Sometimes Xehenort looked a little confused when the other apprentices called out his name. And sometimes, Braig had to firmly remind him that his name was Xehenort, it had always been Xehenort, and there was no reason to think it should be otherwise.
Riku always remembered how the tall man had promised he would see the outside world someday. Heclung to that promise, a lifeline in the endless sea of tedious smallness that was Destiny Islands.
Ienzo wondered who the strange boy who saved him was. He asked Ansem, but he had just shrugged and told him, with only a faint trace of bitterness, that he didn't know, but perhaps Ienzo would like to ask his apparently all-knowing new apprentice, Xehenort. Ienzo wisely stayed silent.
Sora stared at the strange weapon that had appeared in his hand. Why did it seem so . . . familiar? He dismissed the odd thought in an instant as he ran to find Kairi.
Kairi had been scared when she first entered Sora's heart, but another voice, not Sora's, had comforted her, and promised she was safe here. It seemed sad and tired, but also hopeful. Kairi relaxed. Somehow, she trusted the voice. So she let the light of Sora's heart engulf her, and lull her into a sleep more peaceful than she had known since her world was destroyed those many, many years ago.
Sora gave a strained smile to Donald and Goofy, who were just catching on to his plan. He had only seconds before they stopped him. But he would always, always, do whatever it would take to save his friends. A secret part of him rang out in wistful, longing agreement. He took a deep breath, and buried the dark keyblade into his heart. As his body began to dissolve, Sora closed his eyes, quite possibly for the last time, brushing away the thought that maybe, just maybe, this had happened before.
Xigbar shot up from his comfortable slouch on his chair when Axel brought in Number XIII. He relaxed after a moment, noting the blue (definitely, assuredly, clearly NOT yellow) eyes of the boy. The second most terrifying moment of his life - the first was being turned into a Nobody by an amnesiac Xehenort - had been watching the blond-haired, yellow-eyed boy wielding a massive keyblade that could rip open reality, laughing maniacally. Still, he wondered, what was Ventus, of all people, doing here?
Ienzo had watched silently as Ansem caught up his new apprentice, Xehenort, in what Ansem and his other apprentices had been learning over the past months. "It seems rather complicated," Xehenort said dubiously, but a flutter of excitement had started to grow in him. "If hearts are truly that resilient to so many things, has anyone tested the limits a heart can be pushed to? One can imagine hearts being fractured, broken, separated, and even combined, given the proper circumstances."
All the other apprentices had turned to stare at Xehenort as Ansem lectured him on what he would and would not allow for experimentation. Observation, yes. Carefully controlled studies, yes. Splitting hearts in half, absolutely not.
A few of the apprentices had noticed the rebellious glint in Xehenort's eyes, but only Ienzo, his small body half-hidden in the shadows, noticed how Braig jumped half a foot, then stared at Xehenort with mixed terror, wonder, and smug satisfaction.
Kairi handed Sora a small star made of seashells. "It's my lucky charm," she told him, firmly putting it in his hands. "Be sure to bring it back to me!" Sora knew that he would do everything in his power to keep this green - no, pink - star charm safe, and he turned his face so Kairi wouldn't see the silent, unprompted tear rolling down his face. He took a deep breath, and set off to find Riku.
Saix had been wondering about Number XIII for a few days before he finally placed where he had seen that face before, as he walked to a meeting with the Superior about final assignments for Castle Oblivion. He - well, Isa - had asked Lea, in some irritation, what he saw in that boy that made him stop on their way to what might be the most important event of their lives thus far. Lea had shrugged. "I want everyone I see to remember me. That way, I'll never be forgotten. Anyways -" his voice turned slightly wistful - "his hair was so golden, I could almost see the tips of fire in it." Isa had rolled his eyes, secretly amused by his friend's obsession with fire.
Sora felt terrible as he pushed the Door to Darkness shut, Riku straining to pull it shut from the other side. He had once promised the blue-haired women he wouldn't let Riku wander down a dark path alone, and the Realm of Darkness was about as dark and alone as you could get.
Axel knew he had seen Roxas somewhere before. He asked Saix if he had seen the boy before, but Saix just gave him an even stare. "Didn't get it memorized, did you?" Axel sighed and was about to leave, when Saix spoke again. "I have your new assignment ready. You're to go to Castle Oblivion with the others, but the Superior has given you an additional . . . task."
Riku had wandered for a day or so - maybe longer, maybe shorter - in the Realm of Darkness before the peaceful grayness had consumed him, and he woke up in the blinding white of Castle Oblivion. He could have sworn he saw a flicker of blue by a dark, vast ocean he had wandered across, but later dismissed it as a figment of his imagination in a very long and very strange day.
Zexion read the old reports he had dug up on the computer in Castle Oblivion, records that seemed to predate the castle itself. They referred to some place called "The Land of Departure," and Zexion, for the most part, couldn't make heads or tails of them. A few records, however, mentioned someone called "Master Xehenort." He raced through the sparse mentions of him, fascinated. Could this possibly be about Xehenort before he turned up, lost and amnesic, in Ansem's gardens? He bit back sudden laugher - Master Xehenort had an apprentice? Xehenort couldn't have been more than twenty when they found him. What an interesting master he must have been.
Xion shot awake. She had had another stolen dream, and this one was scary. She knew now that the dreams were from Sora's memories, but this dream had been different. She had been fighting a boy with an enormous key, and the boy had looked disturbingly like an evil version of the boy she was coming to know as Sora. Her breath eventually slowed down. Just a dream, she reminded herself. Just a dream.
Zexion printed up several copies of the documents about this "Master Xehenort." He'd have to bring them back to headquarters as soon as the wretched business in Castle Oblivion was done. Not only were they searching for a room that didn't seem to exist, but now they had their hands more than full with the new keyblade wielders that had shown up in the castle. He allowed himself a brief moment of what would have been irritation if he had a heart, before packaging up the papers. He could not wait to leave this castle of bright illusions. His illusions were made of shadow and twilight; the shimmering white of Castle Oblivion put him on edge.
DiZ and Riku had a strictly working relationship; they did not help each other out of kindness, but out of a mutual need for Sora to awaken. Some of the distance, DiZ had to admit, had been caused by him. The last time he had seen a keyblade, King Mickey aside, had been when an amnesic Xehenort had shown up, and everything started to go wrong. A keyblade-wielding boy steeped in darkness struck a little too close for comfort. Or friendship.
The townsfolk still spoke in whispers about the man who had disappeared from the islands so many years ago. Kairi remembered Riku talking about him, and . . . and . . . she thought someone else had been with Riku and her, but she couldn't quite remember. She dismissed her vague unease, and wondered if Riku had ever met that man on one of the other worlds. What had been his name, again? Something strange, she remembered that much. Xe-something.
Namine had been wondering why Castle Oblivion existed for a while now. She absently put down her yellow crayon, and set it next to the blue and brown ones, brushing the crayon shavings off the drawing. She down at the picture, and gasped. She had meant to draw Sora, sleeping peacefully, but the picture showed three people she'd never seen before. One person was a blue girl, crying softly. Another person was a brown boy, fighting some unknown opponent. He seemed very tired. The last was another boy, younger than he first two, asleep in a room that looked rather a lot like part of Castle Oblivion. He was smiling, but he seemed to be sad. Namine puzzled over the picture for awhile, finally putting the strange image next to a picture of Sora. Something peaceful settled over her. These three, whoever they were, would be safe with Sora.
Xemnas sighed. Nobody had been able to find the Chamber of Waking yet, although it had already been over a month. In fact, to his irritation, no one except Axel had even returned. He didn't know why it mattered so much, but it did - it was an ache that was almost physical pain. Number XIII ran past, probably looking for Axel, and Xemnas absently wondered why he sometimes felt the same ache when he looked at Roxas.
Kairi thoughtfully fingered her necklace as she watched her message to the boy she couldn't remember slowly bob out to sea. Someone had once told her that the necklace had been made magic, and when she was in trouble, it would lead her to someone that would keep her safe. She had the feeling this had already happened - it probably had to do with the boy she couldn't remember - but maybe there might be enough leftover magic to guide the boy she couldn't remember back to her.
Axel had actually asked Xigbar if it was possible that Roxas had a heart. Xigbar had looked startled, but quickly brushed it away with a look of disdain. "Of course not," he snapped. "He's a Nobody. He's the definition of 'doesn't have a heart,' idiot. And don't you have better things to do with your time? Like that mission you were assigned two days ago? The Superior isn't going to be happy if you don't find Xion soon." Axel rolled his eyes and went to the clock tower. Nobody was there. He smiled suddenly at his unintended joke, but it faded quickly. Those two . . . really had made him feel as if he had a heart; Roxas especially, no matter what Xigbar said.
Riku remembered. It had been more than ten years, but he still remembered. Strength to protect what matters, he had said. He glanced down at his too-large hands, brushing away too-long hair, and wondered bitterly how he had come to this, a child in a too-large body, with strength that scared even him. He wondered what the man would think of him now. DiZ called; he snapped himself out of his thoughts, and ran, with too-large steps, to answer.
Roxas stared at his second keyblade. He had never heard of someone having two before. That would imply having two hearts. He bit back a bitter laugh. How ironic that only a Nobody would ever wield two keyblades.
Mickey's heart hurt the first time he saw Sora casually fold his hands behind his head, remembering a golden-haired boy from so long ago who used to do the same thing. He watched as Sora summoned his keyblade to dispatch a stray heartless, wondering why he was a little surprised and rather disappointed when Sora didn't hold his keyblade backhand.
Xemnas allowed nothing to show on his face in the daytime. It was only at nights, when he caught tattered snatches of what may or may not have been his memories, that he allowed his mask of icy indifference to slip. And only in the darkness before dawn did he allow himself to wonder why in the world he was hurting so many people, when he should be trying to save them. An unfamiliar name was on the tip of his tongue, one that brought a strange stab of pain and regret. He looked around, but everyone else (Nobody else?) was asleep. He allowed the name to slip out into the silence of night.
And Xigbar, listening from the shadows, caught his breath as his non-heart beat faster, and his mind froze. Xemnas was remembering. And his heart was awakening.
The similarities were there, Yen Sid had to admit. When Mickey had told him that Sora seemed a lot like Ventus, he had regretfully waved it away as a wild hope, nothing more. But now Yen Sid wondered; where would a broken, comatose heart take refuge, if not in the brightest heart he had seen in many, many years?
"Ooh," drawled Xigbar in mock terror. "Still got that angry look down?"
"Shut up," Sora snapped.
Riku had paused when he saw Xemnas. Of course, he had watched the Organization for months, but he had never actually seen the elusive leader. But his face reminded Riku of something. Someone. Who . . . . ? He gritted his teeth. No matter what Xenmas looked like, it was time for him to pay for everything he had done.
It wasn't until weeks later that Riku realized that Xemnas, in some indescribable sense, had looked like the man who had given him his keyblade.
Roxas thought. There wasn't much else to do, drifting in the forgotten corners of Sora's heart. So he thought some more. Right now, he was wondering how he knew how to use the keyblades; he supposed he could have somehow remembered from Sora, but he fought in a very different style than Sora. Perhaps he knew how to fight from something else. Then he laughed ruefully; he only existed because of Sora. How could he be remembering anything else?
When Sora was told he would be taking the Mark of Mastery, he put on a smile, but inwardly shuddered. For some reason he couldn't explain, he was afraid that this would make things go terribly wrong. So when Riku was made a Master and he wasn't, he was determined to be so happy for Riku that no one one would notice how scared he was that this was happening again.
. . . wait, what?
The girl wandered the dark paths alone. Once, she had met a man without his memories, and once, she saw a boy with silver hair wandering around. Once, she liked to pretend she saw Mickey, but it was far away, and probably her imagination, anyways. But she wasn't truly alone. She clutched her Wayfinder tightly, and remembered. She could almost hear their voices. She never lost faith; she came close, but it always stayed with her. Her friends would come and save her. She would see them again someday.
Sora could barely stop smiling as the dream eaters gathered around him. And he couldn't help but feel that somewhere, far away, someone else was smiling in return. And they were ready to wake up.
Riku had promised the strange man with the key that he would keep their meeting secret, and it wasn't until many years later that he finally told someone. One confession and a few questions later, he walked outside Mickey's castle, lost in thought. "Don't worry," he promised, hoping that somehow, somehow, the man might hear him. "I'll come and find you." He took a deep breath. "Terra."