Riku was not all that surprised when Sora and his yellow cat burst through the door to his library, but he put on a perfunctory frown just the same. He was lounging, feet-up on the couch reading a book, and didn't bother to sit up as Sora landed in the seat across from him. Roxas settled in a cushioned chair in the far corner of the room and proceeded to nap.
"Whacha readin'?" Sora asked, nodding to the book in Riku's hands.
"Nothing your simple mind would be able to understand, I'm sure," he drawled as he turned the page.
"Is it about tran-sen-dental-ism?" Sora asked, pronouncing the word slowly and deliberately. "Because I can never understand what the heck that stuff is about. Aerith is always trying to explain it to me, but I just don't get it."
Riku raised an eyebrow at him, and the corner of his mouth curved traitorously into a half-smile. "No, it's not about Transcendentalism," he said, a ghost of a chuckle in his voice. "It's a novella about a man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant, disgusting bug. And his family hates him and wishes he was dead because he's such a terrible burden to take care of. Eventually he dies, and then everyone is happy."
"That's how it ends?"
"Yes. It's one of my favorites."
"Why does he turn into a bug?"
"There's no explanation for that. It's sort of beside the point, anyway."
"And that's your favorite book?" Sora asked dubiously.
"One of them, yes," Riku scowled, irritated with Sora's tone. "Why, what's yours?"
Sora shrugged. "I don't know. But one time I read this book about a girl who goes to this crazy world and makes friends with a lot of crazy creatures, and she has to fight this evil witch who's after her magic shoes."
"Very intellectual, I'm sure." Riku rolled his eyes.
"I liked it," Sora said, bouncing slightly in his chair. "In one part, a house falls on this other witch. A house! Those don't usually fall on people."
Roxas made a huffing sound from the corner. When Sora looked over, Roxas gave him a pointed look and flicked his tail impatiently.
"Oh, right! I got distracted! We need to talk about this shadow monster business!" Sora exclaimed.
"I'm listening," Riku yawned. Though he didn't seem to be listening, absorbed with his book as he was. But Sora was not deterred.
"So," he began, launching off as if he had been saving all of his words for this precise moment. "I figure since you're the one who's being attacked and I'm the one who knows about it, we're the ones who have to stop all the bad things from happening. If we don't, you'll turn into a gross gooey monster like the Nothing Man and everyone will die. So we have to stop the bad guy, but I don't really know how to do that. What do you think?"
Riku raised an eyebrow at him, for Sora had said the whole speech in a single breath, which was at least slightly impressive. He placed a thin ribbon to mark his place in his book before closing it and setting it aside.
"You know, you still haven't told me who this supposed bad guy is," he said. He stretched out on the couch, working out a few kinks in his back.
"Oh right, I forgot cuz you had to leave. It's that no-eyebrows guy, Xehanort."
Riku balked and sat up. "Xehanort? As in my uncle's adviser, Xehanort?"
"Who else do you know with no eyebrows?"
"That's hardly his most defining feature," Riku scoffed. "I would have said it's his dumb goblin-ears."
Sora considered this. "I suppose his ears are pretty weird, too."
"Of course they are," Riku said smugly. Then he blinked, realizing that he had gotten off track. "So Xehanort is stealing away my soul with shadows?" He thought through all the interactions he'd ever had with the man, sifting through every memory of his menacing demeanor, his dark sneer of a smile, all the times he had seemed to go out of his way to hassle Riku.
"That's... actually not all that surprising, I guess," he concluded. "If I had to pick one person who I thought likely to be an evil soul-stealing city-destroyer, it would definitely be Xehanort. It's the pointy-ear thing, I guess."
"It's the no-eyebrow thing," Sora insisted. "Like, his face isn't complete! How do you know if he is frowning or sad or surprised?"
"Having pointy ears is definitely more evil-looking than having no eyebrows. But that's beside the point!" Riku's eyebrow twitched slightly, though it was more out of irritation at being contradicted than at getting off track again.
"I want you to tell me exactly what the Nothing Man told you about this curse and about Xehanort," Riku demanded. "And try to have your explanation make actual sense. It might be difficult for you because clearly you like to ramble, but my life is at stake here. I need to know exactly what is going on."
And so Sora set down explaining everything that he had learned from the Nothing Man in detail. It was a long and very involved explanation, as Sora tended to get off track, and Riku asked enough interrogative questions to tire out a lesser interviewee, but Sora, as energetic as a rubber ball, answered everything to the best of his ability. Eventually, Riku was satisfied with his information and leaned back in his seat with a troubled sigh.
"One would think my uncle would have done a better background check on this guy before hiring him as a political adviser," Riku said. "I mean, even without knowing he was a psychotic shadow mage, every city he works for meets a violent and bloody demise. Not exactly a good resume."
"Maybe he interviews well," guessed Sora.
A grin appeared on Riku's lips, but was quickly suppressed.
"So what do you think we should do?" Sora asked.
"We have to find a way to keep the shadows from destroying my heart. That's number one, I think. Because if they don't destroy my heart, then Xehanort's plans are immediately foiled. And besides... I feel violated. It's not right." Riku gave a disturbed shudder at the memory of shadow claws on his skin.
"And how should we do that?"
Riku considered this. "I can slow them down with a blockade of ice, but they always manage to get through, eventually. But we know it is possible to outrun them, as you have clearly demonstrated."
"I've got it!" Sora exclaimed. "Why don't you stay with me?"
"Why would I do that?"
"If you stick with me, we can get on my bike and outrun them again if they try to come after you!"
"No," was Riku's flat response.
"Why not? What's wrong with that plan?"
"Once again, you are jumping to the most extreme conclusion. Let's think of something else."
"It's not extreme. You need to outrun the monsters and I'm the only one who can outrun them. It'll be fun! Like a sleepover!"
"No. I have my lessons to go to and exams to study for and all kinds of family obligations to keep. I can't just drop everything and stay with you for some undetermined amount of time. Besides, my uncle would hardly let me leave the mansion to live with some commoner."
"But it wouldn't be all the time, just at night. You'd still have the rest of the day to do all your other stuff."
"How about we keep coming up with other ideas," Riku said, massaging his temple in exasperation. "We'll brain-storm for a bit. And once we have come up with every possible plan, we can pick from them."
"Okay... well what if you learned to ride a bike really fast like me?" Sora tried again. "Then you could get away from the monsters on your own. I could teach you how!"
Riku gave him a look clearly expressing how he felt about that idea. As if he would ever subject himself to something as childish and unsophisticated as riding a bike. And with that established, he moved on.
"I should probably just talk to Mr. Eraqus about it. He might know some kind of protective spell that could keep them away." He made a sour face at this, however, as if it was a last resort that he did not relish in taking.
"Are there really spells like that?" Sora's eyes widened with excitement. "Magic is so weird!"
Riku slouched in his seat. "I probably should have just gone to him when this all started."
"So why didn't you?"
Riku tugged on a lock of his long hair absently. "I just thought it was a part of my other curse, how was I supposed to know it would turn out to be so bad? It was just kind of strange at first. Maybe a tiny bit scary — to most people, I mean. I wasn't really that afraid of them — but they didn't seem to actually be doing anything that I could tell. Besides... I just... didn't feel like talking about it."
"Are you going to tell your uncle? If his adviser is a crazy person trying to kill everyone in the city, he should probably know about it, right?"
"He wouldn't believe me. He never listens anyway. And if I told him, Xehanort would to find out. Then he'll know we know about him, and who knows what he'll do then. He might change his plan or do something worse." He shook his head firmly. "No, I don't think I'll tell Sephiroth. Mr. Eraqus might be enough."
"So that's our plan, then? Tell your teacher about it?"
"I mean, I can always do some research. There must be something written about shadow magic somewhere."
"What about me?" Sora asked.
"What about you?"
"What should I do? To help with the plan, I mean."
Riku shrugged. "You can go back to your life, I guess. This doesn't really concern you."
"Of course it concerns me!" Sora frowned. "This city is my home and I want to protect it!"
"I'm not sure how much help a delivery boy can be in a situation like this," Riku shrugged.
Sora's frown deepened.
"I mean," Riku faltered at Sora's expression, "not that you haven't been helpful so far. I didn't mean to offend you. I just meant that this is a pretty serious magical curse and I'm not sure your talents are... applicable here."
Roxas gave a loud snort from his spot in the corner, and both boys turned to look at him. Roxas only flicked his tail and feigned sleep.
"So what do you want to do now?" Sora asked after a moment, apparently brushing aside the belittlement of his qualifications.
"I was going to go back to reading my book. I suppose you can go off and do whatever it is you typically do."
"Why don't we go get ice cream?"
"Why would I do that?" Riku scoffed. "If I wanted to, I could get someone to bring me ice cream right here. I don't have to go anywhere."
Sora's face lit up. "Can you really do that? That's so cool! Let's have someone bring us ice cream!" he said in awe.
And so, as a show of his amazing power, Riku called for a maid by tugging on a cord with a brass loop hanging from the wall. A minute later, a maid appeared in the doorway with a slight bow. With a start, Sora realized it was Namine. Up close, Sora noticed that she seemed very tired, as if she had not slept in days. He and Roxas exchanged a look.
Her eyes swept the room, resting curiously on the cat in the corner. She gave Sora an odd look as well, but Sora figured that to be the same surprise that everyone seemed to have at discovering Riku willingly interact with a guest. She accepted their request for ice cream quietly before disappearing again.
"Hey Riku, have you noticed anything weird about Namine?" he asked.
"Who?"
"Namine, the maid who was just here."
Riku stretched out on the couch. "How am I supposed to keep track of all the servants around here?" he yawned.
But when the ice cream arrived, all concerns were pushed from Sora's mind. Roxas scampered over from his spot on the chair and dug into his bowl with gusto, and Sora nearly attacked his. Riku watched the two of them demolish their dessert, on the brink of being appalled. He could afford to eat his ice cream slowly, however, thanks to a bit of ice magic keeping his bowl cold.
It was then Riku realized Sora had tricked him into eating ice cream with him. The strangest part was that Riku wasn't sure he minded.
Sora was halfway through making his deliveries the next day when Roxas made a sudden strangled noise from his basket seat.
"Quick, turn around!" he hissed, his tail puffed up with alarm.
"Huh? Why? I have to go this way for the next stop."
"Find another way! Quick, before he sees us!"
Sora noticed Axel up ahead, juggling balls of fire in front of a group of captivated children while Demyx strummed his sitar and called for donations.
"What, you don't want to talk to Axel?"
"No I don't want to talk to him! Of course I don't! Turn around, he'll see us!"
But Axel had already looked up and noticed their approach. His eyes widened when he saw them, and he nearly dropped the fireballs he had been juggling in his distraction. But with a quick save, he caught them all in one hand while the children cheered. Demyx gave him a confused look at the sudden interruption of the show.
"Hey!" Axel called after them, waving an arm. "Sora! Roxas, wait! Hey wait!" He started forward.
But Sora had already changed their course and was riding away. "Sorry!" he called back over his shoulder. "He doesn't want to talk to you!" They rounded a corner and left the mage show and a confused Axel behind.
"That was close," Roxas breathed, relieved.
"So, are you just going to avoid him forever because he knows you're not really a cat?" There was a trace of disapproval in his tone.
"Not forever. I mean, he's a traveling street performer, he's bound to leave the city eventually. I'll just avoid him until then. Shouldn't be too hard."
Sora's silence was palpable, and Roxas turned a sharp eye on him.
"What?" he snapped.
"Running away from your problems never works."
"I'm not running away from my problems, I'm running away from him," Roxas shot back, gritting his sharp teeth.
"Yeah, but..."
"But what? I don't have to talk to him. And why should I? Since when do I owe him anything?" Roxas growled.
"But still. I mean, he's not bad. He's just concerned about you."
"Well he can just mind his own business. And so can you!"
Sora swallowed his objections to avoid upsetting Roxas further. A delivery ride was not a good time to deal with one of Roxas' foul moods. So Sora said nothing. The resulting silence was heavy and uncomfortable.
Roxas hunched unhappily in the basket and made himself as small as possible. He stayed quiet while Sora made his deliveries, stewing in his own anger.
It dissipated after a moment, and guilt washed over him in its wake. How could he ever be mad at Sora, after all Sora had done for him?
Roxas knew he was difficult to deal with. He always seemed on the verge of a sulky rage, and any wrong lean could have him lashing out in sudden, unpredictable anger. Sometimes he felt as if there were two of him; A calm, intelligent Roxas—the real him—and an irrational, hateful Roxas, an impostor who would burst in and take over while the real Roxas could do nothing to stop it.
He wanted to apologize to Sora for snapping at him. But heavy silences have a way of making apologies difficult, so he said nothing. He felt selfish and mean, and helpless to stop himself from being so.
They rode through the city in silence, stopping here and there to unload packages, while Roxas felt increasingly worse. Now the small almost-argument had become blown and exaggerated in his head; He was convinced that he'd said something terrible, that he could never be forgiven, that Sora was furious with him.
Roxas was embroiled in such self-induced agony that he flinched in surprise when a small, fish-shaped cat treat was placed in front of him. He looked up to see Sora, his face kind and smiling, having just returned from delivering a package.
"Miss Elena had a treat to give you," Sora explained, amused at Roxas' reaction.
"Oh. Thanks." Roxas accepted it meekly, trying to apologize with his expression and tone without actually saying the words. Sora seemed to understand, and his smile softened. He scratched behind Roxas' ear before mounting his bike and setting off.
Sora wasn't mad at him. Of course he wasn't. Sora never got mad about things like that. Suddenly Roxas felt quite silly. He was always building up things like that in his head, stressing over minor situations, caught up in his own overwhelming emotions, even if they didn't have a logical explanation. How many times had he convinced himself that he had done something to make Sora furious enough to never want to talk to him again, only to find that Sora had already forgotten all about it?
The bike made a sharp turn, and Roxas scrambled to catch his treat before it flew out of the basket.
"Hey, do you want to visit Riku later?" Sora asked.
Roxas looked up at him. "You certainly are visiting Riku a lot, aren't you?" he said, almost slyly.
Sora shrugged. "I like him. Plus, he can have people bring us ice cream!"
"That is a very important quality to have," Roxas agreed wholeheartedly.
As soon as Sora dropped off the list of receipt signatures with Cloud, he and Roxas set off once again to the mansion on the hill. They went through the same hidden hole in the fence and snuck past a few butlers up to Riku's library. They found him hunched over the low table, scribbling away in a notebook with several large books open in front of him. A tray bearing an elegant teapot, matching cups, and a small plate of puffy, golden-brown biscuits sat within his reach. The phonograph was on again, playing more melancholy piano music.
Riku barely looked up as they stepped inside. "I've got a lot of homework to do, so I can't really hang out today," he said. He put down his pen and picked up the teacup, taking a sip as he examined a page of one of the books.
"Boo! Homework is boring!" Sora declared as he plopped down in the seat that was fast becoming his usual spot. Roxas jumped into his lap and curled up.
"Tell me about it!" Riku groaned. "I mean, when am I ever going to use trigonometry in life, anyway?"
"I dunno, I never studied that."
"You're lucky you don't have to do homework," he said, scowling over his teacup at the mess of papers before him.
"Hey, what kind of tea is that?"
Riku blinked, surprised, and looked down into his cup as if just noticing it. "What do you mean what kind of tea? It's tea. Black tea. I don't understand."
"And you're eating biscuits too?"
Riku looked at the plate of pastries, baffled. "Well, yes," he admitted.
"Does the tea go well with the biscuits?"
"What kind of questions are these?"
Sora shrugged. "Just curious," was all he offered.
"Whatever." Riku rolled his eyes and returned to his notebook. He had no time to waste being confused by Sora's weirdness.
"Oh hey, by the way!" Sora interrupted again.
"What?" Riku sighed, annoyed.
"Did you know that you have this big hole in your fence? Hidden in the bushes. Roxas and I were wondering about it. The bars are broken all weird, not like they were bent or cut or anything. Do you think it has something to do with Xehanort?"
"Oh, that. No, there's no need to worry about that. I made it."
"You did? How? Why?"
Riku set down his teacup and flipped through the pages of his book. "I just didn't feel like having to talk to the gate man every time I wanted to go in and out of the mansion. It's too much trouble, and he's too annoying. Sometimes he doesn't let me out, and if I came back late, he would always scold me like I was a kid or something. I made it so I could come and go as I pleased without having to get anyone's approval. It wasn't hard. I just froze the bars until they were brittle enough to break." He looked up and gave Sora a particularly self-pleased smile. "I kicked them, and they just shattered everywhere. It was pretty cool."
Sora was thoroughly impressed.
"So did you tell teacher guy about the monsters yet?" Sora asked.
"Hm? Oh, Mr. Erqaus." Riku frowned at the table in front of him. "Yeah, I told him."
"And? Did he come up with cool spells?"
Riku tugged on a lock of hair and leaned back in his seat. "He didn't believe me. He said I was being anti-social and told me to try to get along better with Xehanort."
"Lame."
"Very lame," he agreed. "I was sure he would help. But he's so by-the-book, so anything new or strange is either impossible or scandalous to him. Since he's never heard of it before, he doesn't believe it exists. I mean, he's a great teacher, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I wish he was just a little more open-minded."
"So I guess we're on our own again, huh?"
"Seems that way," Riku sighed. "I'll just have to try to research it then, see if I can find some spells to counteract the monsters on my own."
"You won't find much, I'm afraid," said a soft voice suddenly from the doorway. "At least, not in any libraries in Nomura."
The two boys and the cat whipped around in their seats to find Namine quietly closing the door behind her.
"Excuse me?" snapped Riku. "I don't remember calling anyone. We don't need anything from you."
"On the contrary Riku, there are many things you need from me," she said simply, looking him dead in the eye. "Because I know how you can stop Xehanort."
That shut Riku up instantly, and his eyes widened. Sora and Roxas tensed, confused and wary.
"What did you say?" Riku frowned.
"Xehanort and his shadow monsters, the ones he's using to destroy your heart. I know how to stop them." When the boys continued to gape at her, she smiled to herself and stepped into the room. "I heard everything yesterday. There's no need to look so confused about it."
"You were eavesdropping on us?" said Riku, outraged.
Namine gave a light shrug, unconcerned. "It's not like it was difficult. Security in the Jenova manor is a lot more relaxed than I would have expected. But no matter. We want the same thing after all. To see Xehanort defeated." She took a seat with her ankles crossed and hands clasped neatly in her lap and gave them a cool look.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Riku snarled, narrowed eyes flashing angrily. "Why would…" He stopped suddenly, and his eyes narrowed. "You're not a maid, are you?"
Namine lowered her eyes and smiled demurely.
Sora gasped. "So you were mysterious after all! Kairi was right!"
Riku braced his hands on his knees and leaned forward with a cold glare while the room seemed to drop several degrees in temperature. "Just who are you, exactly?" he growled.
"My my, how very frightening you are," Namine said dryly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
"Shut up! Tell me who you are and what you're doing here!"
"Such contradictory demands," she said with a small grin. "Do you want me to tell you or do you want me to shut up?"
"You know what I mean!" Riku snapped, pale cheeks giving way to a light blush.
Namine chuckled.
Riku glared. Sora shifted in his seat, looking between them cautiously, and Roxas was hunched with his ears flattened. But the tense moment was shattered when the door slammed open. Kairi stood in the doorway, eyes wild as she pointed an accusing finger at Namine.
"She's a spy!" Kairi exclaimed.
"A spy?" Sora gasped.
"Is every maid going to burst in here uninvited today?" Riku growled.
Kairi saw Riku's glowering face and gave a startled 'ak!' She immediately fell into a deep bow. "Please forgive me Sir. But I have reason to believe that this girl is a spy from Alexandria!" She rose to give Namine a contemptuous look.
"Ah, so it seems someone was onto me after all," was all Namine had to say on the matter.
"So you don't deny it!" cried Kairi.
"I do not."
"Woah! Kairi, you were right! She was suspicious!" Sora said, wondrously impressed.
"I know! No one believed me, but I was totally right!" Kairi glowed with pride, hands on her hips.
"Alexandria, huh?" Riku said, examining Namine darkly. "Those devious bastards. I should tell my uncle right now and have you locked up for the rest of your worthless life."
Namine was not nearly as intimidated by this as she could have been. "And where would that get you, hm?" she said sharply. "You get your reason to attack my people and start a war. Meanwhile, Xehanort slowly steals your soul and destroys every person in both of our cities. All outing me will get you is death and destruction."
Riku narrowed his eyes and said nothing.
"Aren't you the one trying to start a war?" accused Kairi. She pulled up a chair next to Sora and took a seat, eyes bright with excitement. "You're the one spying on us, you know! How do you explain that, Namine—if that is your real name!"
Namine sniffed dismissively. "Of course that's what an arrogant Nomuran would believe. It would never occur to you that not everyone was out for your blood. But I'll have you know that I was sent here to prevent a war, not start one."
"Prevent one, huh?" said Sora, nodding thoughtfully. "Oh I see. Well that's fine, then."
"It is not fine! Don't go deciding things like that!" snapped Kairi.
"What do you mean, you're here to prevent war?" insisted Riku.
Namine pursed her lips. "Wouldn't you rather hear what I have to say about Xehanort? I'd say that's the most important thing here."
"I want to hear both. But I can't trust you if I don't know why you are here. And if I can't trust you, then I can't believe whatever it is you have to say about him, so there wouldn't be a point."
She gave him a long look, but Riku held his ground.
"Fair enough," she said at last. She gave a soft sigh and looked down into her lap where her hand had started fiddling with the hem of her apron. "There have been rumors running throughout Alexandria about how Nomura is developing and stocking up more and more weapons. How Nomura is slowly trying to take control of the neutral villages surrounding Alexandria. Making deals with the mining companies working near our borders. Bullying Alexandrian merchants and setting up tariffs against us. Some say that an attack is bound to happen soon, and others say that these things are already an attack enough. And most believe that violence is only inevitable." She bit her lip and looked up at them fiercely.
"But my people do not want war." Her hands balled into fists, gripping her skirt tightly. "We have nothing to gain by that. And Lady Garnet is trying her best to preserve peace and calm her citizens, but it is not easy. They are afraid. And a frightened group of people is a dangerous thing, especially in large numbers.
"And so My Lady sent me here, to discover which rumors were true and to find out the reasons behind Nomura's actions. To prepare and defend ourselves, and to find better ways to negotiate with you. If I could find out what your government was after, then perhaps we could find a way to convince you to stop your aggression toward us."
"Garnet? I thought Brahn was the noble who ruled over Alexandria," said Kairi.
"She is. But her daughter, Lady Garnet, is just as involved in the well-being of our city as her mother. She is a kind and fair young woman, and since she has come of age, My Lady has proven herself quite worthy of being our ruler," Namine said, swelling with pride and admiration.
"So you hate Brahn, huh?" said Sora.
"Wh-what? I said no such a thing!" Namine stammered, face slightly flushed. "I would never never say something like that! Lady Brahn may be a bit rash and perhaps more uncouth than might be desired—but she is still our noble ruler and—"
"Yeah yeah, cut the crap," Riku interrupted. "So you hate that old hag just like the rest of us. Who cares?" Namine broke into a flurry of protests, but Riku ignored them. "The important thing here is why you say Nomura is out to destroy you, when Alexandria is clearly the one out to get us. You're the ones taking over mines and trade routes and villages. And hasn't Alexandria started drafting mages into your army?"
"If we have, it's only in defense from you!"
"We're the ones defending ourselves from you!" he shot back.
"And that seems to be the trouble, doesn't it?" Namine said, her anger melting into concern. "That's what I've learned since I got here. The same rumors everyone is frightened of back home are shaking up the people here, too, only reversed."
"So if we are both only defending ourselves from each other, how did any of this start?" asked Kairi.
"I believe that's where Xehanort comes in," she answered. "You may not know of him in this city, but that does not mean he is unknown in other parts of the world. I believe that he has used his power and influence to plant these rumors in both cities, trying to force us into war for his own twisted ends. He is a monster who thrives off the chaos he creates and the pain he inflicts. Some say that he is over a hundred years old, and that every few decades he reinvents himself with the power he steals from others. The number of cities he has destroyed is unknowable. But he has not been in this part of the world very long. So he is able to operate easily, since no one knows what he really is."
Kairi leaned over in her chair to whisper in Sora's ear. "Xehanort, Sephiroth's advisor? He's evil after all?" she asked.
"Yeah, super evil. I'll tell you about it later."
Kairi nodded and returned her attention to Namine.
"So how do you know about him, then, if he's so anonymous?" Riku asked.
"I may have been born in Alexandria, but I have traveled widely in order to further my education. Not that there's anything wrong with a purely Alexandrian education, of course. But travel is an important part of learning different perspectives. You really do develop as a person that way. I highly recommend it!"
"This isn't the time to advertise! Get on with your explanation!"
"Right! Anyway, for a while I was living in a town called Mysidia, where I came across several of Xehanort's victims in the hospital where I worked for a bit. They had just barely managed to escape from the nearby city of Damcyan, which had been torn apart by a vicious civil war only a few months before I arrived. We learned from them how Xehanort had infiltrated, masquerading as a political adviser, and how he'd found a way to fill the hearts of the people with so much darkness that they turned on each other. Brother against brother, friend against friend. The city was completely destroyed.
"The survivors did not recover. Xehanort has gone unknown for so long because his victims never survive—not for long, anyway, and so there isn't anyone to expose him. Though the doctors tried their best, all the survivors of the Damcyan civil war eventually succumbed to madness or committed suicide. Their hearts had been so tainted by darkness that they could not endure it." Her knuckled whitened. "It was a painful thing. And I wish never to witness anything like it ever again." Her voice was soft enough to be a whisper, and her audience leaned forward to better hear her. She swallowed thickly and composed herself.
"A well-known mage scholar by the name of Yen Sid—perhaps you've heard of him? He was in Mysidia at the time, and revealed that he knew how to stop such terrible magic. By then, of course, it was too late. The damage had been done."
"So how do we stop him?" Riku urged impatiently.
"Well, I may be a bit fuzzy on the details and I certainly don't know the magic theory behind it, but the only way to stop Xehanort is to use a sword made with light and love, forged by a powerful mage."
"A what?" asked Riku, Sora, and Kairi with equal confusion.
"A sword made of light and love."
"How can a sword be made out of something intangible like that?" asked Kairi.
Namine shrugged. "A mage bladesmith uses light and love to forge a sword, and only that can defeat shadow magic like Xehanort's. It made more sense when Yen Sid said it, I guess. I'm not sure I can explain it better than that."
Riku scowled and leaned back in his seat. "Why did you sneak up in here, acting like you've got all kinds of valuable information about how to defeat Xehanort, when really you don't know any better than we do? You're wasting my time with this useless stuff."
"It is not useless! These things exist, I'm telling you!"
"Then where do we get one?"
"Well… I'm not really sure…" she admitted, biting her lip.
"See? Useless."
Namine fumed, offended, but Riku had picked up one of his textbooks and was wasn't paying her any attention.
"Now if you all don't mind, I have quite a bit of homework to do," he said, flipping through the pages. "So if you could all leave, that would be—"
"So Kairi, how did you find out Namine was a spy from Alexandria?" Sora broke in.
He didn't seem to notice Riku's outraged look at being interrupted. Roxas did, however, and smirked mockingly at him, which had Riku blinking in confusion. Did a cat just smirk at him?
"Yes, I am quite interested as well. I thought I had all my bases covered. How did you find out?" asked Namine.
"Well, if you must know," Kairi began with pride, "I've had my suspicions for a while. And earlier today, I snuck into your room, where I found a number of incriminating notebooks with observations about the nobles and letters from your Lady Garnet."
"You snuck into my room?" Namine asked, alarmed.
"Sorry about that, I realize what an invasion of privacy that is—Wait, I'm not sorry! You're a spy! Why should I care?"
"You went spying without me? No fair!" Sora whined.
"It couldn't be helped," Kairi shrugged. "You weren't around." She turned to Namine with an eager expression "So how did you do it? How did you make us think you were a maid who worked here for years?"
"I suppose I might as well tell you. You found out the most important part, anyway." She sat up straighter in her seat. "I am Special Agent Namine, an operative for the Alexandrian military. I'm a mage with a specialty in memory manipulation. I supplanted myself in the memories of the workers here, a subtle, yet widespread spell, to help me blend in while I accomplished my information-gathering mission."
"Hah! I knew it!" Kairi cried in jubilation. "I knew something was weird about the memories! Of course, a mage might manipulate memories, that makes so much sense!"
"Wait a minute," said Riku, having apparently abandoned his efforts to finish his homework. "You messed with my memories?"
"Oh hush," scolded Namine. "I didn't do anything to you. Most nobles hardly notice the people working for them, so I didn't bother with you."
Riku relaxed only slightly.
"So where does the fake memory stop and reality begin? How long have you really been here?" Kairi asked.
"Four weeks and two days exactly," she answered. She looked at Sora. "By the way, who are you? You aren't a servant and you aren't a noble. What are you doing here? You've had me puzzled for days."
"I'm Sora! And this is Roxas."
"Ah, yes, I met him yesterday. So he's your cat, then?"
"Something like that."
"You know, I should still turn you in to my uncle. This spying thing is sketchy, I don't care what your reasons are." Riku was scowling at Namine.
"Oh, come on, Riku. Don't do that!" said Sora. "She's not so bad! And she'll help us defeat Xehanort!"
"That's right!" Namine agreed. She stood from her seat to give a low bow. "I would be very grateful if you did not turn me in. And I promise that I will do everything I can to stop this evil man from bringing chaos and death to our cities!"
Her sincere appeal was met with slight hesitation, but after a moment, Riku gave in. "Fine," he huffed. "I won't tell anyone. But you have to come up with something better to defeat him with than a love sword."
Namine straightened from her bow with a smile which seemed to relieve some of the tiredness from her eyes. "I will do my best, you can count on me!" She clenched a fist in determination. "I will have to do extensive research on the topic!"
"How exciting!" exclaimed Sora. "A proper group is crucial for a good adventure, everyone knows that!"
"So Sora, are you going to tell me what's going on, or what?" Kairi asked him while Riku and Namine discussed appropriate research libraries. "Whatever it is, it sounds wild, and I am not getting left out of something like that."
