Finally! Sora's back! Yay! Haha anyway, getting back to the story…

The last time we saw our gang, they were looking for the shadow that's been causing our friends so much trouble. They aren't having much luck to begin with, and things seem pretty hopeless. They decide to try and search in pairs in order to cover more ground in the world that they are searching. But something happens that helps the gang get a little closer to the villain with a gain – and a cost.

Ch. 9 Deja Vu

Several days after I was finally up and running, we decided to launch a full–scale search mission. Each of us was assigned to several worlds to investigate, and we were to report back to the Land of Departure the minute our search was over – no side trips. Since all of us were searching such a huge scope of worlds, we were bound to find at least a few leads.

Nope.

"So what you guys are saying," Roxas began slowly, teeth clenched in frustration, "is that none of you guys found anything?"

I cringed at his tone of voice. Well, I cringed, and everyone else just kind of shifted in position. Hey – it's depressing that we looked in so many places and we weren't able to find anything. It's also sort of a morale beatdown if you're being yelled at by your other self. That pretty much guarantees that you're lame.

For all you newcomers, I guess I'll have to fill you in on how Roxas is my 'other' self.

Roxas and I go…not-so-way back, actually – back when I stopped the fake Ansem from opening the door to Kingdom Hearts. I don't even really know what had happened myself. All I know is that I stabbed myself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts in order to free Kairi's heart from mine (long story) and got turned into a Heartless.

What I didn't know was that right when I turned into a Heartless, Roxas was born in front of the Old Mansion in Twilight Town. He was my Nobody, my body and soul – in other words, he was me with no heart. Or, he was supposed to be, but Ventus sort of got in the way of how it normally worked. (Sheesh. This kid causes problems even when he's stupefied!) Though he is technically 'me', he managed to form his own identity, which is quite a feat, considering the fact that Nobodies don't really have a 'them' in the first place. Ventus' heart got stuck in Roxas (another long story) and he was able to feel, as in actual emotions, something Nobodies aren't supposed to be capable of. That's also the reason why the two are identical (Seriously – you can only tell them apart from the clothes that they wear.). I think I'm going to have to stop there – because if I told you everything now your head would spin faster than the Earth does. (Yeah. I went to school. Is it so weird?)

Anyway…

All of us were pretty upset. Roxas probably took it the hardest. Not that he didn't have a good reason to – he searched the least number of worlds (Two, Wonderland and Neverland) while everyone else had three (Terra had Castle of Dreams, Land of Dragons, and the Keyblade Graveyard; Ventus searched Disney Town, Pride Lands, and Dwarf Woodlands; Aqua went to Atlantica, Enchanted Dominion, and Radiant Garden; Axel investigated Olympus Coliseum [including the Underworld, so technically three], and Deep Space; I checked out Agrabah, Space Paranoids, Timeless River, Twilight Town, and Beast's Castle [I insisted on more work to make up for lost time.]; and Riku explored Halloween Town, Traverse Town, and Port Royal.) and every last one of us had come up empty.

Roxas was still ranting. You could tell that he was really serious about this.

"…can't tell if it's going around looking for help, I seriously don't mean to rush anyone, but we've got to find him before someone else gets attacked –"

I could see where this was heading. He was afraid of being attacked himself – but not out of self-preservation. After the previous incident that landed me in the hospital for over a month (adding up all the days), we've all been extremely wary. It's been so long since we'd last seen it and that just jacked up the tension.

Not only that, but since Roxas is my 'other me', if he gets attacked, I'll also take the fall for it since were metaphysically linked – or so Terra assumes. Honestly, I've never seen proof of that, and I didn't think that the shadow attacking Roxas would be the best method of experimentation.

Axel interrupted him with a raised hand. He looked at Roxas straight in the eye and said, "We can all see where you're going with this, but just complaining about not finding it won't get us any closer. Calm down and we'll find another plan, okay?"

Roxas looked down. "I'm sorry, Axel…it's just that I'm–"

"We know," Terra replied. He put his hand on his shoulder. "but worrying about it won't get us anywhere. We should focus on what we should do next."

Riku started off by saying, "Are there any worlds that we could have missed?"

"I'm not sure." Aqua sounded worried. She was always worried. "We could take another look…"

"Well, we decided that Destiny Islands wasn't really a spot worth investigating, but…I mean," he added hastily, "it wouldn't hurt to check right?"

"Normally, I'd argue with you," Ven cut in, "but Riku does have a point, though. We should check all the worlds that we looked over. Expect the unexpected, right?"

Terra stood up. "Well, in that case, what are we sitting around here for? Let's get going."

He ran out into the courtyard, and everyone else followed after him. I just sat there, completely blanched, because I had a funny feeling that I'd face something a whole lot worse than that shadow.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? I know your job is dangerous, but being in the hospital for a whole month – I was out of my mind with worry – you better have a good explanation for this, young man –"

Didn't I tell you I'd face something that shadow can't even compare to?

I couldn't blame her, though. The last time I saw her was when I right before I went to fix my clothes, and I've kind of been avoiding going home lately. The one time I did return to Destiny Islands, I stayed away from my house because apprehension would grip me every time I thought about going home. I wasn't sure why though. I tried to stay away from home like last time, but my mom caught me when she was walking home after grocery-shopping – or at least that's what it looked like. Then she pulled me by my ear back to the house and started chewing me out.

"–father is out looking for you, he didn't believe me when I told him you were with your friends – you are positively a magnet for trouble, don't think I'll let you out of the house after this – "

"Mom!" I cut her off. "Look, I know you're upset, and I'm really sorry. And I would do as you say if we weren't in danger of being ambushed by a malevolent stalking shadow right now. The only reason I didn't come home after all that was because I didn't want you to get involved in this!" That was when I realized why I couldn't go home. I didn't want my mom being in the middle of whatever that was going on. She was right about one thing, though – I was a magnet for trouble.

Something about my expression seemed to calm her down. Well, more like shocked speechless. I wondered what my face looked like.

She was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Of course. I'm sorry, Sora. I didn't realize…I just wondered why you wouldn't call, at least, to let me know that you're all right…"

I blinked. Come to think of it, that was true…I could have at least called her. What was wrong with me that I didn't even consider that?

I shook my head and looked at the ground guiltily. "I'm sorry, there was just so much going on…"

"It's all right." She seemed to have finally relaxed. "I understand what you've been doing. Just…call me every now and then, all right?"

"…Right. Let Dad know that I'm fine, okay?"

"I will. Be careful."

"Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay." I inched for the doorway. "I'd better go now; everyone's waiting outside."

I closed the door behind me, and I ran as fast as I could away from there.

Life sucks.

Well, life always sucks. But life has got to have a bright side sometime, right? Obviously we weren't there, and life didn't really want us on the other side right now. Not since we got singled out by that creepy shadow thing. Sometimes, life doesn't go the way you want it to.

The reason I bring that up? We were back to square one. The island didn't really have any clues to offer. Not that I was surprised. Nothing's been here since the island was swallowed by darkness, so I didn't really expect to find anything.

Everyone wanted to know what had happened between me and my mom (part of the reason no one found anything), but all I told them was that what had happened in there would stay within those walls. I didn't need any more problems with my personal life; I already have more than enough problems this past month for a lifetime.

We were back at the castle, and trying to come up with a new plan. We finally decided to split up into groups to search a single world. Then we would come back to the castle and report what we've found – if we actually found anything – and swap groups and go to investigate a different world. It seemed pretty foolproof, so we were all for it.

The groups were as follows: Terra and Aqua would go to Enchanted Dominion, Axel and Riku were to search Halloween Town, and Ven, Roxas and I would search Twilight Town. We were to leave as soon as we were ready.

Terra gave us the final rundown before we took off. "…if you find anything, then report back to the castle as soon as possible. We don't want to risk having another friend in danger. Just come back and tell us what you found out. Is that clear?"

"Got it," we all answered.

"All right, then; let's get to work!"

When we arrived at the town, it was strangely quiet. Well, it wasn't surprising, since this was a really peaceful place to begin with. But there was a different atmosphere going around. I could almost feel the tension wafting around in the air.

Roxas didn't look too happy. "There's something going on. Just what we needed when we're in the middle of our own mess."

I looked at him, surprised. It wasn't like him to be bitter. Well, actually, it's no surprise. But then I surmised it was probably the stress of being on an evil shadow's 'Wanted' list as well as having found trouble in his town.

Ven noticed it too; I could tell because he had this expression on his face that portrayed serious concern. "Guys, maybe this isn't just a town thing."

"What?" I turned to look at him. "How?"

He didn't answer my question. "Let's ask around. Maybe we'll find out what's going on." There was a hint of apprehension that I couldn't place. In the end there was nothing else to do, so we agreed. We were to meet in front of the station after our interrogations.

My wanderings took me to a depressed-looking shop owner. Not surprising, really.

I went up to him. "Excuse me, sir? Can I ask you a few questions?"

"What is it?" He sounded really bored, almost tired.

Just great. I'm questioning a guy who looks like he'll pass out any second. "Is there something going on in this town?"

"Umm…" he thought hard. "The Ninth Wonder of Twilight Town, they call it. People've been saying that there is something going around town. People who saw it said it was as black as midnight, and it gave them a chill. I don't know, though. Might just be a kid fooling around."

"Oh, really?" I tried hard to sound casual. "Has it really been doing anything around town?"

"Well, a couple o' kids have fallen asleep and won't wake up, and a few others disappeared in the middle of the night. The whole town's hairs are standing up, see, because of the things that've been going on. People are so scared that they won't leave their houses. Nothing's happened to the adults yet, just the kids.

"O' course, there's no guaranteeing that it's never gonna go after one, so nobody comes outside anymore. Business has been really slow since then."

"Is that right…" I was seriously panicked now. If this was the shadow going around doing the same thing it forced Ventus to do to me, I shuddered to think what it'll do to me the next time we see it. I tried to get back into the conversation by asking hastily, "Um, how long has this been going on?"

"Hmm…jus' started two days ago, as a matter of fact."

"Oh, I see." I was itching to go meet the guys back at the station. I had a whole lot of things to tell them. "I'll be going now, thanks." I left as quickly as I could without running. When the shop was well out of sight, I started to run as fast as my legs would carry me the whole way to the station. Ven was already there, looking anxious.

"Ven!" I skidded to a stop. "Did you find out about anything? What's been going on?"

"Something bad. Kids our age are disappearing and falling into comas…There's definitely something going on here."

"I heard the same thing," I said anxiously, "do you think that maybe –"

Help! Someone! Anyone! …Please!

I started. What was that? The voice…something about it bothered me. "Who's there?" I looked around to see if anyone else was in the station with us. We were alone. That was weird.

"Sora?" Ven gave me a quizzical look. "You okay?"

"Didn't you hear that?" I strained my ears, just in case I heard the voice again.

"Hear what?"

"That voice. It was calling for help!"

"There's no one else here, Sora. It's just us." He gave me a concerned look. "Are you feeling okay?"

I shook my head. "Y-yeah." Then I frowned and mused, "Then what…"

Is someone there? Can anyone hear me?

Now I realized why it was familiar. That voice was Roxas. And yet…how could it be? This has never happened before.

I concentrated. The voice seemed to sound through my head, so I decided I should do the same thing. Roxas? I thought, feeling a little foolish. It's Sora. Am I getting through?

Sora! I could feel his relief. I guess it came with being able to speak telepathically. Is it really you? I can't believe it! I thought I was done for!

What's going on? I asked him. Where are you?

I don't know. I was just asking a few questions around, like we planned. There was one person I talked to, and he gave me an answer and then – well, that's the last thing I remember.

So you have no idea where you are now? I verified. Did that person say anything important?

See, that's the thing. I remembered him saying, 'He is much closer than you think.' Then I sort of blacked out, he replied.

Don't you find that a little strange? I asked him.

Find what strange?

The fact that he seemed to know what we were looking for.

Shock that wasn't my own coursed through me. You're right! I didn't tell him what we were looking for. He must have something to do with that shadow.

That definitely sounds dodgy to me, I agreed. But anyway, how are you doing this? You're talking in my head.

I have no idea. He sounded confused himself. We've never been able to do this before…wait, what about Ven? Is he there?

No sooner than he mentioned that did I notice Ven giving me a look that questioned my mental capacity. I had been so caught up in the conversation with Roxas that I had forgotten that Ven was there.

Yeah, he's here. But apparently he can't hear you, Roxas. He's looking at me like I'm crazy.

Then maybe you should tell him what's going on.

Will I be able to get back to you?

I'm pretty sure. Just go on and bring him up to speed. I'll explain to you and you can relay to him later.

Got it. I looked up at Ven, who was still giving me a strange look.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "It's kind of hard to explain…"

"Yeah, I can imagine," he answered, raising his eyebrow. "What's with you today? You've been acting really weird."

"Well, you'll find it hard to believe, but…" I went on to explain what I had been up to. The look on his face could only be extreme surprise and shock.

"That's really amazing! Why weren't you guys able to do it before?"

"I wish I knew," I replied. "Roxas isn't really sure, either."

"So wait, what's going on with Roxas? Where is he?" he asked.

"Neither of us are sure," I answered him. "He's just as confused as I am…"

Sora?

"Hold up a minute, Ven; Roxas is saying something," I closed my eyes to concentrate. What's up?

There's something else that you should know.

Yeah? Put it on the table.

The thing is, about this person that I told you about… He was hesitant. He looked really familiar…I couldn't quite place it, though.

A knot tied in my stomach. This wasn't good. So you think we've seen him before?

There's really no other explanation for it, he said. I'm just really worried about Ven, after seeing that guy…

You don't think that the shadow has a body now, do you?

He might not, he agreed. But like I said earlier, what if he found some helpers?

That was a real pleasant thought.

I don't think you should tell Ven about this just yet, Sora. We've just had too much to stress over.

Then what do I say to him? He's gonna expect an answer.

Just tell him that the person that I met is connected to the shadow.

Right. I looked back at Ven, who was giving me an inquiring look. "Well?" he asked impatiently. "What did he tell you?"

"He said that the guy he talked to might actually know something about what we're looking for."

"You serious?" I'd never seen him so excited in the time I knew him. "How does he know?"

"To be honest, I'm not totally sure. Want me to ask him?"

He nodded vigorously.

I sighed. I wished that Roxas and I weren't the only ones able to communicate telepathically. I closed my eyes again. Roxas, I'm in a bit of a situation here.

What is it?

Ven wants to know how you know the guy you talked to has something to do with the shadow.

I could feel his annoyance. Just great, now what am I supposed to tell him?

I don't know; make something up that sounds right.

Then, can you just tell him that I just had a hunch? I can't think of anything else.

Whatever you say. I opened my eyes again and turned to Ven. He looked about ready to explode.

"What did he say, Sora?" he asked. He was practically jumping up and down. Honestly, sometimes I just don't know about that kid.

"He said that he just had a feeling, that's all."

"Well, the faster we find him, the faster we'll get our answers. Just where is he?"

That reminded me that I should probably ask what had happened. Something like this doesn't magically happen overnight.

Hey, Roxas?

Yeah?

I still haven't gotten a chance to ask you – where are you, exactly?

I'm not sure, he replied. For all we know, I'm not in Twilight Town anymore.

Just perfect. Don't tell me you got kidnapped.

It's beginning to sound like a real possibility. Terra's not going to be happy.

No doubt about that, I agreed. Where were you last? Maybe we'll find something.

I could almost feel him musing. Let me see… A bunch of random images of the town flashed through my head so fast I didn't really know what I was looking at. The images just kept on blinking in and out until it suddenly froze. It had stopped at a dark alley–

Wait, that's under the tracks! Where you normally hang out with Hayner and everyone else, right?

Yeah, that's the place. I came here looking for them actually, so I could ask them a few questions, but I ran into…into that other guy instead.

Wait a second… I thought. Can you keep that image there for a sec? I think I saw something…

Sure, he said, sounding surprised. I concentrated on the image. There was a figure leaning against a lamp post…he almost…he almost looked like…

Hey, Sora? You okay? I guess the growing horror that battered against my chest could be felt through the connection.

He…he…looks exactly like me…

Sora? He sounded really worried now, enough that it– along with my panic – almost incapacitated me. What's going on? Do you recognize him?

No, I thought back feverishly. I thought I was going to be sick. I don't know who he is, it's just that…that looks like me…I'm not sure…

Maybe this will help. There was a whirl of color, and then complete blackness. When I came to, I wasn't in the station anymore. I was in that dark alley that Roxas had shown me. I was walking toward the place where Hayner and the rest of them would be. That's when I realized that I couldn't move of my own free will. With a shock, I saw that – somehow – Roxas was showing me his memory of his time at the alley. This was both amazing and scary at the same time.

Roxas continued to walk down the alley, when I saw the same person that I spotted in the image. Roxas walked right up to him.

"Hey, excuse me? Do you know anything about what's been going on around town?" he asked him.

"I might." There was something about his tone that I didn't like.

"Really? Can you tell me anything?"

"Let's just say that his victims usually disappear. The ones he deems worthless…he leaves them to die."

I didn't like the sound of that. The malice in this guy's voice was too pungent for a human being. Who…or what…was he? Why did he look like me? It was frightening to hear those words seemingly come out of my own mouth.

"Do you know where he is now?" Roxas threw another question at him. I tensed; it was getting close.

"You seem awfully curious about this," he replied, grinning. It wasn't a friendly one either – he looked like he was anticipating something really bad, or in his case, exciting.

"The thing is," Roxas said, looking flustered, "I live here, and, well, I just wondered…"

He trailed off. I could tell that he sensed something bad was going to happen.

"I see," he mused. "Well, then. I'll just let you know…he's a lot closer than you think…Roxas." He suddenly jumped at him. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and the world started to spin until –

My eyes flew open and I sat up abruptly, sweating and shaking.

"Sora! You're okay!"

I looked up numbly. I was back at the station. Ven was sitting right next to me. I realized that I must've passed out when Roxas showed me the memory. I tried to ask Roxas about what he'd just shown me, but he seemed to have gone.

"What…what happened?" I managed to ask.

"It looked like you were talking with Roxas," he began excitedly, "but then all of a sudden you just sort of groaned and fell backward. You were out for about five minutes." Then he frowned. "Why did that happen all of a sudden?"

"Well, Roxas decided to show me the time he was at the place he was interrogating, and…" I blinked. I shouldn't tell him anything yet. "We should go over there right away. To see if we can find any clues. It seems like Roxas…he…"

"What?" he encouraged.

I took a deep breath, then said calmly, " It seems…that I can't talk to him anymore."

Ven went all pale. "Oh, no…this is not good…" He stretched out a hand to pull me up to my feet. "Well, we can't just stay here! Let's get to the alley, quick!"

He helped me up, and together we ran to the alley as quickly as we could, ignoring the complaints of the townspeople as we went. We didn't stop until we reached the dark alley.

I blanched. The whole alley was in a wreck. It seemed like Roxas had been putting up a terrific fight when he was attacked, though he hadn't shown me that. Or maybe he wasn't able to. Ven was just as stunned speechless as I was.

When I glanced down, I noticed a bright white, neatly folded piece of paper. It seemed out of place here in the dark alley. Curious, I picked it up and unfolded it. Ven looked over my shoulder, and we both paled at the words written on the note:

He's in my hands now.

If you want your other back,
Here's what you should do –

Come to the Keyblade Graveyard.

Alone and Unarmed.

Be prepared to give up your soul

Unless you wish to feel the wrath
of those not well-practiced

In their own existence.

This note was addressed to me.

Well, hey. I didn't think I'd ever get this far. I hope I didn't cram too much into this chapter…but I guess that's what happens when you get caught up in the moment. Anyway, I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter; I feel like I'm actually setting things in motion. I hope you enjoyed reading it!