During the night, the area around the Arcology was bathed in a small light that illuminated the area around it only slightly more than the stars themselves did. It would have made entry difficult to obtain unseen, but the only guards were on the entrances facing the small visitor's camp that had been built up just outside, and these only faced one side of the giant base of the tower.

Sam had dropped off Tom and Aaron at the back of the tower and told them to wait for Gary, who'd let them in. Now the two were shivering in the chill night air, having dressed in light clothes made for soundless movement, not warmth.

From above there came the bad impression of an owl, then a rope ladded whipped down to meet them. It was caught before it clattered against the side of the tower, tugged on to test how secure it was, then Aaron started scrambling up it, closely followed by Tom.

Gary helped them in through the window and into a small, deserted office room. The rope ladder was stashed under a desk, then Gary beckoned for Aaron to examine something he'd left there.

"This is where we've got to reach," he whispered, pointing to a room at the top of the tower. "Can you get us there?"

Aaron traced routes on the sheets of paper, flicking between them as his lips moved soundlessly.

"Four times over," he replied eventually. "All risky, but shouldn't be any problem. Follow me."

Twilight Town

Sunset Hill

"They're in," Sam murmured to JJ, who was looking toward the tower in the distance.

"You know where the rendezvous is?" JJ replied just as quietly.

"Both of them. Jack will get Aaron back into town where Fuu will provide an alibi if necessary. Gary will keep his cover inside for tomorrow so he doesn't raise suspicions once the Grandmaster finds out what's happened. Tom will bag the loot, and I'll bring him to you at the Necropolis gates."

"Your bike prepared for travel into the Lanes Between then?"

"Nope, but don't need it. Fuu had the Collective nick an artefact for me that lets us get around as we need – a Star Shard."

"Interesting," JJ nodded, then opened a corridor. "Will meet you at the Necropolis."

"Not that I want to go to the city of the dead," Sam muttered as the corridor closed after him. "But if we're going to open the Pathway..."

Sora's Arcology

182nd floor

South Elevator

"Really, Aaron," Tom muttered. "I thought you didn't need these things."

"They're not watched," he replied. "I can tell that at a glance. Anyway, I'm not climbing some two hundred odd floors just for some oversized key, no matter how much the boss wants it. Quiet now, we're almost there."

The doors hissed open onto a dimly lit corridor. Faint voices could be heard, and occasionally a shadow flickered over a narrow beam of light where one corridor met another, but otherwise it was deserted.

Aaron strode confidently out into the corridor, pausing every time it met another one to listen as he led them into the maze of this floor.

"What's this floor for?" Gary wondered idly.

"Residential," Aaron replied shortly, now listening at the doors as they passed. "This one," he added, then took out a thin metal bar and swiftly picked the lock. It looked like a small, one-room apartment, either unoccupied or its resident was still out at this hour.

A wall panel was removed, revealing a metal duct behind with an access door that was quickly pried loose.

"Grab the climbers," he muttered behind him. "In the bag, green pocket."

The climbers had been one of his many creations, among the few that didn't have issues with them. Part magnetic, part suction powered and all automated with a series of sensors that would engage or disengage the magnets and suction cups as they detected the distance to the duct wall. The innocent seeming gloves were technological marvels.

Aaron slipped his on, turned on a switch on the lamp strapped to his head, then started his ascent without looking back. Gary took the rear, attaching a smaller device to the wall panel that suckered the access door to it so he could slot them into place as he got in.

"How far, Aaron?" Tom called up.

"To the top," the reply echoed down.

"Hope no one turns this thing on," Gary muttered.

"Disabled," Aaron replied, not bothering with any further explanation.

They continued their climb, slowing occasionally whenever Aaron heard sounds outside the duct they were scaling, in case anyone heard the slight sounds of their ascent.

Eventually he stopped entirely, taking one glove off with his teeth so he wouldn't lose either it or his grip, then listened intently at the new access door he'd stopped at. Below him, Gary and Tom waited nervously.

Satisfied there was no threat on the other side, Aaron pulled a screwdriver out of one pocket and used it to wedge the access door off from inside, taking care to preserve most of the seal until he could replace the screwdriver. With the newly freed up hand, he was able to remove the door the rest of the way and slide it aside with barely any sound at all.

He pulled himself carefully out of the ducts and into the narrow space between the ceiling of the rooms below, and the solid slabs above that formed the floor of the next floor, using a heavy support beam to keep him off the unsafe ceiling itself. One foot onto that and they'd come crashing through into whatever room was below – they did not want that.

Aaron paused often to listen or to look about and place where they were, crossing to a perpendicular support beam, then again to the next one over before he finally stopped and turned on the beam.

"This one," he breathed as Tom caught up. "Someone still there. Have to wait."

Tom quickly passed this on to Gary as they waited. Some faint light shone through the ceiling panels beneath them, but not enough to indicate what was going on.

As they waited, sounds seem to grow slightly louder, becoming more evident. There was someone at work, tapping away on one of the Arcology's computer pads no doubt. Occasional creaks suggested the worker was in a chair that tilted back slightly.

"Sora," a girls voice said gently. "It's late. You ought to come to bed."

"In a moment," Sora replied absently. "I've almost caught up with all this."

"It'll still be there in the morning. Let it be."

"But Kairi-" Sora started, then broke off. "Y'know, I'd have a nightmare on my hands if anyone ever found out there was someone who could bend me to their will, Grandmaster or not."

"Good thing it's only me then, isn't it?" Kairi replied slyly.

Something was set down with a light tap, then a door opened and closed. They waited for a little longer just to be sure, then Aaron leaned down on the bar and plucked one of the ceiling panels out of its place, sliding it silently aside to reveal the empty Grandmaster's office below.

One side of the room remained lined with little-used bookcases, in one of the supporting beams the handle of a sword sticking out. The other held Sora's collection of various paraphernalia and photographs taken of him and his friends. Set on a table amongst them was his Kingdom Key.

"That's it," Gary confirmed, looking in. "Exactly as I saw it earlier. Anything between us and it?"

Aaron shook his head. "Looks like our young friend doesn't like security in the same room as him. Get the winch set up, quick. We don't know how long we've got. Sora could come back any moment."

Gary and Aaron worked to get it attached to the underside of the support beam, while Tom worked himself into a harness and ensured he had the bag JJ had provided them with, made of an odd black material that seemed to absorb nearby light.

He slung himself under the beam monkey style, rapidly hooking himself up to the winch. Once Aaron gave him the go ahead he aimed himself for the hole where the panel had been removed and signalled for down, laying flat in the air once past the ceiling.

Aaron had picked a good entry place, he noted on the way down – almost right beside the table itself. Just in reach enough for him to catch it and pull himself over. He knew he didn't dare touch the Keyblade himself without the bag or it would disappear. It wasn't easy to grab the bag, unfold it and then wrap it around his free hand while he held on, but he managed it, then managed to grab the Keyblade in front of him.

It didn't disappear or even react, and neither did anything else. Quickly he made sure the rest of the bag had covered it, letting go of the table to tie a knot in the strings of the top even as he gave the thumbs up to Aaron and Gary above to bring him up.

The bag was handed over to Aaron while he pulled himself back up onto the beam, detaching himself from the harness. Once the panel had been set back in place and all kit returned to the right place, Tom strapped the bag to his back and followed Gary and Aaron, who'd already started back again.

The Necropolis

Outside the main and only gates of the Necropolis, the usual permanent snowstorm was still busily howling. JJ, a man with endless patience, leaned against one of the immense blue double doors, the coating of snow over his shoulders and the hood of his hoodie a mute indication of his ability to remain as inanimate as a statue.

A flash of light would have momentarily blinded anyone who'd had their eyes open, as the snow would have amplified and reflected the light around blindingly. JJ simply waited until the glare faded, then opened his eyes to peer into the snow, absently brushing the snow off him.

Visibility was minimal, but it seemed there was some movement within the blizzard. JJ frowned slightly, disliking this. He also disliked intervening directly unless he had to, but it seemed unlikely Sam and Tom would find their way to him with this.

He extended one hand outward, palm facing where he judged the source of the light to have been. A pulse whipped through the air, silently blasting the snowflakes ahead of it in a kind of shockwave, leaving a clear route behind it. Fresh flakes started to enter that clear zone, but seemingly reluctantly, as if they did not want to be so brutally shoved aside.

Along one side of the still travelling shockwave, two figure emerged that had been caught in the blast of snow ahead of it. They too brushed it off them, taking advantage of the momentary lull in the wake of the shockwave to hurry on to JJ.

Wordlessly, Tom handed over the black bag. Sam simply held back, holding the artefact JJ assumed was the Star Shard she'd mentioned.

He could feel the Kingdom Key inside, and the repressed light of its respective element, confined within the carefully crafted darkness of the bag. Normally light outshone darkness, but this was material woven from purest darkness into material form, this was too much for ordinary light to handle by itself.

JJ took several steps away from the door, indicating they should follow, then untied the bag. He felt around the outside of the bag until he found the Kingdom Key's handle, then took hold and let the bag fall back to reveal the Key itself.

It was pointed toward the large keyhole, far up the giant doors. The Key shuddered in his hand, but he held firm and it emitted the signature beam of light that unlocked the doors, sending them rumbling ponderously open. The Key was quickly hidden back in the bag, this time kept by JJ.

"It begins," he murmured, leading the way into the Necropolis proper.