This is actually written for a forum. .com/Darknessoftheunknown
Hence why there's a part about a strange-acting Heartless. Mostly it's DiZ's backstory. I may edit this later with a more detailed history. Anyways, enjoy~
In his years, he had learned many things. He had made many mistakes, he had ruined many lives. Destroyed so much, and watched it all happen from behind a computer screen. He was the cause, he was the calamity behind the destruction of the worlds. He was the reason behind everything that had gone wrong. But maybe, just maybe, he and everyone else, could be saved.
The hands of one boy and his friends, the way he was fixing everything that was broken that he passed by. He was a man constructed from clean, pure light. Diamonds made up his soul, crystals guarded his clear blue eyes. He was the epitome of hope and justice. He stands up for everything his believes in without a second thought, would do anything and everything for someone if they had become close to his heart.
He was strength, light, a master of the key blade and a soul like no other. Inside that boy, aided by a young witch, was more data. More research. Just more reminders of his mistakes, but he wouldn't brood on them - that was a fools life. He had to move forwards. What he did remember had to be held onto, and just as before, the memories would slide back into place.
The dark beach had been his home for nearly a year now, perhaps more. And in that time, he had slowly remembered that boy, even though he had forgotten his name, where he had come from. Even when that young woman came up to him, asking him questions with a soft note of concern. She sat down, she spoke. Her voice carried the sadness of many years of living like this, and he saw that boy in her.
This wasn't the end yet, there was still that boy, his name just a whisper dangling from the back of his throat. As he spoke, his scraps of memories were slowly coming back, slowly sliding back into his mind. He remembered more in that moment than he had just sitting there. But he knew he wasn't ready to leave, not yet. He needed more time, more months down here.
Yet even through everything he had done, he had been able to give that girl hope. Even though she was lost down here, his words, though rusted and washed out, were still able to do something. Even if he only spoke of another, he was still able to offer that light.
She disappeared, how he did not know, but perhaps he would see her again, but he could not, did not follow. He returned to the Realm of Darkness, his tired old legs carrying him across the ground, finding pieces of his memory laying about, just waiting for him to find them once more.
As he walked, he came to remember how he had escaped the last time, these corridors of darkness. That name he had given himself back then. Darkness in Zero. Darkness in the midst of nothingness. It was his choice, and his choice alone, to stay here and not leave, knowing that there was something more, something greater hiding here. He knew there was a deeper meaning here that he needed to discover.
There was a power here, he felt it. Something deeper, thicker. As he walked, he came across pools of dark. Thickness, blackness. Kneeling to examine it, the shimmering surface seemed to fluctuate, it moved, tried to reach him. The man simply took a sample of it, this darkness in its purest form. A thick liquid, a pure essence of darkness, the surface glinted light and he took a small amount - he needed to bring this back.
Knowing that he had allowed himself to accept the darkness back then, that he had survived this once, that he continued to think, wander, keep himself sane, he was able to stay strong.
As he wandered, the months passed, he remembered his final moments. Mickey standing beside him, the machine was working slowly. His research had led him to this, his years of studying the inner workings of the heart, were all wasted years. He remembered that he had been the cause of chaos, the reason Nobodies had been born. For that reason, he had hated them.
He wandered continuously. Circling the same paths to get to know the lay of the land. Trying to sort out some of his theories.
As he continued to venture, he found himself coming close to a place where this power seemed strongest. He found stone pillars. Many of them broken, cracked down. The rest were in the process of decay, the stone fracturing. These physical stones carried something, placing one gloved palm against the cracking stone, he felt power. Pure energy.
Blinking, stepping backwards as the stone finally gave way. As the dust fell, he peered through. For a split second, he saw a heart floating there before it turned into a Heartless. He couldn't be certain if the heart had ever even been there, but he watched the Heartless sit there, peering up at him with big eyes. The Shadow just sat there as he moved towards it, inspecting it. Most Heartless, the second they were created, went after the nearest heart.
He had never lost his heart through his life, he knew that much. Though the boy he was travelling with had back then, even though he had a heart now. He had managed to avoid it, he had kept himself safe. But this heartless was different. He moved to touch it and the creature simply sat there, when he picked it up, the thing only sat against his leather coat with its glowing eyes.
Very strange. He set the creature back down and it stayed put, looking up at him. Taking a few steps backwards, the creature followed. Hm. This was interesting, this was worth noting. Perhaps - this was worth leaving the Realm of Darkness for. A creature that acted like no other. Yes, perhaps now was the time. A small smile touched his worn lips for the first time in a long time, the man bent to grip the scruff of the heartless. The creature did not protest, it seemed passive.
Almost as though it was waiting for something. Curious.
Some never really knew how expansive the realm of darkness was, the darkness held duplicates of each world. It was as vast as the worlds that most people knew of. Perhaps one day when his body began to give out, he would return here and attempt to map the Realm of Darkness. But for today, he was leaving. By choice, finally, he rose back into the Realm of Light, standing in the World That Never Was, the heartless still within his grasp, only beginning to struggle now that it was no longer in such a place.
How strange that this creature was only beginning its struggle once it was within a place where darkness and light could clash, rather than where one ravaged the other. He let go of the creature, and it wandered off. The man watched it for a moment before following, walking along at a short distance to follow it as it made its way to the Castle That Never Was.
The Shadow knew where it was going, it led the long way to the rooms that the Nobodies once stayed in. Down to one room in particular, where the creature examined the dusty shelves. Eventually, it pulled a Popsicle stick out from a hiding spot, clutching it in its mouth and peering up at him. Bending, he pulled the little wooden stick away from the creature and examined it. A useless object, an old stick with the word "Winner" stamped on it.
That didn't stop him from pocketing the object after removing the Organization's jacket. Hanging it and standing in the red clothing he had worn before, the red around his neck and his long hair no longer hidden from view. The heartless was following him now, if he was carrying the object, the heartless would follow him. It was apparent that it was looking for something. What? He could not be sure.
There were many things he could have done. He found his way into Traverse Town, a world for the man trapped between. He situated himself in this world, in a place where he could return to after a long day of research. So far, he was just trying to find out what had happened, trying to remember everything he used to. And in his dreams, he remembered.
It took a long time, but he remembered everything. He remembered Sora, he remembered his apprentices, he remembered his mistakes, his regrets, the Nobodies. He remembered his childhood, considering hearts, the complexity of emotions and the human body. Though the body had been explained, the heart had not. It had been his goal from way back then that he find out, that he share that information. All he knew now was that he was a long way away from figuring out these truths. But he remembered little Ienzo, his true name, Riku, Namine, the lives he had betrayed. He remembered it all through the same thing he hard learned last time.
His right eye was the source of his magic. Tying off the other eye, he was able to speed up the process of recovering. Last time, it had taken much longer to remember everything. Perhaps because this is the second time his memories were scattered, he knew the places they were hiding.
"Come at me, Ansem!" Yen Sid called, magic swirling from the tip of his wand. A boy stood a few feet away, breathing heavily. Clutching a long staff in his beat up hands, pale blue eyes narrowed. "Let me see what you've learned" The charmed brooms and other objects outside were watching in anticipation. They had been his fighting partners for the long hours each day. Training into the late evenings and waking at the crack of dawn to start again. He was hungry, uncomfortable, and more than ready to take the bandage off his left eye.
Though his eyes were normally a soft pale blue, his vision was still foggy, the injury hadn't fully healed yet. The white of his eye was still blood red, his vision still blurred and grew sharper whenever he blinked. But in order to not lose his vision, he knew this is what he had to do. As he ran towards the wizard, arms ready to attack, trying to call on the fuzzy magic that was difficult to control, even harder to master.
Unsurprisingly, he was tossed back, skidding on one knee with a pained grunt. The days were long, the training was difficult, it was hard to keep himself standing straight when he could hardly see! It was frustrating, he just wished that he could see clearly, then he wouldn't feel so clumsy and awkward. "If you see with just your eyes my boy, you will never see where your next hit will be" Somehow, the wizard managed to send him falling forwards, landing on his hands and knees before the wizard, the staff tossed off to the side.
The man smiled, offering a hand. "Ansem, Ansem" He said fondly. "You will never learn these things from books and studies. This is hands-on." He pulled the child up, leading him inside. "You have the rest of the night off. Always remember that your eyes can deceive you, nothing is ever for certain." Ansem held the staff, watching the wizard leave and sighing, looking at his scraped and half-heartedly bandaged hands. After nearly losing his right eye, Yen Sid, whom he was training under, had worked on his eye to fix the injury. Impressing the most powerful of magic into the light blue eye. If he didn't want to lose his vision, he needed to train, he needed to work very very hard. He needed to master the magic inside his eye, once he did that, his eyes would change from the pale blue they were now to amber. When they turned completely, it was the sign that he had mastered it completely.
His eyes carried only the vaguest yellow tinge, only visible if one looked very very hard. He sat in his room, the training was long and difficult, but the wealth of information among these old shelves more than made up for it. He set the long staff (he would grow into it, he was still small, still growing) down against the wall in the library, using a bit of power harnessed in the bracelet around his wrist to pull down a number of books. The bracelet helped him channel the magic he had himself. The staff was there to channel and control the magic that was waiting in his eye.
The worst part was reading with blurred vision.
xxx
His eyes were beginning to yellow, he was older now, standing with the bandage over his still good eye. He had not seen out of it in a long, long time now. His staff was held between long fingers, staring at Yen Sid before him, licking his lips and smiling. He was ready. He was going to prove it. He was going to master the magic, though he could not master the Keyblade, as he did not posses that power (he wanted to meet someone who could carry one, he had to explore the mystery behind these keys), but he could become a master in his own senses.
Ready or not, Ansem moved forwards. Rather than trying to see where the other was, where he was going to strike, he felt it. A blast of fire was coming towards him, he cut through it with his staff and brought the heavy thing down to whack Yen Sid. Going easy, of course. They fought, sending magic, spells, hits, dodges. Ansem moved quickly, his vision was completely clear now, he could feel the reckless energy of the magic coursing through his blood. He just needed to channel it, focus it, control it.
And he did. He felt the magic bend to his will, he held the staff hard and used that to channel it, he focused, letting his eyes fall closed and taking hold of that power, finally, and letting it completely dissolve into strength that sunk deep into his blood and bones.
When Ansem opened his eye, it was a cold hard amber, he sent blasts forwards, knocking Yen Sid into a tree. The wizard brought a hand to his aching head tenderly, peering at the boy as he walked towards him. The years had given him the power, and one foggy day, he had done it. Offering the wizard a hand to help him up. "You did very well, Ansem." He said approvingly. He had put the boy through so much, the hard training, the lessons, the tests, everything had paid off. "You may remove the bandage" He said, and Ansem nodded. Bowing his head respectfully to allow his master to take it off, finally.
Blinking his eyes open, for the first time in years, both of them were ready to see again. His vision skewed as his other eye adjusted to the dim light outside. His vision cleared, he had proven himself.
xxx
Riku stood before him, breathing heavily. His eyes covered by the blindfold. The boy looked ragged, he held Way to Dawn with blood soaked hands. Here was that keyblade he had always wanted to see, and here was Riku trying to learn to fight without the use of both of his eyes. He was gritting his teeth, trying so hard to learn, trying to run from his past, but trying to do everything he could for a brighter future. For his friend, for the worlds. Without Riku, his plans of revenge would simply slip away. Sora would not wake without the help of this boy, and if he insisted on not using his eyes, then he would have to learn the same way he did.
"Come at me, Riku" He commanded calmly, the silver head nodded, and moved forwards. Easily, DiZ moved to the side and knocked the boy back. He landed uncomfortably, and shot up once more. Each long and rough day of training, he grew a little better. He grew a little stronger, he lost less blood, relying on his senses rather than his eyes. In no time, the boy learned. It had taken him much less time to learn than he himself had. Riku was eager, less stubborn than he had been way back then under the training of his old master.
DiZ would not stop until Riku was flawless, and that didn't take that long. He could counter, dodge, and hit perfectly, as if he could see normally. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It is time, Riku" He said smoothly. "Find Roxas. Do whatever it takes to bring him back. Alive"
He sent Riku away, watching the male leave, feeling assured that he had taught him well
xxx
Every night, the pictures grew clearer. As the days passed in the company of that heartless (he had given it a bit of a nickname so he did not simply call it 'heartless'). The creature stayed with him, though it wandered off to search for whatever it was it was looking for. It seemed on a constant mission, a continuous battle to find where it belonged. He called it Wand, short for Wanderer.
He hoped, one day, to settle the creature's search for whatever it was looking for. Perhaps then he could sort out this little mystery.
One day, he would come close to completing his research. Along with the return of his memories, the products of his research was coming into play. The six men he took in back in the day, after completing his training with Yen Sid, he had traveled through the worlds to find himself in Radiant Garden. His calm and gentleness had brought him to the top, his intelligence, his words, gave him the name Ansem the Wise. He was a scientist, he began to have final say in construction, planning, organization. His six apprentices, the ones he was allowing to further his research to continue to solve the mysteries of the heart.
Until they went too far. Even the young orphan had turned on him. He had loved the boy like a son, and had taken him under his wing. He had taught him many things, proud of the boy and his thirst for knowledge. Quite like himself when he was young. But even he fell to the darkness, just as Ansem fell into the Realm of Darkness the first time.
It was there that he renamed himself, it was only his thoughts, his notes, that kept him sane in such a lonely place. Though darkness versus light had never been a problem with him, he had accepted it without hesitation. He was able to find a new path, as one was faced with many times. For so long, he did not remember anything, only vague scraps. Not even his name came to him, even with previous notes, the name felt strange.
Of course, calling himself DiZ, taking on a new form of dress, tying one eye, it had slowly allowed him to regain all he had known. He hid his left eye once more at that time, and in hiding it, the magic that was still concentrated helped the return of memories much faster. He met Mickey once more, an old friend, together, the two of them guided Riku through Castle Oblivion. Aiding him when he needed it, giving him the knowledge to move forwards on his own path. And the path he chose was quite like the one DiZ himself had taken. Darkness and light, hand in hand. He had brought Riku from floating in nothingness to a place where he could come to terms with himself.
Perhaps he had almost taken that boy under his wing, trying to guide him, becoming his friend. He watched Namine work on Sora's memories, watched her apparent sorrow as she worked. Six men that he had trusted had betrayed him - they had became Nobodies. He was sour, bitter, working on a long-winded excuse for revenge. He was stone to Namine's sorrows, her concerns, her words. He simply didn't care back then, figuring he had a good reason.
How wrong he was.
Riku did his grunt work. Tracking down Roxas, taking him down and bringing him back while DiZ worked on the technical parts. Creating a virtual Twilight Town for the poor Nobody to live in. He could sense Riku's guilt, even as the boy gave up his body for his friend. He could see that heaviness on him, the darkness lingering on the edges, the willingness to do anything for Sora. Even then, he could still see the boy held compassion for Sora's Nobody. That compassion was lost on him, Roxas had simply been data interfering with Sora's recovery. He had to be kept in a place until he could rejoin.
He was bitter, cruel, taking notes, using his computer to create worlds and to save records of the Organization and anything else that he may need to review later. The work was long, but the kind of work he had always enjoyed. Setting Sora free to the world, knowing the boy would carry out his revenge on the Nobodies who were never supposed to exist.
Things always changed, his idea on Nobodies changed.
He spoke to Mickey one last time, hoping and praying that this would work. Riku deserved so much better than to be overtaken by a man who stole his name in order to gain power, control. He hoped that this would halt Xemnas' plans. That this would give Sora and Riku a fighting chance. The machine malfunctioned, just as he had predicted. Hearts were too unpredictable, they were too licentious to allow a man like him to try to do anything with them. Nobodies did not have the right to use them like this. Not when so many people suffered, and even more suffered directly because of him. Looking at Sora one last time, he offered an apology to the Nobody locked inside. For a second, he saw that Nobody in him, and gave a small nod.
The one thing he did not count on was life after the explosion.
Here, he sat in the room. The heartless was coming back, he could see it. Stopping to investigate various things before it made its way inside. He greeted it with a nod, continuing his staring out of the window. He remembered everything that had happened, but he did not know what had happened after the machine was destroyed. For that, he needed to find Riku or Sora. One of the two boys would have the answers.
So he moved, his staff in tow, to Twilight Town.