So this is where the mind fuckery begins - I'm sorry that's the only way to put it.
I didn't put in Tron's world because to be honest, I just find the world completely boring :/ all the worlds if not most of them in KH 2 have little to no significance in the plot, which is unfortunate. But just because I have omitted Tron's world doesn't mean I won't have a few surprises instore, especailly in Dream Drop Distance.
I was thinking of also writing a small little ficclet in relavence to my KH stories. It's going to about Xehanort and Eraqus, their friendship and trials to become Keyblade Masters and more information and headcannons with Levina's mom, Liora. What do you guys think? Should I write it?
I made a tumblr account to RP as Levina :D Go visit or RP with her if you want. Her username is tinystarlightwanderer . tumblr . com.
Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 25 – A Tale of Two Ansems
Kairi shook the giant bars of her cell. She sighed in dismay as Pluto looked at her curiously. "There's no way I'll be able to get out of here." She frowned. Pluto tried chewing on the bars, but all the dog did was hurt his teeth. He let out a small whimper and watched as Kairi tried to fit through the bars. The Princess of Heart realized she could easily fit through the bars since the bars of the cell had wide gaps in-between.
"Come on…!" Kairi tried fitting through the bars.
Saix roamed the halls near Kairi's cell, Demyx was on guard duty or so he thought. The Lunar Diviner scowled hearing laughter coming from a broom closet. He turned the knob seeing Demyx reading a comic book avoiding his duties.
"O-Oh hey Saix…," Demyx nervously smiled holding up the comic book. "Have you read this one? It's really funny."
Saix said nothing and knocked the comic book out of his hands.
"Hey!" Demyx frowned. "I wasn't done with that yet!" He screamed feeling Saix drag him by the end of his coat. "Aw come on!" He whined.
Back in her cell, Kairi continued struggling to get through the bars. Pluto gave her a small push, but stopped seeing Dusks were guarding her. "Oh no!" She gulped.
The Dusks weren't really paying attention to her. They were minding their own business, practicing their movements. 'Maybe I should….,' Kairi thought. 'Try to get their attention.' She raised her arms in the air mimicking the Dusks movements.
The Dusks moved closer to her, thinking that Kairi was one of them. One of the Dusks pushed the button of her cell raising the bars. Kairi and Pluto were now free to escape.
"It worked!" Kairi smiled looking at Pluto, she then covered her mouth with her hand turning to the Dusk. "I mean…" She moved her hips raising her arms in the air pretending to be a Dusk again. This time the non-human Nobodies didn't fall for the princess's ploy.
"Oh no!" She screamed. "Run!" She told Pluto running down the halls.
Saix returned to Kairi's cell. His calm expression slowly very slowly turned to anger when he saw the cell was empty. Demyx's expression turned into terror.
'I'm definitely going to get it now.' Demyx thought slowly inching away from his superior Organization member.
"FIND. HER. NOW!" Saix roared pointing his claymore at the Melodious Nocturne. "This is your final chance!" Saix threatened. "We've had it with your screw ups! If you do not find the Princess, we'll annihilate you ourselves!"
'I don't want to be erased!' Demyx's thoughts screamed. He took a couple of Dusks with him "G-Got it…!" Demyx ran looking for Kairi in their headquarters.
Saix returned to the round room to report what had happened to Xemnas.
"The Princess is gone." Saix said. "I knew I shouldn't have left Demyx in charge."
"You left Demyx in charge?" Xigbar asked grinning. "Of course that lummox has to be one to screw up a simple guard assignment," He said. "Guess he's not worth being a vessel either."
Saix looked at Xemnas. "What should we do, sir?"
For a moment Xemnas said nothing. Saix and Xigbar looked unverved at their Superior. "Make sure that the Princess of Heart is found," He finally spoke. "She will not escape our grasp," He stated.
"What about the keyblade bearer?" Saix asked.
Xemnas grinned from under his hood. "It is time those wielders of the light knew what they are up against. The Heartless rampaging Hollow Bastion should be enough to complete Kingdom Hearts," He said.
"You've been going down there a lot recently, boss man." Xigbar said. "Something in that world you want to share with us?"
This was true there were often days where Xemnas left the Organization to see an old friend, there was something or more like someone Xemnas more like Terra wanted to see. It was a secret chamber in Ansem the Wise's study in Hollow Bastion. How Xigbar knew was still a mystery to the Superior.
Xemnas shot a death glare at Xigbar before turning to Saix. "Saix, I leave the Princess and Axel in your heads. Do not forget that traitor is to be eradicated."
"Understood." Saix replied. 'You're such a fool, Axel,' He thought. 'Why would you betray us like this?' Deep down in the echoes of his blackened heart, he didn't want this assignment.
"Well she's not in the showers." Demyx wheezed slumping against the wall. "I've looked high and low in this place and still no Princess of Heart," He sighed. "Maybe I should take a break for a few minutes." Saix's words suddenly echoed in his ears. "But if I don't find her, I'm a dead man."
If Demyx were careful, he would realize that Kairi was right there in front of him. Passing hallways and corridors where Demyx was standing in. Kairi looked relieved as she saw the exit of the Castle that Never Was. "Yes!" She smiled and quickly hid behind a wall seeing Dusks roaming around. "No…" She whispered.
Pluto lowly growled at the Dusks in the way.
"Shhh." Kairi hissed tugging on Pluto's collar to pull him back from doing lunging at the Dusks. "What do I do now?" She wondered not realizing that a dark corridor was forming behind her.
"Found you!" Demyx yelled stepping out of the dark corridor.
Kairi gasped and Pluto turned around barking wildly.
Demyx reached out his arms to grab Kairi who backed away.
"No!" Kairi screamed punching Demyx in the face.
Demyx held his face in pain not expecting Kairi to punch him. "Owww!" He screamed holding his face. He turned to the Dusks behind him wiping the tears from his quickly. "Don't just stand there! Grab her!"
The Dusks stared at Demyx moving towards Kairi, and then disappeared.
"What!?" The Melodious Nocturne yelled outraged. "You're supposed to listen to me!" He groaned in pain holding his face." That really hurt!" He whined.
Kairi watched as Demyx doubled over in pain holding his face. She blinked in confusion at the older teen's antics. "I can't believe someone like him works here." She looked at Pluto. "Now's our chance, c'mon puppy!"
"No wait come back!" Demyx yelled in frustration as he saw Kairi run.
Pluto looked back at the sitar wielding Organization member. He growled at him and then followed Kairi.
"I'm going to get in huge trouble…!" Demyx pouted getting up.
"We're almost there!" Kairi could see the exit of the Castle that Never Was. She froze in place as Saix appeared in front of her.
Pluto stood in front of the Princess of Heart growling and barking wildly at the Lunar Diviner.
"I'm afraid escaping isn't an option." Saix stated waving his hand.
Kairi screamed as a dark corridor opened up under her feet. Pluto latched onto the girl's hand with his mouth, but fell through. The two were back in their cell. Kairi frowned as Pluto hatefully snarled at Saix and Demyx.
"Xigbar was right," Saix said looking at the Melodious Nocturne as he continued holding his face. "This is your last and final chance. Go to Hollow Bastion and take care of the keyblade wielder."
"Huh?" Demyx asked rubbing his face. "You're asking me take care of that little runt?"
"You're the only one who can pull this job without screwing it up." Saix told him. "Take a flock of Dancers with you in case you find the keyblade wielder too much for you."
Dancers were Nobodies that took on a female shape. They were Demyx's type to control with his sitar; each member of the Organization had a specific type of Nobody they were able to control. Dancers wear pink bell-bottom pants with a white Nobody symbol printed on one leg. They also have pink beanie-like hats on that cover where their eyes would be, with a long, pink, braid-like growth sprouting from under the caps. Dancers also seem to wear dark, heeled boots with toes that point up at sharp right angles, as well as dark bracelets on each wrist, both with a small spike on them. They also have dark armor, resembling the top of the Nobody symbol, that cover their chests. This armor is worn somewhat like a halter top gown, as it exposes the Dancers' shoulders and terminates in a collar. Their hands are blades and their mouths look to have been sewn on into a permanent, eerie grin. Dancers move quite gracefully, gliding across the ground while their feet glow pink.
"No don't hurt Sora, please!" Kairi begged.
Demyx looked over at her. "Don't worry," He reassured her. "I won't kill him."
Kairi watched Demyx leave and lowered her head. 'Sora…' She thought. 'Riku...I wonder if we'll ever get to go home. To the islands and be together again.' She began to sob causing Pluto to whimper. The dog wasn't going to give up, he wanted to help Kairi escape.
"I wonder if Kairi's ok." Olette sighed lying on the couch in the usual spot with Hayner and Pence. "I'm glad we bumped into Sora," She looked at her friends. "The one who kidnapped Kairi is a part of Organization XIII." Hayner and Pence were both thinking the same thing remembering how Axel had showed up out of the blue and took Kairi right in front of them.
"Anyone dressed like that is bound to be a bad person no matter how you look at it." Hayner sighed.
"So what should we do?" Olette asked.
"We should stop dwelling on this." Pence frowned.
"There's not a lot of worrying we can do by staying here." Hayner said.
"I guess so," Olette sat up. A sudden tinge of worry fell to her. "But what if Sora doesn't save her in time?" She assumed frowning. "What's going to happen to Kairi if Sora doesn't save her?"
"That's enough!" Hayner shouted. His eyes full of hope. "We have to believe in Sora," He told his friends. "As long as we believe in them they'll save Kairi at any cost."
"We have to do something too, to help." Pence said.
"Like what?" Olette asked.
"We can ask for help," Pence suggested. "Find out a way to get into those bad guys hideout. If Sora shows up here again we can tell them where the hideout is!"
For a moment Hayner and Olette stared at Pence in awe.
"That's a great idea, Pence!" Hayner smiled.
"Let's go!" Olette beamed running out of the Usual Spot with her friends.
The gummi ship had halted in mid space while traveling to Hollow Bastion. The ship was out of fuel.
"We've already run dry!" Goofy said grinning trying to keep the ship afloat.
"Totally out of fuel!" Donald said.
"I can't take much more of this ridiculous smiling!" Lira growled.
"My cheeks really hurt!" Levina pouted. "Why aren't we moving?"
Donald looked at Sora and quacked. "I can't believe you!" He yelled outraged.
Sora wasn't smiling, instead he had a big frown on his face which scrunched up his face.
"Sora!" Donald yelled. "You've been pulling that weird face all along!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Lira face palmed.
"I feel like I'm going to go insane with all this smiling!" Sora groaned forcing a ginormous smile on his face.
"Do I have to remind you that our ship runs on happy faces!?" Donald shouted.
"Come on, Sora smile like you normally do." Levina told him.
"Seriously kid hurry up." Lira grumbled. "I don't want to be stuck up there all day."
Sora sighed lowering his head in defeat and then smiled lightly. "Sorry guys," He told them. "I just wasn't feeling very happy."
"You must've been thinkin' about Kairi weren'tcha?" Goofy asked.
Sora nodded. "I guess that's why I wasn't smiling genuinely." Sora replied.
"And that's why the ship ran out of fuel." Donald added.
"I'm sure Kairi's alright." Levina said to Sora.
"She has you for a friend, I'm sure she's perfectly fine." Lira rolled her eyes looking pleased as the gummi ship began moving again.
Sora looked at Donald and Goofy. "Aren't you two worried about Kairi too?" He asked curiously.
"Of course!" Donald said.
"She's your girlfriend after all." Goofy smiled.
"G-Girlfriend…?!" Sora stammered. "S-She's not my… girlfriend."
"No need to be shy about it." Goofy grinned.
"I'm not being shy!" Sora spat out feeling his face turning red.
Everyone laughed causing the ship to go faster. Their laughter suddenly became abrupt by a beep coming from the ship's control panel. One of the buttons on the ship that read 'push me' was flashing.
"The phone!" Donald pushed the button and Cid's face flashed on the screen.
"Yo, how's it hanging!" Cid smiled at his friends.
"It's Cid!" Sora said.
"Are you kids still slacking off?" Cid asked. "Better hurry over here quick! Leon has a big surprise for you. That is if the Heartless don't destroy everything here!"
"How bad is it?" Sora asked.
"Really bad," Cid told them. "Not even our security defense, Claymore can hold up against the Heartless. We need you and your keyblade to help us, Sora!" He told them.
"We're on our way, Cid!" Sora replied. "Just hang in there!"
"That's what we're all trying to do! Cloud and Tifa finally showed up to help. Heck even Ansem's knights and mages are having a tough time beating all these Heartless," He then smiled. "We've found the computer that belonged to the researcher Ansem!"
"Huh?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped.
"Ansem?" Levina asked.
"He was the Heartless that was controllin' the other Heartless a year ago," Goofy explained. "He wanted Kingdom Hearts all to himself, but Sora put a stop to him."
'Ansem…?' Levina thought. 'He shares the same name as Ansem the Wise. There was someone else that wanted the light from Kingdom Hearts also. I thought Master Xehanort was the only one after Kingdom Hearts.' She never imagined that there would be another person like Xehanort out in one of the worlds.
"With the computer we'll be able to get the data reports on all the Heartless and Nobodies, including that no good Organization that's been messing around." Cid explained.
"We'll be able to find out where Kairi is with that computer too!" Sora beamed. Eager to find Kairi the gummi ship hovered over Hollow Bastion. Sora was the first one to jump out of the gummi ship whipping out his keyblade in a blaze of light.
A strange shadow dashed past them.
"Heartless again?" Goofy mumbled in surprise, readying his shield.
"Well first thing's first, let's go see Leon," Sora said, running at the group of Heartless, and in a second he'd routed all of them. "Done and dusted!"
"Sora, you really have gotten stronger…," said Goofy relaxedly, putting his shield away.
"I was already strong, you know," said Sora, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder.
"No you weren't," Donald, and Goofy nodded.
"Even you, Donald!" Sora protested.
"You were nowhere near this strong when we first met you, Sora," Goofy said, and it was Donald's turn to give a big nod.
"You don't depend on us so much," he added. Goofy flapped his head up and down in agreement.
"What, both of you?" Sora folded his arms and was about to object, but at that moment, someone came running up to them.
Donald jumped a little. "Uncle!"
An old gentleman in a top hat—Scrooge—stood in front of Sora and his friends with three ice creams in his hands.
"Wak?" Donald tilted his head, smelling the scent of the ice creams that Scrooge was holding.
"At last, my nostalgic iced candies are complete! I call it sea-salt ice cream!" Scrooge beamed with pride.
"Ice cream? I'll have some I'll have some!" Sora ran up to Scrooge and took one. Donald and Goofy also received one each in turn.
Donald looked at the ice cream nervously. "Are these weird-flavoured again?"
"Try it and see," Scrooge advised, and Sora bit his ice cream.
"Salty! But… sweet…" Sora bit his ice cream again. It was a strange flavor, with a faint sweetness coming through the saltiness.
"It's been so long since I had one!" Levina smiled eating her ice cream, remembering the first time she had this was with Roxas. 'I wonder if I'll ever get to share this with him again.' She thought.
"Sweet, cold, salty ice cream," Lira said. "It's kind of a… nostalgic taste."
"Wak! This flavor!" squawked Donald, who had bitten his ice cream.
"What's up?" Sora asked.
"What?" Donald said, staring at his ice cream with a sullen face.
Sora shrugged and bit his ice cream again. 'This ice cream… makes me feel sort of like I've eaten it somewhere before,' the boy thought confused. 'Yeah, we ate it together watching the sunset somewhere… where though?' He thought.
"Yummy," Goofy said, and Scrooge thumped his chest with pride.
"It's a weird flavor, isn't it? Everyone in this town was crazy about these when they were kids." Scrooge told them.
"Another one!" Sora waved his cleaned-off ice cream stick in front of Scrooge.
"That was fast!" Donald squawked.
"Nah, you guys are just slow," Sora said, licking the precious last traces off the stick.
"Eat as many as you like," Scrooge said, taking another ice cream out of the portable refrigerator behind him.
"Don't eat too much or you'll get a bad stomach ache," Goofy said, a little worriedly.
"But I've been wanting to eat ice cream for ages!"
Sora took the ice cream from Scrooge and continued to gnaw.
"Sea-salt ice cream is delicious, isn't it? But this town doesn't really have time for it right now. Go help Leon for me, will you?" Scrooge said with a slightly worried look on his face.
"Oh yeah! Gotta go!" Sora ate the whole ice cream in one go and ran off.
Sora smiled running towards the castle in the distance. That was where Ansem the Wise once ruled Hollow Bastion until Maleficent showed up and cast the world into darkness. He and the others noticed Yuffie, Aerith, Cecil, Kain, Palom, Porom, Rosa, and Ceodore fighting their hardest to keep the Heartless at bay.
Yuffie threw her shrunken at the Heartless. The more Heartless that got destroyed, more Heartless appeared. "Ugh! This is worse than the last time this happened!" She groaned. The more we take down, the more show up!"
"We must keep them away from the castle." Cecil insisted.
"We're here!" Sora dashed over slicing one of the Shadow Heartless that was in his way.
"Sora!" Yuffie smiled. "About time!"
"What kept you so long?!" Palom whined waving his staff at a Large Body.
"I thought you said you could handle all of these Heartless?" Porom teased her twin brother striking a few more Heartless with a lightning bolt.
"Levina!" Ceodore smiled politely bowing to the girl as he saw her.
Levina giggled. "Hi Ceodore!" She smiled and then gasped seeing a Soldier Heartless appear. "Look out!" She swung her Starlight keyblade at the Heartless. "That was close."
"Ceodore, are you alright?" Rosa ran over to her son.
"Yes mother," Ceodore sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose I can't let my guard down at all in battle."
"Do you need our help taking care of the Heartless?" Lira asked.
Skewering various colored Nocturne Heartless with his spear Kain replied flatly, "No we have it under control."
"As much as we would like for you to help, Leon's waiting inside the castle. He needs to show you something," Aerith told them holding her staff pushing back several breed of Heartless. "It's really important."
"We know we got a message from Cid!" Donald said.
"Well then get going!" Yuffie ushered them inside. "We'll do our best to keep these Heartless under control!" She looked at Aerith. "Go on and lead them to the study!"
Axel sat on the edge of the wall, waiting for the right time to come.
The right time— the right moment to rescue Kairi.
'Xemnas isn't here right now,' He thought observantly looking around the Castle that Never Was. He owed Sora this much. He would help Kairi. 'So, what about Saïx? Xigbar? Luxord?'
He had no confidence. For someone who talked so big, he had no confidence. Perhaps he was trying to make himself feel the emotion called fear.
The sign of someone's presence wavered nearby, and Axel looked up as though in fright.
"…What, you?" Axel moved away.
Standing there wagging his tail at Axel was a large brown dog. 'He must've got out somehow.'
"Pluto," Axel called, and the dog—Pluto—leapt at Axel and licked his face.
"Hey, I said quit that," Axel told the dog. "Do I smell like your king or something?"
At Axel's words, Pluto let out a huge bark. 'Pluto, unafraid of anything, jumped right into the darkness of between. Kairi was the same,' He thought balling his fists. Why was he so afraid to do this? He kind of wished that he had been a little nicer to Lira or at least kissed her. Maybe he thought trying to save Kairi would ultimately end his existence if the Organization found out. 'This isn't the time to be hesitating in a place like this.
Axel hugged Pluto, pressing his cheek to him.
"Shall we?" Axel asked, and Pluto barked in reply.
Axel stood up slowly and headed deeper into the castle.
"This is a really big place." Sora said as he and everyone wandered the empty, old halls of the castle. "I feel like we should have been there by now."
"Sora, over here!" Aerith told them.
"Aerith!" They smiled following the flower girl to an old study. This was private study of Ansem. The room contained a throne and desk, containers filled with hearts, and books. As leader of Radiant Garden, he used it to store his research on the heart. King Mickey and Ansem often talked in there. There is a portrait of Xehanort in the study, though it is unknown if Ansem or Xehanort put the painting up there.
"There's stuff all over the place," Sora said observantly trying not to step on papers and books splattered all over the floor.
Everyone stopped and stared at the ginormous portrait. They all assumed that this was Ansem, the Ansem that had threatened the worlds a year ago. It wasn't, this was Xehanort and what he appeared to be after he had taken Terra's body over ten years ago. His hair is worn long, with two bangs framing his face. His hair also sports three backward-facing spikes, one at the top of his head, and one on either side, just above his ears. In addition his eyes have turned brown.
Levina shivered staring at the portrait getting an unnerving feeling. "That's the guy you fought a year ago?" She asked.
"Yeah," Sora nodded. "This must've been his office."
"He's not exactly easy on the eyes." Lira scoffed. "I'm glad you got rid of him."
"The computer's this way." Aerith said to them.
Everyone followed Aerith to where Ansem's computer was.
Levina stared long and hard at the picture. 'Why do I have this strange feeling…,' she thought clutching her yellow wayfinder. 'That I know him…from somewhere…he looks familiar…'
"Levina, are you coming?" Lira asked.
"O-Oh!" Levina jumped. "Yeah." She followed her.
"Everything we've been through is because of him!" Sora declared hatefully glaring at the portrait and then looked around the room. "Yet all this stuff on the floor is just ordinary. This could have belonged to anyone. I guess he used to be a normal person, maybe even a little like us." He told his friends. "I wonder what happened that changed him?"
"Sora…" Donald frowned.
"Someone like us?" Goofy asked.
"Sympathizing with him is a waste of time," Leon said casually leaning against the wall. "We need to focus on protecting what's important to us."
"Is the king here?" Goofy and Donald asked eagerly.
"He's here, but he said he had to investigate something odd, so he went to check it out while helping us fight the Heartless that showed up here." Leon told them.
The brave knight and noble mage dropped their heads in defeat.
"You'll see him soon enough." Leon reassured them leading them towards a giant computer.
"Does it still work?" Lira asked curiously.
"It does," Leon answered. "This is where the Heartless are coming from. From what I've found out, this is where Ansem did all his experiments back when this world was in its original form."
"A password?" Sora thought curiously. He walked over to the computer and began mashing all the buttons.
"Quit it!" Leon grabbed the boy in a choke hold. "You may be the keyblade wielder but you can't mess with technology like that!" He yelled. "I just finished installing the computer's security."
"Oops," Sora apologized. "Sorry."
The computer reacted to several of Sora's keystrokes and began beeping wildly.
"Uh-oh I think ya broke it Sora." Goofy frowned.
The computer screen flashed several times showing a picture of a man with blonde and worn long hair. He also sported a short mustache and goatee. His eyes are bright orange. He wore a periwinkle labcoat, identical to those worn by some of his apprentices. Underneath this, he wore a dark grey vest, white collared shirt, and a violet ascot, as well as black pants and shoes. He also draped a red sweater or coat of some sort over his shoulders.
"Who is that guy?" Sora wondered.
"Fellas!" The voice of King Mickey was heard from behind them.
Immediately Donald and Goofy ran to their king hugging him.
"Aww gosh fellas," Mickey smiled. "I didn't mean to worry you."
"Your majesty!" Sora smiled.
Lira fumed at King Mickey. "Do you have any idea what I've been going through because of you?!" She glared at the small king.
"Gosh Lira…" Mickey nervously backed away from her afraid she might hit him. "I'm really sorry," He apologized to his friends. He looked at the computer and smiled seeing that it was working again. "Great! You got the computer working again. It should tell us everything we need to know."
"All we have right now is a picture of a guy we don't know." Sora said.
Mickey looked at the image on the screen. "Ansem the Wise!"
"What?" Sora asked. "That's not Ansem!" He retorted. "Are you forgetting what he looks like, your majesty?"
"Nope," Mickey replied. "This is him. I'm positive!"
"Excuse me?" Sora said grabbing the king's tiny arm dragging him back to the study where the portrait was hung. "Look, thisis Ansem," He told the king. "You know the guy we worked really hard to beat a year ago!"
Mickey stared at the picture. "Well, the man in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts," He explained. "The one you fellas defeated, but what you actually fought was his Heartless. Ya see, he wasn't Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was.
"WHAAAAAAT!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed.
"You mean we went through all that to defeat an imposter!" Sora frowned lowering his head.
"Yep," Mickey told him. "A fake, but he still needed to be stopped.
"I'm kinda confused," Goofy said. "If he's the fake, then where's the real Ansem?"
Mickey scratched his head. "That's what I was tryin' to figure out," He said. "Ansem the Wise needs to know about Organization XIII's plans and what's been happening to the worlds."
"So if that fake Ansem you guys fought was a Heartless," Lira began. "Doesn't mean he has a Nobody too?"
"Yup!" Mickey said. "That Nobody is the leader of the Organization!" He sighed a little. "Ansem the Wise – must know the true imposter's identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it."
Sora, now realizing who their true enemy was glowered with rage at the portrait. "You…!" He glared. "You started all of this! Because of you.. Riku and Kairi," He looked at Mickey urgently. "Your majesty, what happened to Riku?"
"He's…," Mickey lowered his head remembering that he had promised Riku he wouldn't tell Sora what happened to him. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. I promised him I wouldn't."
"But…" Sora frowned.
Mickey looked at how disheartened Sora was not knowing where Riku is. "Sora…," He began. "All I can tell you that is he's safe."
Sora smiled a little hopeful. "Really?"
Mickey nodded and almost fell over as the castle rumbled.
"An earthquake?!" Levina screamed latching into the table so she wouldn't fall over.
"Something's going on outside!" Sora said.
"Everyone probably needs our help." Lira added.
"C'mon!" Mickey told his friends. "Let's start by helpin' out here!"
Everyone raced out of the door with their weapons in hand defeating Heartless and Nobodies as they appeared out of the darkness.
As they left, Xemnas appeared in the room. He noted that everyone was outside destroying the Heartless that had interfered. He walked over to the computer. He easily dismantled and turned off the security camera that Leon had worked so hard to put up earlier.
Walking over to the computer, the Superior in Between placed a CD-Rom into the machine and began typing several passwords. The password to access the machine was another. Six more blank spaces were filled out. Names of the apprentices of Ansem the Wise.
The room where the Heartless were once manufactured and created by Xehanort opened up an underground stairway. He walked down the steps of a gigantic spiral staircase regaling in a memory he had thought he had long forgotten.
"Master Ansem." Xehanort once apprentice to the great sage Ansem the Wise spoke. "Regarding the experiment, with your permission I'd like to proceed."
"Enough!" Ansem the Wise barked at his apprentice. "Forget this talk of doors, and the heart of all worlds."
"But Master Ansem…!" Xehanort protested. "I've been thinking…"
"Xehanort," Ansem the Wise replied calmly. "Those thoughts are best forgotten."
But to Xemnas – no- to Xehanort, the thought of Kingdom Hearts, to rule over it and spread it with darkness with the X-blade never crossed his mind. Even after Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Levina tried desperately to stop him ten years ago. He was still longing for that power and to prove to his new master how wrong he was. However, there was something inside the Nobody of Xehanort that still lingered. Terra's will was still there. It wasn't strong enough to break out, but it had means to control the Nobody's will at times.
He walked the long corridor and stopped at the double doors which had the Nobody insignia on it.
This was the Chamber of Repose, where something special was kept because of Terra's lingering memories still daunting Xemnas. Only the Superior of the Organization was able to access it. He sat on the marble white chair which had the Nobody symbols plastered everywhere in the room, even the walls.
Chain links on the floor lit up and there it was. Unmarred, untainted, not degrading, Aqua's armor and her Rainfall keyblade. Terra's heart ached seeing the armor, the last time he had seen was when Aqua self-sacrificed herself so he could survive. He wished he could have the strength to break free, to help her, to find Ven.
"It has been a long time," Xemnas spoke through Terra's subconscious and will. "My friend."
Riku gripped his Soul Eater keyblade, stock-still and glaring at DiZ. He had found the two in a room. A room inside the haunted mansion—a white room.
"No—Riku," Naminé said, raising her voice. At her words Riku lowered the keyblade and pulled his hood back up. He turned his back on Naminé and DiZ with a small frustrated sound.
A small sigh from DiZ broke the silence. Riku turned.
"Your goal is, as always, vengeance, isn't it—Ansem the Wise." Riku said quietly understanding who he had been talking to all this time.
"No…," hedged DiZ—no—Ansem the Wise.
"So you were going to lie back, sick us on them, and then pretend you didn't know a thing." Riku's voice was thick with malice.
"No, you are wrong," Ansem said the Wise. "I'm not the one who left, Riku. You two did. That was only natural, of course but—"
Riku drew a chair and sat down. "You came here with a purpose, right?"
He looked up at Ansem the Wise. Ansem shrugged, and took three ice creams from his breast pocket.
"First of all, how about you have an ice cream?" The wise man asked almost childishly.
"…Do you think I'm an idiot?" Riku said disagreeably. From beside him, Naminé took two ice creams, and held one out to Riku.
"Riku," Naminé called, but Riku made no move to take it.
Ansem the Wise bit his ice cream before speaking.
"I… must apologize to you two." Ansem the Wise said completely disheartened for his actions.
Riku stared at him, still silent.
"I will not ask you to forgive my foolish self, possessed by revenge," Ansem said to them. "However, I would like you to at least let me apologize. I'm sorry."
At those words Riku stood up from the chair and turned his back on Ansem the Wise once more. Naminé stared at his back in worry.
"There was a weakness to you… your heart, which made it vulnerable to the darkness. However, there was also a strong hope. You made the darkness your own power, and you…" Ansem told the boy.
"Did you come here to spout this at me?" Riku asked.
Naminé was looking down, still holding the ice cream out at Riku.
Ansem the Wise shook his head quietly, and continued. "Naminé, Roxas and Xemnas. The Nobodies of those who had strong hearts are unique beings. My—no—our theories were of no use at all. The world changes when touched by a strong heart. Not just the world. Even people—and even Nobodies change."
Naminé looked up. 'That's—yes, that's the secret of the heart. When in contact with a special being, worlds, hearts—everything changes.' She thought.
"Riku. Your level of strength is also something special," Ansem said almost begging for the boy's help. "I want you to save the worlds somehow. This fool pleads you," He told him. "I will do anything for it," He said lowering his ice cream. "Help me put a stop to Xehanort."
Back still turned on Ansem the Wise, Riku stood silent, rooted to the spot.
At the half way point of ending this fic! This has got to be my longest installment of my KH stories x.x
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