A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS/FAVORITES/FOLLOWS ETC. ^_^! I'm so happy you guys actually like my story so far :D

I'm so sorry for the slow update! Three days is way too long of a wait D:

I had this chapter all prepared and editededed (yeah, that big word XD) but I wanted to go back and add humor here and there so it wouldn't be a boring read :D

And plus you get to see a little bit of Riku. I won't give too much of that away. :D

50 Brownie Points to whomever can guess what parody this chapter title derived from XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but if I did Toy Story definitely would have been a world by now! :0

Chapter 4: It's a Heart-Knock Life

I started to get out of my bed lifelessly and to the door. I stretched. Being able to wake up to my grounding at home felt like waking up to Christmas Morning, heavenly.

I didn't see my typical window shining light. It looked to me like there wasn't any windows. Weiiirrrd. I kind of disregarded it for morning weariness. That, or my parents boarded up my room.

Ah, home sweet home!

And hey, it did feel like something they would probably do, after all!

I yawned, "I'm going to tell my folks what a crazy dream I had." With that, I pushed my covers off and startled towards the door. I pushed it open, and found myself in the Lift Stop of Hollow Bastion. Of course.

Ugh. Maybe all of this isn't a dream.

No, it is. Don't be crazy.

But why did it feel so real?

Get a hold of yourself! My name is Sayla Baker, and I am hallucinating!

...I'M NOT CRAZY.

Then why are you talking to yourself?

My short-lived thoughts were interrupted as Hades came into focus. Oh, joy. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes.

"Ah, you're awake, little worm!" cheered Hades.

I wished I wasn't. Sleep was the foundation of mixed solitude and freedom. At least, whatever freedom I probably had left.

"Yeah, man," I nodded, and started to walk away. My original plan was not to talk to any of the Disney Villains. I couldn't risk it; I was too helpless if anything went wrong.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Hades, appearing directly in front of me with his blue fire.

"I don't know. I was thinking about getting some breakfast," I said, as I tried to circle away him, but to no avail. I sighed, and then resigned. "Dude, what do you want?"

He smirked triumphantly, his I-am-a-winner smile growing. "We are gathering for a meeting, and we need you to show up."

Another meeting, huh? It looks to smile they're starting to get serious about creating Kingdom Hearts. Which meant bad news. Really bad. But, still, I wondered why they needed me to go. I was useless to the making of Kingdom Hearts, and I sure as heck wasn't going to help them.

There was a fine line between helping them and tolerating them.

"Why?" I asked, mystified.

"Because we need a servant at hand to fetch us drinks, snacks, etc.," explained Hades.

I just laughed, "Forget it!" I started to march away. I'm sure Hades probably thought I was some sort of fool if I was going to say yes.

"But, I have something you might want."

"There is nothing you can or could possibly bribe me with," I said as I hastily turned around.

When I saw the item in Hades hand, I felt as though I had utterly contradicted myself. My jaw dropped in disbelief. He had my iPhone charger. And, believe it or not, there were outlets at Hollow Bastion, even though they weren't commonly seen in an everyday room.

"Quid pro quo," smirked Hades.

I considered the offer for a few seconds, before reaching my verdict. "Okay, Lord of the Underworld, Hades," I bowed. It was all an act, of course. And besides, my iPhone was dwelling on 3%, which wasn't at all good. But, if there was anything I learned about Disney Villains, it's that they don't play fair. I half-doubted he'd give me my iPhone charger, even if I was the servant of the day.

But why wouldn't he give me it? He obviously had no use for it.

I was aghast that he knew I had an iPhone. Maybe they were keeping tabs on me...I know I haven't shown anyone-not even Iago.

Wait...I showed it to Sitka. Ugh.

"Excellent!" cried Hades. "We will be in the Keyhole Room later on. We'll send somebody to fetch you, then."

"You got it, hothead," I said bitterly.

I figured it must be an important meeting if I was allowed in the Keyhole Room. I mean, it's at the peak of Hollow Bastion and heavily guarded. Plus, I suspected that's the only place Ansem lived. I wondered if he ever got out too often.

Sometimes I did see Ansem go into the library. Sometimes.

I watched as Hades disappeared in a cloud of fire. I was still disapproving of the feeling that I was constantly being watched. I remembered in the game the villains had a magic panel that displayed Sora, Donald, and Goofy when they were not suspecting it during their journey. The magic panel reminded me of what a magic ball should be.

"No, don't do that, you stupid Neoshadow!" I snapped as it slapped a Yellow Opera.

I found it annoying that I had to control the level at which heartless fight. I didn't know they could fight among themselves. Was it because pureblood heartless only will fight emblem heartless? I was confused.

I have never seen purebloods engage in combat among themselves, vice versa with emblems.

I returned to Entrance Hall, and took a weary seat on the fountain. Could I really put up with this for a few more weeks? Or maybe even months? I wondered how long it'd be until Sora got here.

Probably a long time. He hasn't even started his journey yet. I sighed exasperatedly.

"She looks like she is having a rough time."

"I'll say!"

"Shush! She can probably hear us, you know!"

My eyes shot open at the sound of three new voices. I looked around frantically, and looked shocked, "Who said that? Are you, like, stalking me or something?!"

I swear if it was Iago, I was going to resentfully pluck his little feathers, one after one.

"See, I told you," one inquired.

I looked up to find the source of the voice. No villains or any humanely being whatsoever.

But there were a certain three statues looking down at her. Victor, Hugo, and Larvene. Those were the statues from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Quasimodo only could see them because he was too lonely and imprisoned in his bell tower, and made friends with inanimate objects because he basically became insane.

It looks like Quasimodo and I have alot more in common than I thought we did.

"Oh my gosh! Victor, Hugo, Larvene!" I cheered happily.

They weren't Disney Villains. They were the good guys! For the first time, I met Disney Heroes-ish.

I bet their world was eaten up by darkness and they ended up here.

"How do you know our name's?" asked Hugo in surprise.

Crap. I shouldn't have said that. I giggled, regardless. It was still pretty cool to be in the presence of them.

"Someone else had told me your names," I lied.

"It's not like we were born yesterday! Why would we give them our names, or even talk to those idiots for that matter?" questioned Larvene.

"We like to stay inanimate, but someone," Victor looked at Hugo rather annoyed, "blew our cover."

"Hey, this girl seems to mean well!" chanted Larvene.

"So did that other girl...Sukia?" Victor shrugged.

"Sitka!" Hugo, Larvene, and I cried in unison.

I snorted. This was so cool. At least I had friends, and friends that I felt like I could actually trust. I felt like I could trust Sitka, but not with too much.

I tilted my head at the mention of Sitka's name. Sitka didn't seem like the one to cause trouble.

"What did she do?" I asked in awe.

"I'll tell you what she did!" Hugo made a fist.

"There's no time! It was nice meeting you, dude!" Larvene turned back into solid stone.

The other statues heard somebody approaching. I didn't hear it until the sound came closer. I watched as they returned to their petrified state of being.

"Hey, come back!" I snapped.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Maleficent, coming into focus.

"M-Maleficent!" I squeaked in shock. "I was just talking to a soldier who was chipping the paint off of the walls...but it scurried away."

"Intriguing," chirped Maleficent, as she strode beside me. "I have summoned you for the meeting. Come."

I nodded, and glanced behind me to see the statues. Maybe they weren't animate, and I was actually so desperate for a real friend that I was talking to inanimate objects. It was a possibility.

I'll have to say, Maleficent was pretty darn slow going up to the Keyhole Room. She took her time, and it felt like she was taking baby steps. She didn't speak to me the entire way up.

"So, what's this 'Keyhole' of yours do, anyway?" I asked.

"None of your concern, wench," said Maleficent arrogantly. "Do not speak unless someone addresses you first. Act like a decent young lady, not a careless rat."

Man, Maleficent was rude! It was just a question, after all. That doesn't give her the right to call me a wench, or a rat, does it?! I can see why, besides Ansem, she is the ring leader among the villains.

"If you say so..." I sighed, defeated.

We past the dark chapel, which indicated we were close. Little did Maleficent know, this Chapel would be the room where Sora, Donald, and Goofy would vanquish her human form from.

We strode into the Keyhole Room, and sitting in the first seat was Ansem. It looked as though everyone else were waiting for us.

Maleficent sat down, and smirked wickedly.

"Took you long enough," spoke Jafar.

"I had to fetch our servant," assured Maleficent calmly.

I didn't bother taking a seat. I would just stand. Technically, I wasn't even supposed to be apart of said meeting. Sitka glanced my direction and offered me a smile. I smiled back.

"Time to get down to business," said Ansem. "Kingdom Hearts...Xehanort, my other half, told me to gather an allegiance of allies from world's whom of which host the Princesses of Heart."

"Unfortunately, we don't know for sure that each world even has a princess," murmured Sitka.

"But, I have met a young boy the other day with a strong heart...And I could sense he had a strong connection to a Princess of Heart," inquired Ansem.

That must mean Ansem met Sora in the beginning of the game, when Sora went to look for mushrooms in his usual spot.

"So, you have found a lead," Oogie smiled. "Ooh, that just makes my back crawl with termites!"

Ew, disgusting! If I wasn't so glad to hear about Sora, I'd probably get sick! Oogie was the most precarious villain I have ever met. Sure, he was funny, but he had a bold sense of humor. It wasn't necessarily all that humorous, in my opinion.

"Then we can't waste anymore time," laughed Ursula.

"What do you think, Master Ansem?" asked Maleficent. "After all, this is your plan..."

Ansem's hood faced my direction, and I bit my lip. I'm sure if he had a face, he'd be glaring at me. Fortunately, he turned back to the group. "I agree with Ursula. We need to get this plan on the move...So, tonight, I will visit the Destiny Islands and find the Princess, along with Sitka."

Tonight?! That means...that must mean Sora will be starting his journey! I felt a large strain of relief course through me, I couldn't even begin to explain how excited I was.

Although, I wasn't happy about the part of Sora losing his home. I was just happy to know he would be coming.

I know for a fact he will.

"Very well...We will prepare for the Princess's arrival," said Jafar grimly.

The meeting continued over senseless Kingdom Hearts stuff that was starting to bore me. Hades even suggested we incinerate every world to a crisp, but that idea was very quickly shot down.

No one asked me to get them any food, but did have me shoo the heartless away from the meeting table. I chased many of those heartless off with a broom and started wacking them when they didn't obey. The broom didn't hurt the heartless, but managed to scare them off.

I don't get why I have to get rid of the heartless when this entire table has control over heartless...Minus Sitka, and myself, anyway.

When the meeting finally ended, the group disbanded, and I scurried over to Hades.

"I did everything you asked. Can I have my charger?" I asked hurriedly.

My iPhone was at a striking 1%. The singular digit that was mocking me, telling me that it was going to die on me.

"I don't know, can you?" joked Hades.

I sighed, and staggered. I've been down this road before. "May I have my charger?"

"That's not proper enough," he dangled it over my head.

I gritted my teeth. "May I please have my iPhone battery charger, Lord Hades?"

"Nope. You gotta beg," laughed Hades.

"Forget it!" I stomped away. I had more dignity than that. Of course he wouldn't give me my dang charger. I knew he wouldn't return it.

I'm sure Hades liked playing games, but I didn't very much.

I returned to my room, and messed with my dead iPhone. It was no good. I murmured various things like Stupid Hades, stupid Kingdom Hearts.

When I sat on my bed, I started contemplating various things. It was all originally wrote down on my iPhone, but I could no longer access those notes.

Okay, there was something suspicious about Sitka. She wasn't in the game when I played it. She seems to be working for Ansem, but didn't seem to be upset about it. She wasn't like Naminé at all.

What did she do that was so bad that Victor, Hugo, and Larvene were going to tell me about?

What was in the library? Sure, I hated reading as much as the next person, but no one was allowed inside. Was Ansem keeping something hidden in there?

Maybe, like Sitka said, he and Maleficent are writing secret love letters to each other. I snickered. I mean, I could definitely see it. Gross.

How was I going to bust out? I know that I could wait for Sora, but I also need to try to find a way out for myself.

Who knows what they will do to me once the time comes? I was probably going to die if I stayed here long enough. I knew they didn't just let me be held captive for no reason. I didn't even know if waiting for Sora would be an option.

I shook my head, and smiled. I just had to look at the bright side, that's all.

I guessed that when Riku would come, I couldn't get his help. I can't risk trusting him. He will be working for Ansem.

Actually, I wonder how its going out there at the Destiny Islands...

-*-*- Riku's POV, Third Person -*-*-

Later on that night, at the Papou Tree in Destiny Islands, a storm was brewing significantly and dangerously. Riku was disapproving of the two newcomers, both of whom had mysteriously arrived.

"Who are you, and what did you do with Kairi?!" Riku held up a wooden sword, although he was pretty certain that wouldn't affect his opponent. He tried fighting off heartless with it, but to no avail.

"I understand you want to see other worlds," explained Ansem. "I can give you that power. You, and your friends can all come."

"You mean...Kairi and Sora?" Riku withdrew his sword, mystified. He had a distrustful expression.

Riku wondered why this man would make such an offer. Was it possible that he could see into his heart, and the darkest of his desires.

"Yes, of course," approached a girl in her usual dark veil. "You will be able to see all worlds, and travel new heights you have never seen before."

Ansem, if he had a body, would have smiled at the persuasion of his silver-eyed assistant.

Riku looked away solemnly. He smirked, finding the idea appealing. "What's the deal?"

Sure, even though these strangers were new, they made a decent offer. Who could turn down a free ticket out of this remote wasteland of an island? The least he could do was hear them out.

"These heartless need someone to orchestrate them-to lead them," the female pulled the black veil off of her face, and met Riku's gaze. "And when you travel to different worlds, different dangers will brew. You need to defend yourself...and also your friends too, right?"

Riku looked bitterly at the the female with the veil. She looked lifeless and dark. At night, she resembled a nightingale raven.

"You mean...accept the power of darkness..." muttered Riku, staring at his feet now. He considered the offer. The thunder grew louder with Ansem's patience quickly dwindling.

"It's your choice, Riku..." Ansem stated to approach the boy, but stopped when Riku suddenly drew his wooden sword at him.

"That sword is ineffective..." said Sitka slowly, the wind swaying her veil left to right. "If you would want a proper sword to keep these heartless at bay, you would need come with us."

"Come to our castle to consider our deal...Your friend...Kairi, is it? She will be waiting at our castle," Ansem opened a shady dark portal.

Riku gritted his teeth. He was now angered, and was prepared to kill. "What did you do with her?!"

Riku didn't care as much about his best friend Sora as he did Kairi. He knew Sora wasn't stupid...er, well, not stupid enough to get himself killed, at least. Kairi, on the other hand...

When Ansem didn't answer the question, the silver-eyed assistant looked his direction. Ansem nodded, and she nodded in return. She flushed herself into said portal. Ansem stood at the threshold of the corridor, and glanced at an angry Riku.

"Our offer still stands..." suggested Ansem.

Riku, feeling completely doubtless, consented to the figure angrily. But one thought clearly crossed his mind.

"Fine. Let me tell Sora that the door has opened, first."

A/N: Oh, Gosh! It looks like I am starting to reveal more of the truth about Sitka than I should be :3!

Look, it's a bird...it's a plane...NO, it's the plot, finally getting its butt into the story XD

And I'm sorry about the statues from the Hunchback of Notre Dame XD I just thought it would be cool and suitable for Sayla's situation.

Oh, no D: Sayla didn't get her iPhone charger! *spontaneously bursts into tears*

What will Riku do when he finds out that the dark forces are holding Kairi captive?

And what more when he finds out that a certain servant somehow knows Sora and Kairi?

Heehee :3 You shall have your answers soon, ma readers XD

Review for a cookie :D (::)! It's chocolate chip ^w^ And Chocolate Chip is the best XD

So be sure to Review/Favorite/Follow and stuff, and stay tuned :D!