Chapter Twenty-Four:

I woke up gasping and sweating from my intense hallucination. I looked around me and found myself in a bed that was strange to me. "Misuki, are you alright?" I heard a tiny voice ask me. I looked up to see two little chipmunks standing on top of my chest. I realized they were the same chipmunks I saw before my fight with Vexen. "Chip…Dale? What are you doing here?" Their names suddenly came to me from nowhere.

They jumped excitedly for some reason chanting, "She remembers us! She remembers us!"

"Guys, take it easy." I strained, sitting up in the bed. "I'm still in a little pain." It was then that I noticed I was covered in bandages. "Who put these bandages on me?" I asked. Chip and Dale shook their heads, not seeming to know either. I rubbed my eyes and wiped them clear of sleep. When I opened my eyes, I was attacked by a yellow dog that kept licking my face. I tried to push him off, but he was too big. "Get off of me, boy! Down!" Once he heard that, he stopped licking me and sat quietly next to the bed, looking at me with happy eyes. "Whose dog is this?" I asked, wiping the drool from my face.

"That's Pluto!" Chip exclaimed as Dale jumped on Pluto's head. "He's the King's loyal companion! He delivers messages all around the kingdom!"

"You don't say." I held my hand out and gestured Pluto to come to me. He walked over to me and let me pet him. "So, why are you here, boy? Did King Mickey send you?" He nodded his head, then grabbed something from under my bed. When he finally emerged, he had a brown package that he held in his mouth, and set it on my lap. "I wonder what this is." I mumbled to myself. I tore the packaging apart to find all new traveling clothes that looked hand-stitched.

"What is it?" Dale asked.

"They're…clothes. The king sent me new clothes."

"How do you know it's from the King?" Chip asked.

"Because I found this letter. Isn't this his seal?" I let Chip and Dale look at the letter to see the emblem on it for themselves. When they confirmed that I was telling the truth, they jumped in joy.

"What does the letter say, Misuki?" They asked together.

"Hold on already. I have to open it first." I laughed at how excited they were about getting a message from the King. Truthfully, I was just as excited. But I didn't know why I wasn't as happy as those two. Maybe it has something to do with everything I went through. I don't know. Anyway, I opened the letter and read the message:

Dear Misuki,

Hope you're doin' alright. I had the mice

make you some new clothes. Thought

you'd need them for your journey finding Ansem and Riku.

Tell Chip and Dale I said hi and that we'll see

Each other soon.

Mickey

I sighed after I finished reading the letter. "At least with this, we know the King's okay."

"Yeah." Chip and Dale agreed.

I looked at the clothes again to see what they were. It was a magenta jumpsuit where the legs ended around the thighs, purple arm bands that started at the forearm. The glove part of it had it where the fingers stuck out. Two belts that could wrap around each other in the waist area and a pair of knee high socks and beige boots. The design of the outfit was amazing. There was also a head light blue head band that tied around my forehead. "Wait, he said mice made the outfit." I re-read the note again.

"That's right. The mice make all the clothes in the castle." Dale explained. "They're very talented."

"Well, let's try them on." I got out of the bed and began undressing. The second I did, Chip, Dale and Pluto quickly shut their eyes. It didn't really take me that long to get dressed. When I was fully dressed, I looked in the mirror and examined myself. The outfit fit like a glove. "Okay, you guys can open your eyes now." When the boys saw me, they were absolutely speechless. "Well, say something." I told them.

"Misuki, you look amazing!" Chip exclaimed.

I laughed while twirling around. "Thanks guys. I'm going to write the king a letter." I walked over my desk and began writing a thank-you letter back to the king. When I was finished, I gave it to Pluto. "Here Pluto, take this to King Mickey for me." Pluto nodded, and left the room.

"What do we do now, Misuki?" Dale asked.

That was a good question. I really didn't know at this point. The Organization is our number one priority, but I also want to find the guy who kept sneaking into Castle Oblivion. I wanted to know who he was and if he knew anything about Ansem or Riku. That's when I sensed something was wrong. "We're not alone." I whispered loud enough for the chipmunk brothers to hear me.

"What do you mean?" Dale asked.

"You guys stay here while I check it out." I instructed them. Instead of following orders, they jumped onto my shoulders.

"We're not leaving you again." Chip said.

"Yeah. We want to be there for you." Dale continued.

"Fine, but when I say take cover, you take cover got it?" I told them.

They both nodded in agreement and went with me to investigate downstairs. I slowly opened the door and peaked out in the hallway. I crept out of the room and silently closed the door, and looked around. It wasn't long before I realized I was in the same mansion I came to when I fought Vexen. It was dusty and looked as if it was going to fall apart at any moment. I looked down in the foyer, and saw the Organization imposter and DiZ. They looked up and saw me the second I noticed them. "What are you two doing here?" I jumped down in front of them and summoned my keyblade.

"You still intend to fight us after we saved you?" DiZ asked. His words made me flinch and lower my keyblade without realizing it until the last minute. "After your battle, you collapsed to the ground and was on the brink of death. But luckily we were able to save you in time." Listening to the story of what happened after my fight with Marluxia, I wondered what I was doing. As I contemplated what DiZ had told me, he continued on. "We almost lost you when another member of Organization XIII ambushed us and used his powers of illusion." That sounded a lot like Zexion.

Wait, there was something not right with his words. "Hang on, you didn't defeat Zexion!" I exclaimed. "If you did, I would've sensed it. I would've sensed his presence fading."

"You don't belong in their world anymore." He explained again. "Once you regained your memory, and your name, their hold over you broke; the connection was severed for good."

After he explained everything, it didn't feel right to attack them. I sent my keyblade away and just stared at them. "I'll let you go…for now." I said softly, grinding my teeth in frustration. I didn't want to let them walk away after everything they did, but I had no other choice.

"Misuki what do you think you're doing?" Chip asked. "This is your chance! You can take them out!"

"No I can't." I said. "After hearing everything that they did for me, what kind of person would I be if I attacked them like this?" I clenched my fists tighter and tighter wanting to punch both of them right there. "For now, I have to let them go. Do you hear that DiZ? I'll let you go this time. But the next time we cross paths, know that I will attack you without hesitation."

DiZ looked at me and smiled for some odd reason. "I understand." Was all he said.

Before I left, there was something I wanted to ask him. "Hey before I go, I want to know something. Do you maybe know a boy with spiky silver hair that goes by the name of Riku?"

"I'm afraid I don't" he answered me.

"What about a man with long blonde hair and a matching goatee? His name is Ansem the Wise." He shook his head. I was back to square one all over again.

"But I do know where you can find the King." He spoke after he looked at my disappointed face. "Open a path for her." The cloaked man did as DiZ requested, and opened a vortex for me. "Go through here, and you'll end up in the middle of Hollow Bastion. You have my word." Normally, I wouldn't believe him even if he gave me his word. But maybe he had some connection with the King. The only way for me to know for sure was to go and ask him in person.

"If you say so. Right now, I have no choice but to believe you." I walked toward the vortex and stared into it. "Remember what I said, DiZ. Once I step into this portal, as soon as we meet again, I will fight you. And I won't…hold anything back." DiZ nodded his head in agreement to my terms and watched as I walked through and went straight to Hollow Bastion.

When I arrived, I was in a place that looked too familiar to me. "What is this place?" I asked myself walking around. The place was in ruins, rusted from the passing years. As I looked around, I noticed a door on the side that led to a long hallway. The moment I stepped in, visions began popping into my head with every step I took. I saw myself as a little girl, running around these halls laughing and enjoying life. Then there was a man that picked me up in his arms and spun me around in the air. 'Ansem the Wise?' The memories made my head suddenly pound and pound like a drum, triggering a small earthquake in my head. No matter how much I clutched my head, it wouldn't stop. Soon, everything faded away and I found myself in the same hallway, but this one was fixed up and in one piece. "What's going on around here?" I asked myself, continuing down the hall.

"You're looking into the past." I turned around to see Riku standing behind me with a smile and his hands in his pockets.

The sight of him just made me want to break down and cry my eyes out. "Riku, is it really you?" I asked, running towards him and touching his face.

"Who else were you expecting?" he laughed.

Looking at him made me realize that this was too good to be true; literally. "This is another hallucination isn't it?" My expression shifted from excited back to disappointment in two seconds, when Riku nodded his head and looked at me with a sorry expression in his eyes. "I'm sorry to crush your hopes like that." He said.

I shook my head. "It's okay. But what is this place?"

"I thought you regained all of your memories. This is the castle Ansem the Wise lived in; your home." The moment he said that, it all came back to me and everything was clear again.

"This is the past." I pointed out.

"Bingo. You're dreaming about the past, and what your life was like before all of this happened…when this place was known as Radiant Garden." I looked at Riku when he said that name.

'Radiant Garden?' I thought to myself. 'What happened to this place to give it the name Hollow Bastion?' I put the thought out of my head when Riku took me down to the end of the hallway to a large door that was slightly cracked. I opened it and saw a memory I knew I was never going to forget. It was the day Ansem taught me to speak English. I had so much fun learning different words and sentences that my joyous face would always make Ansem laugh."This was the first time Ansem taught me English. I didn't think I could be any happier than I was on that day." I found myself smiling at what was the best moment in my life. It was like I didn't have a care in the world. "But you know what would've made it way better?" I looked up at Riku and took his hand. "If I had met you. If you were there, it would've been absolutely perfect."

Riku chuckled. "I can't argue with that. But Misuki…what would you think of me if I was keeping a horrible secret from you?" My smile faded quickly. What did he mean by that? I didn't understand. "If I wasn't who you thought I was. Would you still have feelings for me?"

I pushed Riku out of the room and let the door shut us out as I grabbed him and hugged him tightly. "Don't say stupid things like that you dummy. You're too good of a person to have a horrible secret." Riku hugged me back and held me close to him. "Why would a kind-hearted person like you keep a horrible secret?"

"Because…I'm not who you think I am." Not understanding what he meant, I looked up at him with a curious look. What I saw made chills run down my spine. He wasn't Riku anymore! His face shifted into a face I recognized all too well. It was the Ansem imposter I met the day Ansem the Wise disappeared. "Give me your power, Misuki. Let me have…your heart." He reached into me and let the Darkness surround me and capture my heart. I screamed for help, but no one came for me. That's when everything faded away and the stress that my body was under, dissolved instantly.

Author's Note:

Okay, reading this chapter over again I got a little confused at the end so I made the necessary corrections to make it less so. Sorry if it threw anyone off ^^; Anyway, hope you still enjoyed it.

Please R&R. Many thanks ^^