Chapter Four: Xsirch: Namine

I approached my friends. I had had little sleep, and when I finally dropped off my sleep was filled with dreams of the teen in black with the black keyblade and his little shadow heartless.

"Hey guys…" I said as I approached Hayner, Pence, and Olette, "You aren't gonna believe what happened yesterday…" I placed my hand on Hayner's back to let him know it was me. My hand reached his back-

-and kept going.

My hand went straight through Hayner as if he was a hologram. Hayner and the rest didn't even notice. In fact, after finishing talking with the others, they all walked away, oblivious to my existence. Olette walked right through me, as if I didn't exist.

"So you finally know."

I whirled. There, behind me, was Axel, leaning on a wall. Axel lifted his hand, and a portal of darkness formed.

"You coming?" He asked.

"Axel…" I muttered.

"You remember me?" he said hopefully. "Wait though, I gotta make sure… what was the name of our employer?"

I stayed silent. I certainly did remember this man, but obviously not in the way he hoped.

"Hmph…" the man shook his head sadly. "You really have lost it, haven't you? Sorry, but I gotta do this." He lifted his hands, and a group of white creatures advanced upon me.

Suddenly, time stopped. Axel and his white creatures were frozen in time as well.

"Xsirch!" a voice called from seemingly nowhere. "To the mansion!"

Not having any other idea, anywhere away from this guy Axel seemed like a good idea.

When I arrived at the gates of the mansion, the strange keyblade appeared in my hand again. I noticed a keyhole in the gate. As I pointed my oversized key at it, I saw a beam of light shoot out towards it. The gate opened soundlessly.

A white creature ran at me from behind. Oh no! Time must have restarted! However, before it reached me, a man in a black cloak with its hood up rammed a spiked sword into the face of the white creature. The rest of its group hesitated before attacking him. The man pointed towards the mansion. I understood.

I ran into the mansion. Here, it was quiet. I opened a random door, and found myself in a completely white room. Tacked to the walls were crayon drawings. In the middle of the room was a long white table. At the far end of the room was a girl in a one-piece baby blue dress, with flawless white skin and long blonde hair. She stared into my eyes.

"Hello, Xsirch." She said. I recognized her voice as the voice from when I had been attacked by the white creatures and ended on in the platforms suspended over the abyss. She seemed genuinely happy to see me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Namine." She said. "Nice to meet you."

In the awkward silence, I began looking around at the drawings. One was of a city, with a large building with a pointed top. I looked at the next one. It was of the first girl from the platform, the one with the "Yuffie" headband and the purple eyes.

"Xsirch." Namine started to say something.

"yes Namine?" I answered. Then another drawing caught my eye.

"This is… me?" I asked. "And… Axel's here too."

"You are best friends." Namine explained.

"Very funny." I retorted.

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Namine asked me. "About who you really are?"

"No one knows me better then me."

Namine smiled slightly. "Of course."

"But…" I continued. "I don't get what's been happening lately." I walked to look at another drawing. There, was the teen from the big picture on the platform, the one with the keyblade that I sometimes held. With him was the shadow heartless, and another man in a coat.

"You know these three, don't you?" Namine asked gently.

"Yeah…" I said, as more of my dream from last night came back to me. "Chris, Nudge, and Ansem. They're from that dream."

"About a year ago, some things happened," Namine spoke softly, "And I had to take apart the memories chained together in Chris's heart. But now, I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were. It's taken me a long time… but soon, Chris will be back to his old self again. The process has been affecting you too, Xsirch."

"You mean… the dream?" I asked.

"Yes. You and Chris are connected. And, in order for Chris to become completely whole again, he needs you."

"Me? What for?" I asked.

"You hold half of what he is." She said softly. "He needs you, Xsirch."

"Namine… Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm a witch, with power over Chris's memories and those around him." She said bluntly.

"A witch?" I asked, incredulous.

Namine nodded. "That's what DiZ called me. But, I don't know why I have this power. I just do. I'm not even sure if there's a right way for me to use it."

"Hmm… I can't help you there." I said, attempting to lighten the mood. Namine smiled at that, and we sat there for a long while, staring into each other's eyes.

"It's funny." I said. "Suddenly I feel as if I don't know myself at all." I paused. "I guess I would like to know. What do you know about me, that I don't?"

"You…" Namine seemed pained suddenly. "You were never supposed to exist… Xsirch."

I was stunned. "What? How could you even say such a thing? Even if it were true?"

"I'm sorry." She said. "I guess some things really are better left unsaid."

Suddenly, the figure in black and red burst into the room. "Namine! What is holding things up?" then he espied me. "Go, nobody. Do what you were intended to do."

A dark portal opened at the far end of the room. The man in the black cloak appeared from it.

"DiZ, I can't hold them any longer! There's too many! We have to start it now!" He said.

DiZ nodded, and opened a dark portal. HE grabbed Namine, and started dragging her away.

"Wait!" I called. "Namine!"

"Don't be afraid, Xsirch! You won't disappear! You must merge with Chris, so you can be whole too!" She called. "We will meet again! Even if I don't know its you, and you don't know it's me. We will. I promise." Then she was pulled through, leaving me alone with the figure in the cloak. The man pointed down the hall. I went there. There, at the end of the hall, I found a table, with a strange insignia on it. There were several point also located on it. Suddenly, as if my hand was moving on its own, I connected the dots, and the floor disappeared. I fell through, and I landed in a chamber with a single hallway leading down. I walked down the hallway, and found myself at a bank of computers.

Memories flooded me.

I screamed in fury.