I'm alive!

Sorry this one took so long everyone. Last bit of the term is ALWAYS the busiest. I got about half of this written before it hit. But the term's over now! I can get back into writing! Yay! And Christmas! Love this time of year; so much joy, and a general feeling of happiness in the air :) If you celebrate, I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Anyways, enjoy! :D


Chapter 11 - Keyblade

Riku, Kairi, and Roxas walked through the white hallway they now found themselves in, none having any idea of which direction to go. They walked around corner after corner to no avail, each corridor looking the same as the previous. Just when they thought they saw something different, it turned out to be the same. Even Roxas didn't recognize the hallways, and he would know the castle best, being a member of Organization XIII.

"Roxas, you said you know a guy named Axel, right?" Kairi said as they walked. "Does he wear the same coat as you and that man with blue hair earlier?"

"Yeah, all the members of the Organization wear this," replied Roxas, indicating the black coat he wore. "It helps us to stave off the darkness, or at least that's what I've been told"

"So you're with Organization XIII?" said Kairi. "You work for DiZ? How does someone like you end up with such a group?"

"Well… I was at least," replied Roxas, looking up toward the ceiling in a thinking posture. "To be honest, I can't remember anything from before my time in the Organization…" He paused a moment. "But they didn't – and still to me – don't seem like such a bad group… I mean, Saïx—the blue-haired man you saw earlier—is a bit scary sometimes, but we're all working toward a single goal – to get hearts of our own," He paused, taking a moment to think it over. "At least that's what I thought we were doing. I had no idea about you and your friends being held captive…" His expression showed guilt, and he withdrew a little, watching the looks on his new friends' faces.

"It's alright, Roxas," continued Kairi, putting his mind at ease. "We're not blaming you; just trying to understand is all."

Roxas looked down in defeat. He felt so hopelessly lost with everything that had happened as of late. First he had been thrown in a cell, then met these new people, and now was starting to question what Organization XIII was really about… How could he ever return to it? To doing missions every day, and having fun with Axel? He would have to make some changes, that was paramount now.

"So since you're a member of Organization XIII," Riku piped in, leaning his head back as they walked. "Doesn't that mean that you should know this castle like the back of your hand?"

Roxas' wide blue eyes looked up at him, dumbstruck for a moment that Riku was even talking to him after what the Organization had done to him. When the older boy gave him a nod of encouragement though, he quickly regained his composure, scanning the area around them.

"It's strange," he began contemplatively. "I should know this area, it looks just like any other area in the castle, but it's not familiar…" He paused briefly, and then continued sheepishly, "…but I haven't been everywhere."

"No worries," said Riku calmly. "We'll find a way out, I'm sure of it."

Just as the words left his lips, the three companions came across a door to their right and stopped. It was white, like everything else in the area, but this one had an elaborate design carved into it, one that Riku knew all too well from the experiments. Each laboratory had wavy wisps of lines decorating the door, so one would know which room it was. Recognizing it immediately, Riku moved to open the door.

"Wait!" said Kairi, practically leaping and holding his arm back. "How do you know someone's not waiting inside for us?"

Riku turned toward her friendlily, and gave a weak smile, "I don't," he said. "But we've gotta find answers somewhere."

With a friendly nod from the older boy, Kairi released her grip on his arm, and he continued forward, opening the door. What greeted him on the other side was a scene he had seen many times, however Kairi and Roxas walked in with awe at the silver lab tables that held various implements foreign to them. They followed Riku tentatively into the room, looking around for any sign of danger using the light of the hallway. It didn't take long before they saw it fade away, followed by a quiet click of the door closing behind them.

The three stopped in their tracks, freezing and turning around to see who had closed the door as silence fell. As they did, a man in a white lab coat walked out from the darkness of the corner to reveal himself to the newcomers. He had short silver-grey hair, and held a clipboard in his right arm.

"Zexion…?" said Roxas in astonishment from behind the others, his eyes growing wide.

"I must apologize to you Roxas," Zexion began. "This is not the way I would have performed the experiment, but yourself and Kairi are not required at this moment."

With a wave of his hand, a gust of wind sent Kairi and Roxas sliding to the side of the room, a barrier appearing, separating them from Riku. Kairi was first to run up to it, banging her fists against the invisible wall as she grew angry at the man across the room.

"Let us out of here!" she yelled at him.

Zexion paid her no mind as he focused his attention on Riku, who now stood alone staring back at him where Kairi and Roxas had just been.

"It's no use," said Roxas staring ahead at the scene solemnly. Kairi looked back at him incredulously. "I've seen these barriers before. There's no getting past them until the magic wears off, and Zexion has a lot of magic. I've seen it. Riku'll have to fight this one on his own."

Watching the scene in front of them, Kairi looked on with worry as Zexion took a few steps closer to Riku and stopped. The two seemed to be sizing up each other in preparation for a battle, and that was something that she didn't want to happen. What was all this fighting for? Why couldn't they just let her and her friends go home?

Riku stood unfalteringly at the opposite side of the room, watching Zexion with determination as the scientist stopped a short distance ahead of him. He still wasn't at his best, but he could take him. Riku had been tested by him before, and for all his strengths, Zexion was better at lab work.

"So, come to test me again?" Riku taunted, hiding any indication of his mental and physical exhaustion.

Zexion's expression remained unchanged, not showing any indication of being phased by the retort. He merely looked down, reaching into his pocket, and readying himself with a new device similar to the ones Riku had encountered before. Riku's expression fell.

"This again?" he said, unimpressed.

Zexion finally looked up at the silver-haired male, meeting his eyes with an almost conniving expression, "You have been separated from your friends, right as they found you and freedom was at hand," he said simply. "Surely you could have done better than that. I would worry that Sora will meet his defeat without his best friend to help."

"You can't worry, you'd need a heart to do that." Riku retorted back.

Zexion's complacency and tone of voice had angered him, but he tried his best to keep it under control as he stared down at the ground, quelling the rush of emotions inside. He had to control the darkness within him, or things would get out of hand, and quickly. Raising his head, he gave Zexion a long, hard look, calming himself before speaking.

"We may be separated, but we still have each other's power!" he said calmly, but with passion, summoning Soul Eater and dropping into his battle stance with his weapon overhead. Zexion merely put his hand to his chin, studying the boy.

"We shall see about that." he said.

Raising the device in his hand, he released a single blast of darkness straight at Riku, who brought his weapon down to block it, and was pushed back a fair distance. Skidding backward on his heels, he held Soul Eater out in front of him until he came to a complete stop at the opposite side of the room. Looking back up, he came running through the smoke, weapon at the ready, and leapt toward Zexion.

"You'll pay for that!" he yelled.

Coming down toward the scientist, he hit an invisible barrier just inches before the man's head, and was deflected off of it, jumping back to his previous position and crouching on landing. Looking up, he saw the familiar shapes of the barrier magic dissipating, and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Come now," said Zexion. "Did you really think that I would make it that easy for you? After everything we've learned?"

Riku had had enough of their taunts. More than enough. If darkness was what they wanted, then darkness was what they would get. Dismissing Soul Eater, he stood up, his head hung briefly as he drew on the power inside.

"Oh? Have we given up so soon?" Zexion taunted.

Just as he finished that sentence, Riku took a step back, thrusting his hand out toward the man with a blast of darkness releasing from it.

"Haaah!" yelled Riku with vigour.

Zexion raised his hands in front of him defensively on instinct as the blast went straight through the barrier spell, and impacted him, causing him to slide back several feet. Seeing this, Riku stood up, feeling a little pride that he had actually impacted the Organization member. His celebration ended however when the smoke cleared, and he saw Zexion unharmed, merely taking notes on his clipboard. When he had finished, the scientist looked up at Riku with a satisfied expression, one that Riku had never seen before. He bordered on the edge of maniac.

"Yes, show me more!" he said, egging Riku on. "Let out your true darkness!"

Riku was all too happy to comply, sending more blasts of darkness straight at Zexion, but keeping his emotions under control. With focused effort, he sent one blast, and then another, and then another, each impacting the Organization member in front of him, but seemingly doing no harm as Zexion continued to block them. That was it. He had no choice but to pull on more darkness to end it.

With Zexion watching him complacently, he pulled on as much power as he could while still remaining in control. Bringing both hands forward, he summoned a cluster of darkness much larger than before, and thrust it at the man in front of him.

"Haaaaaaaah!" he yelled, exasperated from all the effort in his weakened state.

The blast reached Zexion, growing in size as it did, and Zexion's eyes grew wide, his expression changing to one of shock as the giant attack suddenly overwhelmed him.

"What?!" he yelled, just as the blast engulfed him, lighting up the entire area as it did.

As the blast cleared, Zexion knelt on the ground, arched over like he had had the wind knocked out of him, staring out absentmindedly. The clipboard had fallen out of his arm and lay beside him on the ground. He looked up at Riku almost with compassion for a moment, smiling slightly just as he began to fade, and disappearing completely moments later.

The battle over, Riku fell to his knees on the ground, exhausted from the effort. That had taken a lot out of him, and he feared that the darkness within would overtake him if he didn't remain strong. The barrier in the room came down, and Kairi and Roxas ran and knelt around him for support. He leaned back then, one knee bent out in front of him, the other straight out as he put his arms out behind for support and let out a large sigh, a relieved expression on his face.

"Riku, are you okay?" asked Kairi worriedly.

"Yeah… I'm fine," he replied. "Just worn out. I'm sorry you had to see that." He looked up at her with apologetic eyes.

"It's alright," said Kairi, beaming at him as always. "Now I know what you've been dealing with. …you shouldn't have kept it from me."

Riku couldn't help but smile, letting out a large sigh as he looked down at the ground. Kairi would always worry about her two best friends; there was no helping it. Maybe it was better now that she knew.

"Riku, you can use the power of darkness?" said Roxas, surprised. "It's very dangerous for a Somebody to do so…"

Riku looked up at the younger boy, "It's a long story," he said. "One that I'll have to tell you someday when this is all over. For now, we have to find DiZ and put an end to this"


Sora and Naminé walked down a similarly white hallway to the place Riku, Kairi, and Roxas had found themselves in. The two of them had no idea of where to go, as unlike Roxas, Naminé had never been to the Organization's castle. Not that Roxas had recognized the area either, but for Sora and Naminé, this place was still completely foreign.

"Where do you suppose we are now?" asked Sora.

"It's likely somewhere else in the castle," Naminé replied. "It had the same colourings and walls."

Sora giggled. "You would know, you're always drawing those pictures of yours."

Naminé slapped him in the arm playfully, stopping and turning to face him. "Am not!" she pouted. The two of them laughed a little.

"I can't believe it's really true that all my memories are fake…" mused Sora, stopping himself and looking up at the ceiling solemnly.

"They're not," Naminé interjected. "Just… changed a little, that's all" She looked at him, her bright blue eyes giving way to a friendly expression.

Sora looked back down toward her, his expression changing to a tender smile as she watched him, hands becoming clasped behind her back. She always knew how to cheer him up, just like… Kairi. He didn't know why, but she reminded him so much of her. She had the same blue eyes. Just as he began studying her further, she looked past him, her expression changing to one of horror as she saw a man walk up from the hallway behind them and stop.

Sora turned to see what had caused her such fear, and saw a man in a black coat standing a short distance ahead of them. It was Vexen, the man they had seen before, who had trapped them in his lab. Sora turned to face him fully, giving him the dirtiest expression the teen could muster.

"Are you here to take us back to our cell?" he said defensively.

The scientist looked at him in contemplation for a moment, his eyes taking on their usual maniac places with one becoming larger as he turned slightly to the side.

"Now why would I go through all the trouble of sending you here if I was just going to bring you back?" he said matter-of-factly. "No, it's time for us to have a little test of your power, Sora." With that, he produced the same device as Zexion, and aimed it directly at Sora, letting a blast of darkness loose before the two could even react, as it hurtled directly toward them.

Sora pushed Naminé out of the way, leaping himself in the opposite direction moments before the blast hit, instead impacting the wall at the end of the hallway far behind them. Standing back up from his crouched position, Sora looked back at where the blast had hit, and then back at Vexen incredulously.

"What was that for?!" he said, exasperated.

Vexen didn't respond, merely aiming the device again, this time directly at Naminé across the hall from Sora with a callous expression. Naminé looked fearful, recoiling by the wall as the scientist prepared to release the weapon on her.

"You had best act soon, Sora, or your precious Naminé will not be there much longer to save you and your memories…" he said callously.

Sora ran in front of Naminé just as the blast erupted from the device, hitting him head on as he raised his arms up in front in defence. The blast sent him falling down, with bruises forming in on his forearms as he struggled to get back up with Naminé's help. Glaring at the scientist, himself and Naminé stood their ground, determined not to be taken down here. Sora couldn't believe how they were treating him and his friends. It was heartless. It had to stop. He took a step forward toward the scientist.

"You can't just mess with people's hearts whenever you feel like it!" he said with passion, putting his foot forward.

Much to his surprise, in the next moment, a bright light emanated around Sora's hand as a large, metal object appeared in it. Once the light had faded away, he saw that the object now there was in the shape of a giant key. It had a golden-yellow guard, and was silver to the bottom where it came to resemble a crown. Sora jumped slightly at the materialization of the heavy object in his hand, staring down at it incredulously. Vexen merely looked amused watching the boy study it.

Keyblade…

They'll come at you out of nowhere… and they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade.

But it all ends here… let the Keyblade choose… its true master!

My friends are my power!

A rush of memories suddenly flooded Sora's mind. How had he forgotten? It felt like he had always wielded it, yet a few seconds ago had been alien. Feeling it's familiar texture in his grip, he held it tightly, and looked back up at Vexen with a new determination. He had forgotten about the weapon, but now that he had it back, he felt confident in his, and its' ability. Charging forward with it, he went in to attack Vexen.

"Haaah!" he yelled in a battle cry, jumping up to impact from above.

Vexen merely raised his arm, parrying the blow with the mechanical device. Sora came down on him, pushing against his arm as hard as he could, but the man was stronger than the teen. After a few moments of fruitless struggle on Sora's side, Vexen pushed him backward. Sora stumbled slightly, his Keyblade arm falling out to the side as he steadied himself. He stopped and looked determinedly back up at Vexen; he wasn't going to let him win. He would save Naminé.

He went back in for another attack, raising his Keyblade once again, but this time, he felt an extra burst of power come from within. At the same time, he saw a flash of memory from Ven, having a similar pattern of attack. Together, the two combined their power to impact Vexen head on, and this time the scientist was sent sliding back, still with the device out in front of him that he had attempted to parry with, his expression showing slight agitation as he looked up after coming to a stop. A burst of power had erupted on impact, which had caught him off-guard.

Sora stood staring at the Keyblade where he had impacted Vexen, seemingly dumbfounded by the events that had just occurred. He looked at his Keyblade, and then stared at the ground, unable to put it together. He had gained a burst of power, but he didn't know from where. It was as if Ven had given it to him, but how could that be? He didn't understand it.

"But why do I keep seeing Ven's memories…?" he mused aloud.

Vexen's expression went from agitated to amused as he stood up straight, composing himself as he looked confidently at the teen.

"That is precisely why Roxas looks so much like the boy from your dream; Ventus' heart lies within you, and has for some time. How interesting it is to see how all the hearts connected to your own have affected you…" he said.

"Huh? What?" said Sora staring at the scientist in confusion. None of it made any sense to him.

"Ventus' memories have been surfacing in your subconscious… because his heart lies within you." said Vexen mesmerizingly.

Sora looked down, trying to put together all the pieces. Ventus' heart was inside him? Like Kairi's had been? How did that make sense? It would explain how he had been seeing the other boy's memories, but why? How had it happened?

As Sora mused over the new information, Vexen smirked slyly. He slowly began to back away before disappearing into a Corridor moments later.

"Sora! He's leaving!" cried Naminé, breaking Sora out of his trance.

Sora tried to run after him, reaching his hand out in front of him. "Wait!" he cried, but it was too late. Vexen disappeared into the Corridor, his sly grin the last to disappear as it closed. Sora was left where the Corridor had been, hanging his head in defeat. He had failed. What little tidbits he had been given made no sense, and his source of the information had left.

Naminé came up beside him, and put her hand on his shoulder, looking at him sympathetically. She tried to cheer him up as he raised his head, looking as confused as ever.

"I just… don't get it," he began. "Every time I think I'm getting closer to the truth, things change."

Naminé looked him determinedly in the eyes. "We'll figure it out, together," she said. "We've come this far."

Sora looked back at her, his mood lightened. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "Thanks Naminé."


Vexen sat as his desk, making meticulous notes of the events that had happened during his encounter with Sora. The Keyblade Master may not have had his memories completely back, but it seemed that the power of the Keyblade still lay within. What else lay within the boy, even without his memories? It was all interesting data that Vexen made sure to note down.

After writing his notes, he left the room to report, coming to a different room in the castle where Xemnas and the silver-haired Ansem were. Closing the door, he reported all that he had discovered of the Keyblade Master, even without his memories, in great detail. He explained how it influenced their current work on the Heart, and make significant inroads into his understanding of it. Xemnas and Ansem grinned slyly at the new information.

"The heart… a most powerful tool… something to be wary of…" Xemnas mused. "Hearts of hatred, hearts of sorrow… hearts of passion… A perfect tool to continue to build my own Kingdom Hearts…" He paused before continuing. "Thank you, Sora, for your most valuable insight into this matter…" He narrowed his gaze along with Ansem, sly grin appearing across both their expressions.


Oooh... suspense! Sorry, gotta love putting that in. Keeps you guessing! I hope you're all still enjoying the story, and it shouldn't be as long till the next chapter this time!

As always, let me know what you thought in a review!

Until next time! :D