Authors Note: So we're back. For the true finale of all of Graros' plans. Yes what he did at Radiant Garden is about to be answered. And even he felt bad for doing it, so that's got to mean something. I realise how much we've lost so far, and I'm sorry but it's only going to get worse from here. We'll lose a few more members of the cast, and then it'll slow down a great deal. The midpoint is full of loss unfortunately… Well Graros did promise that if his plans had succeeded there wouldn't be anymore… If it failed… Well, this is what happens. I hope you enjoy. :D

Chapter 21: Fail Safe

Ansem slowly and un-easily made his way back to his room. His vision was blurred and he felt sick to his stomach. Ray had managed to take away the keyblade, or at least remove the ability to summon it. Or, and this was more right, he just made Ansem's body forget it could summon it. Which was basically taking it away anyway.

However, he wasn't feeling ill because of that, but more so because he had just killed his brother. The last family member he had left.

Disorientated and tired Ansem quickly pushed open the door to his room, before suddenly stopping noticing a small package on the bed. The package wrapped in brown paper.

He shook his head trying to think carefully.

Could this be a trap? A last 'gift' from his brother? Or maybe something else.

Too tired and maybe something far worse than that he rushed over to the package, and slowly opened it.

Ripping away the brown paper, he revealed a small metal box. It had no clear way of opening it, but the plain grey that took up most it seemed to become darker on one side.

Placing his hand against the darker side, it clicked and opened revealing its contents.

A piece of paper fell out, along with a small vial of a deep purple coloured liquid. As well as a rusty key, looking far more ancient than many of the things Ansem had seen.

Not to mention this was a key.

It wasn't often he just saw normal keys around here these days.

His natural curiosity made him pick up the note first.

I guess you won then.

I left this box here for you in the event that I would lose. The only way you'd be reading this now is if I didn't kill you, meaning you had to have killed me.

How long did it take you to figure it out brother? To figure it out that with a combination of magic and science I had made myself invincible, but that you could kill me? And only you. Did it take you some time? I hope so.

That's what I left you. In victory over me, that makes you the last of us. Meaning by taking that vial and drinking its contents, you'd be invincible. Even from Chaos… Which I suppose you could not forfeit other universes that you would never see, to destroy him.

You were always the better of us both.

But that's not all I bring.

In beating me I wanted to make sure our families secrets do not die. The man who took me in when I fell into the Realm of Darkness had some of these… I never questioned why. Either way, I learnt of answers locked away… There's more to it than that, but you'll have to see for yourself.

That key will open a door only un-lockable by that key…

I hope the key wielders enjoy pondering over that.

Go there then brother, get the answers we both deserve, and find a way to win this war.

One last message.

Pure Light and Total Darkness are just energy. You defeat their creations it feeds back to their respective leaders. My plan would have just wiped the energy out…

Killing them has no affect. No matter how many you kill, they'll always just come straight back.

So… Unless you find another way to go about this, you may never even make it to Chaos.

So yeah, good luck.

With Love and Hate,

Your Brother.

Ansem looked up from the note, and quickly crunched it up into a paper ball.

"I guess I'm going home…"

xXx

Liam slowly made his way to Milo's room. He had just taken an almost unlimited amount of energy, so you could understand why he was taking it slow. He looked as pale as a ghost, and more tired than he had ever looked before.

After the fight Ray had said that he was impossible. That what he could do, absorbing any kind of energy that is thrown at him, was impossible, but he could it. Whatever it was making him different, it allowed him to absorb and use any energy around him.

So, as a few Universes had blinked out of existence in the time from Graros activating his machine, and them beating him –

Liam had absorbed all that energy.

He felt so much stronger.

But he also felt so much worse. Like the Chaos was eating away at his insides.

He finally made it to Milo's door.

After Liam had almost attacked his brother, Milo had been asked for some time to himself. Which after everything that had happened, was clearly a good move. Liam dreaded to think what could have happened if Milo was out in the fight.

Liam knocked.

After a few moments Milo came to the door, and slowly opened it.

"I guess it's over then?" He asked.

Liam nodded, before pausing. "How did you know?" He asked.

"When everyone's running around like headless chickens you kind of guess something's up. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Liam said smiling.

"Great. So how about some training?" Milo nagged.

"Not today Milo…"

Milo looked far too disappointed with that.

Milo looked up into Liam's face, noticing something different. He dared not say a thing though, he felt frightened.

Liam looked down at his brother, trying to shake off the headache he was getting every time he looked at him.

Not to mention the bright light that randomly appeared when he focussed on something other than Milo.

"Okay… Uh, what happened today anyway?" Milo asked.

"Graros. He's… Gone now so it's okay."

"I never liked him anyway." Milo pointed out.

"Yeah… Same… But, you've got to remember he was Ansem's brother. Be respectful if you see Ansem."

Milo nodded.

He looked up at Liam's face again, noticing his veins all over his face. Running with a colour that was very similar to that of the Chaos that he controlled.

He couldn't hold on anymore.

"What's wrong with your face?" He asked worriedly and rather suddenly.

"What do you…?" Liam began, before peering into the mirror behind Milo.

The colour disappeared as soon as he looked at it.

"I really don't want to know." He commented.

xXx

Ray lay on his bed, just thinking.

He wasn't that tired from the fight. He had been in more physical draining battles, and really in comparison to some, stopping Graros wasn't that hard.

Then again, Auron wouldn't be saying that now, as he was missing an arm after all.

Ray really did do a lot of thinking. There wasn't much he could think about anymore. He didn't sleep so quiet time was often filled with boredom.

He actually couldn't wait for the next fight.

Then, right on cue, there was a knock on the door.

Ray created a construction of a hand, and opened the door. He spun around off his bed so he was then sitting up.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Could you take me and a few others to Radiant Garden?" Ansem asked, as he stood in the doorway.

Ray smiled. "Of course. I need to get out of here."

xXx

In a flash of sky blue light, Ray, Ansem and a few members of the former Organisation appeared in Radiant Garden.

"So, where are we heading?" Ray asked, looking around him as he did so.

He noticed exactly who was in their party this time around.

Dilan, Aeleus, Myde and Rolud. (Or Xaldin, Lexaeus, Demyx and Luxord)

It wasn't the greatest party he could pull together, but Ray just thought, maybe they were happy to return home now and again.

Everyone got home sick.

He knew he was.

"I have this key…" Ansem began. "I need to find its lock."

"And the keyblade?"

"Apparently won't work." He answered.

Ray took a moment.

"Okay. It's possible." He said. "Where did you get this key from?"

Ansem then took a moment too.

"My brother."

"And it doesn't possibly make you think that this is a trap?" Ray asked rather suddenly.

Ansem paused.

"It probably is. But… This is something that I have to have if it's real."

"What do you think it is?"

"Knowledge. Endless Knowledge."

"That's the thing about Endless things Ansem…" Ray began to point out.

"They come to an end." He finished. "I know the saying Ray…"

"Then, why do you want this?" Ray asked.

"It's what's left of my family. And it may not be Endless, but there's a lot of it there."

Ray took a few moments.

"Okay."

Ansem's face lit up.

"Thank –"

Ray cut him off. "Hand me the key." He ordered.

Ansem did as he was told, pulling the rusty old key from his pocket.

"This is very old." Ray pointed out the obvious. "As old as the world even…"

"I know." Ansem responded.

"Good."

Ray closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Ansem asked.

"I can still learn things about places, people and objects just by closing my eyes. It's like… Kingdom Hearts put a computer in my head that I can search for things on. There are a lot of things up there I don't really know…"

"So what have you found?" Ansem asked.

Ray took a moment.

"Where its lock is." He finally answered .

xXx

Ray, Ansem and the rest of the group zigzagged through the streets of Radiant Garden, aiming for the castle. They moved quickly, even though the streets were completely quiet, and fight free.

"Where are they?" Ansem asked.

"Under our feet." Ran answered.

"How do you know?"

"I can feel a fight going on down there; it's producing a lot of Chaos… Chaos makes me feel sick."

"Understandable."

"What's down there?" Ray asked.

"The core. It powers the planet. It's a lot of controlled and sealed power. They can't get in there…" Ansem pointed out.

Ray shook his head.

"I doubt they'd be there for any other reason. There's a lot of Chaos there…"

"Meaning there's a lot of fighting?" Ansem asked, even though he knew the answer.

Ray nodded.

"So suppose they did get in to it?" Ray asked.

"It would explode. It's a nuclear core. Tamper with the outside it'll start leaking, until it finally explodes."

"Taking the world with it." Dilan butted in.

Ansem nodded.

"Yes."

"Well if we get out of here, we could let them do it. I guess there's a few squads down there. They'd do our jobs for us."

"So you want me to let my home be destroyed? Our home?" Ansem asked.

Ray turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"No. But, if it comes to it…"

"Then I'll decide."

"Right." Ray agreed.

The group fell silent again for a moment.

"Let's head to one of the libraries a moment. I can check the core from there."

xXx

Ansem stood staring at one of the many computers dotted around the small library the group had made it to.

"This…"

Ray looked at the screen, not really understanding anything on there, except:

WARNING! Evacuate Now!

WARNING!

EVACUATE!

The words took over most of the screen.

"Graros." Ray pointed out.

"He wanted you to know that there was something here you wanted. He wanted to almost give it to you, and then take it away. As well as destroy the home that abandoned him." Ray continued.

"How can you be sure?" Ansem asked turning around.

He looked at Ray, who stood with his eyes closed.

"That's how." He answered his own question.

"Indeed." Ray responded, opening his own eyes.

"I need to move the people." Ray said.

"What do you mean?" Ansem asked.

"The people. In the keyhole. I need to move them somewhere safer. If the world dies… So do they."

"Okay, do it then."

"You're happy to lose the world?" Ray asked.

"Are you?" Ansem asked. "You're meant to protect them after all."

Ansem suddenly realised what he had said.

"I mean no disrespect of course."

"I know." Ray responded. "But… There's no way of stopping this is there?"

Ansem shook his head. "Unless you know how to absorb an endless power source worth of energy."

"I know a guy…" Ray whimpered.

"So… You think Liam could?"

"I think it could work…"

"But wouldn't it burn him up." Ansem asked.

"I think the Chaos would protect him. Plus the Chaos down there would supercharge him."

"But…" Ray continued.

"What?" Ansem asked.

"If I flash out of here, and bring him back, I'll be drained. I won't be able to put the people in another keyhole in time. If Liam were to fail, we'd be dooming everyone."

"Then… We'll have to sacrifice it."

"It's your call." Ray pointed out. "You are the Sage."

Ansem turned to face the members of the Organisation that were with them.

They all nodded.

"Then… We'll have to lose another world."

xXx

Ray, Ansem and the group rushed towards the room that they had come here for. Being against the clock now, they had to hurry. Not to mention they needed a room that was sealed off and quiet if Ray was ever to move the people.

Finally they reached a small wooden door. It looked so out of place. Almost like the door was there before the castle was. That was even a possibility, as they were on the ground floor.

Ansem slid in the key, and opened the door.

"Stand guard." Ansem ordered the Organisation members.

They all nodded.

Ray turned to them. "Nobody comes through this door. If it opens, I fail."

"We'll defend it with our lives." Dilan pointed out.

Myde turned to look at him with fear in his eyes that was immediately a second after banished.

Even he had changed in this war. Willing the join the fight if it meant a possible victory at the end of the day. His childlike innocence had carried over even when he was a Nobody. Now, he had lost it. He was just as dark and hardened as everyone else.

He too nodded.

"Thank you." Ray said, closing the door behind him.

Ray placed his hand against the door and watched as it turned into a sky blue wall, then becoming stone as Ray wiped blood away from his nose.

"Ready." Ray said.

He turned around to look around the room, noticing white walls, and emptiness.

The room was almost completely empty.

Only a small pedestal sat in the middle, where a small crown sat.

"That's for you I guess." Ray guessed.

Ansem nodded and walked over to pick it up.

"Be careful." Ray ordered.

"You too." He said, as he placed the crown on his head, and fell to the ground in shock.

Ray looked over to him, but saw that the crown seemed to light up and begin to work.

It was apparently what they had come for. So he would not intervene.

Ray now turned his attention to the other urgent matter.

"Now the people." He said as he sat down and crossed his legs.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

He looked into the heart of the world and saw the people, floating in the blue light, just sleeping.

He then focussed on another keyhole. Going back to his first journey he just thought about where he went next. Olympus Coliseum.

It then began to work. How did he know? Because he was in pain. And to avoid too much detail, his face was covered in blood, as he bled from his nose, and the corner of his eyes.

As painful as it was, it was a good sign.

xXx

Outside the room Pure Light and Total Darkness had realised they had company. Both heading for the group.

Aeleus, Dilan, Myde and Rolud all drew their weapons. Ready for what they expected was the last fight of their lives.

If only they could have been wrong.

They fought as hard as they could. Even holding them off, they all took wounds, but nothing that would finish them.

They continued to fight, even with the thought that it could be over.

xXx

Ansem stood in a dark room.

But it wasn't a room. It wasn't anything physical.

It was his own mind, making sense of itself, and what was happening.

In short the collective intelligence of every Sage that had ever been was stored in the crown. It was now being transferred into Ansem's mind.

If he was strong enough, it would make him probably the smartest man alive.

If he wasn't it would kill him.

That was what Graros had planned.

However, the crown also collected it's intelligence from people who were entitled to becoming the Sage as well. Graros being one of them.

Ansem began to understand in the mess of information.

Why Graros had done what he had done:

Because he had followed the last thing his father had said until his dying day.

Why their father had split them up:

Because he had entrusted his father with his son.

How they had created the Hidden City:

By using technology that almost misplaced the City with the very universe itself. The same kind of technology that allowed the machine to do what it had almost done.

There was so much more.

And Ansem knew it all.

Then it hit him. One of the oldest pieces of data on it.

How to beat Pure Light and Total Darkness.

Graros had given him the greatest gift ever. All he had to do now was beat the test of surviving the process.

xXx

Ray stood there, blood covering him, expecting the end to come very soon.

And he felt it coming. That release of energy.

He felt the fear outside the room from the people he knew he had sent to their deaths.

And he felt like he had failed.

No he would keep going.

Even if that meant exploding with the world.

It's not like he couldn't explode again.

He was sure he could move the people in time. But, there was still Ansem.

Still holding concentration, Ray un-crossed his legs and dragged himself over to the old man who lay on the floor.

He couldn't stand due to the strain and pan his magic was putting him under.

He pulled himself across until he was close enough.

"I hope… You've… Had… Long… Enough…" Ray said, barely able to breathe.

Ray put his hand on the floor next to him.

"Open…" He tried to shout.

A sky blue portal opened below the old man, and he disappeared through it. Returning home.

Hopefully safe.

Ray then lay there, moving the rest, until he was done. Just on time, to feel the rush and surge of pure heat take him, and every Pure Light Soldier and Total Darkness Knight on that former world.

It was just sad that they lost even more friend that day.

Ray however, Ray just woke up as he built himself back up in the middle of dust and rock that floated through the dark void.

Apparently complete annihilation of his body and mind meant that he wouldn't go straight to the Stardust Realm. That was useful to know.

Ray concentrated once again, and teleported out from the void, and into the stardust, to rest and recover.

To him though, this day was not a success.

In fact, it was not a success for anyone.

xXx

Authors Note: Well… That was… I need to stop killing people now… But… But… If things go to plan there's about a 5 chapter gap. Who ever thought writing a fic about an Endless War would be full of so much death… Honestly. Anyway. That's all from Graros. Everything he did has come to an end… Well almost, he still poisoned Riku by making him accept Total Darkness, but that's going to be a long, long time until it's resolved. So yeah… I do apologise for the longer than usual Authors Note, and I hope you've enjoyed. I did enjoy writing this to be honest. It came easy for once, so that was nice. :D Anyway, I shall see you next time – For what you may be asking? I can't be bothered to check my notes as it's 3 in the morning. So… Find out next time. :P