I know this chapter is a day late. Stuff came up. Also, i will be out of town for the next four days. I will try to respond to any reviews, but that all depends on how much i bribe my friend to let me use his Droid. Anyway, this chapter was not what i expected it to be. And for those of you who are not FF VIII die hards, Liberi Fatali is Latin for Children of Fate. I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If i did, Atlantica in KH II would not have sucked. Anyway, here is the chapter. Enjoy. Oh, and remember, they are in Hollow Bastion right now. In the awesome library from KH I. This will be important later.

Chapter 9: Liberi Fatali

Larxene's Reading

Light is any electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye. The color of the light depends on its wavelength, which falls between 380 nm and 780 nm. One very unique feature to light is that it functions as both a particle and a wave for the purpose of physics. Light is the fastest known entity in existence, moving at a constant speed of 299,792,458 metres per second in a vacuum. However, there is one entity that moves just as fast as light: darkness. As Terry Pratchet once wrote, "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

Larxene laughed, a sound that in and of itself would cause physical pain to any who aren't used to it, so it wasn't really that much of a surprise when Xion collapsed to the ground, clutching her head in pain. Her laugh has some odd modulation problems that make feedback on an amp sound like Mozart.

She was laughing because what she had just read made perfect sense, which scared the crap out of her. When she first got the assignment, she was afraid that it would be some sort of over scientificized crap that not even Vexen would be able to decipher. But this she could understand. Hell, it even quoted Discworld, her favorite book series, in the first paragraph. She smiled and continued to read.

Vexen's Reading

Vexen wandered around the library, trying to find any books specifically about the heart and/or hormones. All of the general biology books were worse than useless, over simplifying the specifics for the sake of space and convenience.

Eventually, he found one, buried in the subbasement, surrounded by legions of dust bunnies, hordes of spiders, and a small army of ants. He fought his way to the book, using the steel buckler that he carried around with him to block the occasionally disastrous results of experiments to batter away the creatures and obtain the info he seeked.

After battling his way back to the alcove, he began to read the hard won text.

Authors Note: Unfortunately for us, this text is so filled with technical jargon that even Ansem couldn't read it, so in order to avoid any explosions of the brain, none of that text will be shown here. Basically, what it says is that the physical heart is made out of basically the same substance as the other muscles and that different hormones have different effects. Adrenaline brings about an energetic, hyped up feeling, Endorphins have a very pleasant effect, and are what causes the feelings felt during sex, etc.

The collected Readings of the Mega Group (aka Kairi, Sora, Riku, Xion, and Xemnas)

There are a good deal of links between memories and the heart, the most important of which seems to be hidden memories. A person's most treasured memories are often hid deep within their heart for a variety of reasons, namely to protect them from others and from the person. Thus these memories are often times raw and emotional and completely unedited, not at all softened by the passage of time, as humans have a tendency to edit their memories over the course of time. Whether this is an intentional or a subconscious effort depends on the specific person, though it tends to be more subconscious than not.

The heart seems to connect these memories to certain emotions in order to keep them organized, as well as to insure that the right emotions are being felt for the right person. However, since the memory can be fooled much more easily than the heart, occasionally this system fails. One exceptional case of such is with Subject's S, D, G, and R. Subject S's memories were mostly hidden, with the exception of those memories pertaining to Subject K, in which Subject K was replaced by Subject N. The feelings Subject S had for Subject K were effectively transferred to Subject N. However, a few ghosts of a memory remained imprinted on its heart, and eventually Subject S remembered Subject K.

Subjects D and G also had their memories wiped, though none of them were altered, just wiped. Subject R, however, underwent the most severe trauma. All of the Subject's memories were falsehoods, deceptions, facades. The world in which the Subject found itself was a simulacrum of places it had never been to, yet still remembered. Eventually, its heart and memories were shattered by Subject N during a confrontation with Subject S. After this, the Subject realized the memories it had were fake, that it itself was a fake, yet it still fought on to protect Subject N from my machinations, remembering only its oath to guard Subject N, nothing more.

Apparently, there are some emotions and memories that possess the strength to survive the total annihilation of one's heart and memory. It seems that most of these memories and emotions are linked to promises to loved ones, as Subject S also swore an oath to Subject K.

It also seems that throughout the course of time, the emotional meaning of a memory can change. A memory filled with hatred and anger for a former friend, for example, might turn into bittersweet sorrow as one matures.

One astonishing fact that my research has discovered is that there are a multitude of different worlds out there, with hundreds of thousands more being created every day. Not planets, such as Mercury, Mars, etc., but worlds. Every time a person in an existing world writes a story, makes a movie, or even thinks of a character who hasn't previously existed, a new world is born. Worlds exist in the dimension they are created in and in their own separate dimension simultaneously.

Every time a variation on that original idea is created, a new version of that world is created, almost identical to the original, but with some things changed.

For example, consider J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. For that literary series, there exists a world, inhabited by those characters, along with millions others with magical powers who Rowling didn't write about as well as all of the people who would have lived on Earth during that time period. Now, with every piece of fan fiction or art created, written, or thought up for Harry Potter, a new dimension is created. And for every piece of original literature mentioned in one of those fan fics or pieces of literature, another world is created as well. However, all of the characters who haven't been changed in these variants have the same hearts as their counterparts in the original world.

That leads to the question is this world a creation of some being in another world? If so, then who created that world? This train of thought continued until I realized that there must have been a set of worlds that existed from the very start of the universe.

I have been able to determine that the Earth is a variant of another Earth, which is one of the original 7 worlds. The first world I found, Hollow Bastion, is also one of the originals. How do I know this? How am I sure that it isn't the idea of some young author who lives in another world? Quite simply, because of the sky.

The sky in this world is filled with stars, to the point that it seems almost overflowing with them. Except for one heart shaped multicolored spot that takes up half of the sky and seems to radiate with its own inner energy. At times, this energy is shown as multicolored light with small flecks of darkness mixed throughout. At times, it is shown as almost complete darkness, with tiny motes of light scattered with in. Most of the time, however, it is a mix of the two, forming a sort of twilight.

One interesting fact that my research has picked up is that each star in the sky of a world corresponds to the physical point where a world would lie in its own dimension. The closer one gets to the center of the universe, the older the worlds will be. Truly, despite their dimensional differences, all worlds share the same sky.

Apparently that heart shaped item in the sky is none other than the heart of the universe itself. Known as Kingdom Hearts, it is the source of all hearts throughout the various worlds, as well as the hearts of the worlds themselves. Apparently, Kingdom Hearts itself created the original 7 worlds, casting part of itself out into the void surrounding it to bring life and meaning to the nothingness. These 7 are as follows:

Hollow Bastion, the first born, formerly known as Radiant Garden, till it fell to an assault by the heartless. A failed attempt to reclaim it left its population as heartless and a good many heroes dead. A huge deal of research on the heart, light, and darkness was done here, as well as where inter world travel had its beginnings. The birthplace of the Heartless and humanity.

Earth, the second born, and the basis for this world. This world, being the first to discover that ideas give birth to other worlds, has directly and indirectly created a huge number of the worlds that fill the skies, as much as 20%. Considering that there are as many as a million googol (a one followed by a hundred zeros) of worlds in existence, that is a relatively huge amount for one world. Was the first world to be traveled to by the travelers from Hollow Bastion. The birthplace of other worlds.

Destiny Islands, the third born. Covered in island chains, this world is very beautiful, if not a bit dull at times. One island chain in particular, known as the Dawn Islands, has been the birthplace of a number of heroes throughout time, including two of those who would fall in the attack on Hollow Bastion. The birthplace of the Keyblade.

Twilight Town, the fourth born. With twilight lasting nearly twelve hours, the name is apt. Those chosen to live on by Kingdom Hearts after their natural deaths, as well as those who chose to sacrifice their hearts for whatever reason, appear here as Nobodies, those without hearts. Those with a strong will appear as humans, while those with weaker wills appear as humanoid creatures. Occasionally, special nobodies appear, given magical powers to manipulate a certain element by Kingdom Hearts. However, this world does have inhabitants who have hearts. Is legendary for its Sea Salt Ice Cream. The birthplace of Nobodies.

The World that Never Was, the fifth born. This world is inhabited almost entirely by Nobodies, and is their stronghold against the Heartless. Covered entirely by a sprawling metropolis of a city, this world has an unusually short day and an unusually long night. This world also experiences a great deal of rain, giving it a very dreary aura and a constant cloud cover. The birthplace of the Organization, s group of Nobodies bent on destroying the Heartless. They were wiped out to a man during the assault on Hollow Bastion.

Castle Oblivion, aka the Land of Departure, the sixth born. Originally the training grounds for heroes; it was covered in grassy mountains and sprawling towers and castles. However, it was transformed into its current form during the events that led to the creation of the Heartless. It was used as a research and development station by the Organization until their demise. Their research mostly focused on memories and cloning, also known as Replicating, and their effects on the heart. The birthplace of Replicas.

Traverse Town, the seventh born. This world orbited a dwarf star, and thus it appeared to always be night. This world started out small, with few inhabitants. However, any who managed to survive a planet's fall to the Heartless were automatically taken here, and thus the world grew in size and population. Traverse Town is also renowned for its merchants, and is the home world of the Moogles and their trade empire. The birthplace of Moogles.

Each of these worlds, along with all of the others has a heart. The Heartless seek out these hearts, drawn to their power. These hearts are guarded by a keyhole, each of which must be sealed by a Keyblade. The heart for Earth, for example, is located in Tara, Ireland.

The Heart is both a creature of light and darkness. However, these two forces are almost always not in balance. There are only seven people whose hearts have a perfect balance of light and dark. These seven, known as the seven Princesses of Heart, have an understanding of light and dark that goes beyond anything I can write. If anybody ever reads this, seek out the Princesses. They will show you the way.

The spiritual heart and the physical heart are both located in the upper left area of the chest. The spiritual heart is shaped like the classical heart shaped icon, while the physical heart looks a lot different. They are usually linked together. However, there are three ways they can be separated. Way one is death. Way two is to stab oneself in the heart with the Keylbade of People's Heart's, thus unlocking one's heart and allowing darkness to take it over, turning oneself into a heartless. The body and spirit then flee to Twilight Town, and a Nobody is born. Way three is to be turned into a Heartless by another Heartless.

Contrary to the name, Heartless have hearts, and Nobodies do not. Whenever a Heartless is formed, a Nobody is also created. Generally, the more beastlike a Heartless is the more powerful. The more humanoid a Nobody is the more powerful.

The Keyblade is a mysterious key like weapon that can only be wielded by those with strong hearts. They were first documented as being wielded by denizens of the Destiny Islands, and have since spread, with Keyblades being used by people from at least one variation of every world. Each Keyblade chooses its wielder. However, somebody can challenge a wielder for control odf the Keyblade. The person with the stronger heart wins.

Besides the Keyblade, there are other mystical weapons that choose their wielders based on the strength of their heart. If Naminé did her job right, then those who are reading this are the ones to be chosen by these weapons. May your hearts strength never fail.

Sora had read that passage aloud. Everybody stared at him, wondering what the hell that could mean. Suddenly, a flash of light filled the alcove.

"I see you have discovered your destinies, oh liberi fatali." A mysterious, yet familiar voice said. A black hooded figure appeared next to the table in the middle of the alcove.

"That voice… I recognize that voice. Could it be… Riku?" Sora asked, his voice filled with surprise.

"Riku… a name I once knew well. No, Riku I am not." He removed his hood, revealing a face that looked startlingly like Riku's, but had some differences. Namely, the man was but a boy of about eleven. He had Riku's silver hair and green eyes, but his nose and eyes were the wrong shape.

"I am his son, Virgil." The boy said.

Everybody looked at Riku, who appeared to be more surprised that anyone else, a fete that was pretty hard to accomplish considering how wide Xion's eyes were.

"Damn, Riku, I never knew you were a player like that. Nice." Xigbar said, smirking.

"No… my father was a different Riku…. a Riku from the Destiny Islands. All of you… you chosen ones, are to come with me to there. There is not much time left. It is the eleventh hour, midnight lies near. Come with me, Liberi Fatali. Upon the shores that lie near another world, you will awaken the power that rests within you." The boy said, a sharp cutting pain in his eyes as he locked eyes with Riku.

"Virgil... tell me. If Hollow Bastion fell to the Heartless, how are we not being swarmed right now?" Axel asked, suddenly becoming nervous as to his surroundings.

"All will be explained once we reach the Islands, Axel." Virgil responded.

"How? In all of this research, Ansem never once told us how he traveled to other worlds. We know that this library is one way, but it cannot be the only way." Zexion asked, intrigued.

"Zexion... you are observant, as you always were. I'll show you. Follow me, Liberi Fatali. Your destiny awaits."

Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard in the distance.

"Shit. VIRGIL, THEY'VE BROKEN THROUGH THE PERIMETER!! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT! HURRY!!!" A voice shouted.

"Crap. Quickly, this way. Through the portal. My ship awaits us." Virgil said, summoning a light filled ball from nowhere. He ushered everybody through it, took one last look around, and walked through the portal. It dissapered as if it never was.

I really am not sure where this came from. Anyway, please review. Oh, and anybody have any ideas as to who Virgil's mother should be? Please, tell me in your reviews. Thanks!!!