeve of his blue robes. A little wave, a silver shimmer, and nothing happened.

"You sure that worked?" Roxas asked. He was a bit worried; fanciful light shows were impressive enough but did that really soundproof the Accessories Store?

"Yes. I know my own magic, and it is quite necessary if we're to talk about you…Roxas."

He bolted up and onto his feet, trembling as the name slipped from the wizard's mouth. "H-how-"

"I'm not all-knowing and all-seeing, but I am privy to the plans of others. We made a decision a while back to use you to protect Kairi and take her safely to Radiant Garden. Back then, we were worried about the Heartless and the Organization. Right now…you've changed our plans. We do need you to find anyone who survived the destruction of Destiny Islands and remove them to Radiant Garden. If Riku met one of them, he'll most likely tell them you're not Sora. If Sora met one o the survivors…you can imagine. But you'll have to move quickly. That beast is hunting you and Kairi. It won't come here; this world shields your presence with the presences of others but not forever. So you'll have to leave tomorrow or the day after."

"What's Radiant Garden?"

"Hollow Bastion. We hope that by the time you reach that world, we won't need your services and-"

"We?" Roxas had a nagging feeling this didn't involve just Nam and Riku and the Heartless and the Nobodies and…

"His Majesty King Mickey, Yen Sid, Naminé, DiZ, and I."

XXX

It never failed to amaze Kairi how incredibly composed Alice was about losing her home world.

"I figured, 'Well, it's only the Queen of Hearts and her guards, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit. And I'm not even going to miss the Cheshire Cat. He never makes any sense so why should I bother?' So…I guess I don't miss Wonderland that much. It was horrible, though…everything got dark and then everything was on fire."

"Like white fire," Kairi sighed as she stared at the mug of water in her hand. "White fire…and it's alive. Something in the fire…did you see it?"

"See it? I didn't see anything. I felt it. It felt…I'm surrounded by fire and I feel _cold_. It's not Heartless cold but something more…"

"It's not Heartless," Kairi said, remembering the huge black Heartless that staggered down the beach, its back and arms and head in flames. "It killed the Heartless. I don't think it cares what it kills."

"What is it, though? I mean," Alice muttered, turning away and rubbing at her arm, "I mean…I think I did see something, something huge…but it was so fast, like how the fires spread. What kind of monster is that? Does Merlin know?"

Kairi hemmed and hawed on this for a moment. When she described everything about the destruction of Destiny Islands Merlin listened so intently it unnerved her. But he never identified the creature in the fire. He didn't seem to know.

"No. He never said so. But I think there is something he knows. If that's what he's going to talk to Sora about…why won't they let me listen in and sit with them and talk about what Sora and I are going to do next? I mean, it's about Riku and the people from Destiny Islands. Aren't I part of it, too, Alice?"

She looked at the younger Princess, who was busy studying her hands. When she looked up, her eyes were dark, disturbed.

"I don't know what to say, Kairi. I never felt anything for the world I fell into. And right now, I don't really care. I just want to find another place to live, meet other people, and…maybe find my way home. I'm tired of all this, Kairi. I didn't ask to be a Princess of Heart and when Sora closed Kingdom Hearts, I thought it was over. And it's not."

"I know," Kairi agreed sadly. "Sora didn't say he found the Door of Light, so I guess he's still searching. But Riku was here. He was here hours before we came. That's just bad luck. I haven't seen him in a year, too!"

She stood up and started pacing around the Blue Room. "But where'd he go?"

Alice shrugged. "I don't know, Kairi. I suppose…Riku being your friend, maybe he went looking for you and Sora, too. Maybe Destiny Islands. I guess, although now it's gone. If you're so close to the people and the world you live on, you'll go out there…and find those people or the place you call home, right?"

Kairi stopped for a moment. "I don't even _know_ what happened to Riku. I don't know what he's been through the past two years. Some friend I am…"

"Well, if Destiny Islands is gone, won't he come back?" Alice mentioned as she rose to her feet. "Just wait a while. He must come back. After all, the ship he took was from here. He has to return it sooner or later."

"Sora and I can't stay here long. The monster's hunting us, that's what Merlin said. We have to leave in a few days or else the monster might come here and…"

She stopped talking as the memories filled in her mind. Replaying everything that converged on the outer islands, she tried to imagine the same thing happening in Traverse Town. All she could hear was the wails of the people on the mainland as the fire wiped out Destiny Islands.

"I'm sorry, Kairi." Alice was at the door, easing it open. "I'm sorry you won't be meeting Riku anytime soon. Maybe while you're out there, you'll find him. I'm sure he's looking for you and Sora, too. Good night, Kairi…and good luck."

She watched the younger girl leave the Blue Room, and once the door closed, she turned around and slammed the pillow in her face. Then it all came tumbling out of her, the missed chance to find Riku, the creature in the fire, the screams on the mainland, Sora, Sora coming home, Sora home all of a sudden…and the Door of Light wasn't opened. None of it was over after all. That one brief moment, after he woke up briefly and whispered her name in recognition, she thought it was all over. But no, of course not.

Riku wasn't home, too. He was here. And he was gone.

Destiny Islands was on fire the day after Sora fell out of the sky and into the sea. Was Sora running away from the monster? Was he trying to hide by going home? But he never mentioned it, didn't even looked scared and overly nervous. He didn't even look over his shoulder every ten seconds as they rowed over to the offshore islands. He was just as perplexed when the storms first gathered over mainland.

So why did Sora come home without Riku?

"He promised…did he need help? Was he running away? Or is there something he's not telling me?" she whispered as she rubbed her face into the pillow to wipe away the tears. "Did he…did he lead that monster to Destiny Islands?"

Not possible. Not possible! Sora wouldn't do such a thing!

Selphie was smiling that day. Laughing, smiling, making snide remarks about Tidus, tossing her rice at Wakka when he made a smart comment about Selphie himself. Tidus was a bit more quiet than usual but Wakka was, too. They were psyching themselves for the blitzball match that afternoon. They were so talented…

What happened to the Mayor and his wife, the people who took Kairi in when she first came to Destiny Islands? What about Sora's mother? Riku's parents? Those other kids at school? Did they all die? Was that possible? They can't just all die! That was impossible!

_Merlin's right. Some of them have to be out there! They didn't all die. No, they didn't, of course they didn't. They would've gone into the sea, like what Sora told me, and when the world was destroyed, maybe they ended up elsewhere, scattered throughout the Universe. This is gonna be a game of hide and seek, then. It doesn't matter. I have to find them! Sora and I have to find them and Riku. We have to…and then, and then…_

Was it possible to bring Destiny Islands back?

Merlin said there were other worlds destroyed, other people who survived and came to Traverse Town, milling around, frightened, fearful, unsure of where the monster might turn up next. What did they go through? What did they see? What did they experience? What did they feel?

"_See it? I didn't see anything. I felt it. It felt…I'm surrounded by fire and I feel cold. It's not Heartless cold but something more…"_

She slowly raised her face from the pillow and wiped at the streaks of tears on her face. She sniffed once, twice, then sighed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Then she was slowly crossing the floor to the door, and she let herself out. There were people in the corridor, more than she remembered last year. And they all looked so different, so strange. She saw a group of oddly-dressed people, a few of them young, discussing some sort of cauldron. Right outside the Hotel's doors were an even stranger group of people discussing faith and sin and summons. There was what looked like a small family looking intense and secretive. They kept talking about some things called 'frozen zone' and 'metroville'. She had no idea what that meant.

In the courtyard where the fountain was, there were still more masses of people. There was a group of children running around with a pack of mid-sized white dogs splashed with black spots. She remembered Sora saying something once about finding all these puppies in exchange for some useful gifts. That made no sense to her but she could tell it was hard; she had no idea how many of them there were and they weren't puppies anymore.

She managed to avoid a rather sleepy-looking slobbering young beagle ridden by some peculiar, chatty mice, and spotted someone who looked remotely normal sprawled on the stone ledge of the fountain. He looked be about her age, which was an excellent change for once – most people either looked young, old, or weird. He had rather shaggy blond hair and a thick short brown whip which she assumed must be a defensive weapon he uses. There was a huge pistol on his belt, too.

She sauntered over to the fountain and sat down next to him. She didn't openly stare at him or even take occasional glances. She instead fixated her eyes on the sky and the stars shining at various brilliant nuances. The corners of her eyes were fuzzed over with the lights of the town but straight ahead the sky was dark and deep and lit with starlight. She wondered where Riku and Selphie and Tidus and Wakka were.

"Beautiful sky."

He knew she was there. Kairi turned her head towards the voice and saw the young man staring at her. He was watching her with a look that left her wondering if she should have bothered him at all.

"It…it is," she finally decided to say. "Traverse Town's always beautiful at night. Then again, it's always night here."

"I've noticed," he replied. His eyes turned to the sky. "I've been here two weeks and not one damn bit of sunshine. It's killing me."

"Two weeks?"

"Yeah. I was taking a train to Radiant Garden and the next thing I know, everything was on fire. And here I am. Those weird people over there near the Hotel? They were on the train, too."

"Fire? What kind of fire?" Was it possible the creature attacked trains?

"White. They think it's some magical fire sent by something they keep calling 'sin'. Magic, yes, I agree, but I don't think it came from their 'sin', whatever that is."

White…fire. It attacked trains. Who's the say it wouldn't snatch ships out of the air?

"Where's Radiant Garden?" she asked, trying to push along the chat.

"Don't know. Haven't been there for years. It was run over, you know, by Heartless. I heard the place cleared out, though. Name changed, too. The Heartless called it Hollow Bastion but-"

"Hollow Bastion? That's Radiant Garden?" Kairi demanded, startled. "But-but I didn't even recognize it when I was there! How-how could that be?"

"You were there? Radiant Garden?" the man asked excitedly as he quickly sat up. He was rather agile. "Well, I was born there, born and raised until we got tossed out when Ansem the Wise sent us away and the Heartless ran over it."

"So was I!"

The blond man grinned excitedly. "Wow, I didn't think I'd meet someone else from Radiant Garden again! I heard Squall and Aerith and Yuffie and Cid were headed there to patch things up and get the world running again so I just had to go and see for myself! I was hoping Garnet and maybe Tifa were there, too-"

"Who's Squall?" The man was rattling off some unfamiliar names but she decided to pick the first unknown.

"Squall? You don't remember Squall? Rather shaggy brown hair, blue eyes, scar on the face?"

A very familiar image came to mind. "Leon?"

"Leon? Who's Leon?"

"That's Leon. The man you described was Leon-oh yeah, Yuffie called him 'Squall' all the time and he always told her to call him 'Leon.' Aerith said he felt disgraced he couldn't save Radiant Garden and hid his name."

"Well…I suppose. You didn't happen to meet a girl named Garnet, did you? Real pretty with black hair?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. Oh, wait, I forgot to ask this but, what's your name?"

The blond man stared at her, then chuckled. She noticed his whip kept slapping against the stone. Then she noticed that he had his arms crossed behind his head. His whip couldn't move by itself that way, could it…

"Name's Zidane. Yours?"

"Kairi. I actually came from Destiny Islands. I know I used to live in Hol-Radiant Garden but for the longest time I couldn't remember. I guess I forgot. I hope I can remember…"

"If you're from Destiny Islands, why are you here?"

"Oh, that…well…"

What was she to say? She looked at Zidane and he was watching her intently, attentive, ears open. That was encouraging for her; someone else was willing to listen.

"I suppose I should tell you a bit about Destiny Islands and the people who live there before I explain why I'm here instead of home, as in Destiny Islands. See, I have these two friends. They were my best friends and they were each other's best friends, too. They were Sora and Riku, and we lived…"

xxx

"…met Rinoa at Spira while I was buying a ticket to Radiant Garden. I told her I heard the world's been fixed up and the Heartless all gone. She was suddenly the happiest person in the Universe, like all those wrinkles vanished in a snap! But then she said she's not ready to go back yet. I told her I heard Squall was there, helping to fix things but she still won't go back. Well I suppose she went after I left but maybe she's stuck. I bet you once those people heard some monster attacked a train, they shut down all the trains. Don't you think? I think so."

"Wow…didn't know Leon cared so much for someone like that," Kairi said. It rather amazed her, because Leon seemed so emotionless at times, like his mind was set on business and business only.

"Maybe I remember because I was older than you were when we got kicked off of Radiant Garden. Hey, you know someone named Vincent?"

"Vincent?" The name rang no bells in her mind. "Who's Vincent?"

"That's why I'm asking," Zidane said with a deep sigh. "While I was walking around Spira, looking for munny to pay for a ticket – they call it 'gil' there – this really scary-looking old man with a tall pointy hat and a crooked nose and blue robes marched up to me and told me to look for a man named Vincent, a princess, and a liar. He never told me what he meant by princess or liar, either. He told me that, gave me some gil, told me not to steal, and disappeared into the crowd. I think he was a psychotic fortuneteller."

Except for the crooked nose, this old man sounded very much like Merlin. Of course, she knew Merlin would never act like that to people. But princess? A liar? Everybody lies. And there were plenty of princesses out there, like Jasmine and Snow White and Cinderella and-no, wait, Belle wasn't a princess…

"I suppose I'll have to look for these three people someday soon," he said with a sigh. "But I don't like to go about it alone. When did you say you two were leaving?"

"Maybe tomorrow. We can't stay long so we have to leave as soon as possible but…I'm really tired. I guess we'll spend a night at the Hotel, then leave tomorrow, somehow… I bet they're plotting everything out right now…without me there…"

"So…who's this 'Sora' like, eh?" Zidane asked. She felt his elbow jab into her side and yelped. He grinned. "Do tell!"

"Why do you want to know, you nosy jerk!" she laughed. "He's just a normal teenager, like I said…other than the fact he's the Keyblade Master, too. But that's not why I like him. It's not hero worship. I pretty much grew up with him and Riku but he was always the really sunny one, I suppose. Sunny, happy, sometimes a bit hardheaded and idiotic but I guess that's what makes him so-"

"Lovable? Really, Kairi, talking about me behind my back? You know I love hearing these things about me when I'm not the one saying them!" Sora suddenly butted in. He was standing in the fountain behind them, arms crossed. He had a smirk on his face.

"Oh hey, Sora!" she said, grinning in return. "Look, this is Z-I mean, _Zidane_. He's from Hollow Bastion like me. He was on his way home but that thing, it attacked the train he was on."

The smirk faltered. "That _thing_ attacked a train? You're kidding me."

"I saw white fire. She says this monster's made of white fire. And so…"

"But…I was talking to Merlin, and he said that demon destroys worlds. He never said anything about trains. Where was the train coming from?"

"Spira. Why?"

And a shadow of fear fell over Sora's normally bright face. Kairi felt her heart sink at the troubled look. Sometimes it really bothered her to see Sora look so disturbed.

"While I was talking with Merlin about the monster, one of the Moogles came in from upstairs. Said Spira went up in flames. It's gone, just thirty minutes past."

"No!"

Zidane leaped to his feet, his voice echoing around the square. All activities in the Second District stopped and all eyes were on the young man with the tail as he pointed an accusing shaking finger at Sora.

"You-you mean, that Spira's gone? It's been destroyed? That-that's impossible! That's a lie!"

"Merlin thinks that the beast was using the railroads to reach Spira-"

"Screw this 'Merlin'! You're lying aren't you? Spira, destroyed? You're crazy! Rinoa was on that world! She can't die! She can't! She has to meet Squall! She has to! And-and-and-"

"Z- I mean, Zidane!" Kairi yelled, trying to stop him from shouting more. "There's a chance she survived-"

"Not Yuna. Yuna couldn't have died. No, not her, not her and not her friends! All the people-all the people who helped me, they didn't all die! No, that's impossible, that's impossible!"

"S-Sora…" Kairi stammered, looking to him for help. Zidane was beyond furious and it frightened her.

But looking at Sora, at the cold look on his face, the emptiness in his blue eyes, sent chills through her. He looked irritated, annoyed, and angry.

"Zidane, Merlin told me-"

"You think I care what your Merlin told you-"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME, DAMMIT!" Sora shouted. "Pull yourself together, Zidane! There's a good chance not anybody died. They could be out there, these people you know. They could be out there! If you're so desperate and if you really care about them, then get out of here and go find them!"

Kairi couldn't believe she was hearing this. Sora was yelling and-and it just sounded wrong. Not weird but _wrong_. He was visibly shaking, heaving, very angry, and ready to snap if Zidane decided to let off some more steam.

_What-what happened to Sora? Oh god, what happened to him? He-he never yells like that._

Zidane sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. His tail slapped against his leg. "I'm sorry. If you're…if you're going to leave tomorrow, to look for your friends, can I come? Can I come with you and look for my friends, too?"

She wondered what Sora was going to say. For once, she was actually wondering. Sora hadn't snapped like this before, ever, but here was something new, something different. What was he going to do? What was he going to say? What's going through his mind? How angry was he?

Sora was still staring at Zidane but he was breathing much easier and some of the blood was leaving his darkened face. "I suppose…can you fight?"

Zidane nodded, then whipped out from his belt something flashy and metallic. He tossed it in the air, spun it in his fingers, then held out his hand. In his palm was the enormous pistol. This he then jammed back into its holster on his belt.

Sora nodded. "Tomorrow, at the hangar. Merlin said Cid has some ships here that we can choose from. Also, you're going to need some supplies. Merlin said the town's running low on all sorts of Potions and Ethers and Elixirs. I think we should try and find as many Ethers and Elixirs as possible. Can you do that?"

"One thing I have yet to say about myself, Sora, is that I'm a pickpocket. I'll do it."

Sora nodded. "Thanks…"

He then turned his head to her but the hard blue light in his eyes didn't change one bit. "C'mon, Kairi. Tomorrow we're leaving and tonight might be the one last chance we have at sleeping without worry."

"No Heartless?" she asked lightly, hoping to defuse some of the anger she could still see in him.

"Merlin's got that under control. Of course, we'll never know," Sora admitted as Zidane ran off somewhere and he climbed out of the fountain. "I'm in the Red Room so if you need anything, knock, okay?"

He then proceeded to walk away. Kairi stood there, watched him run two steps a piece up to the second level, and head for the doors of the First District. Where was he going? And did he just leave her there?

_I-I don't believe this. He didn't-he didn't just…_

"What's wrong with you, Sora?" she wondered sadly as she began walking up the stairs, too. The people in the Second District were talking calmly amongst themselves now. "I don't get it. What happened? You've changed."

…_and I don't like it._

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Yes, I'm taking a leaf out of my old story _Rain of Sorrow_, if anybody noticed. Will also pull in material from _Our Last Memories_ because I absolutely hate to have anything I put so much time and energy into go to waste. Anything regarding _Gravity of Love_, including questions and suggestions, will be posted on a Freewebs, as listed on my Bio page.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	12. Desire to Know

**Authoress' Note: **There were some things in the last chapter that needs some clarification and you can find that in the blog on the Freewebs address I posted on my Bio page. Hope that clears things up.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«11 – Desire to Know»**

"…two words for you: he's not waking up! He's good as dead so let's just burn him and get back to business! Herc!"

"C'mon, Phil, he's breathing. You can't ignore that, can you?"

"Hey, I've seen heroes breathe like that and you might think they're just sleeping but they never _ever_ wake up! They could grow old sleeping like that, except they end up dying of thirst or starvation or any combination of the two before that happens! One crack on the head and they're all dead! So let's just end it for him quick and burn him off to Hades!"

_Hades? Hades…I know that name. Wait…Hades…Hercules?_

He found that while he could move his eyeballs around his eyelids wouldn't budge open. He knew it was no magic; he couldn't feel any magic that would magically seal his eyelids shut – and who the hell would want to do that? He could do without sight if he could. If someone wanted him dead, that someone would have to think of a smarter way to disable him before killing him. Blinding him was a poor way of screwing him over.

"…Her…Herc…ules?" Riku groaned, turning on his side.

"Well, what do you now, Phil. He's _alive_."

"Fine, fine, you win, kiddo! Hey, wait a minute, how does he know your name? We've never seen him before, have we?"

"I definitely don't remember any man with silver hair, not before this one," said the voice which Riku guessed must definitely belong to Hercules. "I do remember Sora saying _something_ about someone like that but-"

_Sora!_

Riku quickly sat up and regretted the decision a moment later. He sank back down onto his back, clutching his head, while the owners of the two voices shouted and jumped back.

"Oh would you two just _shut up_!" Riku snarled. He felt horrible, absolutely horrible.

"Y'know, for someone his size and age, he sounds like a kid," Phil remarked. That pissed off Riku even more.

"I'm _not_ a kid! How old do you think I am?!"

"Uh…" That was Hercules. "I'd say…thirties? Forties?"

Oh god. They've got to be kidding him. "Forty? I'm not forty!"

"Well, what are you then? Ten?" Phil barked.

Riku sat up again and pulled his hand away from his head, glared daggers at a satyr and a young overly muscular man who were leaning back on the opposite wall as far away from his poisonous gaze as possible.

At least that's what Riku would like to think.

"No, I'm sixteen," Riku retorted as he swung his whole body around and jumped off the ledge he was previously lying on.

The satyr, Phil, snorted. "No, you're kidding me, you are so kidding me. Two words: you're not sixteen!"

"You don't even look sixteen," the young man added.

Riku looked at the man, clad in bronze armor, and the grumpy-looking satyr, who was waving his arm like he was shooing away a fly. "I know. This isn't how I look like."

"Oh yeah? What are you supposed to look like, a woman?" the satyr demanded.

"Hey!" came an immediate response from somewhere far away.

"Ignore him, Meg!" Hercules yelled to a doorway built into the wall on Riku's left. Then he leveled his cocksure gaze on Riku. "If you're sixteen, why do you look like this?"

Riku looked down on himself, at the Organization coat and the large muscular build. "It's…it's like a curse. The body I have right now is the body of a darkness that used to reside in me. The reason why I look like this is because…because I opened myself to that darkness, in order to use its powers."

"You would do that?" Hercules asked, his voice dropping immediately to a quiet level. "You would take in darkness to win?"

"It wasn't for me! You have to understand that!" was Riku's angry response. "I didn't do it for myself! It was for…it was for a friend of mine. I did it for him. I had to. There was no choice. He…_it_ was too strong."

_How could that 'thing' defeat me so easily? It took Sora years to get the hang of it, to try and find an upper hand over me. I was the one, I was the best one…and then this-this _thing_ comes along and beats the shit out of me! If it weren't for that thing, I wouldn't look like this! No, if it weren't for it, a lot of things wouldn't be…_

"I see…" Hercules said with a nod. He then held out of his hand. "My name is Hercules. This is Phil, friend and trainer of heroes."

Riku smirked as he took the man's hand. "I doubt you'd find any hero quality in me. I'm as bad as they come."

"Oh yeah?" Phil said challengingly and a bit dismissively. "Show me."

"Heroes don't give to the darkness in order to get what they want, do they?" Riku asked rather bitterly. He was half-lying when he was talking about opening himself up to darkness to help Sora. That was half a lie.

"But-you just said-"

"First time, I wanted to use the darkness to escape the world I lived on. Second time, I wanted to beat my friend, beat him and save someone I care for. Third time, I wanted to help him, because…because it's the right thing to do, isn't it? They say third time's the charm…now that's a damn lie and I'm proof of it."

He hated looking like Ansem but DiZ said the image wouldn't go away by normal means, because there were none. Riku didn't even remember what he originally looked like anymore. His mood depressed, he started shifting on his feet, then remembered something.

"Hey…how'd I get here?" He looked around the room, built of stone the color of pale sand. There was a brazier sitting in a far corner, fire crackling happily in the center of the copper bowl.

"You and your friends fell out of the sky during one of the matches at our tournament," Phil informed. "Interrupted the whole show."

Fell out of the sky? Did the explosion take out the gummi ship? Cid was going to hate him for this.

"How…"

Hercules then started hemming and hawing. "You know…during the match, there was this…there was this massive explosion in the sky. It was amazing and yet it was the most frightening thing I've ever seen. Did you and your friends have anything to do with it?"

"I wish," Riku muttered. "That was a world you just saw. A world that is no more."

_Destiny Islands is gone. Impossible! Kairi, no, no, no, no, no…_

The full brunt of it slapped him in the face and punched him in the gut. Riku staggered against the ledge he was lying on. "Oh god…Kairi…"

"Did you say Kairi?" a woman asked, sticking her head into the room. Her wavy brown hair was piled high on her head and fell down her shoulders. She was wearing a pink and purple dress and had the most sarcastic, cynical look on her face. "I swear you just said-"

"You know her?" Riku had never seen her before.

"No. Someone did, though. Hey Phil, remember that little shrimp of a thing that came by a while ago? The one who looked like a mouse, you remember that one?"

_His Majesty! What's he doing here?_

"You mean His Majesty," Hercules corrected. "That's a king, Meg."

"I know. He told me something about a girl named Kairi. He said…what did he say…"

"He said someone was going to come nearby who'd know someone named Kairi," Phil said plainly. "You're the one, aren't you?"

What the heck was King Mickey talking about? Riku shrugged. "I have no idea. I suppose…"

"He said Kairi's fine. Someone…I don't know who…someone got her off the world and they're safe…at Traverse Town."

Traverse Town! Riku nodded. "Thanks. Wait…_who_ got her off Destiny Islands?"

"Like I'd know," the woman said with a shrug. "Herc, can you do something about the cat? He won't shut it, keeps singing this really annoying child's song, and it's really annoying me-"

"Uh, sorry about that," Riku quickly interjected. Stupid Cheshire Cat.

"This makes absolutely no sense," Phil declared angrily. "How'd that king know anyways?"

"When did he come by?" Riku asked, realizing that Phil was right. If King Mickey knew that…did he know Riku was here? But of course he did. Then did he see what had become of him? Did His Majesty see Ansem in him, the full flower of darkness?

"Yesterday."

Yesterday? "When did we get here?"

"Three days."

Three days?! "Then Kairi's still there. I have to go. Where's my companions? We have to get back to Traverse Town!"

He made for the door but Hercules quickly stopped him. "Hey, wait a minute. Let's back it up a bit. What's your story anyways? Hey, what's your name? You never even told us!"

"Oh…my name's Riku. Can you please get out of the way now? I have to get out of here," Riku said hurriedly, trying to find an opening. He cursed the bulkiness of Ansem and Hercules' sizes.

"Riku?" Hercules and Phil looked at him. "Oh…"

"What? _What_?" Riku asked angrily of them. And then, looking at the knowingness on their faces, he realized they knew Sora. "You know Sora."

"Yeah, we do," Hercules answered for the both of them. "So _you're_ Riku. I _thought_ maybe Kairi's name was familiar…"

"You two are so slow," said the woman somewhere outside the room.

"Meg!" Hercules exclaimed, embarrassed.

"Stay out of this!" Phil added.

"Men! Pssht!"

This Meg, Riku decided, was a strange person indeed. He looked at them. "I told you my name. Now will you please let me-"

"Well, we have some problems," Hercules said quickly. "His Majesty said that piece of thing that fell out of the sky belonged to you and that's the only way you'd get off of our world so you need to get it fixed."

"The gummi ship. It's totaled?"

"What? What does that mean?" Phil asked.

"Broken. Ruined. Not able to work. Crap! Shit! And-and Kairi's at Traverse Town!"

Kairi. She's just an arm's length away. He had to fix that gummi ship _now_ and go to Traverse Town and take her away to Radiant Garden, away from that-that _thing_, that Nobody who's masquerading as Sora. Then he'd repay his debt to her, undo the hurt he caused her. Maybe things will patch up between them. And then they can go out and find Sora, return the Nobody to him, and…

"…and Hades is hard to bargain with so-" Hercules was talking and Riku didn't even realize it. Wait, Hades?

"What about Hades?" Riku demanded, wary of the mere mention of the god of the underworld. And was he imagining things or was Hercules saying something about bargaining with him? "Wait, what bargaining?"

It was Phil who stepped forward with the answer. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but the one other friend of yours who's not a cat is hanging between this-" he gestured to their surroundings "-and that."

He pointed straight down. One needn't ask so understand what Phil was saying.

The Cheshire Cat was fine as rain, and Meg proved it, but Tarzan was dying. The silent strange man from the jungles, who had lost his family and randomly agreed to go with Riku and the Cheshire Cat to search for a fairy tale was losing his life and things haven't even started yet. What a way to kick off.

"Shit!"

xxx

Riku was absolutely sour by the time Meg appeared with the Cheshire Cat curled around her shoulders. The purple and pink cat was lolling about on her shoulders and waved tortoise-slow at Riku, who just _itched_ to snatch up the Cat by the nape and smash him into that brazier in the corner cheerfully flaming. Or maybe he'll roast the Cat over the fire and feed him to some stray dogs outside the Coliseum.

Riku stopped short of actually carrying out the idea, though. It suddenly came to him that he had no idea why he thought it up in the first place. Just _what_ was it about the Cheshire Cat that made him mad? Was it the annoying feminine colors or the insolent grin on his lazy fat face?

"Someone lead the way down, down, down…" the Cat was mulling over as Meg unceremoniously dumped him on the marble slab Riku had been knocked out on before Hercules and Phil's argument woke him up. She symbolically dusted her hands of responsibility of this cat and backed away to where Hercules and Phil were milling about and musing to themselves. Riku walked up to the Cat, who was now standing up on his two hind legs and pretending to fire an arrow from a bow made of air.

"Well?"

The Cheshire Cat rolled one eye towards him as he pulled back an imaginary bowstring. "Well what?"

Temper was flaring. "Well what do we do now? They said we have to deal with Hades if we want Tarzan back-"

"We and want? Since when did you 'we' and 'want'?" the Cat asked with interest as he lowered his imaginary weaponry. Riku bit his tongue to stop some wisecrack snap from escaping his mouth, then realized the Cheshire Cat had brought up a good point. Why did Riku care if he should bring Tarzan back from the dead?

_I suppose it's Merlin's fault,_ he determined, again sour as he thought about the blue-clad wizard and the teapot that burned his hand. _I don't need him. I don't need the fucking Cat either. I can do this all by myself, hunting down some deranged freak of nature before going off to join DiZ and His Majesty and help Sora and Kairi! I don't need to deal with these two!_

Riku sighed, remembered what he learned about Tarzan. Maybe he should help the man find some closure. Revenge. Who didn't want either? "Cut the shit, Cat. They said Hades wants Tarzan's soul, and we need a way to get him back. You also said he knew some stuff we're looking for."

"Yes, yes, he knows. He knows quite well, if not very well," the Cat remarked. Now he was thrusting with a lance made of air. "We shall deal with Hades, first for Tarzan's soul, then for any presence of the Chasers. And if he fears the demon fox, all the better for us."

"What demon fox?" Phil butted in. "I never heard of a demon fox. What's going on here?"

Hercules said nothing, but he looked very, very interested. Riku decided that he would have to fill the son of the gods in this; Hercules would prove a very apt and useful ally if they did have to face Hades. Or the primordial evil itself.

"It's a weird story. If you want to know, ask Merlin," Riku replied curtly. "Sigh…I suppose we have to go to Hades after all, Cat, and bargain for Tarzan. I'd rather not but that's what Hades loves most. Herc, want to join? You do know the way, don't you?"

"Like the back of his hand!" Phil declared. "After that escapade of his to go save Meg-"

The woman in question knelt down and covered the satyr's mouth with her hand. "Not another word!"

Riku decided it was better not to ask, at least not until Meg was far, far away. He looked questioningly at Hercules, who, once catching his gaze, nodded solemnly. Then Riku asked, "Where's Tarzan, though?"

Phil answered. "We put him in another room. Best not to visit him before you go get his soul back; I hear it sets the tables against you."

Riku rolled his eyes. "I don't give a crap. Where is he?"

Phil looked at Hercules, then said, "This way."

Down the hall the satyr entered another room. It looked almost exactly like the one Riku woke up in, but the fire in the brazier was much stronger and the room was warm; the Cat was on the floor next to the brazier, leaning on one of its three stands and staring across the room. Tarzan, stretched out on the marble platform like he was already dead, was breathing lightly but he _looked_ dead. Riku nearly recoiled, shocked at the sallow skin and the massive bruises blotched over his body. The man certainly didn't do well when the gummi ship crashed here.

Riku looked at Hercules sharply and nodded. The huge man then turned on his heels and strode out of the room. Riku followed, with the Cheshire Cat making a comfortable place for itself on top of his head.

He could hear Phil mutter to Meg, "They're in for a world of hurt. Hades spare them."

"I don't think he will," Meg whispered back.

xxx

"This…is just…_GREAT_!" Hades roared, hot red flames shooting off the top of his head. He glared at the cringing demons Pain and Panic. They winced again as the god of the underworld continued to snap at them. "I could have _had_ him if you hadn't TOLD the damn wizard where he was! Are you two that stupid? That hollow in the head?"

He was out of his throne and over to his two henchman, hauling them up by their necks and glaring at them. He snarled, then dropped them. Returning to his throne, he sighed and presently deflated. "Now the only thing I have going for me is the summon…"

"Well, um…" Pain looked at Panic and they both nodded. Swallowing hard, Pain went on, "Charon said s-someone's trying to get in-"

"From the outside," Panic added quickly, cutting Pain off, then both demons cringed and shrunk against the wall of the room.

"Oh really?" Hades asked slowly in a low voice. "And who might that be? HERCULES?!"

The gloomy throne room brightened considerably when the red fire raged. Hades, looking rather like the god of the underworld he was, glared furiously at his two meek henchmen, waiting for their answer.

"W-well…"

"He _is_ there-"

"But as a guide."

"Yeah, someone else's trying to get here."

"We don't know who he is."

"But he's with this weird cat."

"Yeah, Charon thinks something's up with the cat."

"And-"

"Oh really?" Hades asked with interest. So Hercules was simply guiding people to him, Hades, lord of the underworld. "So something's up with the cat, eh? So tell me, exactly what's wrong with a stupid CAT?"

Both demons twitched again. Shaking, they looked at each other, daring the other to say more.

"Something about…a bargain…"

Hades nodded but he wasn't all that amused. "Bargain? They're here to bargain with me…over a soul? Well then, I'll have to think up a high enough price. What do you say? Have Hercules sign over his soul as part of the bargain?"

The demons eagerly nodded, knowing that the sly look on Hades' face meant they should agree, and not question him whatsoever.

"First, though, I want to know exactly what he wants, the other one with the cat. And then…"

XXX

His Majesty looked guilty about something. That wasn't what Sora expected of a king. What king would look like he's done something wrong and knows of it? Well, then again, Sora decided, maybe kings _can_ be guilty. It only matters what it is they're guilty of.

So what was His Majesty guilty of?

"I'm sorry, Sora," were the first words out of the king's mouth. It confused the teenager right away, because he had no idea what His Majesty did to offend Sora.

"I don't…understand, Your Majesty," Sora answered slowly, hesitantly. He looked to Donald and Goofy for help but found them just as befuddled as he was.

"No, of course you don't," the king sighed heavily. He tapped his Keyblade on the floor of the empty train station. "Of course you don't… Perhaps…Sora, Donald, Goofy, have you any munny with you?"

Jiminy Cricket, who apparently didn't mind being overlooked by His Majesty, immediately chirped up. "No, Your Majesty. We're broke."

"Huyuk, downright broke'd, Yer Majesty!" Goofy added in a hiccup.

Sora nodded. "Why do you ask…Your Majesty?"

He had caught Donald shooting daggers at him.

"Because you need train tickets. I need you to go to a small world adjacent to this one. I need you to meet the sorcerer there. He'll tell you everything while I deal with some business in town. When I am done, I'll join you there. I need you tell you some things."

"Can't you tell us now, Your Majesty?" Donald asked doubtfully.

His Majesty shook his head. "There could be others eavesdropping on us. I can't risk that. Yes, Donald, it is that serious. The next train is in ten minutes. Sora, here's the munny for the tickets; the ticket booth is back across the tracks. And I also want you to have this."

Along with the bag of munny, His Majesty pressed into Sora's hand a blue crystal ball. Confused, he handed to Donald the munny bag and held up the crystal ball between his thumb and forefinger. He could see nothing special in particular about it but the faint light beaming into the train station made it glow.

It was rather beautiful.

"Maybe later…it'll all come to you," he heard the king say. "But there are things you need to know, and to know you need to leave Twilight Town and go to the wizard's tower. It's right next to Twilight Town; it'll take several minutes to reach the tower. Once you're there, you'll find those who'll help you find the Door."

"But Your Majesty," Sora began slowly. There was a bizarre nagging feeling in the back of his mind. "Have we…have we met before? Or…or-"

"Sora," he said firmly, holding up an authoritative hand. Sora instantly felt his mouth shut. "This will be discussed later. Do you understand?"

He felt himself stiffen. The look in His Majesty's eyes alone locked his jaw. He looked at Donald and Goofy; they were shaking their heads. Sora realized he must be overstepping himself in front of a king.

Especially a king like His Majesty, a wielder of a Key.

Sora felt horrible. He stared down at his feet, biting his lip, his face burning.

"Go. I will meet you soon, all of you."

"Yes Your Majesty," Donald said rather submissively. Goofy bowed and so did Jiminy. Sora looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do. Should he do what Donald did or bow like Goofy and Jiminy?

"I may be king," His Majesty said with a smile, "but I'm also like you, Sora. I am a Keyblade Wielder…and torn from my home. I know how you feel, but I envy your disregard of power. Keep it. Your power is more than all the rulers in the Universe."

His Majesty turned and began walking towards the exit down the station. Sora stared after him, wondering what His Majesty meant. None of it meant much to him, except His Majesty understood what Sora was going through.

Separation from home, Riku, and _Kairi_…

He turned and looked at Donald and goofy, then at the cricket on his shoulder. Jiminy Cricket tapped his shoulder with the umbrella.

"Let's go, Sora. We got a train to catch."

"So cliché," Donald snorted under his breath as they jumped across the tracks.

xxx

Hayner, Olette, and Pence were there when Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket reentered the train station, Goofy sifting through the four train tickets in his hands. Jiminy Cricket was sitting on the captain's shoulder, making sure Goofy didn't accidentally lose a ticket.

Sora stopped short when he saw the three teenagers standing there. Pence was slurping away at another one of those blue ice cream bars while Olette shifted from foot to foot, her arms crossed. Hayner was leaning against the wall and the poster tacked onto it, one loudly welcoming people to Twilight Town. The blond teenager appeared aloof but Sora saw his brown eyes were watching their every move.

There was nobody else in the train station, which bothered Sora immensely. Looking around, he walked over to the three teenagers, looking back to make sure the others were with him, and that those bizarre creatures didn't come back for revenge.

"We wanted to say goodbye," Olette immediately declared as she leaned on her left leg. "We figured if you were meeting your king at the train station, that means you're leaving town. We haven't known you long but…good luck anyways."

Pence nodded. "Yeah. Maybe we _were_ friends a long time ago, Sora, but anyways, let's be friends. Good luck, Sora, finding your friends. Must be fun, going around worlds doing the things you do…"

Sora glared at Donald when the wizard snorted at Pence's naïve statement.

"Hayner, say something!" Olette hissed, and the blond teenager reluctantly joined the others. He looked at Sora rather sullenly but then nodded. "Yeah, good luck."

"Huyuk, thanks! Every help counts!" Goofy hiccupped. Olette giggled.

Sora smiled in gratitude. "Yeah, thanks for giving us some luck. We're going to need it."

Hayner nodded. "Welcome, Sora. C'mon, we should be getting home. It's getting late."

Sora watched the three teenagers leave the train station, then looked at Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket. The cricket was now in possession of the tickets, and was trying desperately not to fall off Goofy's shoulder, so great was the weight of the four tickets compared to his size and strength. Sora quickly snatched the tickets out of his grasp.

"Thanks, Sora," Jiminy Cricket said as he plopped on Goofy's shoulder and took off his hat, He fanned at his head. "That was a bit more exercise than I needed!"

Sora laughed. "Exercise? That's pretty funny, Jiminy!"

"Well try being my size, why don't you?" the cricket retorted. "See how it feels being a cricket?"

"Well I can't right now, can I? How else can I fight the Heartless and those weird things, huh?" Sora grinned, crossing his arms behind his head. "Man…when's the train coming?"

"In a bit."

Sora's arms slid off his head. He whirled around, the Keyblade immediately materializing into his hands. Donald and Goofy had gone on the high alert, the two whipping out their weapons. Jiminy Cricket slid down into Goofy's pocket as a tall figure stepped into view. It was a man wearing a black coat, the hood covering his face. Sora couldn't see anything underneath the cowl but the voice was plucking at his mind, at his memories.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, brandishing the Key. "Show yourself!"

"No, why would I do that?" the man replied coolly, disregarding Sora's attitude. "It's not child's play I'm here for. I'm just here to warn you…"

"About what?" Donald asked angrily.

"Oh, about some things in the not-to-distant future," the man said dismissively. "Just wanted to keep you on your toes. A bit rusty but you'll do. Beware the liars. They'll get you if you don't get them."

Then in a whirl of purple black mist, he vanished. Just like that.

Sora stared, not quite sure if he just saw what he thought he just saw. He looked slowly at the others. "Did I just see what I just saw?"

That made no sense but his point got across Donald. "Yeah…but where'd he come from? Who is he?"

Goofy was contemplating Sora's question. "Did I just see…what I saw? See…saw?"

Sora stared blankly at where the man was just standing. A whistle not too far off told him the train was coming. But that was definitely the least of his worries. What Pence said…those creatures, His Majesty, that man…

_Who was that? Who was he?_

xxx

The train ride itself was largely uneventful. Sora couldn't stop himself from continuously pacing up and down the loudly empty aisle, bored like hell out of his mind. Goofy was snoring loudly as he lay sprawled all over a whole couch. Donald was staring out the window as the train chugged onward cheerfully. Jiminy Cricket was busy flipping through his notes, muttering to himself and marking here and there. He shook his head and looked up.

"Nothing. I still don't know who 'Naminé' is. How'd she get in my journal? I don't understand…"

Sora nodded as he continued pacing. "Maybe we'll find out when we get to the wizard's tower. His Majesty said we'd find out everything there, right?"

"Hopefully," Jiminy nodded, then frowned. Donald had fallen asleep and he was snoring, too. His whole body shook with each snort and each time the journal nearly fell out of Jiminy's grasp. The disgruntled cricket leaped up onto the head of the seat and resumed flipping through the pages, muttering quite angrily about those who snored.

Sora was still wondering why he felt like he'd seen His Majesty before. It was a nagging feeling, like a burst of enlightenment that his doubts held back. He certainly did not remember meeting His Majesty, was quite adamant about it, but something told him that yes, he had.

"Jiminy," he said slowly as he finally sat down in the seat behind Donald.

"Hm?"

His eyes were now glued to the scenery flashing by the windows. "What did…what did His Majesty mean…about him envying me? Why would he be jealous of me?"

There was no answer. The teenager looked at Jiminy Cricket, saw that he had his journal closed and a whimsical smile on his face. "That actually makes no sense to me. You always call him 'His Majesty', but he said he was jealous of your ability to ignore his status as a king. I think…His Majesty was commenting on your disregard for _behavior_ amongst the people who are in power. You see, there are spoke and unspoken rules, protocols that all must behave when they're in the presence of those with power. For instance, a long time ago in Agrabah, the commoners could not look at any of the royal family when one of them left the palace for a walk. It was forbidden. That is a law. But I bet you wouldn't care. Of course, you could lose your head for that."

Sora chuckled. He suddenly remembered the Queen of Hearts, back in Wonderland, and her oft-repeated phrase, "Off with his head!"

"But why me? Why jealous of me? I mean…I'm just an Islands boy, right? Besides being the Keyblade Wielder…"

"He said you shouldn't change your ways, Sora. His Majesty said that it was best for you to ignore the behavior a commoner must take up in the presence of royalty or those of high status. He said your Key is what makes you far more powerful than all of them put together. You are the one who will open the Door, remember?"

"Yeah," Sora agreed rather quietly, now staring at his hands. He could imagine them grasping the beautiful weapon, swinging it at the Heartless. "Yeah…that I know…"

Power. He had power. His Majesty said Sora had power. Did that mean he was more powerful than the king? It was a frightening thought. Sora couldn't see himself as anyone special, knew there was nothing special about him. His Majesty was a Keyblade Wielder, too. But His Majesty said Sora had power.

And what could he do with that power?

"Look," Jiminy Cricket suddenly said. He pointed his pencil out the window. Sora quickly scrambled over to the side and pressed his head against the window. He felt his jaw drop as a tower loomed into view, a visually impressive building that rose high into the sky.

Then the train suddenly shuddered along its length, jolted, and hissed to a full stop. Sora was immediately on his feet, his body tensing. Donald sat up and shook his head, then jumped off his seat onto the floor. Goofy, though, rolled right off. The captain looked about wildly, then leaped to his feet. "Goofy, Captain of the Disney Royal Knights, reporting for duty!"

He finished with flourish, a salute that left Sora feeling chilly. Sora shook his head. "Relax, Goofy. The train…the train's stopped. That's all."

He looked up and down the row. "Are we the only ones in here?"

Donald shrugged, but he looked wary. "Maybe nobody really comes by here. That place _looks_ kinda scary…"

"Yup," Goofy agreed. Then he jumped and tripped over his feet as a loud screech rent the air. Sora shouted and clapped his hands over his ears. Someone was dragging nails across a surface and the noise bled out his ears. He thought he was going mad.

Something poked him hard in the cheek and he opened his eyes. It was Jiminy Cricket. "Sora, it's them again. They're back."

Those freakish white creatures had popped up all around them, swaying in place. They were all facing him, Sora. That unnerved the teenager immensely. He took a step back and instantly collided with Donald and Goofy.

"Y-you guys?" he stammered. "It's them again…"

The freakish white creatures, the ones that so easily turned him into a child's plaything, a toy. Everything he had done did not hurt them; how could he hope to defend himself against them now?

The one problem was that he couldn't tell whether this batch was threatening or not. The first time he met them, he had no idea what they were there for. It was only when he pulled out his Keyblade that they _did_ turn on him-

They were after the Keyblade, weren't they? But they were nothing like Heartless. They were far more formidable than most Heartless he's battled with, and they released blue hearts when they died. He didn't know what those blue hearts meant.

"Gwarsh, there's a lot of them now," Goofy commented. He sounded extremely upset. Sora wasn't surprised. These things had pounded Goofy the last time they met, which was also the first. Maybe they'll have better luck against these creatures the second time around.

Sora held out his hand and summoned the Keyblade. Once the weapon was in his grasp, he took a quick glance at the creatures surrounding them. Just like before, their strange heads were pointed straight for the silver weapon. He spun it in his hand expertly and held it out, its point aimed straight at one of the creatures. It responded by crouching low, its knife-like hands held out on the ready.

"They want the Keyblade," Sora said quietly, in a detached voice. "They want this weapon. If they want it…they'll have to come and get it!"

He leaped forward and lashed at the creature. To his immense joy, the thing couldn't escape the reach of the Keyblade and was flung against the side of the train. It dissolved in smoke, and a blue heart floated away and vanished.

Sora froze in that position, stunned. It wasn't that he killed the creature so much as with the ease in which he performed that simple move. The creatures he met at the train station would have avoided that childish performance with ease but already he had demolished one here in the train.

"You guys!" Sora exclaimed, turning to Donald and Goofy. "I think we can take them out!"

Donald was doubtful. "I don't know, Sora. Remember the first time-"

"But it's the _first_ time," Sora insisted. "I bet we can do better second time!"

"Yup, I think so, too!" Goofy exclaimed, then demonstrated by charging at three of the creatures swaying about at a train seat three rows down. He leaped over the seats and came down at them with his shield. Two scattered but the third wasn't so lucky and he crushed it into the seat. Then Goofy bounded to the side and swung; he caught another one of the creatures by the neck and the shield's edge drove it into the wall. Goofy leaped back with a yelp; Sora also had never seen a beheading before.

He decided right there and then that beheading was a gruesome thing. He made a point of it by charging at the next creature, the Keyblade pointed for its spring-like body. His venture proved more difficult; the creature practically uncoiled itself like a spring and propelled itself over Sora's head. He duck to avoid its knife-like hand as it swiped at his crown. He dug his heels into the ground and threw his Keyblade up; it struck the creature and it fell, its momentum broken. Sora ran to it and snatched the Keyblade from the ground as it vanished, then whirled around to see at least five of the pale gray things crowding in around him. Sora swallowed. It was easier fighting these things but not _that_ easy. He couldn't just run through them, swiping at their heads, and getting rid of them like he could with the Shadows. He had to fight each of them individually. There were no mob tactics here.

"Fire!" Donald exclaimed behind him. Sora threw himself to the side – and so did most of the creatures – as a fireball seared through the air. It exploded in between two of the creatures and they staggered, injured. Goofy then threw his shield like a discus and destroyed them. Sora charged as the next three rose up from their hiding spaces in the seats, and threw himself at them. He shouldered one into the back of another seat and grimaced as he _felt_ his shoulder literally drive itself through the body, then he scrambled to his feet and, stumbling, took a wide swipe at another of the creatures.

"Fire!"

A seat burst into flames.

"Freeze!" Goofy yelped. He iced over the row in front of it.

"Freeze!" Sora echoed, pointing the Keyblade at the blaze. Fighting was fine but not with the train burning down around them.

Several more creatures stepped forward, glowering at Sora. He swallowed and stepped back, then took a deep breath and lashed out at them. One of them avoided the attack, used the body of the weapon as a springboard, and pounced at him.

"Look out!" Goofy yelled and charged forward. Two of the creatures became blurs and vanished. Where they were was known seconds later when he heard Goofy yell and crash into seats behind him. Sora threw up the Keyblade and the creature ricocheted off the weapon's slender body. Two more leaped on it, though, and Sora felt his knees wobble under the force of impact. However one of them was thrown off by a Fire spell.

"Fire!" Donald yelled. Another was practically ripped off the Keyblade, its body thrown back gruesomely as the fireball caught it in the head. Sora quickly got back to his feet and whirled around to see Goofy smash a creature into the side of the train. Sora turned and couldn't believe his eyes.

There were _more_ of these insane creatures. Where were they coming from?

"Oh no…" Sora whispered. How could he possibly deal with all of them?

"Sora, there's too many of them!" Donald yelped. "Fire! FIRE!!!"

A huge fireball erupted from the tip of Donald's staff but this fresh batch evaded the inferno. They bounded around on top of the train seats, looking far more elastic than the ones Sora, Donald, and Goofy had gotten rid of.

"This is bad," he heard Jiminy declare from inside his pocket. "Sora, we have to get off the train."

"How?" Sora demanded, looking around frantically for an exit. Spotting the windows, he then pointed t one of the train windows with ht Key and said, "Fire!"

The window remained in one piece.

"What do we do?" Goofy asked nervously. "They don't look very nice…"

Sora lowered his body, swinging the Keyblade and testing the grip. He could see no alternative; he had just demonstrated that it was not going to be an easy affair leaping out of the train through the windows. Donald, too, was readying himself to meet the creatures head on, and so did Goofy, though the captain looked more doubtful than either of them did.

"What do we do, Goofy?" Sora answered. "We meet them head on. We got no choice. Now or never!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the air began to churn violently. He yelled and staggered back; the wind was sharp and stung his eyes. Rubbing them with his left hand, he stepped back even more and bumped into a seat. Donald and Goofy were both shouting at the sudden burst of wind, and a deafening howl deadened his ears.

When the hurricane of wind began to dissipate, Sora found himself on his knees, windswept and shaken. Taking a shuddering breath, he slowly pulled his hands away from his ears, then looked up. He shouted and scrambled backwards and fell on his behind, stunned by the hard glare the old man was giving him.

_Where did _HE_ come from? Who the heck is he?_

Bushy-browed and with a huge crooked nose, the old man in blue looked like a far more severe version of Merlin than Sora could imagine.

"The Nobodies are nothing like the Heartless," the old man said coldly, pulling his robes around him as he took a step back. Sora felt his whole body relax a notch. "Don't be foolish as to boulder into them. They are far more formidable than the Heartless are, with what little you know of them."

The Nobodies?

"Then those creatures…they're Nobodies?" Goofy asked.

The old man did not answer. Instead he turned around. "Come with me, all of you. There is much to discuss before His Majesty comes."

Sora slowly rose to his feet, still shaken. All the crea-Nobodies were gone. The couch Donald burned was still smoking. Aside from the tears and deformities caused by the brief battle, the train seemed intact.

"Who are you?" Sora asked as he walked quickly to catch up to the wizard. He recoiled when the old man whirled around on him, keen like a hawk.

"I am a sorcerer and my name is Yen Sid. I am a colleague of those you know, King Mickey and Merlin. Now come. I will satisfy your curiosity in my tower."

Sora looked at Donald, then Goofy, then Jiminy Cricket who had climbed onto his shoulder. The cricket shrugged.

"Let's follow him, Sora. He said he can answer our questions. Maybe he can answer why His Majesty seems so familiar to you."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, you're right, Jiminy. Let's go."

XXX

It was an utter desert, a barren wasteland. Wind picked up particles of dirt and tossed them about. Cliffs rose up in the distance and dry bramble rustled in the hot breeze.

They stood there, deep in thought, deep in conversation. It was not a very impressive talk and they knew it.

"This is absolutely terrible! How could it have come to this? Are we this old?"

"It's a wretched situation we're in, dears. He's moving faster than we thought. And we haven't a clue what he's going to do next."

"You think it's all random?"

"It would have been if that old fool didn't make such a wretched 'prophecy'. You really believe an anomaly can kill him?"

"I think it's all stuff and nonsense, darlings! I don't believe in fortunetelling and never will!"

"What do you say, my dear? Always quiet, after all these years. Why don't you ever say a bit?"

"I'm considering the prophecy."

"W-what? After all I said-"

"This is no ordinary situation. It's never been, not for the past thousands of years. What makes you think we can destroy him now? And with what means? Ordinary? Or something extraordinary? Something impossible has to happen. That's what an anomaly means. A glitch. An impossibility. Something that never happens."

"Dear, that is the problem. The man was not in his right mind when he spoke such nonsense. What's impossible is never possible."

"We have to find a new way, a different way. He knows he can strike now. That fool of a king had opened the way."

"How many ways?"

"What does that mean, dear?"

"Yes, tell us. You seem to know more than either of us."

"I'm only suggesting that certain events manifest their real purposes later, long after the initial reactions wear off. Take the Nobodies. Let us watch them, see what they do. We all think they're here because of a king's experiments that culminated in an evil, but I have a feeling there is more to them than that. They will be pulled in and how they will deal with him is what we should watch for."

"I suppose…"

Sunset in the horizon. A signal to move.

"Let us go. Everything is in motion…and we need to know where everything will end."

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Whoo…another battle scene. Now its time to find my beta for the next chapter… Anything regarding _Gravity of Love_, including questions and suggestions, will be posted on a Freewebs, as listed on my Bio page.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	13. The New World

**Authoress' Note: **After this chapter I won't be updating as often; I also won't be writing as regularly as I wish I could. Next year I'm off to college, so right now I have to get all the college applications together. Expect nothing regular until at least the end of November. By January I hope to really pick things up..

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«12 – The New World»**

Kairi felt vaguely jealous as she watched Sora man the gummi ship with ease. She wanted to know how he did it, how he knew which button closed the gummi ship's door, which button started the engine, and which button actually ordered the ship to take off. Z wasn't all that interested; he seemed more inclined to exploring the ship and studying every little centimeter of it.

She meant Z as in Zidane. She just found it much easier referring to the young man with the tail as Z.

"You don't mind if I call you 'Z', do you?" she asked him. Z responded almost instantaneously.

"Nah, I'm fine with it. Call me whatever you like, as long as it doesn't insult me."

"What doesn't insult you?" Sora snorted as the ship soared past a cluster of gray and purple ships.

Z frowned. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

Sora shrugged. He didn't say anything though, leaving everything open to interpretation. Kairi wondered what Sora did mean by that, but she decided to leave him alone to take care of the gummi ship. She wandered over to the side and peered out the window at the stars and various space things whizzing by. She sensed Z joining her, and turned her eyes to see him pressing his forehead against the glass.

"How does it go through space?" she wondered aloud. "How does it know where it's going?"

Z didn't answer. He seemed mesmerized by the stars flying by. The ship dipped, then rose over a huge purplish boulder. Kairi watched it vanish into the darkness of space, then gave a start as time seemed to slow and her eyes fixated on a revolving chipped teacup wandering away in the infinite emptiness. Half of a spear. A wooden chair. Shriveled roses half white and half red.

Wonderland.

She quickly turned to Sora. "Sora, isn't this what-what's left of Wonderland?"

"Where are we going?" Z asked loudly.

The teenager in question answered Z, leaving Kairi rather put-off. "Merlin said we should go for a world that's just been discovered. It's on the map. That's where we're going."

Kairi approached the cockpit. "What kind of world?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know."

"Does it have a name?" Z added, joining them. His tail slapped continuously against the back of Sora's seat. Kairi noticed his grip on the controls tightening with each loud impacting noise, but Z didn't seem to notice.

"It's new. Why would it already have a name?" Sora retorted, his voice quivering with restrained irritation.

"I dunno," Z said offhandedly. "I mean, when people discover things, don't they usually put their names on them? Like…Zidane Isles!"

Sora snorted. "Bit of a big ego here."

Even Kairi was starting to feel irritated, but for a different reason. Some angry vibe was coming off of Sora but she couldn't figure out what it was. She asked, as nicely as she possibly could, "Did Merlin say anything else about the world?"

Sora seemed to deflate a bit, although he kept twitching whenever Z's tail slapped the back of his seat. "He just called it 'the new world'. He thinks it's the greatest discovery since something called the Bermuda Triangle. I don't know what the hell that is, so don't ask, Zidane."

Z shut his mouth and scowled. Then he turned on his heels and dawdled off, his hands resting on top of his head. Kairi watched him go to the window and stare out of it, then turned her eyes back to Sora. She leaned against the control board and peered at his face. She read unease in his expression. Something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"I…" He stopped, then chewed at his bottom lip. "I…I'm just worried…about the creature."

A racing chill. Coal-black eyes searing into her mind, against a backdrop of hot white fire. Moisture drained from her mouth. She gripped his seat tightly, and turned away. Kairi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but she could hear the roar in her ears, the hot endless thunder that shrouded her mind in its grip and-

She felt a faint touch on her jaw line, a soft warm brush of another life. The memory died away. She shivered and opened her eyes but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Sora was adjusting his grip on the controls, his eyes stubbornly studying an unidentifiable object on the left side of the cockpit window. It spun lazily, in hazes of blues and greens.

"That's the world," he said quietly. "The new world."

The new world.

Who would be there?

XXX

"Hey, a shooting star!" Thomas called out from the bow of the _Susan Constant_. The redhead with the dark brown cap setting precariously on his head pointed straight at a burning white streak that seared across the dark sky.

The ship's crew murmured worriedly to themselves as they followed their colleague's call. Shooting stars were dark omens; they brought change upon the world and that there would be an upheaval of the status quo, chaos soon to follow. Soon the murmurs rose in volume; unlike most shooting stars, the streak burned relentlessly as it shot far ahead of the _Susan Constant_'s course into the horizon, blurred between sea and sky.

Captain John Smith watched the shooting star with a worried eye. He, too, knew what shooting stars meant, but to him the feeling of dread had magnified tenfold. He had been having strange dreams lately, ever since he returned home to England from his ventures to the New World. The tall man stared across the dark aquatic realm, ran a hand through his blond hair. He perused over the shooting star, saw it burning clearly in his mind. Omens. It brought change.

He dreamed forever of shooting stars, and eyes, hot black eyes, endlessly burning like all the descriptions of Hell that he heard in his life. Eyes glared at him from a wall of white fire. Then his eyes were running jolted across green fields, deep forests, and he could hear the roar of a waterfall. Then he was falling off a cliff into endless dreamless sleep.

Smith couldn't understand why the dream came to him so constantly. But seeing the shooting star, he knew it was a sign that terrible things were coming, things much like the white fire in his dreams.

"What is going on?" an irritated voice boomed out of the ship's cabin and over the heads of the ship's crew. The massive governor of the colony-to-be at the New World, John Ratcliffe, strode onto the deck and into sight. The voices died.

"A shooting star…sir," Thomas explained meekly.

"A shooting star?" Wiggins, Ratcliffe's thin manservant echoed with unchecked awe and excitement. "I've never seen one before!"

"Shooting stars are bad omens, Wiggins. It's better not to have seen on," Ratcliffe reprimanded sternly. "Men, back to your posts. We'll be reaching the New World soon and we'd better be waiting for it!"

With that he strode back into his cabin, followed closely by his manservant. The crew looked at each other, whispers now excited and full of anticipation. The New World! God save the King!

"Let's hope the savages won't be our welcoming party," Lon, a big-nosed man, whispered loudly.

"Oh Smith 'ere will handle them," Ben, his dark-haired friend, replied with confidence. "He'll give them more trouble than they would try and give us!"

The men laughed and nodded their heads vigorously, their spirits much raised. Captain John Smith had met the savages before. He knew how to deal with them, should the need rise.

But the impromptu man of honor that night was ignoring their praise and confident words. His blue eyes were still watching the shooting star as it winked and vanished from sight. He sighed, then looked at Thomas. Thomas, too, was deeply troubled.

They both knew the shooting star meant trouble.

XXX

"…then, right there in front of me, is an arrow. It spins faster and faster until suddenly, it stops! Then I wake up. What does it mean, Grandmother Willow?"

The great willow tree shrugged as the intricately shaped grandmotherly face replied with much thought, "Well, it seems to me this spinning arrow is pointing you down your path. How-"

"But what is my path?" the black-haired young woman insisted, looking up at the spirit of the willow tree from her kneeling position. "Grandmother Willow?"

The face was silent, contemplative. The woman leaned forward, worried at the spirit's unusual silence. "Grandmother Willow?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, child, it is nothing," the spirit replied apologetically. "It's…it's nothing at all…except something's changed. Yes, something's changed, indeed…"

Immediately following the last lingering sound a breeze picked up and rustled through the long arms of the willow tree. The woman rose to her feet, on the alert.

"A breeze. Wait…there hasn't been a breeze for a while. Why, the wind's picking up!"

"Climb my branches, child," Grandmother Willow suggested. "See what is causing the wind to stir."

The woman quickly found footholds on the large trunk and pulled herself up into the branches. As she vanished, the spirit continued to muse under her breath. "Something's changed. Something's not right. Not right at all; something's coming. But exactly what-"

The woman quickly dropped down onto the trunk in front of the willow tree. She was breathless and excited, her dark eyes shimmering. "Grandmother Willow, strange white clouds in the distance! They're huge but they look solid. And there's smoke off in the distance. It's faint; the fire must have just been put out. It's not from any of my people, though."

She tapped her chin, perplexed. Grandmother Willow, though, broke the silence. "Something indeed has come. Child, go see what is happening, what is coming. I fear this will go badly for us. Go, quickly."

The face melded back into the tree trunk, leaving the woman speechless, astonished. A moment later she regained her wit, muttered, "She's never done that before…Meeko, Flit? Let's go."

Immediately a raccoon and a hummingbird appeared at her side. They followed her closely as she then left the shelter of the lagoon and headed for where she saw the great white solid clouds.

_Grandmother Willow keeps saying that something's changing, that something's come and its bringing change here. What is she talking about? I don't understand. Is she talking about the white clouds or the strange smoke near the shore?_

XXX

Zidane was doing nothing to help his headache go away.

"…I mean even _I_ can land the ship better than that…"

He rubbed at his left temple; Zidane was ranting on his right side.

"…lousy way of taking care of us; we could've died…"

He could feel his nerve twitching. It was a strange sensation but he welcomed it. It was helping fuel his rage.

"…claiming he's steered gummi ships for a year and a half or something! Ha, now that's a downright lie! I bet those buddies of his did all the steering and he dozed off…"

Why _wasn't_ Roxas killing this complete asshole? Oh right, he's supposed to be _Sora_, the nice perfect patient cheerful optimistic Sora who would take all this in and laugh and joke it right off. Well, this was the _one_ thing Roxas couldn't handle, and that was continuous ranting where there needn't be one!

"…don't even know why I'm with you two, with him trying to kill us the way he tried to land that ship, and amongst trees! Who the hell would do that? I mean, there are _beaches_ here, nice open land to put the ship down and hop off to explore. We don't need to go _barreling_ through fifty trees in a row trying to slow down or-"

"Oh would you just _shut up_!" Roxas roared, whirling on the older teenager. His ears were ringing; the pounding in his head wouldn't go away. Zidane jumped back, and so did the Princess-Kairi, who-what had she been doing this whole time? Where had she been? Was she always there? He hadn't noticed. He had no time to notice.

Zidane opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. His eyes were wide with shock; his tail stuck straight out. The Princess had taken a step back, her blue eyes staring at Roxas. She shrunk back, away from him, and backed against one of the huge green trees surrounding them.

"I…" Roxas suddenly felt foolish for his outburst. He sighed heavily, but when he closed his eyes the pounding magnified and he had to open them again. "I…I'm sorry."

He didn't know what else to say. He felt it weak to admit his headache was driving him crazy but what excuse did he have for Kairi? He looked at her, was fearful of her reaction. She was still staring at him but her expression had softened somewhat.

"…maybe I was talking a _bit_ too much…" Zidane muttered somewhere behind him. Roxas stopped himself from snorting at the all too obvious statement. "Sorry about that."

Kairi nodded. She finally seemed to relax. "We're just…too much on our toes. I mean, that wasn't a very smooth landing, and we know nothing about this place. Let's just…stay quiet and see if there's anything or anyone alive around here."

That was a sound idea and Roxas embraced it. He gave the Princess an approving nod, garnering a warm smile from her, and looked at Zidane, who looked a bit deflated from his usual self. "Zidane?"

The older teenager shrugged. "Just thinking…would they talk the same language as us? I heard some weird stuff on that train and I had no idea what the people were saying-"

"Zidane," Kairi said firmly, saving Roxas's sanity. The blond man fell silent and began to lag. But before Roxas could turn and say something smart, Zidane himself jogged up to him and the Princess, and walked at Roxas's left side.

It was rather peaceful, this place. It was full of green living things, which was a big shock and contrast to all the places Roxas had been to. The World That Never Was had always been Spartan clean and white, with an emptiness that really grew on your mood; outside was gloomy, dank, pitch-black, and never meant to cheer anyone's spirits up, or hope for that matter. Twilight Town had a strangely fond nostalgic air to it, and the cityscape wasn't as bustling as one would read from books and magazines. Destiny Islands was so peaceful and so _blue_. Everyone was happy, everyone was serene. But this forest, the smells and the sights, the feel, the slight taste from the aroma of the trees, there was a wildness to it, an exhilarating sensation that replaced all the anger and frustration he garnered from crashing the ship, which was busy repairing itself.

And somewhere he could smell the sea, a remnant of Destiny Islands. Sora's home.

Silence reigned. He had a feeling others sensed what he sensed, the majestic power of this new world. And suddenly he wondered about the unknown. How many other unknown worlds were out there? Who would be there? Would they really be able to find anyone who survived the destruction of Destin Islands?

"…Sora, you think we'd find someone here?" Kairi suddenly asked, her voice soft enough to blend in with the noises of the forest. She seemed to be reading his mind.

_Sora. I'm Sora. Never forget. As long as I'm with the Princess…_

"I…I hope so," he said, admitting his doubt with his tone of voice. Sora wasn't always optimistic. "I really…hope so…"

"Oh…"

She knew he was doubting they had any chance of finding Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. Or anybody else for that matter. Destiny Islands was one world and there were so many more out there that could have caught its residents. It was nigh impossible to know whether or not someone from Destiny Islands would really be here.

"Wait…" Zidane again. Roxas resisted the urge to groan. "If we do find people, how do we fit them onto the ship? It's not big enough, is it?"

That was actually a very good question.

"Yeah," Kairi realized. "When we do, what do we do with them?"

The Princess looked at Roxas worriedly. "Sora, what do we do?"

Was he the answer to all their questions? He ran a hand through his hair, scratched at his head. "I…I have no idea. I'll have to ask Merlin about that. I remember something about what some of the gummi ships have. Some of the ships have something that could send people wherever the coordinates are programmed to go to. It's like some sort of a teleporting machine. If ours has that thing, and I hope it does…"

The answer was good enough, and both the Princess and Zidane fell silent. Silence reigned again, but after a while something began to grow, dark shadows in the back of Roxas's mind. He dug his heels into the soft dark soil and stopped. Kairi and Zidane halted almost immediately and turned to him. Zidane opened his mouth.

Roxas quickly held his hand up, demanding he be silent. Then he gestured to the trees around them. He hoped desperately that at least Zidane would realize the birds had fallen silent. He really, _really_ hoped Zidane was the first to realize the whole forest had fallen silent.

The wind brought to his ear voices. There were people near, people where the wind was coming from. He gave a start, then looked quickly at the Princess and Zidane. They had heard the voices, too.

"…strange sticks…"

"…digging…"

"…white men…"

"…yes, strange white…"

Something was happening. Roxas darted towards the voices and into the wind. He could hear the others following him, their feet rustling through the undergrowth and broken branches. Swiftly they ran towards the sounds, and Roxas noticed they were nearing the sea; he could hear gulls now, shrieking, and water rushing and crashing against rock. They were near the shore and people were there-

Gunfire. Grating popping noises pocketed the eerie silence. Now voices were shouting, screaming, different voices, different dialects. Two distinct different dialects, distinct accents, distinct patterns of speech. Roxas realized almost instantly that two very different people were meeting head-on.

And crashing through the forest ahead of them were a horde of pale people, holding long antique guns in their hands. They wore clothing reminiscent of Rupert's back at Traverse Town, and some of them wore peculiar armor and helmets. Then the Princess screamed and Roxas whirled around to see stone points in his face. Men of deep reddish skin and dark hair were holding up their bows and arrows at him and behind him. Unlike the pale men, they wore leather, and their weapons were, as he noticed, more archaic than the muskets the pale men were running with.

"We're right in the middle of them," he heard Zidane whisper fearfully.

"Shit," he swore, then pulled away from the arrows just as the first of the pale man got into range. He knew they were in range because he noticed the twitch in one of the red men's muscles. He grabbed Zidane's and the Princess's arms and forced them down into the ground. Bows released and he watched in shock as arrows simply bounced off the pale men in the armor. Whispers, shouts of astonishment and fear, and the two sides crashed. In the explosion, the roar of steel and stone and flesh, something heavy kicked his head. Darkness.

xxx

His first thoughts were on his headache, which had returned with such vengeance as to make him cry out at the shock. He literally felt his head expand. The air around him was on fire. A buzz in his ears.

He couldn't tell where he was or what he was doing. Everything was a blur to him, an erotic blend of brown, red, and black. Colors spun and fuzzed in his eyes, and he closed them; the colors were making him dizzy.

Sounds. A dull roar in his ears. He couldn't pick out anything in particular; everything sounded the same. A rush of sound that jarred his head and his thinking.

And he felt fire, hot burning heat everywhere. He groaned, tried to twist away from the heat but it followed him, clung to him, cloaked him in its burning arms. He tried to move his limbs but he couldn't; the heat was sapping him of whatever energy he had left and immobilized him.

Then coldness touched his face, spread all over, and suddenly the world sharpened. The heat receded. The blur focused on a face, an oval face with deep dark eyes, large lips, and long black hair. Skin like those of the reddish brown people with the bows and arrows.

_Wait, what happened_-

Water dribbled down his face from the wet material on his forehead. He blinked slowly several times, then opened his mouth to speak. But a hand appeared and fingers pressed against his mouth, silencing him.

"Talk later; you're very tired. You've been hurt; you have a fever." A strange accent, and a woman's voice. "Do you understand?"

He understood perfectly.

"Your friend's okay. She survived the battle. But both of you are in trouble. I'll try and talk to my father, but it's very hard to convince him. It's a delicate issue, us and the white men. Please be patient. Understand?"

What was this woman talking about? How was he in trouble? What happened that landed him in trouble? And-and who was she…

_The Princess. Kairi._

And suddenly Roxas was very awake, his mind whirling. Kairi? Where was Kairi? Where was the Princess?

"…the…" It was difficult to speak; his tongue felt swollen. "…the…Princess…of…"

The woman stared at him quizzically. He grimaced inwardly, knowing what he just tried to say probably sounded like nonsense to her ears. For a moment, he wondered if she even knew what he was saying; after all, he understood what she was saying, even though her sentences were rather short and spoken too carefully. But then he realized something was wrong, something about what this woman said.

She only mentioned the Princess. She said the Princess was safe. But what about their other companion? What about Zidane?

"Wait…we…another friend…there was…three of us…"

She shook her head. "No, we only found you and her. One of our warriors said something about seeing a young boy. The white men were taking him away. Is…is he your friend, too?"

Zidane was in trouble.

XXX

First they tie him up in meters and miles of ropes, then they give him worm-filled biscuits and brackish water to eat and drink, then they expect him to just chat with them, or at least let them stare at him? Were they that stupid? They must be. They _must_ be.

He glared at the huge man staring back at him. He loathed his captor, this fat man in red with the fanciful black moustache and the cruel greedy look in his eyes. There was the snotty-faced small gray dog next to his boot, growling in high-pitched bursts as if that would scare Zidane into talking. He snarled back at the dog and it dove behind the man's boots, shaking and furious at the same time.

"He doesn't look anything like a savage to me," the huge man muttered. Zidane loathed his manner of speech, even. "He's like us – white. Smith, are you sure you found him with the savages?"

A blond man in slate blue dress stepped into the light from the shadows of the dank ship's holding. He looked steadily at Zidane, who narrowed his eyebrows and tried to look as fierce as possible. "You'll have to ask the others. They were the ones who brought him in."

"Where were you then?" the huge man asked, a bit curious and a bit suspicious.

"I was…tracking down more of the red savages," Smith answered steadily after the short break in the sentence. "I lost them. They're faster this time; they moved too fast for me to follow. But the ones who brought him over said the savages went off with two others. They were both white."

The man in red made a deep angry sound in his throat. "Those dirty savages! We have to save them!"

Zidane already knew who Smith and the interrogator were talking about. He had no idea why these two called the red-toned men 'savages' but Smith said Kairi and Sora had been taken away by them. What would happen to them? What would those other men do to them? What's happening to them right now? What if the other men want to kill them?! Zidane looked around wildly, realizing he had to get out of this ship and onto land. He had to find them; they were the only ties he had to Radiant Garden and the Universe outside this cursed placed. They were the only ones who could take him with them. His only allies. His only friends.

"Who are they then, if you're so keen about these friends of yours?" the interrogator suddenly demanded, stabbing into Zidane's frantic thoughts. He glared sourly at the huge man, wondering if it was worse having to deal with this man or his worries and fears over Kairi and Sora. "How dear are they to you?"

_Don't say anything, Zidane! You know you shouldn't be dragging these people into my mess, into Kairi's mess, into Sora's mess. Keep quiet. Maybe they'll just let you go and you can go find them, wherever they are. And then we can get off of this stupid world, and go find another place to look for our friends!_

"Please," Smith suddenly said, interrupting his thoughts yet again. Zidane was feeling frustrated; why did these people always have to interrupt his trains of thought? "Tell us about your friends. We know you are no allies of the savages but we need to know where you three stand with us. We only want to know why you're here in the New World."

_The New World. Well damn the New World, and damn all of you, too!_

"Gosh, just shut up, Zidane!" he muttered to himself. "I'm such an idiot…idiot that you are, getting caught so easy…"

It didn't take long for him to note the looks of astonishment on both of the older men's faces. Inwardly Zidane grinned. An epiphany dawned on him like daybreak; he had found it, he had found the key to getting himself off this damn rocking stinking ship.

_I love your trains of thought, Zidane._

XXX

It knew where they were headed, where _he_ was headed. It had business to attend to, business elsewhere, but it could not let _him_ go so easily. _He_ was part of the impossible, and the impossible was its worst enemy.

_Do not think you can escape me so easily, anomaly!_

Oh yes, it would present that newly discovered world, the New World, with a welcoming gift, a most welcoming gift…

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** You now have my most holy permission to call Zidane Tribal an idiot. Obviously this chapter bears resemblance to some of my earlier material but that's where the semblance ends. Hope you enjoyed it.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	14. Drifting on Loss

**Authoress' Note: **Let's just say I'm not happy with this chapter. I'm not rather uncomfortable with infodumps, so…just deal with me, please? There's a huge gap between this and chapter 14 and chapter 15, and it's been really bad. Also been having a rather bad week so be nice?

Plus...mostly everything else is on temporary hiatus until next year, due to things like college applications. Blame the education system.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«13 – Drifting on Loss»**

Cerberus, the guardian of the gates of Hell, snarled with fury as its six glowing eyes watched the Cheshire Cat float by literally underneath its three noses. The Cheshire Cat did nothing to help ease the tense situation by waving a mockingly friendly arm at them. One of the dark heads snapped its heavy jaws, its teeth gnashing together, but it made no move to upend the ferry they were riding on. The spectral ferryman, Charon, often threw dirty glances over his shoulder at Riku, but he didn't stop the ferry; he kept going, rowing them through the eerie green waters. The power of the ferry was what kept Cerberus from mauling the three intruders.

"A very humdrum place, if you ask me," the Cat suddenly remarked, lolling about with that smile on his face.

"Nobody asked you," Riku retorted, his mood so incredibly sour because the Cat was using his head as a seat.

"Nobody asked you to come down here, hm? You did of your own accord. I spoke out of my own accord. Well within our rights, Riku, well within our rights…" Riku then felt the Cat shift on his very noble head, messing up his long silver hair.

And then he noticed that Charon had stopped rowing and that both the ferryman and Hercules were staring at him. "What?"

Charon looked at Hercules, then at Riku. "Is-is that a monster, a demon from the beginning of Time? How can it do that?"

"Do what?" Riku asked, confused.

"The Cheshire Cat…" Hercules explained rather slowly, "is juggling his…head."

That made no sense to Riku at all. To make matter worse, he couldn't actually _see_ the Cat doing whatever he was doing because the Cat was perched on his head in the first place. Riku had, quite inadvertently, become the pedestal for the Cat to become the center of attention. Even Cerberus had ceased his ground-shaking snarls, and the low moans of the souls in the eerie green soup they were sailing over had died down.

The Cheshire Cat sure was a crowd-pleaser.

Then the ferry quite abruptly and roughly came to a halt, its bow grating hard against solid stone. Riku staggered against the rail and grabbed at the side of the ship. Then he caught a purple and pink flash out of the corner of his eye and whipped around to see, to his horror, the Cat's head rolling across the bottom of the ferry. The Cat was grinning and winking at him. Then weight left his head as he watched the Cat's body leap down after it and strut over to the rolling head. He looked up at Hercules, and Charon, who looked even more terrified than Riku thought himself to be.

By now ghastly rail-thin green hands were reaching over the side of the ship and grappling at the railings. Swirls of smoke and mist flowed in from the deep underground beyond the River Styx. It penetrated the bow and then the floor of the ferry, curling around objects, writhing like snakes.

"Off you go," Charon muttered angrily, gesturing at the dark gray realm beyond the river. "Quickly now. You came to see Hades; you'd best not test his patience."

"He's got none," Hercules muttered under his breath as he jumped off the ship to land. Riku waited for the Cat to fix his head back on his body, then snatched the feline freak up in his arms, and followed Hercules. Charon immediately pushed the craft off the shallows and began ferrying the watercraft back across the River Styx and its ghostly green stomach of souls. Cerberus was now returning to his guarding the gates of the Underworld, growling and snorting every now and then.

Riku watched the eerie scene and felt himself shiver slightly. This was not a very welcoming world.

"I hope we don't run into any serious trouble down here," he heard Hercules say worriedly. "Hades doesn't like intruders, especially those who aren't dead and those whose name is Hercules."

"I'm not dead but my name isn't Hercules," Riku countered pointedly. "Fifty-fifty. Sounds like a chance to me."

He strode inland over the black brittle surface. There was a greenish glow somewhere up ahead, and he was sure that's where he'd find Hades. The Cheshire Cat sat perched on Hercules's shoulder; Riku had no idea how the Cat got there and he didn't bother.

For a long time the only sounds were treading feet and rocks tumbling away. But the longer they walked through the barren wasteland, the more the landscape began to change. For one, he noticed a long greenish line appearing from the distance and then vanishing back into the distance, still in the direction of the green glow up ahead. And slowly, he noticed, blue-white mist began swirling around the ankles of his boots. He stopped for a moment to stare a bit, then kept going.

"Endless, isn't it?" he finally remarked when spirits started wandering around them. He stared at them warily, tried to keep clear. They all look liked people, mournful people. Their gloomy silence nagged him.

"It gets worse," Hercules answered quietly, "when you start seeing familiar faces. Olympus has been full of battles and wars, and some people I have known, even casually, never come back. I just saw some of them, a few seconds ago."

Chills ran up and down Riku's back and arms. He rubbed at his left forearm, wondered if something like that was going to happen to him. Would he suddenly see a familiar face down here in this hellhole? And if so, what would happen? How would he feel? What would he…think?

"Riku," the Cat suddenly said. He was serious, and he was pointing somewhere off to the side. Riku followed the claw, and stared at the figure striding towards them from deeper in the mist. The person looked nothing like one of the souls here. She looked too solid for that.

Glowing in a godly but gloomy greenish light, she was a fair figure, small, slender, and curvaceous. Flowers fashioned from gemstones were fastened in her long wavy dark hair, as was her shimmering necklace and shoulder bracelets. She wore a dress of an earthy sheen, the fabric so thin he could see every detail underneath the clothing. Riku swallowed; this _openness_ was the last thing he expected in a dark dank world like this. This was the Underworld, where the dead go and a hot-tempered god ruled, and there was this naked seductive young woman wandering amongst the souls and mists as if without a care in the world.

Her green eyes shined like the emeralds in her hair as she spoke, her soft graceful lips moving hypnotically, "You've brought friends, Hercules. Tell me, who are they? I suspect they are whom they are, but I want to know."

Riku turned to Hercules, surprised he knew who this unnatural earthy-yet-unearthly woman was. Hercules seemed rather unfazed by her physical beauty; he addressed her as if she was any other person. "They're outsiders. I've told everyone before about the outsiders, if you remember. This is Riku, and this is the Cheshire Cat."

"We're here to deal," the Cat spoke up, "with your husband."

Husband? Riku quickly looked at the Cat, then stared at the woman, not quite getting the connection; he didn't want to get the connection. They were here to deal with Hades, so this woman was-

"My name is Persephone," she explained as she ran a finger through her long hair; Riku suddenly noticed the earthy green tinge to her long locks. Actually, she radiated that earthy essence, gloomy and eerie as it was; she seemed to draw the green glow from the dark gray and black stone beneath them. "I am Hades' wife. If you're here to deal, you have come at a very bad time. His temper is out of hand again; something has upset him-"

"I'm afraid it's us, cousin," Hercules butted in. "He prefers dead people here, not living ones."

Persephone only smiled, then nodded. "Yes, yes. I know; I live with him half the year, don't I? And now, for your two friends…"

She looked at Riku, tilted her head and smiled at him. Riku swallowed again instinctively, and suddenly wondered what she was seeing. He had become used to moving about in this form, Ansem's form, to the point that he often forgot this was what people saw also; they would know nothing of the teenager he really was.

"I pity you," she finally stated, not unkindly. "You walk with a face not your own. Tragic it is, when one is torn from one's identity…home…friends…life and love…"

She raised a hand, laden with semiprecious stones and rare gems and precious metals, and gently touched the side of his face. Riku twitched, not sure of what to expect, but her fingertips felt cool, soothing. It actually felt good; calm spread from the epicenter through his body, but his mind kicked in and he shied away, still feeling uncomfortable around this strange woman.

"But of course, it was my choice to live down here half the year. The pomegranate is irresistible when one is starving. Riku, when you venture deeper into the Underworld, you will see things you would not ordinarily see until you die. This goes for the Cheshire Cat as well; things have happened in the last several months, and I don't want you to overreact to what you'll see. Please…keep that in mind."

Riku didn't understand her. He looked at her, confused, then said, "I don't know what you're talki-"

Words froze in his throat and slid back down into his vocal cords. He stared. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; the image so stunned him every other thought and emotion was eclipsed. But no, it wasn't an image; it was real, a spectral figure. And it was mocking him, taunting him, daring him to make the connection.

"M-Mother?" he whispered, stammered, not quite sure what he was seeing, thinking, or believing. The soul didn't see him, was now a little away from him. She didn't seem aware that Riku was there, her son. "Mother!"

He stepped forward but the spectral figure floated away, back into the mists. He stared as the greenish glow gradually vanished back into the eternal darkness of the Underworld, then stared at Persephone, desperate for an explanation, a reason to believe he was just seeing things, that she did something to him when she touched him and he was hallucinating and seeing things-

"I'm sorry, Riku," she murmured in a soft voice. "I'm so sorry."

It _was_ his mother. His mother was dead.

"That-that's impossible," Riku said, while her words rang in his mind, full of mocking sympathy. "That's impossible. That's impossible! Impossible! She can't be dead! Tell me I'm just hallucinating! Tell me something's wrong in my mind! She's not dead! SHE'S NOT DEAD!"

The never-ending walls of the Underworld echoed with the agonized cry as Riku fell to his knees, shaking his head, swearing and sobbing as the ghostly image of his mother seared into his mind, stabbing at his memories, wounding him where it would hurt him most.

And what of his father? What happened to his father? Was he dead, too? Were both his parents dead? But how? How could this have happened-

"_What's this, Merlin?"_

"_Riku…news…word from the outside…fire…the beast has been sighted."_

"_Where, Merlin, where?"_

"_I'm…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry, Riku."_

"_Where is it , Merlin? Where's the damn thing?!"_

"_Destiny Islands."_

Xxx

Hades hated the Fates with passion. Often they brought him bad news, and when he tried to change the future to make things look brighter for him, things went wrong and the bad news came true. The epitome was Hercules, of course. But there were other examples, other reasons why he loathed these three old hags so much.

They warned him against joining forces with Maleficent, but he did anyways and look where that got him. Some shrimp of a kid swinging around an overgrown key kicked his ass when he was a _god_. Their news was never his news.

"Ladies, ladies!" he exclaimed, striding over to the Fates with open arms and a suave smile as they filed into his throne room. "How may I help you?"

"You called for us, Hades. What do you want?" the tall one asked sourly, snatching the eyeball from the short fat one.

"Oh I just wanted to ask a favor from you beautiful ladies," he said sweetly. "You wouldn't mind, would you? Love that smile, by the way. Accents your look perfectly."

The middle Fate smiled even wider, flashing her one tooth. She giggled, which wasn't very becoming of her. "Oh course not, Hades. Of course not. What would you like to know?"

"Oh I just…" Hades looked right and left, up and down, and smiled, tapping his fingertips together, "I just want to know…what to do with the three _intruders_ in my kingdom."

"Oh…_that_…" the fat one chuckled. "Hercules is no threat, but you shouldn't do anything to him either. It'll bring you no good; your brother's been watching you. If you want to do something about him, wait until you bring the summon."

Hades' mood soured immediately. Not do anything to Hercules?! He wanted Hercules' soul and could've bargained for it! How _dare_ they take away another one of his chances to bring down that do-gooder!

"However…" the tall thin one added, "there is one amongst them you'll recognize immediately. You may be able to manipulate him. I expect him to be quite distraught about the deaths of his parents. You can have him do whatever you will."

"Be forewarned," the normal Fate continued, "for your wife seems to find him particularly favorable over all the others that have come here."

"You can't top Orpheus," Hades scoffed. "What's so special about this one?"

"You've met him before. He is one of _them_, one of the "great" ones, a Wielder-"

"A WHAT?!" Hades shouted, flaring red. "A _Keyblade Wielder_?! He's out of the Underworld; I won't have anything to do with him!"

"Hades," the Fates chorused, "welcome him. Your hatred should not cloud your reason. You hold his parents. He has not seen them for two years, and this is the first time he's seeing them since then, dead. Imagine how this might strike a young innocent soul. You can entice him, Hades, convince him to do anything at your bidding."

"He's not Hercules," Hades retorted sourly, returning to his black throne with a gloomy air. "He'll never amount to anything."

"Well, there goes our chances to help him change the future's course," the fat one remarked with a shrug. "Gimme the eye, I want to see him."

"I don't have the eye, lay off me!"

"Then gimme the tooth! You must have the tooth!"

"I don't have the tooth!"

"Oh yes you do!"

"No I don't. She's got them both!"

"Then gimme either one-"

"Ladies, ladies!" Hades called out, rubbing at his left temple. He then rose off of his throne and strode over the three bickering old hags. "Calm down, calm down! Now, since _you_ had both the eye and the tooth, you can give that to _you_ and this to _you_. Happy? Rotate every ten centuries or so and we'll all be happy, no? Besides, arguing will give you wrinkles, and you wouldn't want that to happen on your beautiful faces, would you?"

Since they only shared one eye between them, they never got a proper chance to glance at themselves. Of course they had no idea exactly how ugly they looked. Smiling smugly and nodding, the three Fates settled down.

"Now…what was this you were saying a moment ago? Something about…changing fate?" Hades then asked as he returned to his throne and sank in it. "Fill me in, ladies."

"We knew you were dissatisfied with how you couldn't change the future we predicted so, because you're such a gracious host to us, we decided to try and help your endeavors. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about the future either. You will miss the chance to enlist the Keyblade Wielder to your aid-"

"WHAT?!" Hades shouted, bursting into red flames again, but the tallest Fate held up her hand.

"-BUT you will have a good reason to let him go, him and the soul he's seeking to reclaim. You can't let go of the dead – besides Meg of course but Hercules has proved himself a demigod – but you can let go of those that hover in between. And what he seeks besides the soul…you'll have to let him and the cat talk. You will know what they mean and what they seek."

"Oh, will I?" the god muttered. "Like what?"

"Why are there so many souls entering your realm, Hades?" the middle Fate asked mysteriously. "Why are there so many?"

"I don't know that!" Hades snapped. "I leave that to you and my siblings up there to deal with those issues. I _am_ ordered to deal with matters of the Underworld only, remember?"

"A poor excuse, Hades," the three Fates chimed. "Apathy will cost you dear. Now if you'll excuse us; we have more souls to wind out and deal with."

Hades gestured them away with his hand, excusing them, and they glided out of the throne room, now in the midst of bickering over yet something else. He watched them leave, then took a deep, deep breath, and let it out slowly. Already, though, the blue hair was tinged with red.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," he growled, knowing his foray into the matters of the future had gotten him nowhere. "They make no sense whatsoever! I should throw them out! Sigh…Pain, Panic!"

His two little henchmen scurried into the throne room, quivering and smiling nervously. Hades watched them sternly; he was in no mood to boost up their confidence, if they had any at all in the first place. He didn't even know WHY he had them as his henchmen in the first place.

"Find Persephone!" he ordered. "Bring her and her new 'friends' here. I want to…welcome them to the Underworld."

XXX

"…well I say we tell him! Nothing ever goes right when people withhold terrible news until it's too late…"

"…oh, the poor boy, what are we to do…"

"…if we tell him, Merry, it'll destroy him…"

"…no, we can't have that, we can't discourage him-"

"Discourage him! It'll give him more cause! She's still alive…"

"…well, he can go ahead and find her, then…"

"…His Majesty said _he'll_ deal with that. We're here only to help…"

"…help! Like not telling him about his home and his mother will…"

Yen Sid sighed and shook his head in disgust as he listened to the three fairies bicker and argue. He looked behind him at the teenage boy and his three companions, who were staggering up the stairs after him. Sora was literally clinging onto the one rail Yen Sid had installed when he first moved into the tower countless years ago. Goofy had fallen far behind and looked ready to drop; Donald kept doggedly climbing up, step by step.

Yen Sid smirked. He could have just teleported them up to his study but he wanted to see how they'd fair climbing the stairs. Climbing stairs was perhaps one of the greatest tests of character, if not the greatest, for it is the simplest and most honest of all tests of character. So far, only Goofy seemed to be failing, but Yen Sid knew enough of the captain to dismiss that fault.

Yen Sid pushed the door open and slammed it into the wall, so that light flooded into the stairway behind him. That was enough for Sora to make one last dash to a room where he could rest his burning calves. Yen Sid glared at him, indignant that the teenager ran right through his voluminous blue robes and dove for the couches were the three fairies were sitting. They leaped up into the air with startled shouts and cries while Sora stumbled back, surprised out of his wits. Then Donald and Goofy – carrying Jiminy Cricket on his crooked hat – staggered in, jostling Yen Sid aside as they collapsed on the floor of the large study.

Shaking his head and sighing, Yen Sid turned back to the winding staircase and with a flick of his hand, turned them back into the ordinary portal-like sets of stairs that they originally were. He smiled secretively; it would have been _so_ much easier for them if he hadn't transformed the staircases.

Too late now, though.

Sora was currently recovering from the huge shock and staring back and forth between the three fairies as they huddled all around him, poking and tugging at his clothes, his arms, his legs, his shoes, his hair, muttering like hissing snakes amongst themselves, and in general scaring the teenage boy.

"…green is NOT…"

"…accessories? What accessories…"

"…ooh, I like his jacket; can we keep it?"

Sora looked horrified. "Y-you want to _steal_ my _clothes_?"

That caught the attention of Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket. They stared at the three fairies hovering over Sora and Donald started laughing.

Yen Sid sighed and shook his head. Heroes? They were heroes? He himself was starting to have a hard time believing that this quartet was capable of defeating the Heartless, the Organization XIII, the Nobodies, and finding the Door. But he was becoming too cynical. Those thoughts for later. Yen Sid went to his desk and, upon sitting down, cleared his throat loudly. That immediately caught Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's attention immediately, and they backed off of the assaulted teenager.

"We should get to business before His Majesty arrives," Yen Sid answered to their questioning faces.

"A bit too late for that one," came the perfectly-timed response as Mickey entered the study. The king nodded to Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, Sora, Merryweather, Fauna, Flora, and Yen Sid. "Apparently the business I was caught up in wasn't too big of a deal. Also I need to talk to you, Yen Sid. Outside."

The king looked rather disheveled, and his tone set off warnings in Yen Sid's head. Rather than ask why, he simply rose to his feet and followed the mouse king out of the study to the stairs. All eyes were on the pair as they left. Yen Sid waved his hand behind him and the door closed.

"Your Majesty," the wizard said with a slight bow. He looked up to see Mickey smiling ruefully.

"So strange, to hear one's mentor address his pupil in a subordinate manner," Mickey admitted, tapping at the stair with the tip of his black boot. Yen Sid knew the body language; something was worrying the king deeply. "Yen Sid, is it…safe…to tell Sora what he doesn't remember?"

_Of course, Sora's memories aren't fully restored. So this is what's worrying Mickey…_

"I prefer he finds out on his own but if the need is great, we should inform him," Yen Sid declared. "Inform him up to the time he spent in Castle Oblivion. That we'll leave to Sora."

"Really?" Mickey asked. His eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't remember you saying that the last time we had this conversation. Why the change in course?"

"It's with regards to recent events," Yen Sid explained, now beginning to pace a bit. He could feel the king's eyes following his step. "He doesn't remember what happened to Riku after their second encounter, has he?"

"DiZ says his memories seemed to have come to a halt around the time his Nobody was born," Mickey explained.

"Ah…yes…I think…our best course of action…this is difficult after all. If we don't tell him, he'll still be searching for Riku and Kairi but if we do _tell_ him, we'll have to tell him everything. For…should he run into Kairi while following the path of the Organization XIII, we'll have more on our hands than we already do."

"Then tell him part of the truth," the king sighed. "But where do truths end and lies begin?"

"That's for Sora to decide," Yen Sid replied, turning to the door of the study. "Tell him…Your Majesty…that Riku wanders and that Kairi is in safe hands. And when he asks…tell him to fill in the holes. It's his story, not yours, not mine."

"A story, a story…" Mickey muttered. Yen Sid waited a few more minutes, should the king have any more to say. His suspicions proved right when Mickey looked up and said, "One more thing."

"And that is?"

"Merlin made a grave mistake, one concerning Riku. He sent me a message, not long after Kairi left with Sora's Nobody, that he forgot to warn Riku not to give the Nobody's identity away. He said Riku has shown extreme hostility towards the Nobody, Roxas, and he'd probably give Roxas's identity away at first asking."

"I can't blame Riku," Yen Sid remarked. "You came before Riku did, didn't you?"

"I didn't get to meet him, yes," Mickey said with a sigh. "I suppose I'll have to leave early and find him-"

"Let me, Your Majesty," Yen Sid interrupted. If there was one thing Mickey didn't know, it was that Riku had assumed Xehanort's likeness, which would be a blow to Mickey if he found out. "You should look to Sora and your friends. I will handle Riku."

Mickey didn't even look suspicious; he seemed more relieved. "Thank you, Yen Sid. Now, let's get back inside and save Sora from your three fairy friends."

"They're not my friends," Yen Sid muttered.

xxx

"…hold still, dear, or this'll jab you…"

"…stop sagging…"

"…no, no, no, we don't want the pants _that_ short…"

Sora grit his teeth as he felt the muscles in his arms tremble; he hadn't used the muscles in a while and they were _burning_. The fatigue that _finally_ came rushing up to him after the two battles with those strange creatures the wizard called the Nobodies had an iron grip on the muscles in his legs and with his arms held out the way they were, he thought he'd rather die.

He could hear Donald musing loudly, contemplating to himself about His Majesty. "What does he want with Yen Sid…"

Goofy was staring as the three fairies continued to bustle over Sora, pulling at his clothes in every direction and jabbing at him randomly with their wands. It was, quite frankly, torture. What the hell did Sora do to deserve this? He'd rather have another go at the Nobodies than deal with these three mad women.

"Black. Let's go black."

"But I like blue-"

"We'll include blue. But black'll look nice…"

And then it happened, so quickly Sora didn't even have time to let out a rude exclamation of surprise before it happened. Right after that came the second biggest surprise of the hour; his mouth suddenly bubbled with something bitter, then was washed out with water that came from the end of the blue-dressed fairy's wand.

"Next time I hear that language," she ordered sternly as Sora coughed and gagged, "I'll burn your tongue off!"

"Now you've done it," the green-dressed fairy interjected sympathetically. "You've got the poor child drenched! Merryweather, how could you?"

"What-I'm no child-" Sora protested when the fairy not named Merryweather waved her wand. His clothes were instantly dry and Sora stared down in astonishment. The moment of astonishment grew longer as he realized exactly what the three mad fairies were up to.

They changed his clothes.

"Yes, I think they look good on him," the fairy in red declared, smiling and nodding smugly at their accomplishment, with her arms folded across her bosom and her wand waving up and down between her fingers. Sora tugged at the sleeve of his black jacket, then at the red pouches on both sides of his black shorts. He pulled at his blue and red shirt, then bended down to study his black and yellow shoes.

"I still think blue would have gone better as the standard," the fairy named Merryweather muttered.

"That's for magic," the fairy in green explained. "Don't you remember, Merry? Blue for magic, red for strength."

"What are you talking about?" Jiminy Cricket asked curiously as he swung across bookcases lined up along the wall of the study.

"The clothes we have given him," the fairy in red said calmly, "have magical properties designed to aid him, should the need arise. If he needs more magic, he can change clothes to help him boost his magic ability. If he needs more physical strength, the same idea but to supply him with extra physical energy, and so on and so forth. And he needed new clothes anyways; he grew a bit too obviously for him to keep walking around in those other clothes."

Sora kept staring at himself, and at his hands, with the black gloves and the thick supports for his knuckles. While he tried to figure out exactly how to thank the three fairies for this impromptu gift – if he can cast much more powerful magic than Donald, that was awesome – he couldn't help but feel a bit sad; the clothes he was wearing minutes ago was a part of him, a part of his home. Now he's lost that. Could he rely on his memories of Destiny Islands while marching onward to rescue Kairi and Riku, wherever those two are?

"-cruel thing you did to him, and after that long sleep, too. How could you, Yen Sid?" His Majesty said jokingly as he reentered the study, the old wizard at his heels. Yen Sid only leered at His Majesty as he waved the door shut behind him, then slowly strode to his desk and eased himself into his chair. His Majesty took the center stage, clearing his throat while pacing, and catching everybody's attention.

"Sora…we need to talk," His Majesty finally said. His tail flickered over the floor. "We need to talk…about what you need to know, what you need to do, and…what you need to find out. You know that we've met before, don't you?"

Sora nodded, unsure of what His Majesty was getting at yet excited that finally he'll learn something about the gaps in Jiminy's journal.

"I'm sorry to say that at this point we don't know who…" The king strode over to Jiminy, who was sitting on top of one of the couches in the study, and took a peek into the journal. "…_Naminé_ is, but I can tell you about Riku and Kairi."

The annoying nagging feeling about the familiarity of the name _Naminé_ was quickly replaced by his shock that His Majesty knew where Riku and Kairi were. Eager, he leaned forward. "Please, Your Majesty, if you know anything about them, where they are, what they're up to, please, tell me!"

Donald was frantically sending him warning signals but he ignored the wizard. He didn't care if he was breaking some protocol; he wanted to know where his friends were, period.

His Majesty held up a hand. "Calm yourself, Sora. I want you to _listen_ first. Ask after I am done, because this will be difficult for you to understand. Your friends are both safe. Kairi's heart has been restored to her and Riku is free of Ansem's control. However…how do I say this…um…I suppose it's safe to say neither of them are at Destiny Islands right now."

Somewhere in the back was an outburst of hushed whispers; snappy remarks passed between the three fairies. Yen Sid was sending them a stern glare and they eventually fell silent. His Majesty tilted his head in their direction, too, then looked at Sora again. "Okay, Sora, basically neither Riku nor Kairi are at Destiny Islands right now. You understand that?"

"So…so they're not home…meaning…are they in any sort of danger?" Sora asked worriedly. It bothered him that His Majesty wasn't in some sort of panic mode-actually, Sora had no idea exactly what was bothering him. There was something about His Majesty that was telling him something but he wasn't sure what. And should he be panicking? Were they all supposed to be home? "I thought…I thought I was supposed to find them."

"You did," Yen Sid remarked. "You did find them. You just aren't together anymore. Fate has set all three of you on different paths."

"Where to?" Goofy asked curiously.

"Wait-"Donald began.

"What about-" Sora started.

"The Door of Light," His Majesty said in response to Goofy. "Kingdom Hearts, Sora, has been closed. You and I have seen to it."

"What about-wait, what? We have? When? Your Majesty, when did we close Kingdom Hearts? I don't remember any of that-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jiminy Cricket yelped as he flipped hastily through his journal. "Oh, why didn't I see this before? Sora, we did close Kingdom Hearts! I wrote that right here, a few pages before the entry about Naminé! Why didn't I see that?"

"You were too busy trying to understand your last entry because you thought that would tell you where you were. Your sight fell short but you know your mistake," the old wizard said. "Sora, you have lost some of your memories. We don't know why but some of your memories are gone. You need to go and find them."

"My…my memories. My _memories_. I had…I had amnesia?" Sora asked disbelievingly. He didn't _remember_ having amnesia. Wait… "But…Your Majesty…how? How did I…"

"There's much all of you have forgotten," Yen Sid said as Sora abruptly sat down on the floor, shocked. "An unfortunate series of events saw to that."

"What events?" Donald demanded tersely. "Tell us, Yen Sid! Tell us what happened to us!"

"We can't," His Majesty said wearily, sighing and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Donald, but we can't tell you."

"Your Majesty!" Donald exclaimed unhappily. "Why not?"

"Because, dear," the green fairy replied, "your mind is simply not ready to take everything in all at once. You have to let it come to you. That's just how it goes."

"Or else your brain will explode," Merryweather added sternly, tapping her own head. "And we don't want that to happen, do we?"

"Gawrsh," Goofy said, touching his head and hat. "That's scary. Huyuk, I _like_ my head."

"Your minds cannot take the stress of trying to remember what it doesn't in such a short time as a retelling of what you've forgotten right now. It must come to you slowly. His Majesty and I can tell you what you _need_ to know but we cannot tell you everything. You, Sora, need to find that for yourself. You need to find out what happened between what you last remember and what was the first thing that happened to you today."

Sora stared at Yen Sid, then stared down at himself; his right hand went to his necklace and fingered it, pressing into the outline of the crown as he wondered exactly what it was he last remembered.

Oh yes, he knew now. He remembered fighting Riku and finding Kairi. But what happened after that? All three of them were at Hollow Bastion…and he woke up in a mansion on the outer edges of a place called Twilight Town. Where was Twilight Town? How'd he go from Hollow Bastion to Twilight Town without realizing it?

"What we _can_ tell you is with regards to your friends," Yen Sid continued. "Yes, they are safe, they are fine. And yes, neither of them are home, either. Riku has gone to find some truths for us. There are many questions that need answering and he has agreed to help us in this aspect. Kairi is…how shall we say this…"

The longer Yen Sid remained silent the more aware Sora became of the dead feeling in his stomach. A chill akin to lifelessness was beginning to spread as he rose to his feet and waited for Yen Sid to tell him what happened to Kairi. He watched the wizard hem and haw, and felt the pulse quicken, felt himself grow edgier and edgier. Why was Yen Sid stalling?

"Yen Sid," His Majesty said sharply. "If you won't tell, then I will."

Sora felt himself bristle when he noticed the look passed between the two. What on earth weren't they telling him about Kairi?

"She was in terrible danger, Sora," His Majesty began abruptly, easily capturing his attention and holding it in an iron grip. Sora started but His Majesty held up a warning hand. "She ran into some danger and it took some rather impromptu planning on our part but she's safe. We're sending her to Ra-Hollow Bastion, where others will look after her."

"Hollow Bastion? But I thought Hollow Bastion was-"

"Your friends have been renovating it," the fairy in red interjected immediately. "They call it Radiant Garden now. That was its true name. Kairi will be safe there…"

Sora scowled when he noted she didn't even finish that sentence. "What does _that_ mean?"

"You see-" Merryweather began.

"No!" the green fairy snapped. "Merry, don't you dare!"

"Flora, we have to-"

"No, we don't," the red fairy said firmly. She looked at Sora, her face rather grim for such a grandmotherly face. "Sora, do you know what the Nobodies are?"

Immediately he looked at Yen Sid, who had banished those creatures back at the train, and at His Majesty, who had saved them at the train station. Once again a look passed between them. Then they nodded, as if they were agreeing on something nobody else in the room knew.

"Well…we fought them," Donald said rather doubtfully; he was eyeballing Yen Sid, too.

"Huyuk, they're stronger than the Heartless. Where'd they come from?" Goofy asked before Sora himself could bring up the question.

"There are…" Yen Sid said slowly, "reports, findings by Ansem the Wise and those he worked with…that speak of three parts of a whole. While researching the darkness in the hearts of people to eradicate the darkness from Radiant Garden, he and his colleagues discovered that each person, each living being, was made of three parts – the heart, the soul, and the body. No one can live without a soul, and you know what the Heartless are – the darkness of the heart materialized and with only one purpose – to devour more hearts and multiply. They're a plague that would've brought down the Universe upon themselves if they had succeeded. However…one can live without a heart. The soul and body sustains itself even when the heart disappears, but it is a changed creature, not at all like its original self. They are, as an ally of ours labeled them, Nobodies."

"Nobodies…so you can still live without your heart?" Sora asked. That sounded…strange.

"It's more complicated than that, Sora," His Majesty stepped in. "Your body and soul gets reborn elsewhere, and sometimes you don't remember what you were like when you did have a heart. But that's only sometimes. Most of the time you do remember; you're just not the same person anymore."

"That's scary," Donald admitted, clutching his staff tightly.

Jiminy, who was jotting notes into his journal, nodded as he chewed on his bottom lip and added another line.

"Right now our threat is the Nobodies. There are a group of higher-thinking Nobodies, those that retained their memories, souls, and bodies after losing their hearts. They're called the Organization XIII…and they're trying to get their hearts back. It seems something they were doing backfired on them, and they're trying to pick up after themselves."

"That sounds…ominous," Goofy said. "What did they do wrong to lose their hearts? Don't _they_ have Heartless, too?"

"We never found them," His Majesty replied with a shrug. "What we do know is that they're collecting hearts, trying to find the ones that belong to them. They're collecting them…and storing them in the ultimate darkness – Kingdom Hearts. Sora, you know what that means, don't you?"

"I-I do, Your Majesty?" Sora questioned. Everything seemed so surreal. He had barely even understood the concept of a Heartless and now they were throwing _this_ at him, this whole notion of souls and bodies and Nobodies and what this Organization XIII was trying to do. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Fight them, I suppose," Merryweather snorted. "They're stealing hearts you know, making more Heartless in the process. Can't be good for us."

"Yes, indeed," Flora agreed sadly. "It's terrible. We didn't even know about the Organization XIII until a few months ago, and that was after we decided it was safe to let Aurora go back to her home. Oh dear…"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Sora asked. Aurora? Why were they mentioning Aurora? Did this involve the Princesses of Heart? Kairi!

"The Seven Princesses hold up the light of this world," Yen Sid said, "and with all of us facing this threat, we need to make sure they are safe. The Organization remains between light and darkness but they are manipulating the darkness for their own gains. Perhaps they don't mean to but if we let them continue they will destroy the Universe! Do you understand that, Sora?"

"Yes sir! I mean, yes, I do," the teenager quickly replied, rather scared by Yen Sid's no-nonsense tone. "But-but what about Kairi?"

"As we've already said, she's safe. She's in safe hands, Sora," His Majesty reassured him. "We'll look after her, Sora; never fear. But we need you to concentrate on the task at hand. Can you do this? Can you trust us to keep her safe?"

Could he? After all, he reasoned, they knew what was going on more than he was. They knew about what he had forgotten and were giving him the advice; they knew about the creatures Sora fought and told him what he needed to know in order to stop them. But _who_ exactly was protecting Kairi for him? He asked.

The silent exchange between His Majesty and Yen Sid failed to assure him of her absolute safety.

"We have…contacted someone who originated from her old home, Sora. He remembers her well. He will guard her until they've reached Radiant Garden, where our other allies will take over. You can trust him, Sora. He is a most formidable foe if you get on the wrong side of him."

Sora still hesitated, but that His Majesty and Yen Sid made an effort made him feel rather relieved. In the face of this new danger they've already made the move to protect her. And Riku?

"Merlin's keeping us posted," His Majesty explained. "Riku, too, is finding out ways to defeat the Organization. Sooner or later you two will meet again. Don't worry; Riku can take care of himself, as you already knew your whole life."

He couldn't help smile with the king as he thought fondly on his best friend. Yes, Riku would be able to handle himself; he always had, right from the beginning. And if he made a mistake, he'd be quick to learn from it.

"Yeah…I suppose," Sora said with a nod.

"Uh, Your Majesty?" Goofy then asked. "So, if we're going to go and fight the Organization…how do we get to where we're supposed to go?"

"One of the reasons why I left you four to deal with some other business was exactly that, Goofy," His Majesty said, smiling as he pulled out something from the pocket of his black jacket. "Keys to a new gummi ship. Her Majesty had Chip and Dale build a new one and send it to Twilight Town. Rode that ship here. It's yours."

He tossed the keys to Donald, who didn't expect it, and everybody laughed while the wizard scrambled with the keys.

"Your ship," Yen Sid said as the laughter died down, "comes with a teleporting gummi. It can be programmed to send anyone to any world that exists. It is one of few that's installed right into a gummi ship and there's a good reason why."

Sora suddenly found he didn't like where Yen Sid was taking this conversation. He looked at Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket; even Disney Castle's scribe had stopped writing to listen.

"Oh dear me," he heard Flora murmur somewhere in the back. "Oh, the poor dear…"

"Shhh, Flora. Let them hear it first," the red fairy whispered.

"Oh Fauna, I just can't imagine what would happen once Yen Sid-"

"Shhh!" Merryweather hissed, silencing the green fairy.

Sora felt a chill crawl up his back, an onrush of prickling cold that left his heart racing for warmth and out of tension. What was Flora talking about? What was Yen Sid going to say?

"Several days ago…" Yen Sid said very, very slowly, as if each word was its own special sentence. "Several days ago, we received a message from Merlin. A world had been destroyed…and its inhabitants scattered across the Universe. Survivors are to be found and sent to either Radiant Garden or Traverse Town. We need you to do that, Sora. Do you know why?"

He hated Yen Sid's formal tone. The floor squeaked and Sora turned to His Majesty, whose guilty face sent a cold sliver of fear deep into his heart.

"I'm sorry, Sora, but Destiny Islands was destroyed," His Majesty explained. "Your islands are gone, your home is gone, and the only known survivor is Kairi. Your friends, your parents, most everyone you knew, they're gone."

Sora stared.

"We…believe the Nobodies are behind this, although we have yet to find out 'why'…" Yen Sid continued in the silence. His voice droned on but after the 'why' the words were lost on him. Sora sank into his mind; all he could think about was what His Majesty said.

"_I'm sorry, Sora, but Destiny Islands was destroyed."_

How'd this happen? How could this happen? He did all this – everything with the Keyblade – just to go back home with his two friends, and now they were telling him that not only did he meet his two friends and they all went their separate ways, but also there's a new enemy lurking around the Universe and his home was obliterated.

And he still didn't understand how he got from Hollow Bastion's Chapel to right outside Twilight Town!

Sora suddenly noticed that he was shaking his head, his mouth moving. His throat was vibrating with sound but now he was picking up on what he was saying.

"No...no way…no…no…no…"

What was he supposed to do? This was too much, too much information, too many things happening all at once. Why did that have to happen? Why?

"…why? Why?" He looked at His Majesty and found the king's face blurred. He rubbed his eyes with his forearm and instantly the vision cleared, though he felt wetness on his arm. "Why, Your Majesty, why? Why!"

There was only one answer His Majesty could give. Who could understand chance?

"I don't know, Sora. I'm sorry. I truly am."

XXX

His head seemed very heavy; his whole back seemed to bend to accommodate the weight known as the head. His legs were bent; he sat on his knees, his arms braced, hands gripping his thighs as he sat there, eyes fixed on the ground.

Naminé had no idea what the point was but she couldn't stop her hand from flying across the paper, her mind from toying with the vivid image. She couldn't make her mind let go of the person in her head.

"…what do you think you're drawing?"

DiZ. Naminé quickly looked up, her pencil stalled. His visible yellow eye was staring at the paper pad in her lap.

"Drawing."

"Drawing what? More memories?" Strangely he sounded like he was mocking her.

"No. I'm drawing an image in my mind."

With a deep sigh she looked down at the paper pad and the sigh stopped midway. She stared, her eyes widening.

Where did this image come from? It was a picture of utter desolation. Sora – Sora? – was kneeling before the Keyblade; the head of the weapon had been stabbed into rough earth at a slant, and it was raining. Rain slid down the weapon's slender body and dampened Sora's hair and clothes. It was dark where the image's setting was.

"That's not a memory," DiZ said slowly while Naminé gripped her pencil tightly and went in to add more…or was it to erase? Her mind had distanced itself from the image and she had no idea what her hands were doing. "Naminé?"

She could hear him but there was no will to answer him.

"Naminé!"

She started and the pencil fell away from her hand. Seconds before DiZ snatched the paper pad away, she saw what her addition was.

A dark pool of liquid from beyond the boundaries of the page spread out on the ground in front of Sora. The pools of rainwater were clear and reflective. Nobody needed to ask what this dark liquid was.

Blood.

She slowly raised her head to look at DiZ while he stared at the drawing. Naminé flinched as his yellow eye darted to her.

"An image from your mind? No, no that's not possible, not for someone like you. No, this is something else. It's telling us something; your mind is conveying something through your drawing. Could this be the future? But this is such a grim future. What could this mean? Could it mean that this would happen if we don't do something? Or…"

She watched, quiet and helpless as DiZ fell to muttering under his breath. He slowly turned on his heels and walked out of the hotel room, taking the paper pad with her. The door closed behind him, leaving Naminé to sit there, pencil on the floor and her paper pad lost to her.

Slowly she turned her head to stare out the hotel's window. It was raining. She could see her reflection in the window; it looked like the rain was tears on her face. But the rain fell in a slant, and Naminé cannot cry.

"What did I draw?" she murmured to herself as the rain fell harder. "It's not a memory…and I won't do it again, I won't take someone's memories and change them. So what did I draw? What does it mean?"

The rain gave her no answer, but it reminded her of Sora.

"Sora…what's going to happen to you?"

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Talk about infodump. Check out my LJ for a long series of rants I started about the state of KH fanfiction fandom. You might like it, you might hate it, you might find mistakes, you might not care, but just drop in a line, please? I'm just starting so…

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	15. The Point of Convergence

**Authoress' Note: **Well, I suppose this is a nicer chapter, although I recently received a pounding of sorts on this one site and afterwards felt depressed about what I write. School and college applications are wearisome…

Also, for your enjoyment, a surprise character!

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs aren't mine, either. You know, _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«14 – The Point of Convergence»**

It knew the ways of the forest and it could smell the scent of man. Nose to the ground, it followed the trails crisscrossing over the damp woody terrain. Sometimes one ran here and sometimes tens ran there; it snorted and ignored them. They all carried the same scent, and that's not what it was looking for.

_Find a difference._

And so far it could not find one, not yet. But it knew _he_ was there. That was what mattered. All it needed to do was find _him_, and it would be one step closer to complete freedom.

If only that old fool never said anything at all…

XXX

It was late afternoon when the woman returned. Roxas stirred, then gave a start and quickly sat up as she slipped halfway inside the wood and leather structure. Instantly his senses heightened when he saw the wary look she threw over her shoulder before she slid all the way inside the structure.

"They've gone to spy on the white men. Quickly," she whispered as she ran to the heavy wooden pole he was tied to and nimbly undid the knots. As a prickly feeling ran down the lengths of his arms she ran back to the opening in the structure's leather walls and peered outside. Then she turned to him, her face set and frightened. "We do not have much time. Are you able?"

By able she must mean "Are you able to walk?" Roxas quickly jumped to his feet, then nearly fell over as a dizzy sensation overwhelmed his senses. The black-haired young woman was instantly at his side, gripping his arm.

"You're not well. We have to be careful; if any of the warriors return, you must run for it into the forest. You are like the white man – this they can see – but there is something I need to ask you once we reach the cornfields. Come."

Everything was a blur to him as she pulled him out of the structure and through what appeared to be a half-empty village. Similar smaller wood and leather structures surrounded the one he had been imprisoned in, and smoke rose from the tops of them. There were older women and children of the same hair and color as the one helping him, but they paid no heed as she pulled him off to the side, towards the fields of impossibly tall green plants. There were two older women leaving these fields, each carrying large woven baskets stuffed with strange golden oblong objects, but he had no time to wonder as she quickened her pace and pulled him into the fields. He made no sound, only pushed at the leaves as the woman pulled him deeper and deeper into the fields. The fields seemed endless.

Then quite suddenly she stopped and turned on him. Roxas didn't notice her stern gaze as he leaned over and tried to catch his breath; his whole body was aching and his mind was on fire. He couldn't understand what was wrong with him. Was he ill?

"I know you're not well," she said softly as he tilted his head up to her and winced at the pounding in his head. "I'm sorry but this was the one chance I had. And there is something you must answer for me."

"First…" he gasped as he finally gave up and sat down against one of the enormous plants. He swallowed painfully; his mouth and throat were dry and he desperately needed water.

She knelt down in front of him, her dark eyes scanning his face. Roxas shied away, uncomfortable with her emotionless face. But there was concern in her eyes as she pressed the palm of her hand against his forehead. He sighed, welcoming the cooling touch.

"They say you have light brown hair," she said slowly as he started wondering why her hand remained cold as she pressed it against his forehead, "but your hair is like the corn. Golden, like John."

Corn was golden? Corn was _yellow_.

Roxas immediately jerked away and backed up into more of these massive stalks, staring at the woman in astonishment. She didn't move; she lowered her hand as she looked at him steadily.

_How could she do that? How could she see through this magic, this guise? That's impossible! Is the magic already faulty? Oh god, what about the Princess? If Kairi sees me_-

"She knows nothing," the woman said evenly as he started feeling the heat again, spreading throughout his body at an uncomfortable pace and intensity. "She knows nothing. What are you hiding from her? Why are you hiding from her?"

She had no idea. This woman had no idea why others said his hair was brown and she saw blond. She had no idea why he appeared like that. But he had no idea how she knew.

"Promise me you won't say anything," he said quietly. His voice was failing on him. "Don't tell her…about how I look. I have brown hair…a white jacket…red jumpsuit…blue belt…yellow shoes…white gloves…"

"What are you talking about?" she asked very slowly. "What is a jacket?"

He stared at her. What is a jacket? Did she have any idea? Then he remembered what he had seen as she pulled him into these fields, remembered how people were dressed. Then he remembered that the men holding those bows were bare-chested, and the other men, the one with the guns, were wearing metal armor, vests, and breeches. Jacket and jumpsuit were not in either camp's vocabulary.

Shit.

"Never mind," he said. "I…why is it so hot?"

He felt so tired and everything felt horridly warm. She was shaking her head as he blinked slowly and tried to sit up a little straighter.

"I think…you caught the white man's illness," she said as everything grew darker. "But he'll know what to do. You have to get up. You have to come-"

"Pocahontas!"

A tall white man with blond hair and blue clothes suddenly pushed into the clearing. He swatted away at a particular green stalk, then stepped closer. The man's eyes widened when they fell on Roxas. He squirmed away, uncomfortable and nervous about his handicap. If this man was a danger to him, there was nothing Roxas could do.

"John," the woman, Pocahontas, exclaimed as she quickly rose to her feet. "John, help me carry him away. Father wants him dead; he thinks this boy was with you."

The man kept staring at him. Roxas started getting annoyed and tried to give him the best glare he could muster, but he was too tired to try.

"He's with that other boy, the one with the tail," John declared. "Ratcliffe ordered him dead; the other boy was insane."

The other boy? John must be talking about Zidane! Roxas tried to make some sign that he knew who the man was talking about but he couldn't get himself to move.

"John, take him to the glade I told you about. Wait there until I come back with the girl. And what about the other boy?"

"I left him at the glade you told me, actually," John said as he approached Roxas. "I told him to stay put; I hope he didn't wander away."

Pocahontas nodded then turned on her heels and quickly pushed into the green stalks, vanishing. Roxas stared after her and tried to follow; he needed to make sure Kairi was safe, but a moment after he got to his feet, he toppled over. The other man caught him, though, and picked him up.

"A fever…you have one of our diseases. I hope you don't die like the other savages have been dying…I don't know why they die so quickly…"

Roxas sighed and sank into blissful darkness. He just didn't have the strength to care anymore.

xxx

"…if she is in trouble, I'd say we go back and help her! Whaddya say?"

"No."

"Aw, come on! My friend's in danger! She's with those-those other people! What if they kill her?"

"_He's_ not dead."

"Well he's special. Of course he's not dead! But she-"

"What do you mean he's special?"

"Well…he's not. That was a joke. Sorry."

_Argh…Zidane, I'm going to kill you…_

"You need to be patient. Pocahontas will bring your friend. Just sit down and wait-"

"I can't sit down! I need her, okay? She's one of the only people from my home that I've met in _years_! Do you know what it's like, having your home destroyed by-"

_Oh god, Zidane, you're telling this man everything?_

Roxas tried to move – he thought he moved – but after a few minutes he figured he didn't budge an inch. And that was too bad because whatever he was lying on was pushing bumps and ridges into his back, making every second more painful.

"I think your friend's awake."

"About time, too. After all Kairi said about Sora…I think she's been talking about the wrong guy…hey, Sora, you awake? You've been knocked out for hours, now c'mon and wake up!"

Someone was shaking him roughly, and while that did wake him up considerably, it put him in a very bad mood. He moved his hand and shoved Zidane aside. "You…you don't have to…do that."

He grimaced inwardly at the weakness in his voice but Zidane sounded relieved. "He's alive!"

"I said he'd live," John replied. "He's not like the savages, I tell you, although I don't know why you aren't sick-"

"Why do you always call us 'savages', John? I told you we're not," Pocahontas' voice came drifting in. "Is he awake?"

"Hey, Kairi! Kairi, you're alive, too!"

"Z! Oh my god, where have you been-Sora!"

"Oh…so _this_ is what's going on-"

"Kairi! He's been sick; don't bother-"

"Sora! Sora, are you alright? Are you awake? Sora!"

He felt skin touching his face, felt his head and shoulders raised, and opened his eyes to see Kairi's eyes staring down at him. Her hair hung down, shielding him from everywhere but her face. He had no idea where they were, only that the three of them were back together, everybody was alive, and the Princess was touching him. Roxas very abruptly remembered Nam's warning about the one weakness to the magic she had put on him.

But what could explain how Pocahontas could see through the guise?

"You're awake," the Princess said with a relieved smile. "Promise me you won't scare me like that again; I thought something…something had gone wrong when those men took us away…"

_She thought they hurt me, or worse, killed me. How strange, to fear for someone like that. I should keep this in mind-_

"Then it's pointless. I knew we should've come here for more than gold; the New World isn't as promising as men like me think," John's voice wafted in. He sounded stressed and worried.

"Come here for more than gold? Why would you do that? Isn't your own home satisfying enough?" Pocahontas asked. Roxas had to admit she sounded quite naïve about people. Was she really that ignorant of what people were capable of?

"My child, the white man desires beyond his own land. That is why they are here."

As far as Roxas could tell, this was a newcomer, another voice and another mind. He tried to sit up; Kairi held him close as he sat up, his head hanging as blood rushed out of his head, leaving him feeling painfully lightheaded. He felt her hand on his back and forced himself not to shy away. Fabric was a shield; he could let her touch him for a bit longer.

"John, this is Grandmother Willow. Grandmother Willow, this is John. And these are-"

"Holy-that tree talks! That's amazing!" Zidane cut in excitedly.

So much for introductions.

He heard leaves rustling against each other, then he heard the sharp sound of something thin and pliable whip against an object. That object, Zidane, yelled. "Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"You young one should learn to keep your mouth shut when appropriate!" the grandmotherly face carved into the trunk of the great willow tree snorted. "Children these days…"

Kairi stifled a giggle as Zidane rubbed the small of his back. Roxas smirked and didn't try to hide it.

John seemed stupefied by the enormous willow tree dominating the secluded glade Pocahontas called Grandmother Willow. His jaw remained unhinged, his eyes wide, as the face turned to him and said, "Hello John Smith. Oh don't you worry about me; my bark's worse than my bite. I won't hurt you a bit."

"R-right…"he stammered, still a bit skeptical.

"Grandmother Willow, these are the ones from outside our world," Pocahontas cut in, gesturing to him, the Princess, and Zidane. "Neither of them came from our groups."

"Well of course, after the way his buddies treated me," Zidane snorted, jabbing a finger in John's direction. "They thought I was mad."

"But you were mad," John insisted. "You were talking to yourself."

"Everybody talks to themselves," the younger man retorted. "Don't you?"

"Well…not the way you were at it, no," John answered. "You were talking to yourself as though you were two people."

"I was just trying to convince you that I was too crazy to even bother trying to get information from, whatever it is you wanted in the first place. How can we help you? We just got here, too, you know."

"No, I don't know," John stated calmly. "Now why _are_ you here?"

"Oh yes, this I'd like to know," Grandmother Willow quipped with an approving nod. "Tell us young ones. What brings you here, of all places?"

Roxas wasn't sure how to respond. He couldn't just tell them what they were doing, could he? And yet they were the strangers, the intruders, on this world; they were obligated to explain why they were here in the first place. John Smith was a stranger, too, but John already explained his men were on Pocahontas's land for gold. They were here for…

"We're looking for some friends we lost," Kairi quickly filled in for the uncomfortable silence. "We lost our home…"

He felt her shiver at the words, and knew what was going through her mind. White violent fire and screams roared in his mind.

"…and we're trying to find people we know, people we lost who might be out there somewhere," Zidane added, staring down over the edge of the huge tree stump they were sitting on into the water. "I…I lost some friends, too…"

The look on John's face told Roxas that this man clearly couldn't comprehend how Zidane could go from loudly obnoxious to serous and sad. Roxas couldn't understand that, either.

"I don't know if he's one of those people you're looking for," Pocahontas suddenly said, "but there is someone here, someone I've been hiding. He said he was waiting for someone, but I don't know what he meant-"

"Someone else is here?" Roxas demanded. "Who?"

"Like you he's from outside our world," Grandmother Willow replied. "He is a very strange man; I have the sense that he's much older than he appears to be. His past has been very dark; it floats around him like mist, hiding him away from prying eyes and ears."

"How do you know so much about him, Grandmother?" Pocahontas asked skeptically. "You only met him once and neither of you said a word to each other. He didn't say anything at all, except his name."

"What's his-" Zidane began but the willow tree interrupted.

"Oh I know these things, child," Grandmother Willow replied rather knowingly. "It's obvious to me he's had a very difficult life, and that he's lost his sense of direction. But he came here because he found reason. Now we'll have to see if the reason has come to him."

A very awkward silence bloomed from her last words, until Zidane, shifting from foot to foot, finally said, "That made no sense."

"Actually," Kairi countered, "it did."

"Who is this person?" Roxas asked slowly as he rose to his feet. His legs shook and he nearly fell; the Princess scrambled to her feet and grabbed him around the waist and held him until strength came back to him. Breathing heavily, he turned his head to her and smiled faintly, then took a slow uncertain step towards the face in the tree. Pocahontas was watching him. "Where is he? What's his name?"

"I can take you to him," Pocahontas offered. "He told me not to give anyone his name until he's come face to face with the person who wants to know. He doesn't want a lot of people to know that he's even in this forest."

"Then take me to him," Roxas said. He immediately corrected himself, slapping himself mentally in the process for forgetting the Princess and Zidane were with him. "Take us to him. Maybe he can help us."

"Maybe not," Zidane added. "There's always two sides to every coin."

"Except there's none right now," Roxas retorted wryly. "Let's go."

Unfortunately for him, his words were immediately followed by a loud shout.

"Smith! Where are you, mate?"

Smith. John Smith. John. Someone was looking for him. All eyes turned to the man, who groaned and slapped himself on the forehead.

A second voice added, "This place gives me the creeps. Savages could be hiding anywhere."

Pocahontas scowled and muttered under her breath," That's not true. We're not savages!"

John placed a hand on her shoulder. "It takes a while for others to learn about that. Just be patient."

Zidane, who had been trying to get a good look at the two men searching for John by sneaking around the willow tree's trunk, then swore. "They're going to find us!"

Kairi gasped and looked around frantically for a place to hide.

"No worries," Grandmother Willow said calmly. Seconds later, Roxas winced as something heavy fell, then heard two pairs of shoes fleeing, voices yelling something awful about magicked trees and savages.

"What the hell did you do?" Roxas demanded as Zidane turned and grinned at Grandmother Willow.

"Oh, I just gave them a heads up about trampling like that through the forest," she said amiably. Her kind face suddenly turned stern as she looked at John. "You should go back. Your men are looking for you."

He nodded and immediately took a step towards shore. But then he turned around and looked at Pocahontas straight in the eyes. "Afterwards, meet me tonight. Right here."

She nodded in silent agreement, then said, "I'll be waiting."

John then nodded to Roxas and the others and continued through the long branches of the willow tree, vanishing behind them. Roxas waited for Pocahontas; she seemed rather lost in thought, with her eyes seemingly transfixed on the branches that still swayed back and forth from his hands. Zidane seemed to be sniggering. A sharp slap on the back from the Princess soon stopped it.

"Child," Grandmother Willow murmured. "He is waiting."

"Oh! Oh, right. Come."

The woman turned and jumped off the tree stump in the opposite direction John headed in. She peered through the curtain of leaves and branches, then gestured for Roxas, Kairi, and Zidane to follow.

He couldn't help but wonder who exactly this person was. Roxas looked back at the willow tree and saw Grandmother Willow watching him. To his astonishment she winked and mouthed two words.

"I know."

XXX

The sky was darkening as Pocahontas kept striding ahead of them, taking them to the other stranger in her world. Kairi felt her muscles protest each new step taken, felt her lungs burn as she fought hard to keep up with the long-striding woman. Z made continuous complaints about how dark forests quickly got but Sora made no sound. The last time she checked, he looked lost in thought. She almost lost it staring at him; she couldn't recall Sora ever having that look on his face, and while trying to remember exactly when she nearly ran into a tree.

"Watch yourself," Z said lightly as he let go of her arm; she mumbled an embarrassed agreement and apology, and went after Pocahontas, humiliation fueling her.

"Where are we going anyways?" Z asked sourly as he jogged at her side. He didn't look at all happy.

"I don't know; I don't live here," Kairi replied as she looked over her shoulder again. Just as she got a glimpse of Sora, Z grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her to a stop. She turned her head and gasped in surprise at how close she was to hitting another tree. But this time Pocahontas stopped, too.

Sora appeared at her side, taking short light breaths. His eyes still held that strange distant look as he whispered, "Be careful."

Before she could continue the conversation he stepped past her and towards Pocahontas, who was standing at the edge of a clearing in the forest. It was picture-perfect; there was a small grassy hill hidden by all these trees and a natural shelter of stone off to the right of the hill's top.

"What's with him?" Z wondered. Did he notice the same thing?

Before Sora could join the woman, who seemed to be actively seeking out something, Kairi ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. He flinched but looked at her; her heart skipped a beat as she noticed the faintly solemn look in his expression. Somehow it softened the features of his normally bold face, making him appear more…what? What was that word? What was she thinking?

"Sora…" Suddenly the sentence she had in her mind died in her throat and she fumbled for it. "I…I mean…uh…sorry…"

He kept staring at her, then hesitantly said, "It's okay. Just tell me."

"I…you look sad, Sora. Why?"

He looked at her strangely, then shook his head. "I'm…I'm not sad. It's just…I've been thinking. I've been thinking…and…and I don't know, but…"

He let the unfinished sentence hang there as he looked at her. Sora suddenly looked helpless, which was a look she couldn't recall Sora having on his face. And his hesitant manner was rather new to her. Did he…did he feel…did she dare continue? Kairi didn't know what to think and, flustered, she turned away and looked for a distraction. Any would do, especially Pocahontas striding towards a scarlet red blob hovering around the natural stone shelter near the top of the hill.

"Whoa…" Z murmured not too far off. Kairi had a feeling he had been spying on them but thankfully he was now distracted. Of course, so were they. Kairi felt her hand slide off Sora's shoulder as he walked towards Pocahontas and the red blob in a stilted manner; he seemed transfixed, hypnotized.

Kairi and Z quickly followed him but as they neared Pocahontas the red blob began to change its shape. Something solid formed underneath it; Kairi soon realized the red blob was really a blood-red cloak with ragged ends that gave it an eerie presence. The man wearing the cloak was no less eerie, if not downright frightening. He turned his head to her slowly and she found herself transfixed by the right red eye.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, his voice carefully neutral. She shivered as the man turned to look at Sora. His face was strangely pale; he looked more dead than alive.

"I could ask the same of you," the stranger replied coolly. Sora twitched, then looked away. Kairi noticed the strange look Pocahontas was giving the teenager but Sora didn't seem to notice. Z, though and true to himself, blurted out, "You've got some shoes for the stuff you're wearing."

Kairi couldn't help but look down at the pointy yellow boots the man was wearing. Then suddenly the man moved to Z; he seemed to be floating over the ground, the way his red cloak and black hair clung to the air as he walked.

Z shrunk as the man stared down at him. "If you don't like my clothes, then deal with it in your own time. I don't need unnecessary commentary from you."

Kairi grabbed the older boy's arm before Z could launch a verbal attack on the stranger. "Z, don't be so mean! We've only just met him!"

"The Princess of Heart does have a point," the stranger agreed. His words shocked her; how did he know who or what she was? Did he know anything about Sora, then? And what about Riku? Did this strange man know anything about Riku, too? She looked up at the man to ask but he shook his head. "No, I don't know where your friends are. But I am here to help you."

"Why?" Sora asked, his voice tense.

"Let's just say I have a duty to fulfill," the stranger replied. "I had sworn an oath…and I must uphold it. Does that answer your question?"

"Maybe," Sora said evenly. "Well…now what?"

His eyes darted to the man, who was now looking at Pocahontas, who apparently seemed to be feeling a little left out of the whole conversation.

"It's late," she declared. "I need to meet John. Will you leave?"

"We still need to see if some of our friends are here, though," Kairi said. "Merlin said some of them might be here!"

"Where's here?" Sora muttered; he seemed a little put-off by the black-haired man.

Pocahontas nodded and said, "Then if you need help, find Grandmother Willow. Otherwise, I wish you well."

She turned and started walking down the hill. Kairi watched her blend into the forest, then looked at Z, who had suddenly gone silent. He seemed to be contemplating something, which was odd for him. "Z, what's wrong?"

"Oh…just…did he just call you a princess?" Z asked, pointing a finger at the stranger.

"It's rude to point, you know," the stranger replied, looking unkindly at the finger. He looked like he was hoping his glare would burn the finger off. "And yes, I did. Kairi's a Princess of Heart. You didn't know that?"

He knew her real _name_? Kairi stared at the man, flabbergasted. Did they even meet before? She certainly remembered nothing of this man, nothing other than-

"She didn't tell me," Z retorted, while Kairi, in the midst of scrutinizing this strange man, started wondering if that visible red eye of his was familiar to her. "Remember what I told you earlier? That old man told me to find a man named Vincent, a princess, and a liar. That's three people…and this guy's just joined us, so that makes four."

"I thought that was pretty obvious," Sora snorted. "What else are you going to say? It's getting late; who knows what lives out here."

"Nothing more than the usual beasts of these kinds of forests in this world," the stranger supplied. "I've been here for quite a while waiting for you to arrive so-"

"Hey, I'm not done here!" Z yelled. "So, what's your name? You never told us."

"You never asked," the stranger countered. "And interrupting another person is just as rude as pointing and making fun of one's clothing. My name is Vincent Valentine."

A long silence followed, eventually punctured by a tiny "Oh" from Z.

"That's…quite an unusual…coincidence…" Kairi said meekly, finally turning her eyes away from the now strangely familiar stranger. She looked up to see Sora turn away and start walking down the hill. He didn't look back as he disappeared into the forest.

"Where's he going?" Z demanded, quickly overcoming his shock.

"Away from you, I suppose…idiot," Vincent suggested, then started walking down the hill after him. The man didn't get far before a faraway gunshot stopped him in his tracks. Kairi shuddered at the violent sound, then realized that it came from deep in the forest, where Sora had quickly walked into.

"Sora!" she yelled, then started downhill. She nearly overtook Vincent but the man grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She whirled on him and pulled hard. "Let me go, Vincent! Let me go-"

"Stay close to me, Princess!" Vincent ordered. "There's more out there right now than the gunshot! Something's lurking out there, something you know about."

"I don't know what you mean," she replied coldly, still pulling at her arm. The strain was starting to burn. "Just…let…me…go-"

"Look out, Zidane coming through!" Z yelled as he bolted past them and into the forest.

"Shit," Vincent growled, let Kairi go, and ran after the blond teenager. Kairi didn't hesitate; she ran after the two, and towards Sora and the gunshot.

xxx

Paths quickly diverged as Vincent suddenly turned in another direction from where Z was running. Kairi slowed down, unsure of who to follow, but then Z yelled as a group of red-toned men, red paint smeared all over their faces and chests, and armed with stone weapons, descended on him from the forest's shadows. His hand closed on the pistol at his belt but the men had him tied up in rope and were hauling him away. Kairi stared, stunned by the suddenness of Z's capture. Then cold metal grasped her arm and pulled her aside. A hand over her mouth muffled her scream but she soon realized it was Vincent.

"This way!" he hissed, then turned in a direction far from the men who had captured Z. Kairi, uncertain of this blatant ignorance of Z's situation, didn't move, but she soon had no choice. Vincent went back to her, grabbed her arm in his left hand, which was encased in metal, and pulled her along.

"What about Z?" she asked desperately, stumbling over small obstacles as the forest got darker. "Those men have him! We have to go back and help him-"

"If we do, your other friend won't live," Vincent interrupted. She immediately stopped resisting him, realizing he was talking about Sora. "He knew there was something else in this forest; that must be why he left so suddenly. But he's a fool for that, a damn fool…"

"Why? What else is out there?" she asked, letting fear creep into her voice. She hoped he'd explain what's going on to her; she felt utterly confused and Vincent was of no help clarifying things.

Sudden high-pitched screams jarred her ears and she heard something huge and heavy barreling through the undergrowth. Vincent slowed as someone suddenly stumbled out in front of them.

"Pocahontas!" Kairi yelled out, twisting free of Vincent's grip and running over to the older woman. She was gasping for breath, her eyes wild and her body shaking. "Pocahontas, what happened?"

"There's…something had…something had run through the village. A great beast, more frightening than anything we've ever seen or heard of…it came through just as…as the war party came in…dragging John…and your friend…it leveled the cornfields and killed some of my people…and now it's gone off…that way…"

She pointed in the exact direction Vincent was running towards.

"It's gone for the waterfall. I don't know why but-"

"Your friend's at the waterfall," Vincent declared, interrupting Pocahontas. "Does he know it would be there? And if so, why would he meet it alone?"

"Sora's in danger…" Kairi whispered.

What sort of beast was Pocahontas talking about? What kind of creature was it that it could charge through and crush whatever's in the way?

"Pocahontas, you should go back to your village," Vincent said as he turned towards the direction of the waterfall. "Your friend and her friend are both in danger, especially because they are both white. I will take it from here. Princess, this way."

Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her past Pocahontas, who then turned on her heels and dashed back into the forest. Underbrush scratched her legs and she stumbled over tree roots and small rocks and stone, yet Vincent seemed to avoid all manners of obstacles with uncanny ease. Kairi grew jealous of her inability to avoid the obstacles and began trying to avoid them as they kept running through the darkening forest and a distant continuous roar drew nearer and nearer.

Quite suddenly from the right side of her vision, Kairi saw a bright white light. It wasn't steady; it flickered, waxed, and waned like _fire_. _White fire._

The world rolled under her feet and Kairi crumpled to the ground, her arm sliding out of Vincent's grasp. She stayed down, her eyes transfixed on the whitish glow in the deep of the forest, creating silhouettes of the tree trunks. Vaguely she felt a burning sensation in her knees and the palm she had thrown out to catch herself as she fell, but her mind was soon overthrown by a vicious surge of memories and she cried out in fear.

_The unearthly roar rose above the white fire. A face in the flames came at her, eyes burning coal-black and endless like all the stories of Hell she's heard and read of. An inhuman face in the fire opened its jaws and she saw death deep inside, a maelstrom of flames and black light. She screamed and shut her eyes, then darkness rushed up and shrouded her, but she could still hear the roar in her ears-_

"Kairi!"

She looked up wildly and found herself staring at the edge of a high waterfall. It was an endless thunder of water and gravity. There were no trees near the rocky face of the cliff, no way to hide from the great white boar snorting as it tried to avoid Vincent Valentine, who held out a slender lethal gun. A chain dangled from it, like the chain on the end of a Keyblade.

The white boar was massive. It seemed to be concocted of pure white fire, but its eyes burned black. White fire blurred the edges of the beast as it tossed its head and jabbed with its horns. Vincent remained still, the gun's muzzle aimed at the center of its head.

"Kairi, get up! Now!"

Sora suddenly appeared from the left side; he hauled her to her feet and she clutched at his jacket, afraid to let him go. She kept staring at the beast, frightened that it looked so much like the monster in the fire that destroyed Destiny Islands.

"Don't worry," she heard Sora say as the boar took a step towards them and Vincent moved to block it. "Don't worry, Kairi…I got you."

And then, it happened in a blur, it happened so fast Kairi didn't know it really happened. The boar charged around Vincent, leaving behind a trail of white fire, and Sora pushed her away as it came straight at her. She fell into a pile of rotten leaves and branches, and pushed herself onto her feet just in time to see Vincent run to the edge of the cliff. A trail of white fire led straight up to the edge and…

Kairi stared, suddenly realizing what had happened. Vincent was staring down the cliff, then running down alongside the cliff's face, vanishing into the dark forest. Kairi kept staring at the cliff's edge, then ran to it. She fell on her knees, bruising them against stone, and leaned over to feel mist blooming in her face. She rubbed at her face, then blinked furiously as she tried to see something, anything, anyone down there somewhere. But she could hear nothing over the roar of the waterfall. She couldn't even hear herself scream his name.

"SORA!"

XXX

Quite frankly, now was one of those times when Zidane wished he was dead. Getting caught by those white men John Smith came with was one thing but now he was also captured by the red men Pocahontas was with. Why did it have to be him? Why did those men jump on him? What did he do to deserve this?

He looked over to John, who seemed to be sliding in and out of consciousness. As he was being dragged back to the village the red-skinned warriors lived in he saw another group emerge from deeper in the forest, dragging with them John Smith. He was sporting a huge bruise on his head; one of the warriors had knocked him out with a single blow.

Zidane had thought this was the worst of it but then as they reached the village, something barreled right through it, a sudden maelstrom of white fire that knocked down walls and set houses alight. People were screaming, running around while buildings crackled as they fed the fire, and the warriors abandoned him and John to fend off the flames, save the people, and find the supernatural beast that did it. They had tied up both captives tightly, though, and Zidane spent much of his potential freedom trying to wriggle out of the ropes binding him. He was unsuccessful.

"…like a boar."

"I fear we will go hungry this winter, with the corn crops burned away."

"The white demons must have brought it over…"

The two voices drifted away. Zidane sighed and sank down into the ground against the wooden pole he was tied up against. After the fires were put out he and John was hauled into one of the saved buildings and tied to the support poles. They were stuck, captives of Pocahontas's people.

Just what did they have against him and John and the men John came over with? He couldn't blame the red men, actually, for the men John came with; they were rude, snotty, and thought they ruled the world. But John was nicer, and Zidane didn't even live here.

"Psst!"

Zidane looked up and saw Pocahontas sticking her head into the building. Then she slipped inside and went to Zidane.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine as rain," Zidane snorted. "Do we look alright to you? What's the deal with those men, anyways? What do they want with me?"

"My father does not tolerate the white men; they nearly killed one of our warriors. He ordered any white men wandering in the forests to be captured and brought here, maybe for ransom. Now that Kocoum's dead, he wants revenge. He wants you dead."

"Dead?!" Zidane yelled. "I don't want to die!"

"Shh!" Pocahontas hissed. "Your friends may help us. They're still out there…but so is the monster…"

"Pocahontas?" John whispered, now apparently deciding to stay awake.

"John," she replied and swiftly went over to him. she knelt down besides him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "John…my father won't change his mind. He said that tomorrow, at sunrise, both of you are going to die."

Zidane grit his teeth; who told her father that he was going to die tomorrow? He had nothing to do with this, any of this!

"Really?" John sighed, bowing his head.

"I…I wish none of this ever happened," the black-haired woman murmured. "I wish we never met…then none of this would have ever happened…"

"Don't say that," John said, looking up at her. "Don't say that. I'm glad I met you; I'd rather die a hundred deaths than never meet you at all."

Pocahontas smiled as she leaned over and pressed her forehead against his. "Thank you."

"No matter what happens to me tomorrow, Pocahontas, I'm always with you," John assured her. "Always."

Off to the side, ignored by these two lovebirds, Zidane grumbled. To add to a very, very bad day he had to witness this smooching between two people who were obviously in love with each other. He wondered exactly what could happen that was worse than this; he immediately slapped himself mentally but it was too late. He's jinxed it.

Outside there was a cry, then a chorus of shouts and screams. All three people quickly looked at the entrance of the leather-and-wood building, wondering what else had gone wrong.

From the black shadows stepped forth a creature. Its glowing yellow eyes peered unblinkingly at them, then it shook its head and stepped closer to Zidane. It was a great muscular unisex creature, with long claws made for tearing and ripping. Behind he something pulled itself out of the shadows cast on the ground, a creature identical to it. It twisted its head this way and that, then looked at him, too. And there was another one, and another one…

"What are these things?" John whispered, horrified. "What are they?"

Pocahontas just stared at them, obviously stunned into silence.

Zidane swore. "Now I've done it. We've jinxed it. Asshole."

He knew them all right. Heartless had come to the New World.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** Cliffhangers Anonymous. The next chapter, I hope, will be more entertaining but we'll have to see, won't we?

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


	16. Wielder's Advent

**Authoress' Note: **I once told someone what to expect in this story that one cannot expect in this type of fanfiction. There is a good reason why I'm rating this Teen, and this is a _safe_ rating.

Moving on…as I am being drowned in school and college work, my updating will be MUCH slower this month and possibly the next. I'm trying not to flunk my philosophy class, so patience if I don't update again for a while.

**Disclaimer: **Characters, settings, rules of the Universe, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline is copyright of mine with major differences. The two theme songs are _This is Love_ – Utada HIkaru and **Gravity of Love** by _Enigma._ Greek mythology, though, can be used anywhere.

**Theme Song:** _Gravity of Love_ by Enigma

**X X X**

**Ћε­­ G**rάγ**ί†ψ _ö__f_ Löγε**

**«15 – Wielder's Advent»**

Except for the traces of exhaust smoke on the engine pipes, the gummi ship was shockingly new. Goofy actually stopped and stared at the gleaming ship as His Majesty guided them outside of Yen Sid's tower to it. Donald had been extremely suspicious when His Majesty opened the doors out of the study and they found a set of stairs going straight down to the floor; when they were climbing up, the stairs spiraled endlessly. But Yen Sid's face was emotionless and Donald dropped the subject before he could pursue it.

The fairies had elected to stay inside rather than follow them out; they said they had some scheming to do, something involving Aurora and her home. They waved farewell and wished them good luck on their journey to stop the Organization XIII.

Sora wasn't sure if he properly thanked them for his new clothes. In fact, he couldn't quite remember going down the stairs from the study down to the new ship. His mind was maelstrom of confusion and emotion; he could only remember that His Majesty told him Destiny Islands, his beloved home, was somehow destroyed.

"… The Organization's taken an interest in that world, although I don't know why…"

"We'll keep you updated as we track them, Your Majesty-"

_What? We already agreed to go somewhere? But-but what about-_

"…do they, er…really have dragons there? Ya know, Land of _Dragons_…"

"…symbolized by the dragon, which is why it's called the Land of Dragons. The emperor rules by what they call the 'Mandate of Heaven'…"

"Wait…" Sora began slowly. "What about…what about…my home? What about my home? Why aren't we worried about Destiny Islands? Why?"

"I thought you knew," Yen Sid answered rather stiffly while Donald and Goofy walked rounds around the gummi ship, with the wizard fingering the keys. "We have that under control. I understand your sentiments…but your sentiments would only be hindering us, not helping us. You have to focus at your task at hand, and trust your allies to help your home."

"But-but what about-"

What was he supposed to say? He couldn't just tell them exactly _why_ he was so uptight about his inability to do something about Destiny Islands' demise. It…it did have something to do with his home, but there was something else he worried about, something he couldn't voice.

_What…what am I supposed to say…about Kairi?_

"It's time to trust others with what you hold dearest to your heart," His Majesty said. Sora blinked, then stared down at the mouse king, who was at his feet and looking up. He felt uncomfortable; he was standing in front of a king and he was taller than the king. Shouldn't it be the other way around? But no, His Majesty was a mouse and he was a human. And even though His Majesty was a king, they both wielded Keyblades; they were still equal.

"Hold…dearest to my heart?" Sora echoed, then flushed and looked away. Kairi, His Majesty knew about Kairi. "I…it's so hard. I mean…there's so many gaps in my memories, so many things that must've happened that I don't know about…and then…Destiny Islands is gone? How? Why? Why aren't there any answers? Why can't anyone tell me anything about what happened?"

"Ask that of others who lost their worlds," Yen Sid said coldly. Anger flared in Sora but he bit his tongue and waited for the sorcerer to continue. "You're not the only one who's angry, devastated, and at a loss. But you, Sora, you can do something about it. Don't you understand the power of the Keyblade?"

"So…I can get back…Destiny Islands? With my Keyblade?"

"Remember, Sora? You lost Destiny Islands once. That it's destroyed again means that somewhere in the gaps of your memory it was restored. You can do it again."

Optimism came to him in a racing chill, and he felt his heartbeat quicken. He looked at His Majesty, at Yen Sid, at Donald and Goofy, and felt a smile creep into his face. "It is possible, huh? I've done it once before then, and I can do it again. Alright, let's do it!"

He jogged over to the ship and stared up at it. He looked at Donald, who tossed him the keys while Goofy tapped at the side hatch and jumped back as it opened.

"Sora," His Majesty called out as Goofy, with Jiminy riding in his hat, climbed aboard. "Sora, find the Organization. You have to stop them. They will kill everyone in order to get what they want; they don't know that what they're doing is terrible to the Universe. I told Donald where Land of Dragons is; find out what the Organization is doing there. It's possible they're infiltrating all the worlds, but since you can't be everywhere at once, we've sent others to help you. You have friends on your side, Sora. When in doubt, look for them."

Sora nodded as Donald jumped up to the hatch; Goofy snatched the wizard and pulled him in before he could humiliate himself by missing and falling straight back down. Sora smiled at this, then looked at His Majesty and Yen Sid.

"Thanks, Yen Sid. Thanks…Your Majesty. I'll find my memories…find my friends…stop the Nobodies…open the door…"

Perhaps there was some order left in his life after all. Now all he needed to do was pick up the rest of the pieces and rearrange them like a puzzle. Then he'd get a clear picture of everything.

Maybe that'll take him back to the two friends dearest to his heart.

XXX

"Why is it that all I have are bad thoughts about this?" Mickey asked aloud not long after the gummi ship rose shakily into the air and rocketed off into space. "I don't feel like we'll succeed this time. What's your opinion, Yen Sid?"

"Mine?" the sorcerer asked delicately. "Well…I have nothing good to say about this. We're playing with fire. You realize what kind of a threat Riku is to both sides? His experiences…they've scarred him. They've made him susceptible to the darkness-"

"But he'll resist it," Mickey interjected quickly, firmly. "I know he will."

Yen Sid merely continued. "-and he'll need to learn how not to delve into darkness in order to get what he wants, not as long as he doesn't know how to control both powers of light and dark. Kairi, on the other hand, she's a walking target. She's a Princess of Heart; the Heartless will be following her and its possible the Organization's very interested in her."

"What can they do with her?"

"That's for Sora or Riku to find out."

Mickey nodded. "And the Nobody?"

"Hard to say. I still don't know why you trust it to protect Kairi all the way to Radiant Garden but suit yourself."

"We got Valentine to protect her, too," Mickey protested. "We've got two people guarding her; who's going to mess with her with that level of protection?"

"A very special kind of enemy."

Mickey stared at Yen Sid. "You don't mean…"

"I mean exactly as I do," the sorcerer returned tartly.

The mouse king groaned. "Our problems just keep multiplying. Why did it have to be now…"

XXX

"…gawrsh, Chip n' Dale sure outdid themselves this time!" Goofy exclaimed as he poked at a contraption on one of the sides of the gummi ship. He yelped and jumped back as it flung open.

"A microwave," Donald noted with interest. "And a…stall."

"The end of pit stops," Jiminy remarked as he pressed his face against the glass as he stood on the controls.

"Jiminy, you're stepping on one of the buttons," Sora said sourly as the cricket's foot stomped on a black button and a burst of cold wind rushed through his hair. "I think it's the air conditioner."

"It's cold in here!" Goofy called out.

"Yeah, shut off the air!" Donald added as he went to the end of the gummi ship and found bunk beds. "Now this is new!"

"And soft!" Goofy found the bunk beds, too.

Sora just shook his head as he pressed what he thought was the "Off" button. Instead, he killed the lights.

"Sora! Stop messing with the controls!" Donald scolded from where the bunk beds most likely were. "Don't you remember anything I told you about gummi ships?"

"How could I, when I never got a chance to practice?" Sora said, a bit irritated that he couldn't find the button that would turn the lights back on. "All you did was tell me what was what while doing all the steering; I'm a hands-on person, I can't just hear stuff and remember everything perfectly-gotcha!"

The lights flashed back on and he grinned triumphantly. When praise didn't come, he sighed and turned in his seat. "What did I do now?"

There was Donald, his arms crossed, his right foot tapping on the floor. The look of scrutiny on his face bothered Sora but he waited patiently for his friend to say something.

"I'd like to see you smile the next time you make a technical error and there's Heartless ships chasing us. You want to control the ship, make sure the rest of us stay alive. And keep your eyes in front, Sora," the wizard ordered. "Look where you're taking us."

Sora slowly turned his head back to the controls and the windows and stared as a world loomed into view, dotted with green, gray, white, and cut jaggedly by a long line.

"Is that the world His Majesty told us to go to?" Goofy asked curiously as he joined them.

"I think so," Jiminy said; he was jotting notes in his journal.

"The Land of Dragons," Sora breathed.

Will this world begin his journey home?

XXX

The skies shed cold tears that fell on the head of a young black-haired woman as she rushed down the steps from a small temple built on a hill near a sprawling house. She slipped inside with minimal sound, thankful the sliding doors never made much sound, and tiptoed down the hall to her parents' room. She entered quietly and stood at the side of their bed. Her eyes welled up as she watched her parents sleeping, and she turned away before she burst into tears and woke them up.

The conscription note brought earlier in the day was on the lacquer table next to the bed. She stared at the scroll, then willed her hand to it and snatched it away. She placed a hair comb on the table, the one her mother gave her, and headed out of the room. She paused at the door and looked over her shoulder at the faces of her parents. She hoped to see her father when she returned. He should be spared from the conscription; there was no other reason why she'd go in his stead.

In the armory she opened the cabinet that held her father's suit of armor. She grasped her father's sword and pulled it out of its sheath. Her arm wobbled at the weight but she gripped it tightly in her hand as she bunched her long black hair in her other hand. Carefully she maneuvered the sharp iron blade and sawed through her hair. After a time she lowered her aching arm and then held up the sword with both hands. She peered at her reflection in the smooth body and the jagged edges of her cut hair. She closed her eyes, remembering how beautiful she had looked before she went to the Matchmaker's. Then she remembered the messenger with the conscript notes and strong resolve flowed through her veins. She grabbed a ribbon in the cabinet and swiftly tied her hair up in a bun like other men did.

The armor protested loudly as she pulled it off the rack in the cabinet and put it on. She balanced unsteadily at the weight but remained standing as she tied it up in the front. She grabbed the sword and slammed it into its scabbard on her left hip and left the armory.

She jogged to the stable, puffing at the weight of her father's armor, and entered. The black stallion in the stable snorted, then reared in fright but she quickly ran to his side, hushing him and stroking him. He settled down under her comforting familiar touch, then snorted as she bridled and saddled him. She led him out of the stable, then quickly mounted him. She checked once to make sure the conscription note was tucked at her waist, then walked the horse out of the gates of the wall surrounding the family home. She reined in the stallion and while he came to a shifting halt she turned in her seat to glance back at where her parents' bedroom was. Sadness contorted her face as she took one last look at her home, then urged the stallion into a gallop and he splashed through the mud as the two headed for the soldier's camp.

**XXX**

She held his hand tightly as she guided him through the twists and turns at the heart of the Underworld. He followed her willingly like a dog on a leash, his eyes downcast as he tried to avoid looking at anything transparent that glowed green. He couldn't bear to look at these souls; he berated himself constantly but all his harsh words couldn't force him to keep his head up as they maneuvered through the cold dark landscape. He could hear the heavy sure footfalls of Hercules behind him and wished he could be stronger.

"Persephone!" A skinny green creature leaped out at them from behind a pile of rocks; a rotund pink creature followed, its face a complete grimace as he tumbled down the pile onto the path.

"What do you want?" she asked sourly, coming to a halt.

"Hades wants to see you!" the fat pink one exclaimed. "He says to bring your friends with you!"

"Friends?" Hercules snorted loudly. "Is that what Hades calls us now, Pain?"

"He wasn't talking about you, Hercules!" both creatures chimed.

"Since when did Hades care about the people I talk to?" Persephone asked. "Sigh…very well. Let's entertain him. Lead us, Panic and Pain, if you must."

Riku watched them scamper off down the rocky path and looked at Persephone questioningly. Was Hades in that bad of a mood to suspect his wife of cheating?

"Gods and goddesses cheat all the time, don't worry about that," Persephone said as they continued down the path. "My husband has a tendency to overreact to things when he's in this mood. But for your information, we aren't all-knowing, Riku; we don't automatically know what the other's doing. You should see Hera sometimes when she starts wondering why Zeus doesn't come home for five days in a row."

"Hey!"

"Hercules, you know it's true."

"But still-"

"Let it go."

Hercules groaned but complied to Persephone's orders as they neared a part of the Underworld that glowed eerily green. Then Riku started noticing yellow lights moving at random in the darkness on either side of the path; they looked like candles trying to illuminate the endless darkness.

"Do not do anything should you get a glimpse of them," Persephone said as Riku started noticing shapes holding these lights. Her voice was cold. "Do not provoke them and do not provoke my husband by provoking them. Zeus has warned him countless times about them and he would not give them up."

"What are you talking about?"

The Cat, who had been disturbingly silent for some time, called out from Hercules' head, "Heartless, Riku! Hades hasn't given up on the Heartless."

Heartless! Warnings lit up in his head and Riku instantly flexed his muscles, his mind seconds from calling his Soul Eater into his hand. Persephone dug her nails into his hand; Riku yelped. "What was that for?!"

"I warned you, Riku. Remember, I am a goddess," Persephone said softly. "I know what you were trying to do; your reflexes are strong, but you need to control them. Here, they are not necessary. They will not hurt you as long as Hades and I rule."

"And if you no longer rule?"

She smiled wryly. "Let's not think about that. My husband wants to see you, so I shall bring you to him. And if he tries to harm you…I'd like to see him try."

Apparently she must think she has some power over Hades. Riku shook his head. That was hard to believe. Hades was as bullheaded as they come. Sometimes he does chicken out when the odds play against him but when he wants something, he'll stop at nothing to get it. Wasn't that how Hercules ended up the way he was?

"…down, it's only a few minutes of conversation. All I need to do is negotiate the price of the soul, and we're done! I'll wash my hands of him and go on my-oh, you. Long time, no see, eh Hercules?"

The brilliant red glow Hades was giving off switched to the more placid blue as the god of the Underworld strode towards them. Riku could see Pain and Panic hiding on the other side of the throne room. It was apparent that a few minutes ago they had been subject to his wrath.

"Whatever you're trying to do is not working, Hades, so lay off," Hercules said stiffly.

"Hmmph! Some way of returning a host's kindness. I could've sent all of you down the river Styx when you forced Charon to ferry you if it weren't for the goodness of my heart-"

"Stop it, Hades," Persephone interrupted, walking up to her husband and laying a hand on his arm. "Listen, they will only be here very briefly. Give them what they want, and you'll never have to see them again."

"Except for that scumbag over there," Hades muttered under his breath, jabbing a thumb at Hercules. "I have to live with him for eternity."

"That's your own fault. You set it up, you deal with the consequences. Talk to them."

Riku raised an eyebrow at the goddess's sharp command. Apparently Hades married well, or unwell for Hades, depending on who was sympathizing with whom; Persephone had him on a leash, even though the two obviously were only cordial with each other.

"Sigh…so, what brings you to the Underworld?" Hades asked, looking over Persephone's shoulder. "I hear you're in for trading a soul? Got anything in exchange?"

"There's nothing to exchange when you don't have the soul," the Cat replied, jumping off of Hercules' head and landing on the ground. He stood up on two legs and looked at Hades smartly. "The soul is half in your realm, half above the Underworld. Let go of your half and we'll go."

"After we ask you some questions," Riku quickly added. Hades would be looking for loopholes any and everywhere. "We need to ask you-"

"About why your mother's down here, boy?"

He shuddered. There was a cold glint in Hades' eyes as Riku stared at the god of the Underworld, then looked away. The teenager took a deep breath, then said, his voice shaking, "Do you even know why my mother's down here, Hades?"

"I…ah…actually…no…"

"I thought you were a god," Hercules snorted.

"You _were_ a god," Hades said savagely. "No more words from you, Golden Boy. It's this one I want to deal with. So, what exactly are you here for? Just state your business and we'll fix up an agreement."

"Let go of Tarzan's soul, Hades. That's first on our list," Riku said. "After you let him go, you answer some of our questions."

"Then we leave, quick as you please," the Cat chimed in.

"And what do _I_ get? I'm god of the Underworld here; I can easily keep you right here. Give me one good reason to do all those things and get nothing in return, eh?"

"Well, Persephone said you won't have to see us again," Hercules suggested, looking at his cousin. She smiled, quite flattered.

"I already heard that, Golden Boy!" Hades snapped. "I also will be seeing you again and again. No, that won't do at all!"

"Well, is there anything you want?"

"Well, yes, of course," Hades said slowly, looking at Riku. "Of course I want something. I would love to hire Hercules for, hm, a few months to help my dog guard the Underworld. I've been visited by plenty of unpleasant guests lately."

"Like Orpheus," Persephone added.

"Theseus!"

"Odysseus!"

"Hercules!"

"Shut up!" Hades roared, whirling around on Panic and Pain. "Shoo! Get out of my face!"

He threatened with a gesture and the two little demons scampered off. Riku watched them disappear with a raised eyebrow, then looked at the god; his flaming top was tinged orange.

"Woooh, sorry about that!" Hades chuckled, running his hand through the fire as it changed back to blue. "Those two never shut up when they need to…right, back to business. If Golden Boy here is so kind as to sign this contract which gives me control over him for a few months until those idiots back up there realize they can't just waltz into _my_ Underworld to do as they please, I'll do anything and everything for you, simple as that. What do you say?"

As he spoke his conditions he whipped out a parchment and feathered pen. Words appeared in dark ink on the wrinkled paper as he spoke; the contract was exactly as he spoke it, minus the informal words plus more formal vocabulary. Hades twisted his wrist to look at the paper, nodded, hemmed and hawed, then shoved the contract in Hercules' face.

"Well? Deal or no deal?"

If anything, Riku wanted to leave the Underworld alive; he willed Hercules not to jump the god. Hercules took a step forward; Riku felt himself give way to panic.

_If Hercules cracks and those two start fighting, I'll never get off this fucking world! Damn Hades-_

A sudden surge in his mind shut off his thoughts. A pressure began to build and Riku winced, turned his head away from Hercules and Hades. His head hurt badly; Riku rubbed at his temple to try and make the sudden headache go away. Slowly his hand stopped pressing at his temple; he knew where this was coming from.

_This can't be…I thought I got rid of it; I thought this was over. It can't come back now! No, I can't touch it, I can't hurt myself, or anyone around here, no-_

"Hades, stop it." Persephone's voice broke through his mind and the pressure subsided. Riku took a deep breath and turned back to the showdown to see the goddess shoving the two men aside. "You two, stop it with your arguing. These two have a friend to save and business to attend to, so stop wasting their time. I'm warning you, Hades-"

"I'll do what I want and what I want is him!" Hades snapped, jabbing a finger at Hercules. "If I can't kill you, I might as well-"

"This bickering and arguing is most unbecoming," the Cat interrupted, though he didn't seem bothered by it at all. "A waste of time, I agree, but see, it's traveling swiftly and surely, and we're standing here doing nothing."

"What, exactly, is traveling?" Hades demanded. The Cat smiled at him; it was a most devilish grin and Riku shuddered.

"You've been picking up a lot of souls lately, Hades. Yet, you don't seem to wonder why. Your ways are blinding you to the real dangers lurking outside. Riku needs to be sent on his way to negate those dangers, so give us Tarzan and we'll leave you be. How's that?"

"You might as well explain to me exactly what's dangerous. I'm a god; nothing's dangerous to me."

Riku snorted. "Sora is."

"You stop talking about that stinking brat and his overgrown Key!" Hades roared; the room exploded in colors of fire.

"Don't you start talking about my best friend like that!" Riku snapped back, feeling his own anger rising. "Stop using your 'godness' as an excuse for everything! There is something out there we're trying to fight, and if you answer some questions, you'll help us defeat it!"

"Then tell me, exactly 'what' is out there, Riku?" Hades asked, his voice low and dangerous. "What is out there that is so dangerous I should tremble and quake in fear?"

"A demon older than you are," Persephone declared coldly.

All movement stopped. Riku whirled on the goddess and stared at the smirk playing on her lips. He felt pressure on his lungs and started breathing again, while Hades opened his mouth and closed it several times.

"W-wha-wha-wha-"

"Unlike you I actually consult the Fates on all matters above the Underworld," the goddess explained. "They told me Riku and his allies were coming to ask for help, and that you would refuse. They need your help, Hades, because you were alive long enough to know what the demon is. Care to share, my dear?"

Her voice grew more and more benevolent as she talked; Hades relaxed just enough to chuckle and say, "There are too many demons for me to remember-"

"The oldest evil, Hades!" Persephone snapped and Hades jumped back, startled. "It was there when my grandparents ruled the Universe and it's still there. You know about it, so do tell them what you know about it!"

"You're talking about that thing of white fire, aren't you?" Hades asked. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "We _never_ talk about it, not us gods. Never. Not here, not up in blasted Olympus, not anywhere. That monstrous freak is non-existent-"

"You gods are frightened," Riku declared. This must be the source of Hades' rage. He turned to Persephone, who was noticeably calmer than her husband. "Why?"

"I wasn't born when it was physically around," she said with a sniff. "You'll have to ask him; he, his brothers, his sisters, and my mother were around much longer. They know about it."

"They're all frightened," the Cat input.

"I never heard about this," Hercules said slowly. "Why didn't Father say-"

"I told you, Golden Boy; we don't talk about it, _ever_. It did enough damage and we did enough rebuilding _this_ world. We gave it all we had – we're gods – and we barely scared it off. No, not scared, pushed it off. It wanted our world and we wouldn't let it have it. You know why the giants came at us? It spurred them on. It needed _us_ out of the way. With us gone, it can take this world and the giants would never know what hit them! _We_ are the reasons why Olympus and the Underworld are still here. Without the Underworld, the rest of the Universe would collapse; we had to defend _my_ realm at all costs."

"Why does it want to destroy Olympus? And the Underworld?" Riku wondered. "What would it get out of that?"

"It's been destroying lately," the Cat said. "Other worlds. Not this one. If we dig deeper, we'll find out why it tried this world, sat and did nothing for several thousand years, then reappeared to attack other worlds."

"Well, we did give it one heck of a beating," Hades acknowledged. "I'll be honest with you here; that thing, when we fought it, it wasn't as strong as it could be. All of us could feel it. That was our lucky break; that's how we beat it. At full strength, this Universe would be _gone_. You got that, Golden Boy? You better be nice to me; I saved this damn Universe, not you."

"Oh shut it," Persephone muttered.

"You got anything besides that? Where it came from? How long it's been around? What it's done?" the Cat asked. Riku looked at the Cat, then inward. He had no questions to ask of Hades, simply because he didn't quite get it at all. The demon simply seemed completely removed from him, except that it destroyed Destiny Islands.

"Is it after anyone in particular?" he demanded through tightly clenched teeth. He balled his left hand into a fist as he thought about Sora and Kairi.

"Sorry but I was too busy fighting it to ask these stupid questions," Hades said with a shrug. "And we only met once, mind you. Hey, I've got a bright idea: stop asking me these stupid questions and go find the Fates yourself. They'll tell you anything as long as you tell them they're beautiful."

"The Fates?"

"You'll still let go of their friend's soul, won't you, Hades?" Hercules asked, apparently feeling the conversation drawing slowly to a close.

"You'll still consider that contract? I'll offer you something in return, something other than their friend," Hades countered quickly.

"You two be quiet. Hades, you _will_ let go of their soul. Herc, no more words. Cheshire Cat, I think you should go with Hercules and escort Tarzan's soul back up. Riku, I will take you to the Fates. Come."

Persephone looked around the room at everyone briefly, then strode out of the throne room, taking care to bump Riku with her left shoulder as she breezed past him. Riku stared around at her, startled, then went after her quickly, leaving the others to sort out exactly what she ordered of them.

"Wait!" Riku called out; Persephone was hurrying away somewhere into the heart of the Underworld, away from both the throne room and the River Styx. "Where are you leading me?"

"The Fates have much to tell you, or perhaps the little they tell carries heavy weight," the goddess said with a secretive smile. She skirted a candle-holding Heartless while Riku recoiled reflexively. She actually giggled as he caught up to her, tripping over his own feet in his haste to avoid the Heartless before he does something horrific to it. "I told you not to worry, Riku! The Heartless won't attack as long as we rule. Remember, the Heartless follows the ones with the strongest hearts and the strongest wills. And the two aren't necessarily connected. You don't need a heart to have a will."

"Right," Riku muttered.

Now the humor of the seconds-old moment sank into the gloom of the Underworld and they walked in silence along a little-used rocky path weaving deep into the canyons inside the world. It was a barren landscape, devoid of even the green tinge of souls. A stale air made Riku blanch but that didn't chase it away; he forced himself to accept the atmosphere but he was starting to feel nauseous.

"Ah, we're almost there," Persephone suddenly exclaimed. She looked up at Riku and twirled a lock of her dark hair around her gem-laden finger; her bracelets jangled and the metallic noise echoed all around them. "There is something you might want to see."

"Will it help me?" Riku asked quickly, feeling heat creep up his face. Goddess or no, Persephone was a very beautiful woman. Too beautiful.

"That depends on what kind of help you seek," she returned and suddenly turned off the path. He stopped and watched as she maneuvered her way down the side of a particularly steep canyon; he marveled at how carefully she avoided the various boulders jutting out of the side. Shaking his head, he ran down after her and nearly fell.

The ground leveled out underneath his boots and he started hearing something remarkably like water. Drawn to the natural sound – he was born next to the water and grew up with it – he headed straight for it, not knowing if Persephone was also headed that way or not.

She stood next to a fast-flowing river; the light was dark but illuminated enough for him to see how strange this secluded place was. For one thing, there was _grass_ growing next to the river. A handful of scraggly trees stood here and there; their leaves gleamed unnaturally, like gemstones. Riku felt drawn to them and took several steps closer to one particularly ugly tree; the leaves seemed sprinkled with tiny emerald gems, and it bore fruit in the form of rubies. Real red gems.

"You're kidding me," Riku demanded, looking at Persephone.

His jaw slowly dropped open, his eyes wide and staring helplessly as Persephone shrugged at her clothes and let the shimmering thin robes slide off her shoulders. The robes settled at her elbows but the folds of sparkling fabric did nothing to distract him from her very blatant nakedness. She was supernaturally beautiful, with the gemstone flowers tangled in her hair and her long necklaces that gathered between her breasts. Her eyes glimmered in the dim white light as she stepped forward. Riku swallowed and stepped back, but his back immediately pressed up against the tree.

"Do I look like I'm kidding you?" she asked, her voice whisper-soft as she stood in front of him. She touched his face and he twitched – visibly, he hoped.

"What do you want from me?" His voice was shaking madly.

"That depends," was her reply as she ran a finger from her forehead down the side of his face to his jaw. "I admit that you're a very handsome young man, and although I am married, I am not bound to mortal marriage laws. None of us are."

"So you gods cheat on each other?" Riku demanded, pressing his back hard up against the tree trunk as she stepped even closer. Her other hand was on his chest as she leaned against him.

"Cheating, incest, cruel methods of unveiling infidelity, we are cruel gods, Riku. I can force you, you know that," she said. She brought her face close to his and whispered into his ear, "You should never take a god's kindness for granted. We can love you one day, and hate you the next. Very rarely is help given freely; most of us want something in return, including me."

"That's great. You could've told me that before you started helping me deal with Hades," Riku snapped, a bit angry about his very bad situation.

Persephone was silent for a moment but she did not move away from him. She looked rather thoughtful. Riku watched her, apprehensive but at the same time very aware of the feeling of attraction to her. Instantly his mind wrestled down that sensation and shoved back into darkness.

"I can show you your true form, if you give me what I want," she finally declared. Her sharp eyes sought his and she held that gaze steadily. "You must wonder how you look now, ever since you trapped yourself in this wretched body by opening yourself to darkness."

"I do wonder," Riku admitted, "but that doesn't mean I'll…"

She smiled as he finally confronted the problem at hand. "You're still such an immature child. Older than your friends, yet much younger than the world. I can show you, Riku. I can take you beyond, and teach you about the world we all live in. Innocence is long dead; you simply have some catching up to do."

"You're trying to seduce me, aren't you?" Riku asked, scowling. He understood where Persephone was going, but didn't even like how she approached him.

"I can force the seduction on you. I can make you compliant to my every advance. I'm a goddess and here I am queen."

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

She smiled, but there was nothing positive about it. "Do you really think I'm happy down here? Just think for a minute-no, think for a second. This god is my husband only because I was promised to him. There is no love lost between us; you know that. We also aren't perfect bedmates; we're less than average and both of us know it. He's also very unpleasant to look at. I simply tolerate him. Every time a mortal comes down here, I look at him and I wonder about him, why his lover was so lucky and I wasn't. Looking at you…you're different, you're not a part of this world…and I would love to show you the divine, the surreal, what mortals like you will never experience as long as you sleep with mortals. You are not bound to this world and therefore…I'd love you to stay with me, this one time…"

He felt her lips, soft but chillingly cold, press against his cheek. Riku shuddered, mostly disgusted by this. "I-I can't. No, I won't. I'm sorry, Persephone, but I won't sleep with you."

He made to push her off but she did that for him. She stepped back quickly and stared at him. Her eyes were dark; he hoped he didn't turn her against him. She did warn him about the fickle nature of the gods.

"No…of course not," she finally said, but he wasn't convinced of her acknowledgement of her rejection. She sighed, then pulled the robes back up her shoulders. "Still, you desire to see your true face?"

Was she trying to sneak in some tradeoff with this tempting offer? Riku watched her carefully as he said, "I want to see my face but-"

"I won't deny my attraction to you nor what I tried to do, but this is offered freely. You'll need it, for dark times are coming, and you need to remember yourself, if only to keep trying."

"Dark times? You can see the future?"

"I am far more friendly with the Fates than Hades is. Of course I'd know of the future. Come here, Riku, to this pool."

There was a place the river could not reach, a clear still pool fed gently by it. Persephone walked to the edge of the pool and peered in. Riku followed her slowly, unsure of what she was intending to do.

"This is no ordinary river. It feeds into the River Styx but untainted, you can see yourself as you truly are. When I look here, I see a half-wilted flower inside my outline. That is who I truly am, torn between the endless spring above and the endless winter below. What will you see, Riku?"

He didn't quite believe her – she could be hallucinating and not know it – but decided to take the risk anyways and went to the edge. He looked at Persephone quickly, then looked down at the pool of water.

For the briefest of seconds, he saw Ansem's face; there was a disturbance in the water, perhaps from the river that fed it, and suddenly he saw a much younger face, with shoulder-length silver hair and blue-green eyes. Riku stared at the reflection, then his vision blurred, his eyes watering, as he quite suddenly realized that it was _him_.

_Oh god, it's…it's _me

He knelt down at the edge of the pool and stared at his reflection. The memories were faint, lost in the ages he spent in darkness and Ansem's face, but they were there.

"If you are willing," Persephone said softly, standing next to him, "you can find your true face again. Are you willing?"

Did he have to answer? Riku nodded slowly, felt a hot tear slide down his face. This was him, this was his face, this was what he looked like under this mask of darkness.

"However," she murmured, her voice drawing near, "if you do not tread carefully, the darkness will leave its taint on you, forever."

Still stunned by his reflection, Riku barely registered the hand pressed against the small of his back, and didn't have time to resist as Persephone shoved him face-first into the pool.

**xxx**

The Fates had put off their spinning, weaving, and snipping for the day. It was their first real break in weeks, when the drive to start snipping every available string lessened and they could take a step back and observe their work. Well, it depended on who had the eye.

"Too much," one remarked. She had a tooth in her mouth.

"Yes, much too much," another agreed; she snatched the eyeball from the last.

"The damage is irreversible," the eyeless Fate said. "But we must do as we will."

"We can't spin as fast as we snip," the toothed one complained as the eyeless Fate snatched her tooth out of her mouth. "What are we to do?"

"Let's figure that later. The Queen of the Underworld's done her job; let's greet him. Maybe he's handsome!"

"He could be-"

"He'll be wearing another person's face."

"I bet that person's handsome-"

"I saw the face. What an ugly man!"

"YOU saw the face. I didn't; you wouldn't give me the eye while we were watching him!"

"Tough luck-"

Riku stared at the three dumpy shapes as they started squabbling over a white round object. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and staggered against the crystal wall; his head still spun from the dizzy drop into nowhere.

_How stupid am I? I should've been careful around that witch of a goddess!_

He rubbed his shoulder and slowly approached the women standing around what looked like a pit in the center of the mostly circular room; it radiated a sickly green light that cast long shadows on the walls and made the crystals embedded in the gray slate glitter. He watched with some amusement at the white round object bouncing in the air between their gray wrinkled hands; it finally eluded all six hands and thirty fingers, hit the ground, and rolled towards Riku.

"What the fuck?!" The profanity slipped his mouth as he stared at the red-veined eyeball. It stared up at him in turn, emotionless and stony in its gaze.

"Ah, he's here!"

"Gimme the eye!"

"I don't have the eye!"

"You, gimme the eye!"

"Get off, I don't have the eye!"

"You're lying! Gimme the eye!"

"No, I don't have it, she has it!"

"I don't have it! She-"

He picked up the eyeball and grimaced at its slippery, slightly sticky texture. He stared at it from several different angles, then watched the three old women shoving hands in each others' faces. He caught a glimpse of a small shiny white object flying in the air, then the three women took up a screech over a tooth.

_You've got to be kidding me._

He headed over to the tooth and picked it up as well. It was dripping spit; he wiped it against his coat.

"I believe you're missing something," he said slowly, looking up at the three hags. All three stiffened with his first word and turned their heads to him as he kept talking.

"You have the eye. Gimme the eye; let me see your face!"

"No, let me have the eye!"

"The tooth! I want to smile!"

"No, you already had the tooth, it's my turn!"

"No, I never had the tooth!"

"I want the eye! Young man, gimme the eye!"

"No, I want the eye!"

"No, he doesn't have the eye; he'd have given it already! One of you two has it!"

"Gimme the eye, then, you're hiding it!"

"I'm not hiding it! And I bet you have the tooth! You want both!"

"I'm not lying! I don't have them!"

"You have them! Give them back!"

"I don't have both! I never got either one for-"

"Oh my god, will you three just shut UP!"

The Fates froze, hands all over each other's faces; their heads turned slowly on their necks in his direction. Riku cleared his throat nervously; he suddenly found that staring at empty eye sockets and toothless mouths was not a very pleasant thing to do. He looked down at the squishy eyeball and single tooth in his hands and grimaced until he felt the wrinkles become almost permanent on his face.

"Of course, he _does_ have the eye."

"And the tooth."

"That's because you lost it."

"I didn't lose it! You lost it; you fumbled with the eye! Now that poor child has to look at it-"

"You're the one who-"

"Look, I'm not standing here all day listening to you three old grandmas haggle over these…things. If you don't tell me what you want with me, I'm walking out. With these two precious objects of yours."

He waved the eyeball and the tooth at them, but doubted they could see. He did have the eyeball after all.

"He does have a point."

"I told you this one's smart!"

"You never said anything about being smart!"

"He is smart! And clever."

"No, he's just lucky because you lost hold of the eyeball!"

"And the tooth!"

"She's the one who lost the tooth!"

"Ooh, I did no such-"

Riku groaned aloud, and turned to leave, with eyeball and tooth in hand. He'd half a mind to chuck them both into the River Styx on his way back above to sunlight, fresh air, and a lack of insane immortal women.

"Get back here, young man! We're not through with you yet!"

He sensed them before the whips wrapped around his ankles and yanked backwards, but the suddenness of the attack by the blind toothless crazy hags shocked him anyways. He landed on his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs, and was left stunned. Shuffling feet neared him, and he slowly, carefully turned his head to the side to see sandaled feet approaching his head. Bile rose in his throat; the feet were gray, the skin motley, the toenails yellow and chipping.

"Give us the eye and the tooth, young man, and we'll let you go."

They spoke in unison, in a voice so powerful, sonorous, that it echoed all around the domed room. Riku knew now there was no room for error, and he dropped the eyeball and tooth into an outstretched, wrinkled gray hand.

"Good. Now get up; we have no time to waste."

_Ha, that's a funny thing to say, you ugly hag_-

"Manners, young man! Don't think you can get away with even _that_!"

_What the fuck? They read minds?_

"Don't even bother; we are the Fates, older than the oldest, all-powerful and all-knowing. Not even the gods of this world mess with us, young man."

"My name is Riku," he retorted stiffly.

"Names are names," the tall skinny hag snapped back. "But we know _who_ you are, so there is no identity lost. Now get up; the Queen of the Underworld did not send you here for no mean reason."

"You told her to bring me down here?"

"Naturally; Hades and we are no friends. And we need to show you something before you leave."

"Like what?" Riku slowly rose to his feet and winced as the muscles in his chest tightened. He rubbed at the pain as he waited for the lightheaded feeling to subside.

"It is something we will explain as we reach it."

_A place. They're taking me somewhere_-

"It is a secret place," the dumpy Fate remarked; she smiled, the one white tooth gleaming in the green light. "Only the oldest of the gods know, and Zeus has them locked in the deepest darkest pits of the Underworld. After a little fiasco years ago, only Zeus can open the prisons."

"This is a place of true power, a source of the most ancient magic. It is as old as this Universe, and knows everything, including the enemy you pursue."

"That demon creature," Riku said, suddenly realizing what the Fates were doing.

"Yes. You are one of the chosen to destroy it; no doubt, the ancient magic will willingly show you what it will of the primordial evil," the average-sized Fate said.

"What it will?" Riku echoed.

"It'll decide what to hide and what to show and tell," the tall Fate explained as she gestured in a direction. The ground suddenly shook and crystals fell from above as a raw passage opened like a crack on the ground. A cold stale wind hissed as Riku felt something brush against his face; chilly nothings whispered in his ear, promising of the dark deep unknown lying beyond the maw into the center of the Underworld.

"Within you will find the screen behind the mirror, and it will give you what you need to continue your search."

"Will it tell me how to destroy the demon creature?" Riku demanded of the Fates.

"No."

"That's-"

"It must play a subtle game, a careful dance, with the demon creature, because this demon creature is an enemy like nothing you've ever faced before. If it gives too much, the demon creature will take no chances and crush the Universe before you can stop it. Play the dance, Riku, and dance the demon creature to death."

**XXX**

He was gone. It was incredible. He was _gone_.

"Now where would he have gone? Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, but he can't just _poof_ into nowhere! That denies the laws of physics, and if I can't do that, nobody can."

He had gone and searched all the streets, as far as the encoding can take him. The beach was blocked off by an invisible wall, as were most usual means of actually leaving Twilight Town. But he wasn't looking to leave Twilight Town, not until he's rescued his friend.

And his friend was gone. Poof! Zip! Nada!

"They've taken him!" he hissed, realization dawning on him. "They finally did it! Well, they're not going to get away with that without Axel having his say!"

With that, the branded Organization member stormed off, ignoring the curious looks of the people in the streets. He didn't quite care; they weren't even real.

He was planning on a secret road trip around the Universe, and nobody was going to stop him, not even the Nobodies.

Oh how he loved the play on words.

**X X X**

**Authoress' Endnote:** I bet you didn't expect that.

Please review. All thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Flamers flame at your own risk. You have been warned.

Arigatou gozaimas'!


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Kingdom Hearts, Adventure, Romance