I don't own Kingdom Hearts

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Chapter Three

Arrival in Hollow Bastion

Once again, Sora found himself in a place he didn't recognize, but at the same time, everything seemed so familiar, like he had been there before.

He was inside a white room, on the top floor of a castle.

What is this place? He asked himself. I've been here! But what is it? Suddenly, the man appeared again, his light pink hair down to his shoulders was layered. In his hand was a giant green and pink scythe and small rose petals flew around him.

"Who are you?" Sora wanted to ask. But his voice wouldn't work when his mouth opened, like it was lodged in his throat, frozen and trapped.

Suddenly, a woman with golden-blonde hair with two 'antennas' and the same black cloak appeared and knocked him back with four of the eight knives between her fingers in both hands. She was familiar too, but again, Sora couldn't remember who she was. The last thing he saw was the man swinging a wave of darkness and flower petals from his scythe towards him.

~()~

Sora abruptly woke up, eyes snapped open violently and cold sweat beading down his body. His chest heaved with unsteady breaths as he tried to gather his thoughts. That was the first time he'd actually had a nightmare about the man in the Organization coat. It was the first dream he'd been in that room and seen the woman too. Sora placed his head in his hand, trying to calm down enough to go to sleep.

The group had boarded the Gummi Ship earlier that night. Luckily there had been a place for everyone to sleep in the back. Sora looked around the small room to find Zelda still sound asleep. He smiled at how peaceful she looked. He still wondered why he felt he had seen her before. Finally deciding not to think anything more of it, he fell asleep again. Although his dreams still remained occupied by the man in the Organisation coat.

"We're here!" Kairi cried happily as everyone stepped out of the Gummi Ship.

Zelda looked like she might cry, small tears were forming in between her eyelashes and she kept rubbing the back of her hand against her eyes to try and fend them off.

"Radiant Garden," Sora smiled. "Let's go see how Leon and the others are doing. They should probably meet Zelda too."

Hearing her name, Zelda snapped out of her thoughts and put on a straight face.

"Okay, let's go."

~()~

No one was aware that from the top of a tall building, they were being watched by a teenage girl, her face covered by the hood of her black coat. The zipper of the familiar coat was down just above her knees and around the chest area; it had the same small chains. Under the hood, layered pitch black hair was visible by her chin and a little past her shoulders, as were her nose and a mouth, open slightly with surprise, if her eyes had been visible, they would likely have been wide with surprise as well. After a moment, the girl vanished into a Corridor of Darkness.

~()~

"So what are Leon and the others like?" Zelda asked as they continued walking.

"They're part of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee," Goofy answered. "They've been tryin' to fix up Hollow Bastion after it was destroyed by Ansem."

"It looks like they've made some progress," Riku commented as he, Zelda and Kairi looked around.

Houses lined the paved streets and the marketplace was bustling with customers, the smell of food being made wafted through the air and moistened their mouths. A smile spread across Sora's face.

"Yeah, they've been working hard since our last visit," he agreed. "Let's just hope this 'new force' doesn't mess it all up again."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Nobodies surrounded and approached the group. But these were a kind of Nobody that none of them had ever seen before. Their bodies were black and graceful, almost humanoid. But their eyes were stark white and the gray symbol was on their chests. On their heads were silver ponytail-like locks, similar to those sometimes seen on a knight's helmet and down their sides were shimmering silver lines, similar to the Dusk.

"What are these things?" Donald asked as one lunged at him, lightning strikes going left, right and centre.

"Who cares? We have to destroy them!" Sora cried as he, Kairi, and Riku summoned their Keyblades.

Zelda drew a sword that had a golden handle and a ruby in the centre of the handle. Quickly she set herself in a battle stance and lashed out.

In response, the strange Nobodies summoned weapons of their own in a shimmering puff of black smoke. Some of them had black swords, others had scythes. But they were all dangerous.

The group quickly found out that these Nobodies were skilled in combat too, even more so than any other Nobody they had encountered, except for Organization XIII. As soon as the Nobodies' weapons appeared, they lunged at their opponents with frightening speed. Sora barely managed to block a sword attack with his Keyblade and threw his attacker to the ground before engaging it in combat. Everyone else also began attacking their own challengers. Slash. Duck. Parry. Parry. Slash. Everywhere, it was the same thing. Vengeful and ruthless, it was almost impossible to find an opening. Luckily they did and soon the Nobodies' were dropping like flies.

Finally, all but one had been defeated: Riku's challenger.

But it caught everyone completely off guard when it dodged an attack from Way to Dawn and rammed into Sora, pinning him to the ground. The young Keyblader was too startled to defend himself as the thing hissed and looked deeply into his eyes. Sora couldn't help but shudder in fear, his breathed hitched and his blood ran cold. The Nobody dismissed its weapon and readied its sharp claws and fangs. Everyone was in stupor as they waited for it to deal its blow.

A voice quickly broke through the silence, shattering it like glass.

"NO! Get off of him!" Zelda screamed as she kicked the Nobody off of Sora and stabbed it through its chest. After squealing and writhing in pain for a few moments, the Nobody curled up into a foetal position and dissolved into nothingness. Sora sat up, still shaken by the surprise attack, but not seriously hurt.

"What were those things?" Kairi asked as Sora stood up next to her.

"Night Warriors." Zelda replied calmly.

Everyone looked at her, confused.

"Those things are called Night Warriors. They're the most powerful Nobody there is except for the Organization. They can bite someone and poison their blood, tainting their heart with darkness and making them much more vulnerable to Heartless attacks. Very few people who are confronted by them survive," she explained.

"You've seen those things before?" Riku asked.

"No," she replied with a confused expression. "But I know everything about them. I don't understand. I just knew about them one day even though I'd never heard of them or seen one in my life."

"Well, maybe we'll find out why as we travel." Sora suggested, even though he didn't sound too sure.

~()~

In the shadows on the side of a building facing away from the group, the hooded girl in the Organization cloak was leaning against the wall with her arms folded and her foot on the wall. When she decided she'd heard enough, she allowed herself to be swallowed by a Corridor of Darkness.

The Corridor of Darkness dumped the hooded girl into a dark coloured room. In the centre stood a taller hooded figure with is back to her. Under his hood, layered hair, the colour of cherry blossoms could be seen by his shoulders.

"I see they managed to defeat your warriors," the man said in a deep, smooth voice. "And the new girl knew everything you, their mistress knows about them."

"It's no fault of mine," the girl replied in a completely monotone voice, portraying no emotion whatsoever.

"Of course not," the man replied, turning to face her and lowering his hood, revealing ocean-blue eyes. He approached the girl and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a small confident smirk. "You have done well, No. XIII. I have no doubt that you'll continue to do so. After all, you look just like her."

She looked up and through the shadows of her hood that hid her eyes, they became visible. Her cold, emotionless eyes were the colour of sapphires.

~()~

Sora and the others were about to continue walking when a girl's voice stopped them.

"Hey!" she called.

A teenage girl dressed in black with short black hair jumped down from a nearby ledge.

"Yuffie!" Donald cried, surprised to see her.

"Merlin said that you guys were in trouble and we came looking for you!"

Before anyone could ask the ninja who 'we' was, the figure of Leon appeared behind her.

"We were on our way to help, but it looks like you guys took care of it." Yuffie smiled.

"Radiant Garden's had a serious problem with Heartless and Nobodies." Leon added. "There are new kinds and they seem to be stronger than ever."

"The Heartless on the islands were stronger than before…" Sora said to no one in particular and raised his hand to the place on his chest where the gash was, memories of that night flooding back with painful intensity.

"Come on. Everyone's back at Merlin's house." Yuffie said, motioning for everyone to follow her and Leon.

~()~

"Guys, we're back!" Yuffie called out. On the other side of the room stood Aerith, dressed in pink as usual, Cid at the computer, and Cloud leaning against the wall.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Aerith cried, relief evident in her voice. "We heard that Nobodies were attacking and we got worried."

Sora gave her one of his famous grins.

"Don't worry. They were nothing we couldn't handle. How's the restoration going?"

"We've managed to restore about half of the castle," Leon replied. "But with more Heartless and Nobodies around, our progress has been slowing down. On top of that, we're running low on supplies."

"How about Zelda and I run down to the Market Place and get some supplies?" Sora offered.

He was still an honorary member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee and wanted to help out in any way he could. Besides, he wanted to get to know Zelda. Maybe he would remember where he'd seen her if they talked.

"Zelda?" Yuffie seemed surprised and confused at the mention of her name. The Restoration Committee looked in Zelda's direction. The girl looked down and suddenly became interested in her feet, it was the only thing she could do to keep from bursting into tears.

"Is that you?" Aerith asked, approaching her and gently putting her hand on Zelda's shoulder.

Zelda didn't reply, afraid that if she did, she might start sobbing uncontrollably.

"Zelda, do you know them?" Sora asked with concern when Zelda didn't answer Aerith. She didn't answer him either, or even look up. The others looked at her with concern, Riku most of all.

"Zelda, I'm very sorry about what happened…"

Aerith was about to say something more, Sora could tell, but she had decided not to. Good move, too, because a single tear slid from Zelda's cheek. It might have been a lot worse had Aerith decided otherwise.

"We all missed you." Yuffie smiled in an effort to cheer Zelda up.

Although it didn't, Zelda looked at her with sad eyes, but a grateful smile.

"Why don't we head out?" Sora suggested. "It might give you some time to get it together."

Zelda turned to him and nodded.

"We'll be back!" he called as he and Zelda headed out the door.

~()~

There were a lot of things they needed to get, but thankfully the Market Place wasn't very crowded, which pleased Sora and Zelda. They had bought some food and supplies from the Moogle Shop and Item Shop. After a little more walking, they decided to take a rest on a nearby bench.

"So, did you know Aerith and the others?" Sora asked.

Part of him knew he probably shouldn't have asked that, but he wanted to know more about Zelda.

Zelda nodded. "Yes. They were my friends when I was living here. I lived here with my guardian Elizabeth Weller until I was about nine years old. But...one night...Heartless attacked this world. Leon and the others were able to finish them off, but not before one tried to take my heart. Elizabeth got in its way too fast for it to stop. But instead of taking her heart, it messed up and..."

Zelda's voice got shaky and she felt the tears coming back. Just when she thought she might lose it, Zelda felt Sora's hand on her shoulder, offering comfort.

"I see." Sora said, sorrow in his voice.

Wiping a tear away, Zelda continued. "Before Leon and the others could reach me, some guy in a black coat with long silver hair grabbed me and threw me into some kind of portal and I ended up in a different world. I've been living alone for quite a while."

"Xemnas." Sora growled and cursed the Nobody under his breath.

He couldn't believe that Xemnas would do something like that. It just made it more satisfying, knowing that he and Riku had killed Xemnas just days before.

"I've also been fighting the Heartless since that night." Zelda continued. "I ended up in a world called Traverse Town. Apparently, Aerith and the others were there too, but I never found that out until later, after they were gone. I found this sword and fought any Heartless I've come across, trying to avenge Elizabeth and destroy them for good."

Wow. Sora thought. She's been through so much because of the Heartless and the Organization! No wonder she wants to destroy the Heartless so much. I bet she's glad the Organization's gone, too.

He turned his attention back to Zelda and let her continue

"But... one time... I thought the Heartless had finally gotten me, too." she confessed, looking down solemnly. "I saw a Neo Shadow attacking a woman and of course, I couldn't just stand there. I went to help, but it knocked me down before I could strike it. It ripped its claws into my chest and took my heart. I felt the darkness consuming me."

Sora listened intently. He knew the feeling of becoming a Heartless. His hand moved to his heart and clutched his crown pendant, memories of that day flooding back. The darkness surrounding him, clawing against him, attempting to rip open his chest and take away the last of the light in his heart. He looked back to Zelda and let her continue.

"But the Neo Shadow had knocked my sword away. While it was distracted, the lady grabbed my sword and killed it only to have a different kind of Heartless approach her. It was about to take her heart, but I rammed it away and attacked it. She just stood there, watching two Heartless tackle each other like football players," she laughed with a small smile. "I soon killed the other Heartless and approached her. She seemed scared at first, but she looked at my face and realized it was me. I expected her to kill me, but she knelt down and hugged me. She whispered 'thank you' in my ear... or whatever Shadow Heartless have, and I was covered in light. The next thing I knew, I had my body back."

"So, did you ever learn her name?" Sora asked.

Zelda nodded.

"Naoko was her name. I told her about everything that had happened to me and she took me in. I lived with her for about two years until she left for another world. I wanted to go with her, but she said no. I didn't understand why and I still don't. About two weeks later, I received a letter from King Mickey, telling me Naoko had been killed by a member of the Organization and that you had eliminated that member shortly after. I was so upset that I didn't leave the house for days and sometimes forgot to eat."

Sora couldn't believe what Zelda's past was like.

"Didn't you have any friends to help you through that?" he asked.

"Yes." Zelda replied. "They were upset too and we all helped each other. But I had basically given up on having any kind of family by then."

"But weren't you living at Disney Castle before we met?" Sora asked.

"Only for two days. The king and queen were very kind to me, as was everyone else, but I don't know if you'd call two days 'living'."

"True," he agreed. "I'm really sorry about your guardians. It sounds like you were very close to both of them."

"I was."

Zelda looked down again for a moment and her eyes began to well up. She turned back to Sora and drew him into a grateful embrace, being careful not to hurt his wounded chest.

"You're a really nice guy, Sora. I hope we'll be great friends."

She smiled at him warmly as they both pulled out of the embrace. "So, what's your life been like?" she asked.

She listened with great fascination as he told her about his life and both of his journeys. He told her about all of the worlds, what he had done there, and the friends he had made, including his life on the Destiny Islands and his friendship with Riku and Kairi.

"Wow. You've sure had a lot of fun, haven't you?" Zelda laughed. "Sounds like you're really close to Kairi, too."

Sora noticed a teasing smirk on Zelda's face.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" he retorted, a scowl becoming clear on his face.

But from the way he couldn't look Zelda in the eyes and how madly he was blushing, Zelda knew he was lying.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Mister Keyblade Master!" Zelda teased playfully. "Come on, we better head back."

Sora nodded and they stood up to head back for Merlin's house.

~()~

But once they had left the Market Place, Sora suddenly found himself yanked back into someone, an arm around his chest and four knives against his throat.

"Sora!" Zelda cried in horror and drew her sword. "Let him go!"

"Wow, how threatening. Stupid baby brat!"

Sora froze when he heard the familiar voice of his female captor. No...It can't be... He thought. She's the woman from my dream!

~()~

Please R&R