Blast From the Past

"Whoa! Riku, don't you wish we lived somewhere like this?"

"It's just a castle, Sora," Riku says, putting on his best Too Cool to Be Impressed face. "We've been to several castles already."

"It's pretty fun living in a castle," Kairi says affectionately, "but it takes forever to find people."

"Why did they need such a big place for four people anyways?" Riku asks.

Mickey answers, "It was only four then, but there used to be a whole lot more keyblade wielders than there are now. Master Yen Sid said that most of the others were lost in the Keyblade War."

Sora, arms crossed behind his neck, cocks his head to one side. Mickey and Yen Sid have referenced this war a couple of times, but he still doesn't know what it really is.

"Well, we saw the memorial outside, so she's definitely been here since she escaped the Realm of Darkness," Mickey says. "We should check her room and see if there's any signs she's been staying here."

"Great idea! Where is her room?" Sora asks.

"I have no idea."

At least they have an excuse to explore the castle. Sora runs right inside. There's a grand staircase in the first chamber that leads up to an overhang that overlooks the entrance. At the back of the overhang is a set of open double doors, but behind them. . . It looks like it leads into a chasm.

"The darkness sure took a toll on this place," Mickey says sadly as he follows Sora's eyes. "The bedrooms are likely closer to the center of the castle."

Kairi, their other resident castle expert, agrees. Thus, they walk through the double doors on the ground floor instead. It opens into a large room that has two rows of pillars for support. The floor is wooden, there are mats lined up against the wall and floating rings just hanging around. It's a training area. Knowing this, Sora can't resist whacking one of the rings.

Like Riku had said, the castle is bigger than it needs to be for the number of people that lived there. As they roam through corridors, they find more than one room that barely has anything in it. They find Heartless, too; nothing too powerful though. Mickey clears them out solemnly, as if doing so will bring his missing friend to them.

"Wait!" Sora suddenly cries out as Riku tries to open another door. They all stop and look at him.

"Did you want to go first?" Riku asks, stepping aside.

"No, it's just . . ." He grabs his head, trying to shake off the sudden throbbing, "This room. . . Do we have to go in?"

The other three exchange looks. Mickey holds his arm out, and gestures for them to get back. Alone, the Keyblade Master approaches the door. He lays his ear against it. When he hears nothing, he turns the knob. Then he wrenches it open and charges inside.

They hold their breath. There's no sound.

Finally, Mickey pokes his head out. "All clear."

Mickey says that, but Sora can't stop the cold shivers trembling down his spine. It feels like a ghost is grabbing the back of his neck. Still, Riku and Kairi are going ahead without any concerns, so he forces himself to follow them.

The four stand in the room. Riku starts laughing.

"Now I understand why this spooked you," Riku says to him.

They're in a library. Boy, he feels like a fool. And hey, he isn't that afraid of homework.

"Oh, cheer up, Sora," Kairi says. "If it makes you feel better, I thought that last book Master Yen Sid made us read was really boring, too."

"Guys."

Mickey says that sharply. He's got his arm out ready to summon Star Seeker. Without thinking, without checking what has him on edge, they all prepare to summon their weapons. Mickey bounds ahead, and leaps atop a fallen bookcase that the rest of them have just realized has been severed in half. The trio go back-to-back, watching for enemies as Mickey checks the bookcase over.

Mickey says, "Whatever happened here, I don't think it was that recent."

With that, they all begin to fully relax. Although it's a large room, nothing has shown up yet so it's almost a given that there's no Heartless in here. Heartless are attracted to strong lights, which means they flock to Kairi whenever she's in the vicinity. It's both super convenient and annoying.

Mickey and Riku go off to search for clues. Kairi sticks with Sora and they do a quick evaluation of the other bookcases and their subjects. One book has been pulled out and is resting on a table. They glance at each other, and then run over to it.

"Cool, it's a bunch of keyblades!" Sora says. He flips through the pages rapidly, finally stopping on the one with his own.

"Mine's prettier," is what Kairi says.

They find no clues in the library, so they depart and wander through the halls again. At some point, they stumble into a large room with tall thrones that Mickey says was probably the site of Master Aqua's exam.

"Just a sec!" Sora springs forward and then uses Aero to propel himself into the air. His landing on the central throne is hard and he falls onto his bottom, but he meant to sit down here anyways.

"How's the view, King Sora?" Kairi calls up to him.

"Pretty sweet. There's . . . Huh?"

He expected to see three loyal, admiring subjects. He sees four people.

"Who are you?" Sora asks the fourth. Everyone else turns around to look.

The newcomer stands in the doorway to the Throne Room. Whomever they are, they're the tallest one here, although three of them are kids so that doesn't mean much. Sora assumes this person is older than them, but he can't tell because of the black hood covering their face. . .

Wait. Black hood? Black cloak?

Riku's quicker to the understanding. "I think that's a Nobody!"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Mickey demands. His tone could be called aggressive, but he hasn't summoned his keyblade yet.

For a few seconds, the cloaked figure is silent. Then they – he – says, "Couldn't I be asking you the same question, Mickey? This doesn't look like a place for little kids."

Sora stands up on the throne. He doesn't like this person's voice. He senses something beneath, like a crocodile waiting in the water for its unlucky prey to come too close.

"We're not kids. We're keyblade wielders," Riku protests.

"You still haven't answered my question," Mickey says.

"Why don't you tell me why you're here first?" the figure says. He has one hand raised, as if preparing to grab something.

Mickey considers it. "I'm looking for a friend."

". . . What a coincidence."

As the figure says that, their hand balls into a fist. Something red and black spreads out from beneath his sleeve, sliding over the flesh until it covers it seamlessly like a second skin.

"But none of you belong here," the figure continues. "You're trespassing on sacred ground."

"Hey, we're her friends!" Sora shouts. "We're more welcome than you are."

"Friends? You don't even know her!" the figure snaps, lurching forward, barely holding themselves back from pouncing.

"Her," Mickey mutters to himself. He eyes the figure suspiciously.

"Aero!" Kairi cries. A small twister, not strong enough to lift anyone, forms around the stranger. The wind pushes his hood back and -

"You!" Star Seeker appears, glowing with the expectation of casting. "Vanitas!"

Sora stands straighter. Okay, this Vanitas guy is definitely evil. If the freaky black helmet and black cloak didn't give it away, the hollow laugh certainly does. Sora leaps off the thrones to stand next to his friends.

"Mickey, you know this guy?" Riku asks.

"I do. He was with Master Xehanort eight years ago."

"Him, too? Why are all these people reappearing now?"

"Vanitas never disappeared," Mickey says. "He just . . ."

"I retired," Vanitas says shortly. "And if you stop pissing me off, maybe I'll stay that way."

"We're pissing you off? You're the one picking a fight!" Riku shouts.

"Plus, you're invading Master Aqua's home," Mickey says. "I know for sure she wouldn't like that."

"Yeah, she wouldn't. Technically, I did try to kill her a couple of times." Vanitas says that with an almost nostalgic chuckle, as if embarrassed by the memory.

Sora doesn't think. He summons Kingdom Key and throws it at Vanitas.

The slam of the keyblade against - no, into the wall, stops them all cold. Vanitas had moved out of the way, but if he hadn't, he would have been struck in the head. Sora's heart is pounding against his ribs so quickly that they're vibrating, and he feels hazy not quite with rage, but with something closer to fear.

"Okay, who do you think you are?" Vanitas snarls. Sora's face is reflected in his mask. "Wait, aren't you Sora? Or are you Riku? No. . . No. You've got to be Sora."

Vanitas reaches up and rubs his mask as he says that. It's creepy, just like Vanitas.

"How do you know our names?" Riku demands.

Vanitas ignores him. "You're lucky, Sora. If you were anyone else, I would consider gutting you. But I do owe you. . . And if she's really slippery, you could be bait. . ."

"Leave him alone!" Kairi steps in front of him, as if Vanitas had been threatening to attack him.

"Put away the claws, Princess," Vanitas says. "Because I'm willing to let Sora's actions go. In fact, why don't we all just leave this world and pretend this never happened?"

But Mickey eyes him shrewdly. "Why are you concerned that we're here?"

"Maybe Master Aqua is here," Riku mulls, "and that's why he wants us out of the way. Maybe it's not Terra and Ventus. He could be the real reason she's in trouble."

Vanitas's head snaps around. "What does that mean?"

"Riku!" Kairi hisses, elbowing him.

"It slipped out," Riku mumbles.

"Vanitas, I'm going to give you five seconds to leave," Mickey says as he points his keyblade straight at him.

"Shut up!" Vanitas snaps. He takes a menacing step towards Riku. Riku stumbles back, apparently more intimidated by Vanitas than he's admitted. "What does that mean?"

It hasn't been five seconds yet, but they can all tell how this is going to end. Mickey takes the opening and strikes first.

And Vanitas is gone in a purple flash, leaving behind nothing but the floating embers of Mickey's Firaga. The trio go back-to-back again, as they were taught. Mickey does not. Mickey looks up instead.

"Above you!"

The three of them are a tad too slow to respond, but Mickey's there. He thrust his keyblade towards the sky and a blue barrier shimmers in the air above them; a red and black keyblade slams against the barrier, slipping, tilting so the blue eye carved into its hilt glares at them. Vanitas vanishes again and reappears on the ground near them.

He moves like a ghost; flickering in and out of corporealness, leaving glittering afterimages in his wake. It makes him difficult to center on unless he's coming straight at you. And he is. Because the first thing he does is lunge and he's fast. Sora is facing him, so he gets the block, and the force pushes him back against Kairi and Riku hard enough to make them all fall. Mickey leaps to their rescue and Vanitas turns and blocks the Keyblade Master so quickly it's as if time had temporarily slowed down for him.

Sora's on top of the other two, so he gets to his feet first. Vanitas is focused on Mickey now, raining down heavy blow after blow. Sora casts Fire, but the shout draws their enemy's attention. He swears Vanitas is laughing at him as he slices though Sora's fireball with a single strike. Vanitas raises his arm, sweeps it out to one side, and a dark barrier rises, separating Sora and Riku from the other two.

"Kairi!" he shouts. He can see her shadow through the shimmering ripples of the barrier. She's getting to her feet. Riku is, too. But before Sora can help him up, Vanitas appears between the two. He grabs Riku by the collar and hoists him into the air.

"What were you saying earlier?" Vanitas demands.

As Riku struggles, Sora swings at Vanitas from behind.

Vanitas drops Riku and whirls around just in time to catch Sora's keyblade by the shaft. Even through that mask, Sora can feel his glower.

"Just because I owe you a couple of things doesn't mean you're safe. Stay out of my way."

Sora swallows, but refuses to back down.

Suddenly, someone yanks him from behind. He sees Riku's face for a second, and then he's spat out in a world of emptiness and no stars. A few moments later, another portal appears and Kairi and Mickey rush through it, followed by Riku himself. Mickey casts some sort of Barrier spell, and Riku frantically closes the portal.

"Huh? We're retreating?" Sora asks, confused.

"It might be better not to fight him. If he's serious about being retired, then I'd rather we didn't turn him into an enemy so quickly," Mickey admits. "I can sense a great power in him. That guy was tough eight years ago when I knew him, but he seems to have gotten a lot stronger."

"Master Aqua. . ." Kairi begins.

"If she was there, I'm sure she would have shown up when Vanitas appeared." Mickey sighs. "Plus, I think Vanitas is looking for her, too. It doesn't seem like he's found her."

"Why does that guy care so much about what's going on with Master Aqua?" Riku pants. He's slumped forward, looking like he wishes he had something to lean against.

"I don't know," Mikey says. "He obviously doesn't know what Lea claims about Terra and Ventus. That might be a point in their favour."

"Okay," Sora says. "So, what next?"

The castle looks like it's built to impress. One step in, and she already sees a golden fountain. It's in the center of the room, snuggled just below the point where two gold-trimmed, curved staircases that curl along the walls meet. There's no water in the fountain, but there's a golden lion statue with a gaping maw and a hole in its throat where she suspects water would pour out. On either side of the fountain, there's a grim-faced, stone statue of something with fours legs, a large nose and sunken eyes. There's a blue carpet patterned with light-blue curls under her feet that must have looked lovely once. But now it's splattered with muddy footprints from whomever came before her.

She senses the portals appearing as she steps further into the room. She jumps, Stormfall leaping into her hand, and plunges the keyblade into a Darkball just as it begins to form. Keeping with the momentum, she spins in midair and brings the keyblade around in a full circle, exploiting its full reach to take out a group of Shadows that have just scurried out of the ground. She lazily flings her keyblade, and it impales a Neoshadow through the head before it even has a chance to blink.

That's all? She's disappointed. Considering the darkness seeping from this place, she had expected more, even if she is only in the mouth of the castle. Had she been younger, she could have predicted more accurately how much darkness awaited her within, but her years in the Realm of Darkness had saturated that sense to the point where it doesn't work properly anymore; it's been insisting there's darkness around her ever since Ven carried her back into the light.

At the base of the left stairs, there's a door. The room behind it is small and appears to be an office of some kind. That works. She spreads a layer of never-melting ice over the floor; the Heartless can phase through physical barriers, but not ones conjured by magic. She can't freeze the walls or she risks sealing all the gaps and suffocating later, but for whatever reason, the Heartless greatly prefer coming up through floors than through walls. Still, she sets some Seeker Mines down, just in case.

The creation of safe areas is not something she learned about in the Realm of Darkness. There was no such thing as creating 'safety'; a place was either safe, or it wasn't. If you dared tried to take the time to create a shelter, then that only invited the strongest Heartless to tear it down, as if the Realm itself had summoned them out of spite. But here in the realm of Light, where the Heartless were so much weaker, it was possible. With her hard-earned knowledge of how the Heartless behaved, it was more than possible.

There's nothing else to do for her shelter. When she'd left the Castle that Never Was, she hadn't stopped to gather supplies first. Maybe she should have taken a couple of potions or elixirs with her, but she's been without them for so long that the only time she thinks about them is long after she could have used them.

That's okay. She's not worried. Whatever's buried within the castle, she knows she can handle it.

She wanders deeper into the castle's interior. There's more Heartless, of course. They come in group, but never more than three waves. She's not the first to have fought them; the evidence is all around her in ripped wallpaper, ruined carpets and rubble. What's missing is the information of how recent the fighting was. She suspects, however, it was after the world was retrieved from the darkness. For the doors she passes in the corridors have symbols painted upon them. While she doesn't have anything to translate them, she can guess their meanings easily enough: Heartless within; needs further investigation; leave alone. It's useful. It tells her what has already been explored and can be ignored. There are a few doors as well with barriers cast upon them. They're strong spells, but she thinks she can break them. If she can't, she can always break through the wall next to the doors instead.

I'll save that for later, she thinks as she senses portals opening nearby.

"This is troubling," Yen Sid says after hearing their report. "First, the fall of Radiant Garden, followed by the emergence of the Heartless Ansem and the capture of the Princesses. Now, this Organization has risen to threaten the universe. Alone, I would consider these a self-contained chain of events. However, with the re-emergence of not one, but several figures thought lost to history, I fear there is something greater afoot."

"But what would Master Aqua have to do with any of this?" Mickey asks.

"Perhaps she had spent those lost years guarding an unknown evil. Or the encroaching darkness called her forth from her slumber. Whatever she was doing, it was more than resting. After all, Master Mickey, eight years have passed, and yet you say she looks exactly the same."

Mickey's ears droop. "Yeah, she does. But you said that time moves differently in the Realm of Darkness."

"That it does. If she truly was there, then perhaps the question we should be asking is how she escaped."

"Plus, that only accounts for one of them," Sora says. "There's still Terra, and Ventus, and now Vanitas."

"Gosh, you don't think Xehanort himself will come back, do you?" Mickey asks.

"We must consider all possibilities," Yen Sid says.

Mickey stares down at his clenched first. "We've got to find her."

"She's not in the Land of Departure. I don't think she's been there recently, but. . ." Groaning, Ven sprawls across Xemnas's bed on his back. "She's not a Princess. She does have some darkness, but it's always been a lot harder to pick up her scent than yours."

"Even after her time in the dark, her light remains strong," Xemnas says fondly. He absently wanders over to the bed where Ven is.

"I'm not complaining about that. It's just a bit inconvenient." Ven lifts his head off the mattress. "They're really looking for her now. They're saying she's in trouble and. . . I think they're blaming us."

It is times like these where Xemnas appreciates his current state. A pulse of rage resonates through his hollow chest, but he is a Nobody. He is Nothing. He pushes it aside so he can think. After Aqua first encountered Mickey, he assigned Ven and Ienzo to sniff around Nothing's Hall daily to make sure she wasn't sneaking out. Unless she has discovered a way to mask a scent she didn't know they were tracking, he is certain she kept her promise and hasn't met the mouse since. Even if she hadn't kept it, Aqua would not betray them like this.

"Did they say why?" Xemnas asks.

"Of course not. What are they going to say? 'Gee, golly, it took them eight years to get her out of the Realm of Darkness.' Well, excuse me, but where were they when I was looking for her? I didn't see anyone else scouring the Realm of Darkness. I spent eight straights years hunting for just a hint of where she'd gone, and now they're going to turn around and say I'm the problem?"

He reaches over to squeeze the boy's shoulder. "You cannot expect them to understand. Aqua and Mickey were passing friends, at most."

"Tell him that, because he's harping on like he's her best friend."

"You must remain focused. Concentrate on finding her. I will pursue the root of these rumors."

"Right. I'll check out Disney Castle next," Ven says. "We know they're looking for her, but it's possible she could be looking for them, too."

Her gut cramps.

She reels back, a hand over her stomach. What is it? Is she injured? She doesn't remember getting wounded, but adrenaline makes you ignore all sorts of things. She casts Cura on herself, but it doesn't nothing to quell the gnawing pain in her abdomen. Her pulses quickens. She must be severely injured for it to –

Oh, wait. She's just hungry.

She gradually loosens her hold on Stormfall and looks around. Where is she? She's still in the castle, but she has no idea where. She remembers fighting Heartless. . . and then fighting more Heartless . . . and more Heartless. . . Huh. She doesn't remember anything but fighting.

"You need to get control of yourself," she mutters. She doesn't have Ven and Terra to remind her to take care of herself anymore.

She doesn't know where she is, but tries to navigate back to the entrance by following the paths that have little to no Heartless. Along the way, she happens to peer into a room whose door is open. It's a large room, with a huge computer terminal and blinking screens. The lights draw her in like a moth to a flame.

She studies the screens. It's all gibberish to her. She touches a keyboard, and suddenly, the central screen changes. There's a face. It looks human, but the skin is light blue and the person is wearing a blue helmet with glowing lines.

"Greetings, User. Please identify yourself."

There's a blinking cursor in a black box. Intrigued, Aqua goes ahead and types in her name.

"Hello, User Aqua. I don't have a match for you in my database. Can I ask what you are doing here?"

Trying to remember how to get back outside, she types truthfully.

"I can help with that!"

The face disappears and is replaced by a map with helpful yellow arrows. Aqua memorizes it and hits the keyboard when she's done.

"User Aqua, after you have found your way out, please never come here again," the computer says happily. "This building is under quarantine due to a severe infestation of Heartless."

She understands why he's saying this and his intent. But she's angry. (Why doesn't anyone believe in her?) Smouldering, she fiercely types, I have a keyblade. I'm fine.

"A keyblade?" the computer repeats. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had one of those weapons!"

She blinks. Although she had typed the words to begin with, she hadn't expected to get a response that sounded like it came from a real person.

"Are you a friend of User Sora?"

Her rage returns. But if there's one benefit to typing her answers, it's not as much a spur of the moment decision. Right before she hits the 'Enter' key, she reconsiders her answer.

She erases her previous answer and types in something different. Yes.

"Happy to hear it. Any friend of User Sora is a friend of mine."

Do you know where he is? she types quickly.

"No. He logged out sometime ago. But I know he'll be back someday."

Damn. Fine. That's alright. There's still Heartless here and that leaking darkness. Just. . . just don't think about Sora.

"Is that why you came here?" the computer asks.

She thinks about it and decides there's no harm in explaining. She tells the computer about the darkness she senses in the castle, and her pursuit of it.

"I wish I could assist you," the computer says, "but I have strict instructions not to share relevant information with Users that haven't been given clearance by the Restoration Committee."

Who?

"They are a group of warriors native who wish to restore this world to its former glory. You may not be able to tell in its current state, but this city used to be beautiful."

She thinks back to that city of light and smiles. As if reading her mind, the computer also plays a small video someone took long ago of the castle grounds. It looks exactly as she remembered. There's the place where she met that little girl, and the place where she fought . . .

She pauses. She remembers what Terra and Lea told her.

Did you know Xehanort? she types.