1

Too Much Has Changed

Countless stars flew by the windows. Bright beams of light and energy raced back and forth around the edges of the ship. Up ahead great red clouds colored the distance. And everywhere in between was pure black darkness.

Sora sat in the passenger's seat of the gummi ship, his feet kicked up on the dashboard, and his hands behind his head. His bright eyes were focused on the pilot, his close friend Riku, and he was almost oblivious to the action going on outside. He had been chattering on for almost a half-hour, but for the most part Riku had to ignore him because flying the gummi ship required all of his concentration.

"How are you supposed to shoot and steer at the same time?" Riku hissed and jerked the control stick sharply to the right to slide the ship just by a huge meteor.

Sora's endless chain of words was broken by this comment, and he sat up. "Don't worry about shooting as much as flying," he said. "If you want to you can just keep your finger held down on the trigger the whole time, so that way you won't have to worry about when to fire."

"You're not helping! Why do I have to do this? You're the one who always flies these things."

Sora laughed, a triumphant tone in his voice. "I am the master gummi-ship flyer! You are the student, and you shall obey your master!"

Riku grunted, not amused. Sora frowned at him, and pretended to look extremely disappointed.

"C'mon that was funny," he goaded. Riku kept his mouth tightly shut, his icy blue eyes fixed tensely on the enemy ships all around them. He seemed stressed out. Sora rolled his eyes. "Roren would have thought it was funny."

"Well, then it's just great that we're going to see him. But you can't tell your jokes if we get blown up, so I really think you should drive!"

Sora shook his head. "The King said you needed to practice! This is an easy route, you're doing fine."

Riku sighed angrily and focused on flying the odd-looking space ship. A second later a loud crash sounded through the cockpit as the ship was hit by enemy guns. The whole vessel shuttered from the impact, and Riku gripped the controls tighter. His knuckles were white as he jerked the ship into a sudden barrel roll around a stream of lasers, and he appeared to be holding his breath. He straightened the ship out, and after a moment Sora picked up his line of conversation from where it had been interrupted.

"So anyway, like I was saying. Roren showed me this really awesome spinning attack, and he just did it so fast! It was amazing. I can't wait to show him the drive forms, it'll blow his mind!" Sora leaned back in his seat and smiled to himself, imaging his friend's reaction to the magical clothes. "He doesn't even know we're coming. He's gonna be so surprised!"

Just ahead Riku could see what looked like open space, an area free of heartless ships and space junk. He sped up to reach it faster and a moment later the ship soared out into the empty expanse of darkness. Riku dimmed the thrusters to slow the ship, and then dropped his hands from the controls. He turned to Sora and glared.

"You did great," Sora said in a small voice. "Look, our shields are at %15 still. That's good."

"You could have helped a little," Riku muttered. "And, no, talking at me is not helping."

"Sorry."

Riku sighed. "Whatever. We must be close now right?"

Sora pointed to a map on the central console. "That's us," he put his finger on a small blue dot on the screen. "And that's the planet." His finger slid up to another dot on the map near the far corner. "So yeah, we're getting close."

"Will you drive now?"

"Fine, but I'll have to be sloppy so that The King still thinks it's you flying."

"Oh, thanks, I thought you said I was doing good," Riku said and shoved Sora on the shoulder, meaning for the push to be joking and light, but Sora nearly fell out of his seat. They both laughed. Sora reached out and took the controls, making all of his movements dramatic and strangely mocking.

For awhile neither of them said anything. Riku watched the elegant gummi ship that flew along side of them as it dipped and spun like a playful bird. The King really knew how to fly, that was for sure.

It had been King Mickey who had told Riku and Sora that they needed to go to Roren's world, a place called Nelvis. Sora had been there once before, many years ago when he had just become the keyblade master. Apparently Roren was a soldier at the time, and Sora, Donald and Goofy had met him on a battle field. The King said that the heartless in Nelvis were particularly strong, because of the war that was going on. Riku wasn't really sure what to expect from the place, but from what Sora had said, Roren at least was a really great guy.

Now that he thought about it, Riku realized that Sora probably had a lot of good friends that he didn't even know about. It almost made him feel a little envious, but he quickly cast the thought away. Jealously was what got him into so much trouble when he was younger; it was just one more of the foul emotions that he had given into when he accepted the darkness. He was determined never to go back to that state now that he was free from it. Besides, he reminded himself that Sora had traveled over countless worlds looking for him. They were best friends, and if that didn't prove it, not much else would.

"So, do you know why The King called us out here?" Riku asked to break the silence.

Sora shrugged. "There's this girl…I can't remember her name. I only met her once, but The King said she needed some help. It has something to do with these really bad heartless that are running around making a mess." His eyes darkened a little as he thought a minute. "I think something's up with Roren too, but they didn't say anything about that."

"When was the last time you saw Roren, anyway?"

"Man, it's been a while. Years," Sora tilted his head back, relaxing his grip on the controls. "I hope not too much has changed. I know the war is over, that's why The King wouldn't let me go back earlier. He said the war was getting really bad, and that it was dangerous there. I was too busy to go anyway, what with The Organization and all."

Riku turned and stared out the window again. On the map the dot that represented their ship was drawing ever closer to the planet. Riku considered the vast darkness of space, and thought longingly of the Destiny Islands. He wanted to be on safe ground again, but it sounded to him like the only thing he and Sora were headed for was trouble.

_______

"The first thing we should do is go talk to Halvi," The King said.

The large rat jumped down from the cockpit of his gummi ship, landing expertly on the yellowed grass. Riku, Sora and King Mickey had parked their ships in a wide clearing, where there were trees and bushes all around. Here the ships would be well-hidden from heartless, as well as from unknowing civilians who happened to pass by. Above them the sun was hanging high in the sky, sending waves of heat down into the open area. Riku guessed that the heat was what made the grass so yellow.

"Halvi! That's right!" Sora smacked his forehead. "Her name was Halvi. I can't believe I forgot."

"Who is she?" Riku asked.

"Halvi is the one I put in charge of watching The Noble Heart," The King explained. Riku cast him a confused look. "Oh, right. You don't know about that," the mouse looked apologetic. "Halvi can explain it better than I can. Let's go."

The King led the boys through the forest, and soon enough they stepped onto a grassy path. It didn't look like many people had walked on it, though it was easy enough to follow. They walked quietly, listening to the subtle clamor of the woodland life. The air was clean, and it was cool under the shade of the trees. Overall it was a pleasant stroll.

The path turned abruptly into a cluster of thick trees, and they had to walk single file just to squeeze through the small space between the trunks. The path continued a little farther, but it ended at the door of a small cabin tucked up against the edge of the forest. It was a simple home, with four walls, windows on nearly every side, and a sturdy roof. It was made almost entirely out of small wooden boards, and the roof was fashioned out of some kind of paste and thin sheets of metal.

"Is this where Halvi lives?" Sora asked as they trudged up to the cabin. He looked around at the garden to one side of the house, and the little animal pens in the back. "It's nice here."

The King nodded. "She built it almost all by herself. She had a little help with the roof and the pens though."

The King knocked on the door, and they all waited. Sora continued to look around, admiring the pretty decorations that hung from the edges of the roof. There were several hammocks tied between trees in the yard, and some of them looked different from any hammock he had ever seen. One was wide and boxy, and another looked like a cocoon. The one he liked most was like a large basket suspended in the air. It was hanging down from thick cords that were wrapped around a large branch. Sora thought that Halvi was very creative, or that she at least had a lot of time on her hands.

There was a clicking sound as the door was opened. A pretty young girl appeared in the door way, and when she saw her visitors her face lit up with a bright smile.

"Your Majesty! Sora! You came!" She exclaimed and threw the door open.

Sora smiled and waved, his memories of the friendly girl returning to him. Strangely, she didn't seem to have changed very much in the years since he had seen her. She didn't look any older than he remembered.

Halvi ushered her guests into her home, and gently closed the door behind them. The inside of the house was similar to the outside: simple, but decorated with countless trinkets and interesting ornaments. There was a bed in the far corner, and next to it was a stack of blankets that came up to Sora's nose. The kitchen was little more than a table and a large cabinet full of tools and dried herbs. There were dozens of chairs situated around the room, all of them unique or strange looking. They reminded Sora of all of the different hammocks outside.

Halvi pushed a few of the chairs closer to the center of the room. "Please sit down. Is there anything I can get for you? Are you thirsty?"

She turned to grab several cups from the cabinet before anyone had the chance to answer. She filled each glass with a sweet juice, and then handed them out to her guests. When she passed Riku his cup she paused and looked at him curiously.

"I do not believe I have met you," she said. "My name is Halvi."

"Riku," Riku responded and tipped his cup at her. "Thank you for the…uh, juice. It's good."

"You are welcome, anytime."

Halvi sat down next to The King, holding her glass of juice with both hands. "I am so glad that you all have come. I assume that you received my message, Your Majesty."

"I sure did, but I still need you to explain a few things for me," King Mickey said. He gestured to Sora and Riku. "These two still don't know anything about it, so why don't you start from the beginning."

Halvi glanced at Sora and Riku, a hint of nervousness in her eyes. "Our problem is with the heartless, so I am afraid that it does not have any clear beginning. I shall try to explain it as well as I can."

Sora gave her a pleasent nod, and she smiled. Halvi tilted her head, consitering where to start. Then she began to speak, using a clear voice that nearly demanded attention. "The normal type of heartless that inhabit this world are shaped like wolves, and they carry knives in their mouths. I suppose you saw them when you were last here, Sora. Those monsters are easy enough to deal with, as they are not very dangerous. But recently a different type of heartless has appeared, one that is unlike any I am sure you have seen before."

Halvi pulled out a small piece of paper from a pocket, and held it out for everyone to examine. On it was a drawing of what looked like a dark pile of old oatmeal. "This is what the new heatless generally looks like," Halvi said. "I know that it does not appear to be dangerous, but it does have strength of a different kind. You see, these heartless are like pools of darkness. They are like water; they can move slowly or very quickly, they can hide anywhere, and they can follow you where ever you go. You may hit them all you wish with your weapons, but that will have little effect. Fire is the only thing that hurts them."

Sora studied the drawing thoughtfully. "Can they change shape?"

"Not on their own," Halvi answered. "They would require a container of some kind, but that is not what you need to worry about. The most important thing to remember is to never allow yourself to be touched by one of these heartless. Once it makes contact with you, there is very little chance that you will escape it."

Everyone looked at her with serious expressions. Halvi put the drawing away and went on. "Once the Shadow Pool,(that is what I am calling it), touches someone, it will cling to them and it will not let go. Then it begins to spread, growing larger until it covers the victim completely. As the darkness spreads it solidifies and in the end, the person is trapped inside a mold of darkness. If they are not freed from it in time, the heartless will drain their life through the mold, and steal their heart."

Riku raised his eyebrows at Halvi. "So all it has to do is touch you, and you're as good as gone? There's no way to stop it?"

Halvi sighed and ran a finger around the edge of her cup. "A few people were freed from the mold in time and they were alright. But there is so little time to try and save a person that it is almost impossible to do. Already countless people have lost their hearts to these creatures, and there is nothing any of us can do about it. We are...helpless."

She looked sadly at Sora. "Roren has lost all but one member of his team to the heartless. Kari is the only one left; all of his other friends are gone. That is the other reason that I called you here. Roren needs someone to help him, someone who can help him, because right now he has all but lost hope completely."

Sora's shoulders drooped, and his eyebrows turned up forlornly. "Only Kari is left? What about Elijah, and the Captain? What about all his other friends?"

"Elijah was one of the first to lose his heart," Halvi said. "The Captain is a different story, but as for everyone else, they are all gone. The camp and the town will soon be empty if something is not done, and I cannot say what Roren will do if this loss continues. Honestly, I am surprised he has managed to suffer this much."

The King frowned. "What do you mean? Is Roren going to do something?"

"Not Roren so much as The Noble Heart," Halvi clarified. "The power it has comes from the sorrow of a person who has great caring and love for others. In this situation, The Noble Heart is growing by leaps and bounds. It is possible for it to break free on its own, but that would create an emotional wound that would be impossible to recover from. If that should happen, my guess is that Roren would lose his mind."

Halvi turned her dark eyes to each person in turn, conveying her message of need to them individually with her gaze. Sora got to his feet quickly, his determination clear on his face.

"What do we have to do?" He asked confidently. "Just go around and destroy the heartless? No problem!"

Riku shook his head. "No, I'll bet there's one big heartless that's behind all this. If we can take that one out, that should get rid of the smaller ones."

"Sounds like a plan," The King agreed.

"You all should go find Roren before you do anything else," said Halvi. "He will be at the camp, as he always is. Talk to him, and to Kari. They will tell you anything that I have forgotten, and I am sure they will be glad to see you."

Everyone prepared to leave, sliding the chairs back to their original places, and depositing their cups by the wash buckets. The King and Riku headed for the door, but Halvi caught Sora's arm as he was leaving and drew him back for a moment.

"I must tell you Sora, many things have changed since you were last here," she whispered. "The Roren you meet…he is not the same person you left four years ago."

"What do you mean? How could he be anyone besides himself?"

She gazed down at the floor. "He is…well, you will just have to talk to him yourself. I just wanted to warn you; many things about this world are different now. I fear that maybe too much has changed."

Sora put a kind hand on Halvi's shoulder, and gave her a warm smile. "Don't worry. We'll figure everything out. I mean, look at the team you've got! Me, Riku, and The King; I'd like to see the heartless that could stop us!"

That's not really what I meant, Havi thought to herself. But he means well. I should just trust them.

Halvi waved goodbye to the three companions as they strolled away from her small home. Sora was the last to disappear through the thick trees, but even after he was gone Halvi stared at the place he had been for a while before she slowly closed the door.