Author's Comments: Hello! Thanks for reading this far. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani and Aden.

Fighting off tens of thousands of Unversed couldn't possibly be a far cry from fighting off thousands of Heartless…but it's more than a far cry, as Sora and I discover quickly. It's a lost cause.

"That's the fourth world we've been to that's been overrun by Unversed," Sora huffs, bending over one hand on his knee and the other holding onto his keyblade. "How're we supposed to find Xemnas when the Unversed keep blocking our way and coming after us?"

I can only shake my head, my throat drying out as I try to catch my breath. The air of the Dark Corridor slithers over my sweaty skin and brings little relief to my aching lungs. "Maybe if we look for a world that the Unversed hasn't touched yet, we'll run into him."

He straightens up with a nod. "I guess that's the only thing we can do for now, huh? We just have to be careful we don't spend too much time here." The tip of his keyblade ignites a flame and he holds it up near our faces. He frowns. "Your eyes look lighter than they used to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means the darkness here is affecting you."

Something sticky and thick pools at the pit of my stomach. "Even with this?" I ask, holding up my katana and letting the blade throw the light from the flame all over our clothes and into the abyss around us.

He nods again. "Let's get out of here."

Wordlessly I follow him to the other side, wherever it leads. The sparkling katana somewhat keeps the darkness at bay from me thanks to Sora's keyblade flame. As we approach it, I can see a grand, not-quite-finished castle looming over a town. No red-eyed creatures are crawling anywhere and no screams of panic shatter the peaceful atmosphere of Radiant Garden.

Wow. That name came so easily.

"Something happen, Imani?" Sora asks over his shoulder, a corner of his mouth curving up to copy my half-smile.

I part my lips to answer, but then something in the distance catches my attention. Two muscular men—one with long dreads tied in a ponytail and another, taller one with stiff brown short wavy hair—stride down the road, darting their eyes from one building to another.

Fingernails tickle the back of my head as they turn a corner. I know them.

"Come on," I hiss to Sora, dashing to catch up with the men. Few people linger in the streets and the occasional "kupo kupo" or two lilts in the air as we run after them—

I nearly crash into the shorter man's back when he suddenly stops, whirling around and swinging a long lance at me. The hit to my torso flings me into the wall and the man pins me upright, his chiseled face inches from mine. Killer instinct flashes dangerously in his dark eyes…until he takes a moment to look at me.

"Imani…" the man breathes in awe, wide-eyed as he steps back.

My free hand massages the ribs he hit and I offer a pained smile. "That's a nice way to greet someone after months of not seeing each other, Xaldin."

He narrows his eyes but sends away the lance with a wave of his hand. "We were informed that you had no memories and that you could not travel between worlds."

"I'm slowly getting my memories back and I know how to call a Dark Corridor now."

Xaldin's jaw tightens, his dark eyes darting back and forth between mine. "How strange that you have been affected by the darkness despite not possessing your heart…"

My smile falls. "Is it really bad?"

"It's noticeable."

I turn to the taller man and nearly laugh at the sight of Sora clinging to his broad back like a little kid. "Lexaeus."

He nods to return the greeting, eyeing Sora pointedly until the boy jumps off with a nervous laugh. "What brings you to Radiant Garden?" Lexaeus asks.

"We're looking for Xemnas."

Several beats of silence erupt after Sora's words and the two men exchange a glance. Then, Lexaeus turns and continues walking up the pathway to the castle. "Come," Xaldin instructs. "Quickly."

Sora and I follow the men, weaving between tall walls of jagged rock until we come across a group of people standing in a large open area. Images flicker in my head as we approach the group—images of Cloud fighting a man with long, silver hair and an even longer katana.

"What took you so long?" a man with an eye-patch and dark hair with silver streaks yells, his arms akimbo. "We've been here for at least ten minutes!"

Xaldin jerks his head towards Sora and me. "We ran into someone."

The group does a double-take. "Sora…" a pink-haired man whispers in shock. "And Imani…your eyes…"

Subconsciously I duck my head and let my bangs fall before my face. They don't have to stare…

"Long time no see, eh, Sora?" The one-eyed man grins cheekily, offering a gloved hand to me. "Hello there. How do you do? I'm the tooth fairy."

I reel back as he shakes my hand roughly. Hello there? How do you do? The tooth fairy?

"This," he waves his free hand to the pink-haired man (who's rolling his blue eyes), "is Mother Nature." The hand points to the smirking blond man with several earrings. "That's Father Time. And that," he finally gestures to the blond woman, "is Princess Yorko-Shmorko. In a little bit you'll get to meet the man who lives on the moon."

The circulation in my hand is starting to disappear on me. I furrow my brow at him while trying to yank my hand from his grasp. "Princess Yorko-Shmorko?" I repeat dully. "That's the best you could come up with, Xigbar?"

"So you do remember us!" Xigbar howls in laughter, finally releasing me and throwing back his head.

Sora chuckles lightly and I sigh. "I guess I'm still a toy to you…"

"What's that you got on your back, Maxie?" Larxene cranes her head around me, her eyes alit with curiosity. "Is that a weapon?"

I shrug and the katana strapped to my back clinks softly. "I can't fight Xemnas barehanded."

Larxene gasps and Marluxia hisses, "You're planning to fight Xemnas?"

"How else am I supposed to get my heart back and stop him from destroying the worlds?"

"Do you know where he is?" Sora asks.

"None of us know his whereabouts," Luxord drawls, "but perhaps Saix does. We're meeting today to discuss the matter."

"Perfect timing!" Xigbar suddenly shouts, clapping his hands together once.

We all turn to the walkway to find a blue-haired man with an x-shaped scar on his face walking calmly towards us. When his golden eyes fall on me and Sora, he merely blinks and walks past us to the edge of the cliff. "Imani. Sora."

"Do you know where Xemnas is?" I demand, rushing to his side without a second glance at the edge.

His eyes narrow but he doesn't turn to me. "You seek Xemnas?"

"Yes. I have to get my heart back and fix the stained-glass circle."

"And you've come to Radiant Garden in search of Xemnas."

"Yes. Do you know where he is or not?"

A breeze flutters his long hair but he remains as still as stone. I don't dare breathe in case he decides to answer when I least expect it.

"I do."

"Tell me, please," I beg the split-second he finishes answering. "Tell me where I can find Xemnas."

He continues to stare off into the distance with those narrowed eyes for minutes until he slowly turns to face me fully.

"Saix, please," I hiss.

The tension around his eyes steadily fades away and he looks at me for a long while. As slowly as he turned to face me, he turns his head to the distance again, keeping his eyes locked on mine until his head completes its turn before letting his gaze drop. "Xemnas," he murmurs, "is down there."

My brow furrows at his deliberately slow revelation…but I follow his gaze to glimpse down at the dark depths of the trench—

A hard shove to my back sends me flying over the edge of the cliff.

"IMANI!"

Time seems to slow as I descend into the dark and twist my body to glare incredulously at Saix's calm smiling face. Sora struggles helplessly against Lexaeus' hold, screaming my name long and loud. Xigbar waves a hand with that same cheeky grin he gave me earlier.

Those traitors.

"IMANI!"

Sora's second shout breaks the hazy shock surrounding my mind. The figures looking down on me shrink with each second. I turn back to the trench and curse under my breath. What do I do? What do I do?

"YOU CAN'T STAY UP THERE FOREVER!"

The trench turns into a desert oasis before my eyes (or in my mind's eye?) for a second before I find myself falling into an abyss—a Dark Corridor.

That's what I'll do!

I stretch a hand out below and jolts of energy surge through my arm. The air shifts as a crack of dark miasma opens up and I slip inside, suddenly upright on my feet. Gravity no longer weighs on my back but the usual slight pressure slips along my skin.

I frown. The usual slight pressure?

Quickly I reach over my head and unsheathe the katana. I can't get used to being in here. I can't lose myself any more than I already have.

With a snap of my fingers and a single-worded command—ignite—I bring about a small flame and instantly sigh in relief at the light reflecting off the katana blade as it throws itself around me. I need to get out of here right now. This safeguard won't keep the darkness away completely. I have to get out.

But where to go? I don't know how to navigate through these corridors without Sora. What if I remain stuck in here until I die? What if I can't ever find a way out? What if, by the time I do get out, all the worlds have been overrun by darkness and Xemnas—

I shake my head firmly, breaking up the train of dismal thoughts. I have to find a way out somehow. As I turn in a slow circle, I peer into the abyss for some sort of escape...like an exit doorway…

Oh. There.

Carefully I tread through the tangible space towards the spot of color in the distance, keeping the katana blade in my peripheral. The occasional low dip deters my progress but eventually I climb out of the corridor onto a sandy moonlit beach.

The air tastes slightly salty. With a gust of wind the flame on my fingertips blows out. Large boulders sit scattered around me. Strange arching structures overlap each other on the near horizon over the gentle water lapping against the beach.

The sensation of fingernails scratching the back of my head returns in full-force. Something must have happened here, but I can't remember what. Maybe if I take a look around a picture or two will form in my head.

I weave around the boulders towards the water, returning my katana to its scabbard on my back. The breeze combs through my hair gently as I look around. Nothing but beach stretches to my left, but to my right…

Instantly my hand returns to the handle of my katana and I draw it out, pointing the tip inches from the head of the black-cloaked figure sitting on a rock. He faces the water with his hood up and doesn't flinch when he turns to me. The edge of his hood brushes against the tip of my blade yet he still doesn't seem alarmed.

The sand beneath my feet crunches as I crouch slightly and shoot him the most menacing glare I can muster. Maybe Saix and the rest aren't traitors at all. They led me straight to—

"A visitor."

My eyes widen. His voice…It's not his.

"A troubled visitor, it seems," the man corrects.

He's not Xemnas.

Without relaxing, I ask warily, "Who are you?"

He looks at me for a few moments more before turning back to the water. "Who am I…?"

Just as I'd hoped, pictures start flashing before me. I see a man with long blond hair and a beard, poring over papers scattered on his desk. He wears a periwinkle lab coat and walks around with a boy who looks like a younger Zexion and he uses strange tools to pick at the heart of his dark-skinned, silver-haired apprentice and suddenly he's wandering in the dark and wearing red with his face covered and carrying a device—

"I…am lost."

Author's Afterthought: "Princess Yorko-Shmorko." Yeah. I was a little desperate. I could imagine Xigbar saying something like that, though.

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