What is betrayal? Betrayal means breaking ranks. Betrayal means breaking ranks and going off into the unknown.

Roxas broke rank and marched off perpendicular to the others, going off into the unknown. The others gasped and voiced their disapproval.

"Traitor!"

"Roxas, how could you!"

"Roxas! Return at once! We need you!"

He ignored their cries. He wasn't the one at fault; they were. Their goal was to restore everyone's hearts, right? Then come how they never told him about his heart until nearly a year had passed? If his heart could be restored sooner … why not? He shouldn't have to wait.

That, and he suspected the leader was leading them nowhere.

Alone, he traversed the unknown, searching for his heart. He knew that it was somewhere, safe, stored away, waiting for him to take it. Someplace nearby, hopefully. Then he would be whole, and he'd go straight to Twilight Town and make friends with Pence and Olette and Hayner, and participate in Struggle, and ...

He had to reach it fast, before it regained its memories and became in independent entity again. More vitally, he had to reach it before it became active and gain the chance to subsume him, instead of the other way around. He was sure that his previous self did not reside in Twilight Town, nor was friends with Hayner, Pence, or Olette.

He hung on to that dream too long to let it go, damnit.

While exploring the grasslands, he passed the circle of dancers again; apparently the dancers had completely forgotten about him. Yes, even the ones who were next to him. The other him, that is. Oh well, good break for him. If they couldn't remember him, they wouldn't miss him.

His voice always used to be there...but now it's gone. I can't think of his face, or his name. I feel awful about it.

Fine, maybe they would! Too bad. He ought to care, but he lacked the heart to. He continued on and didn't look back.

The question was this: do Nobodies desire to become their previous selves, or entirely new selves? In his case, it was the latter. His was probably a rare case, he supposed. Memories were the deciding factor. If he had memories of his former self, then yeah ... maybe he wouldn't mind becoming his former self. But it was probably that he would never get his original memories back, even if he gets his original heart back. Instead, he had memories of hanging around Twilight Town and being driven to frustration by his inability to exist in it. Ah, his desire to live Twilight Town ... it was just as strong as his desire to acquire a heart. It was the basis of his desire to acquire a heart in the first place.

As stated before, he hung on to that dream too long...

Suddenly a tremor rocked the ground, and he stopped to rebalance himself and keep himself from falling. The ground continued to shake ... no, it was not just the ground. The whole world was making an earthquake, as though someone from on high was shaking the universe on its shoulder...

"Sora ... Sora!"

Kairi shook Sora until the latter opened his eyes. "Um ... huh?" the brunet murmured drowsily.

"You fell asleep on the ride back, lazy bum," she grinned. "Look outside. We're right outside your house!"

Indeed they were, parked on the front curb. It was night, and no one was out. Good thing there was no one around to witness an otherworldly vehicle parked in front of Sora's house! UFO MADE OUT OF JELL-O LIKE SUBSTANCE, the tabloids could have cried.

"Oh ... that's good. G'nite Kairi," murmured Sora, more alert now. "Um ... where's Riku parking this?"

"Ooooh ... good point. Hey Riku!" Kairi stood up and leaned over to the driver's seat. "Where are you going to park this?"

"In my parents' garage?" Riku looked at her as though nothing was wrong with his solution. He was tired from driving so long, who could blame him?

"And what excuse are you gonna give your parents?" she asked suspiciously.

Riku's apathy became horror. "Oh ... oh no! Okay…" He thought hard and fast for a quick alternative: "I'll park it in Sora's garage."

"Whoa, wait a sec! No way!" cried Sora, fully awake now. "My garage can't fit three cars! It can hardly fit two!"

"Crap, you're right," muttered Riku, squeezing the bridge of his nose in frustration and mimicking Leon. "Um ... does anyone know of a nearby public parking garage? A - a cheap one?"

Kairi did. Later, at a parking garage downtown...

"What the dilly - oh?" pondered Thaddeus Reddison.

The middle-aged, massive-girthed veterinarian could not place which brand or make was the strange, red and yellow vehicle parked near to his 2006 BMW M6. Maybe it was one of those wacky hybrids he read about in New Scientist. Whoever owned it (probably a teenager, he assumed), Thaddeus hoped he or she was not doing drugs. The car's design looked ... tripped out. Out of this world. Something only a teenager would appreciate.

"Kids. Can't wait for the world to invent cloning," he snorted, and went to his own car. As soon as he left, three youths popped up like groundhogs from behind the strange car's hood.

"That must be Thaddeus Reddison," said Riku.

"Is it just me, or is he fatter than the last time I met him?" wondered Kairi.

"I wonder if my dream was true. I wonder if he really is a bad parent," fretted Sora.

Sora fretted about other things too. Was that the real Roxas he dreamed about? Whatever happened to the Roxas who told him to "look sharp!"? The Roxas who was willing to merge with him? Surely, that version of Roxas wasn't a figment of someone's mind ... was he?

Rufaus was happy to see Sora at school on Monday. Exuberant, in fact. The guy dashed right up to the surprised brunet like a kitten at the sight of its owner carrying a can of cat food. The fancy kind. "Great news!" he exclaimed. "Guess what?"

"What?" the other boy wondered. What was up with the new guy's behavior? Surely his classmate would be upset, not delighted, that he was not around at all during the weekend. His parents were quite upset that he "went off on a camping trip" without their knowledge or a way that they could contact him. Surely, Rufaus would have been the same.

"Remember last Saturday when you came over? You said the word … 'Heartless.'"

"Yeah?"

The new guy's speech was a string of hurried words: "This weekend I visited the downtown library. Iwanted to visit you, but you weren't home. Kairi wasn't home either, so I had nothing to do. Then I remembered the word, 'Heartless.' I decided to look it up at the library. You won't believe what I found!"

"What?" Sora thought he sounded like a malfunctioning voice recorder.

"Heartless!" Rufaus said it as though he shared a sacred secret. "I found some books all about them. You won't believe how entrenched the Heartless are in local mythology!" Now he sounded like a sped-up tape. "There's this founding myth about how the original settlers of Destiny Islands left their homeland because it was overrun by Heartless and -"

"Heartless? Books? Destiny Islands?" Sora looked around him nervously, wondering if anyone else heard. Most were gossiping among themselves. Riku was gone. Kairi was coming over. Rufaus grinned and waved at her. She waved back. Sora gulped. Was Rufaus going to tell her about his so-called secret?

"Hi, Rufaus," the girl greeted gently as she came over. "Listen, I know you called Saturday night. My mom told me when I came back -"

"You were away, I know," replied Rufaus. "Away all weekend. With Sora and Riku."

"How did you-?" Kairi raised a hand to her mouth. How did he know so much?

"I guessed," shrugged Rufaus, matter-of-fact. "It wasn't the first time you went off like that. Also, the three of you are long-time friends, so you plan all your outings together, I bet. In secret. Am I right?"

"Riku did most the planning," mumbled Sora, thinking about a raft.

"Rufaus, you're such a detective!" exclaimed Kairi.

"No I'm not. Sora helped," answered Rufaus. "You were right about him, Kairi. He is wonderful to be around once you get past his naiveté."

"Told you so," she teased. Then she wondered, "Naiveté?"

"You're not going to ask us where we went … are you?" Sora pondered out loud, worried. We never did finalize an alibi, he remembered. Let their parents and friends guess on their own, indeed! Rufaus guessed, and Rufaus got too close.

"Please?" added Kairi at once.

Rufaus looked like he was on the verge of a question, then nodded in defeat. "Alright. Say, Sora … do you want to come over after school?"

"Sure. To hang out?" asked the brunet.

"You can say that. I … we only hung out once before, so -"

"Sure! Thanks!" Sora was all too glad that Rufaus seemed to have forgotten about Heartless when Kairi came over. Maybe I can ask to see the books he saw on the Heartless. Maybe I'm thinking too much on them.

Kairi smiled. "You two play nice. I'm going to see if the classroom door's open." With a turn of the heel, she left the boys alone. Sora wondered exactly what she was smiling about when Rufaus tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Thank you for helping me with my promises," whispered Rufaus. He sounded so serious right then, so somber. "One of them, I mean. The one about finding out what happened to my parts. The Heartless are a start, even if just a myth. I'm sad and glad at the same time. Does that make sense?"

Sora didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. I'm going to have to tell Kairi and Riku about this. He think it's all fiction, but what if he finds out it's true? What about other worlds? They're supposed to be a secret.

Then the bell rang. They went in together, two friends, two classmates, two fifteen year olds connected by a secret word: Heartless.

"What's Ignorance?"

"Excuse me?" Riku looked up from his math textbook. "What is what?"

"Ignorance," said Kairi. "The front desk's too busy. You're as good as anyone."

"Can't help you here," apologized the older boy. "Ignorance? Sounds philosophical."

The younger girl nodded. "Yeah. I thought it might be in the philosophy section. But it isn't. What do you think?"

"We have a philosophy section at the school library? No way." Riku resumed his studying. Kairi was left on her own. She walked away, chewing her lip. Now what? The front desk was stacked up with a million other problems, and she knew no one else in the library who could help her...

"Kairi?" It was Rufaus. "You said something about Ignorance?"

The girl nodded. Without a word, Rufaus reached into his backpack and pulled out a slim blue book … titled Ignorance. Kairi nearly squealed; it looked exactly like in her imagination! Right down to the font and icon on the cover! "Where did you get that?" she urgently whispered.

"Um ... it was my dad's," said Rufaus. He offered the book to Kairi. "I can lend it to you, if you want."

"Thank you!" Kairi greedily grabbed it and flipped through it. Finally, the mystery of the book was solved! So, it existed in real life! It wasn't a figment from her imagination - wait ... it was not a philosophical work. "Huh? This is fiction."

"Yeah, one of Kundera's newest novels," explained Rufaus. "I told you about him, remember? Like how my dad used to read his stuff all the time ... um, Kairi? Is something wrong?"

Kairi shook her head no, but in her mind, she knew that something indeed was wrong. Jasper Reddison used to read Milan Kundera. The man in the library was reading Milan Kundera. Thus, the man in library was connected to Jasper Reddison. Was the man in the library Jasper's employer...?

What is kitsch?


Kitsch excludes everything from its purview which is essentially unacceptable in human existence.


Does that include Nobodies?


A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have the right to be.

No, even though Nobodies were unacceptable to existence, let alone human existence. Nobodies don't act kitschy. They aren't sentimental. Kitsch comes from the pits from human nature, from the impulses of the heart. Nobodies aren't human and they lack hearts.


So ... Nobodies don't count. What about destiny?


In kitsch ... all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions.


No, even though destiny is all about giving answers about all that shall happen in one's life. Questions are raised. Why did destiny choose him to wield the Keyblade, and not another? What does destiny want with him as Keyblade Master, now that he still has the Keyblade? That sort of crap.


Kitsch is the absolute denial of ... crap, to fill in for a ruder word. Sora refused to use the ruder word.

These were Sora's thoughts as he traveled sat on the bus. It was long ride; he had a long time to think. Thoughts of Rufaus turned to thoughts of the books Rufaus gave Sora to read: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Both were by the author Milan Kundera. They were strange books to Sora, not suited to his tastes.

Kundera was a permanent exile from his homeland. Maybe that's why Rufaus likes him, thought Sora. Rufaus, too, was also an exile ... from his life in Kismet. Surely, his present life wasn't that unhappy?

"Hey Sora," welcomed an unhappy Rufaus when Sora arrived at the second floor of the apartment complex.

"What's wrong?"

"Uncle Thaddeus." Rufaus' face was twisted into a slight scowl. "He sent me out to get the mail. Why he doesn't go get it himself is beyond me. It's only one floor down, and he could use the exercise. I'll let you in first."

"No, I'll accompany you," volunteered Sora.

A grateful Rufaus was followed by Sora as the two boys went down to ground level (via the stairs), where a row of locker-like mailboxes were attached to the wall. Rufaus fingered the one numbered 128, and gave a short curse as he searched his pockets. "Oh no! I forgot my key! Damn it!"

Sora felt his pain. He thought back to the time he lost his crystal orb and everyone else held theirs up to the light ... wait, which memory was this? Oh well, he had an idea. "Maybe you dropped it on the floor on the way. Search the stairs," he suggested.

"Gah! I hope not," fumed the blue haired boy as he dashed to the stairwell.

As soon as he was gone, Sora whipped out his Keyblade and shot a beam of light at P. O. Box #128. Click! Sora then dismissed his weapon. All this occurred in the span of seconds. "Never mind! It's already open!" he called.

"Oh, my god! It is!" cried Rufaus as he dashed back. "What crazy mailman leaves a mailbox unlocked?"

"Someone who gave us good luck," said Sora as he pried open the metal container. Inside were this month's subscriptions of Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy, Horse Fancy, Canary Fancy, DSSPCA Today, Animal Lovers, and bills addressed to Dr. Thaddeus Reddison.

Also inside were three brown paper packages tied up with strings.

"What on earth?" gasped Rufaus before taking them out, brushing aside magazines and letters. He yelped when he inspected their labels. "They're for me? And you! And Kairi!"

"For m - me? And Kairi?" mumbled Sora, dumbstruck.

The other guy nodded as he lifted the packages. "It has your names on them," he said. "So … let's open them up inside."

Rufaus carried the packages and Sora the magazines and bills as the two went back up. They found the mailbox key on the top step of the stairs. At the apartment…

"Hi, uncle."

"Hey, Rufaus! Who's the kid?"

"This is Sora, uncle," responded Rufaus as he introduced the brown-haired teen to the grey-haired man. "He's a friend from school."

Thaddeus grinned like a cheeky monkey. "A friend! See?" he touted. "'You'll make new friends,' I said. Remember? And I was right! Am I? Eh? Eh?"

Rufaus rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes you are."

Thaddeus wasn't finished. "Remember what else I said? 'You're going to school.' If you hadn't gone to school you wouldn't have made new friends. Not as bad as you thought, huh?"

"Not as horrible as I thought, I suppose. But…"

"But nothing. Family knows best." With that, the middle-aged man returned to reading last month's issue of Cat Fancy.

Sora wondered where he heard this conversation before. From a dream, he realized, his eyes widening. So, such words really were once exchanged between uncle and nephew. Hoping to disguise his unease, he announced, "Here's your issue of Dog Fancy, and Cat Fancy, and Canary Fancy, and DSSPCA Today, and Animal Lovers!" as he ceremoniously laid out each issue on the kitchen table. Then he dumped the bills in an unceremonious pile and rejoined his friend.

"You didn't have to do that," said Rufaus as Sora rejoined him.

"Sure I do," said Sora. "He's your uncle, isn't he?"

"He's okay," said Rufaus. "He's better than Grandma, I'm grateful for that. When I lived with her, it was hell! It's just that … well, he never wanted to be a parent, so he's … oblivious of me, most of the time. That's just the way he is."

"I see…"

"That and he's very, very sloppy."

When they entered Rufaus' bedroom, Rufaus laid the three packages out on his bed. Each was spaced a foot apart. Each waited expectantly to be opened, like Christmas presents, or floating weapons from a dream featuring stained glass windows. Outwardly, they weren't much, just beige cardboard boxes. It was what they promised inside that mesmerized the two boys. "Do you think we should open Kairi's?" asked Sora.

"Never mind that, who do you think sent these?" pondered Rufaus.

"Your friends?"

The other guy shook his head. "Doubt it. Caylan can't afford to send something like this. And Lisset's more likely to send gift cards or cash in envelopes. Stuff like that."

Sora's ears pricked up at mention of Caylan and Lisset. He heard those names once ... in his dream at Disney Castle! So, Caylan and Lisset were real people? "Then ... maybe your grandma, or your other uncle?" he suggested.

"Hah!" Rufaus gave a decisive chuckle. "My grandmother wouldn't send me anything! I don't know about Uncle Septimus, though. I don't think so. He once said he was too busy to celebrate even his birthday."

"Your other uncle's a lawyer, right?" Sora asked to hide his discomfort. So, the other uncle was named Septimus. Just like in the dream.

"Yeah. I think he specializes in inheritance issues. Estate planning." Eager to change the subject, Rufaus picked up the package addressed to him and peeled it open. Sora watched intently. Suddenly Rufaus slowed his movements, awed. In super slow motion he lifted its contents:

Three paperbacks: they constituted a trilogy, judging from their matching covers.
A cookbook: it specialized in deserts and sweets.
A new saucepan: small and made of stainless steel.

Rufaus particularly liked the saucepan. "Look at this! Just what I need!" he hooted, lifting up the saucepan by the handle. "I needed one! I can't wait to try out the cookbook with this! And look, Sora! Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars. I've always wanted to read this! Have you heard of the author?"

"Nope. That's nice," said Sora, "but who sent them?"

Dropping the saucepan, Rufaus retrieved a slim blue card from the box. He nearly dropped it. "Dad sent them," he stammered.

Incredulous, Sora plucked the card from his hand and scanned it. This was what it read, in large neat handwriting:

To my wonderful son:


I live, and I think about you all the time. You are the hope of my life and the goal towards which I strive every day. Hopefully I can return soon, circumstances willing. Be patient and prepared. If fortune shines down on us (you, me, and your mom), we'll move back to Kismet and pick up where things left off. Be kind to others, for you are my representative here on earth.


Love, Dad.

"That … that's my dad's handwriting," Rufaus explained, his voice shaking. "I - I'd recognize it anywhere. I … I have to see what he sent Kairi!" Sora didn't object when Rufaus tore open her package like a kitten tearing into a mouse. These are its contents:

A new sketchpad: 200 pages, made from 100 recycled, acid-free paper.
A set of 200 colored pencils: Colleen Pencil Co, Ltd. was its brand.
A book on drawing: How to Draw Fantasy and Fairy Creatures, read its title.

"Pretty appropriate," said Rufaus. "Kairi likes to draw, since I see her drawing in her sketchbook often - hey, another note?" Sure enough, in this box was also a note. Unlike Rufaus', it was white. It read:

To Naminé:

People used to say you were the most unfortunate of young women. This is now a lie, for here you live, among friends and family. You are the most fortunate young woman of which I know. May you continue to be fortunate, your friends continue to thrive, and your art continue to improve. Be happy, I can ask no more of you.


Sincerely, a Stranger.

"Naminé?" inquired Rufaus. He gave Sora a questioning look. "How weird. Can you help with this?"

After a spell, Sora found his voice. It was cowering in the back of his throat, nearly stuck in his lungs. "Uh, Naminé was a ... um, a nickname Kairi used to use, yeah ... we better give it to her tomorrow. What about mine?"

"Here." Rufaus handled Sora his present like it was made of delicate crystal. "It's yours. You open it."

"Oh. Okay…" Slowly, carefully, hesitantly, Sora untied the strings, peeled back the paper, and opened the top. Holding his breath, he reached inside. He left something ... cool and smooth. Rufaus let out a small gasp when Sora lifted up his present – a piece of clothing - and held it against his body.

"Awesome!" the other boy cheered. "That's the coolest raincoat I've seen, ever!"

Indeed, it was a full-length raincoat. It was made of black leather, and it had long narrow sleeves, a silver chain and drawstrings, and a hood. It was an Organization XIII coat, in other words. What kind of sick joke is this? Sora wanted to scream. Instead he said, "Yeah, I'd say. Nifty, neat ... I don't have a raincoat of my own."

"Try it on," Rufaus suggested. "I want to see how it looks."

"W - what?"

"C'mon, no harm done … unless wearing a raincoat indoors is bad luck on Destiny Islands." Rufaus looked worried for a moment. "Is it?"

"No. No problem, I ... wow, it fits perfectly." The coat slipped on easier than Sora ever imagined. The brunet looked at himself in the full length mirror lying against a wall. From the neck down, he looked almost exactly like his Nobody self.

"It looks good on you," approved Rufaus.

Almost too good, thought Sora, gazing at his reflection. It's like my Nobody is starting back at me. Suddenly his Nobody, not a reflection, really was starting back at him with a characteristic angry glare. Roxas seemed pissed, like he'd prefer for Sora and him to switch positions. Sora blinked twice in shock. Then Roxas was gone, his own startled reflection looking back at him.

"Is something wrong?" asked Rufaus on the bed.

"No! Nothing," Sora stammered as he quickly freed himself from his coat. He reached into his box and pulled out the offending note he knew was inside. His note was black. It read:

To Roxas:


Please come back.


Sincerely, Jasper Reddison.


"What's it say?" inquired Rufaus. He was flipping through the cookbook and book-marking some pages, using strips of brown wrapper paper as bookmarks.

"Um … same thing as Kairi's. You're a lucky boy, live well, yadda yadda, stuff like that," the brunet lied. Sora was glad Rufaus was reading the cookbook and not looking up at his uncomfortable, telltale face.

"Kairi's note addressed her as Naminé," said Rufaus, still reading his cookbook. "What about yours?"

"Roxas." Darn! He forgot to lie!

"Roxas?" Rufaus looked up from his book with mirthful black eyes. "That's a funny name. It's just your name remixed with an X. Sounds neat, though." He snapped his book shut. "Talk about weird iterations." It seemed as though he was daring Sora to change his name to Roxas. Sora did not notice.

Sora didn't know what "iteration" meant, so addled was his mind. He just kept his mouth shut as he piled his new coat back in the box and threw the crumpled black note into the nearest wastebasket. "I'll give Kairi her presents tonight," said the brunet. He walked swiftly to the door. "C'mon, let's go out."

Rufaus wasn't listening. His euphoria over the coat now spent, his interest in the cookbook momentarily subsided, he looked on the blue note with all his might. "Dad's alive," he whispered. "I can't believe it! Everyone was wrong." He gulped. "I was wrong, Sora. I stopped believing in him being alive. Him and Mom."

"Rufaus…" He's not your dad. Sora pitied him.

"Everyone … the police, my grandma and uncles, my neighbors, even Caylan and Lisset … everyone believed they had to be dead. I believed too," Rufaus continued in a small voice. "I - I … I let himself go all cynical. Am I, Sora?"

"No! Of course not!" Sora protested. "I mean … well, what makes you think so?"

Rufaus, not hearing his last sentence, murmured, "Dad never stopped believing in reaching me. He succeeded, see? With the presents. But I stopped believing in him being alive. How could I do something like that, his own son?"

"You're his son. All that matters to him," consoled Sora, "is that you love him, and that he loves you." He only pretends to, though, since he's a Nobody. Wait, why am I defending Jasper?

Rufaus nodded. "Yes … I can see with the note." He put it on his desk, next to his bed. He sighed. "I ought to be happy. But I'm worried … worried for Dad. He's alive … but is he okay? Is he safe? Where is he?"

Time to steer his friend's mind away from dad-related matters. "Don't think about that," Sora urged. "Don't think. Your dad doesn't want you to be sad when he meant to make you happy."

Rufaus nodded warily. "Right … don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that." He climbed off the bed and joined Sora at the door. "Downtown, huh? Where do you want to hang out?"

"Uh…" Sora never thought it over.

Rufaus didn't even need to think it over. "How about Gladstone Library? I can show you the books I found on the Heartless!"

The books were less scary than Sora expected. They were scary nonetheless.

Sora expected frightening, blasphemous-looking tomes made of black leather, annotated by cloaked schemers, and decorated in cursed symbols. He expected books of vile darkness, not … dark brown, musty-looking reference books. Maybe these books were really were encyclopedias on island mythology … were not for their effect on his friend. "See? This stuff is way too intriguing to be fiction!" raved Rufaus as he pointed to an illustration on a page. "I can't get enough of it! Oooh, look at this!" He pointed to an illustration of a Heartless.

Sora recognized the illustration as that of a Neo Shadow. "You get all this?"

"No, not all," admitted his friend. "But the parts I do get … they just make me want to understand those other parts more." He turned a page, revealing arcane, esoteric text. "Like this part. And this part." He turned another page, revealing more arcane text.

Sora squinted at the deluge of words. "Huh?"

"These books were written back when people actually believed in Heartless," mused Rufaus. "Maybe they had a very good reason too. Maybe there were a series of disappearances then, too." He turned alert black eyes at Sora. "While the Heartless themselves aren't real … the destruction and disappearances on which they are based certainly are."

Sora wondered where his friend was going with this. "You mean … your parents? Oh … you mean the newspaper clippings!" Myde, Rould, and Arleen.

Rufaus nodded. "Right. I'm the edge of something here, I know it. If I can figure all this out … then I can figure about the truth behind the Heartless. What forces led to the creation of the Heartless myth?" His black eyes gleamed. "This might be the key to knowing what happened to my parents!"

Sora felt a chill. "What … what do you think is behind the Heartless?"

"Not sure yet … something about hearts and darkness." Rufaus flipped through more pages. "The Heartless are darkness in hearts made manifest, so it goes. Sounds metaphorical. But … what causes darkness to manifest in hearts? That seems to be the key to everything…"

Sora felt a very strong chill. Why … why did that sound familiar?

Darkness...
Darkness of the Heart.

How is it born?
How does it come to affect us so?

I must find the answers.

I must solve the mystery of this "darkness of the heart."

Rufaus knew disturbingly much about hearts and darkness. Too much, in fact. This is not good, Sora thought. The last person who wanted to know all he could on such topics was Xehanort himself!