"Your Majesty, how are we supposed to get to that Castle? All I saw was the inside, so I couldn't tell where we were."

He stopped and thought about it before responding, "Well, I think that if we follow this path, the card will lead us to it. Can you sense his heart beyond the card? I think it will show us the way."

He continued forward, leaving Saiyoku behind. She pulled out the card and held it up to the sky. Riku's reflection was still there, his eyes closed as if sleeping. She stuffed it back in her pocket before sprinting to catch up with the King. He suddenly froze, ears perked up even more.

"I have a feeling we should check on Riku, don't you?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that. The card seemed a little funny…" She pulled it out and gave it to the King.

"This is a little different. He'll only be able to see me since I'm the one utilizing the pathway. This usage allows him to see me instead of the one that we used before."

The card glowed and hovered like the last time, and he placed his Keyblade directly in front of the card, and a little click resounded from behind it.

"You'll be able to see him though. Just thought I'd mention it."

The light encircled the King for a moment before fading. Where the card had been was a transparent image, slowly sharpening as it grew larger. It was Riku, and he was walking toward them. He stopped, a confused look on his face.

"Something smells… funny… What's that scent?" He lifted his hand to his nose, as if trying to decipher what the smell was, "It's so familiar… Oh! Darkness… it's the smell of Darkness… Huh… I can't believe this is happening. The Darkness even seeped into my skin."

"Don't worry Riku." The King said, and Riku obviously heard it. He looked up and followed something Saiyoku couldn't see. Probably what he had seen before from the last time they talked to him.

"Can he see you now?"

The King nodded.

"Your Majesty!"

The King smiled, and Riku smiled back, relieved to see someone. But the smile vanished when he looked harder at the King's image.

"Oh! What happened? I can see… right through you…"

Mickey twisted around to see himself, "Funny, huh? I can only send a bit of my power to this place. That's why I've got a request for ya."

"Request?"

"Listen Riku. Just because Darkness holds you, don't let go of who you are. You've got to fight the Darkness inside you. It won't be easy to do, I know. But please don't forget: Even in the darkest Darkness, there's always a little bit of Light."

"Light within Darkness."

"You, Saiyoku, and I have seen it. The far welcoming Light inside the Door to Darkness. The Light of Kingdom Hearts: it will show you the way. Please don't give up. Believe in the Light. That's a request from my heart."

"Okay. I'll do my best."

"Trust me, I'll try to find a way to reach you. We'll get there, I promise." The King held out his hand, and Riku hesitantly grabbed it, but his hand went right through.

"Oh! You're an illusion…"

"Don't worry. We shook hands in our hearts, remember? We're connected, you and me, just like all hearts are."

"Guess we are."

The King closed the pathway again, and there was another click. Riku's image faded away, like he was never there, while the card floated safely into Saiyoku's waiting hands.

"He didn't guess that I was with you?"

"I guess not… but I believe that he'll try his best while we aren't there."

"You think he'll beat Ansem?"

"I believe so, and we'll find out when we get there."

Riku walked through the door from Agrabah, confident at his rate of passage. This was going to be easy. But as soon as he crossed about half the room, a dark portal appeared and out stepped a man in a black coat. He had long blond hair and creepy green bug eyes. He had an expression that made Riku feel like he was determining a way to experiment on him.

"I take it you're Riku." The mysterious man said, giving a cold smile.

"Are you with Ansem?" Riku stood at his 'ready' stance.

"You are half correct," the man explained, "Let us say that he is not the Ansem with which you are familiar. He IS Ansem and he is NOT Ansem. Perhaps a NOBODY best can phase the idea!"

"Riddles were never my thing. Try again." Riku told him coldly, ready to draw his SoulEater at any time.

"He belongs to neither the Light nor the Dark but walks the Twilight between."

"Oh!" Riku exclaimed as the clues began to click together in his head.

The man laughed, "Catching on now? Oh yes… You also stand in between the Light and the Darkness. It appears we have much in common."

"Maybe… like you said, there really is Darkness left inside of me…" He put his hand to his chest again, over his heart, "But so what?" He drew SoulEater and readied his fighting stance, "Darkness is my ENEMY! And so are you for reeking of that awful smell!"

"Oho! So it's a fight you want. Very good. I shall take you on." The man smiled evilly and drew a huge light blue shield with spikes on the top and one on the tip of the bottom.

Riku made the first attack, trying to win against him with speed, but the man easily blocked it with the shield. He lifted his other hand and spikes of ice flew up from underneath the ground, trying to impale Riku. He dodged and tried to attack from behind, landing a single hit before getting blasted with another ice attack. Icy bullets were shot from his enemy's hand and a few caught him on the shoulder.

"Too easy." The man said as more pillars of ice rose from the floor. Riku managed to shift his body just in time before one of the pointed pillars shot up in front of him, missing by just inches. He twisted and pushed off of the spike and shot right at the man. The ice melted instantly, leaving a clear path for Riku. His enemy simply blocked him again with his shield and Riku was knocked backward.

He landed lightly and easily on the balls of his feet and shot forward, trying his attack again. He was stopped, but he caught his footing and landed a heavy blow on the shield. The man simply laughed a creepy chuckle that made the hairs on the back of Riku's neck stand on end.

"I find coursing through you there is a Darkness of formidable power growing! Well worth the trouble of aggravating you. All this excitement has provided me with invaluable data!"

"What!?" Riku was pushed back by the man again, who lowered his shield and gave a small wave.

"Many thanks, Riku." A dark portal closed over him and he disappeared. Riku just about hit himself for letting himself get worked up like that. Now he had just fallen into that guy's trap so much more easily. He couldn't believe how stupid he had acted.

"Tch! It was a trick all along."

Saiyoku lay uncomfortably on a thick patch of grass, the King nearby. They really didn't have anything to use for sleeping but the fields themselves, so they made due with what they could find. She stared up at the dim sky, the stars barely visible.

"Somewhere up there… is our home… I wonder which one it is…" She looked at the many stars and sighed, unable to tell at all. "I guess it doesn't really matter. We won't get back home for a while, I suppose. Kairi's waiting for us. I bet she feels really left out… and probably lonely too, but what I can't help but feel sorry for is that she has to go back to school. By the time we're all reunited, it'll be too late to start up in school again, so might as well drop out." She turned on her side and murmured, "Listen to me… thinking about school. I'm such an idiot. Why do I even want to think about that?" She yawned and dozed off before falling deeply into sleep.