I know Mickey will sooner or later read this, so right here and now I'll apologize to him. I know I'm not the easiest person for him to work with, and I know I bother him a great deal – sometimes deliberately. But, Olympus Coliseum aside, at least I never had reason to oppose him. Being a king has its appeal for some, but I wouldn't be very good at it.

Hollow Bastion continued to unfold, sometimes not following the real version as it should have, as we passed through the various rooms. Mickey had grown used to my careful choice of cards at each door, but had said little on them until we reached the room Neku assured us was the last one before the local boss room. It held few Heartless, but took time to get through as it made up a maze.

"I remember when Riku was going through here," he mused to himself. "Couldn't be here for a lot of it, not until he got a long way through. Had to keep holding Ansem off him."

"I know the story," I murmured. "We should see some of the Organization soon."

"Shoulda seen Vexen already. He showed up on the floor before for Riku."

"You know what things are like when I'm around," I laughed. "Nothing happens as it's meant to."

"Y'know, there's one thing Riku absolutely refused to explain to me," Mickey told me, pausing to send a Shadow flying, then staring thoughtfully off. "He kept telling me there was a different way things could have gone, a way that would have Sora do what you did. He didn't go into detail though, and he'd never tell me how you knew that."

"It's a long story," I answered evasively. "We ought to move on and get this floor out the way. The white rooms between floors are safer areas."

"Wait, Lee," Neku said. "I think I've discovered something."

"Is it going to make a difference between now and the white room?"

"I don't know. You're the one who can decide that. You know your Keyblade lost a bit more after you defeated Riku, right?"

"How could anyone miss it," Mickey remarked, rolling his eyes upward.

"Be nice," I murmured to the little King, then to the formless voice of Neku, "You can tell what it means?"

"Sort of. I can't tell much because only you can actually do anything. If you touch – touch mind, not attack – Mickey with that Keyblade, you can exchange him for the data-Riku that was trapped in the blade with him. Defeating Riku was what released him, but because you and Data-Sora can only have one companion, he can't appear."

"So I have to chose which I want. Won't Riku just turn on me if I set him loose?"

"He's a companion, Lee. He can't. Besides, if he gets out of line, remind him you're the one who freed him – and that you can always just bring Mickey back out again."

"What about what happened to Sora upstairs thought?"

"He's the leader of that party, not a companion. Different rules apply. Be careful in the last room, by the way. You'll have to face off against your Heartless, and there's something else there I can't figure out. It's stubbornly resistant to me."

That either meant another book, or something under one's influence. It was an intriguing discovery, but I hadn't yet figured out why I would want to bring out data-Riku. If he was anything like when we'd seen him, he'd still have darkness on a similar scale to what Ansem gave the real Riku.

I'd also have to consider that in a battle against Anti-Liam, everything became a card that had to be used to take effect – perhaps even the change of companions, and that was what made the reasoning clear.

Neku had warned me that any green card drew on my darkness. Data-Riku had his own darkness. If a companion could use my cards even as I could...

"Don't take offence if I do exchange you for Riku – or any later companion," I warned Mickey. "It'll be a tactical decision based on the situation."

"At least I won't have to put up with you," he quipped. "You've gotta use the cards here like ya did the time you told me about, don't you?" he asked shrewdly.

"Always do. It's Neku's way to prevent either of us from overpowering each other too soon. Don't be too surprised by what I say in a moment," I added with a vicious grin as we reached the door. "I'm going to see if I can put him off guard somehow."

Mickey eyed me suspiciously, but said nothing as I opened the final door. Beyond it there lay the grand room that was the site of the final Keyhole, just behind the same marble bier upon which Kairi's data counterpart had been laid out was none other than my Heartless, poring over a collection of cards laid out over it. He was muttering to himself, pointing to one, then another. The sort of thing I do when I know no one is watching and I'm trying to plan something.

One key difference I noted immediately this time was that where my hands were now those of a Novashadow, his hands were clearly fully human. Neku might have severed the link that allowed him to pick up anything from me, but even so whatever change happened to me held the reverse for him.

"Well, well," I called loudly, startling him. "Look what we've stumbled over, your Majesty - my errant Heartless. Last time I saw him he was running for his life. His luck isn't much improved. He still can't tell when the cards are necessary or not."

Anti-Liam's expression through that announcement passed from startled to irritated, then at last flickered into a momentarily disturbed look that told clearly my simple deception had upset his confidence slightly, just as I wanted it to.

"Oh, very clever," he snapped, quickly scooping up the cards on the bier. "Your wit is absolutely blinding. "Your Majesty," he nodded briefly to Mickey. "I imagine you'll treat me the same way you did Ansem – hatred and contempt."

"Are you sure he's your Heartless?" Mickey asked me. "That doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd say."

"It's because he's stuck without any link to me in this place, he's starting to diverge and become a little different to me. It won't save him much, but it'll make things easier on me."

"Should I go somewhere else?" Anti-Liam asked acidly. "So you can discuss my faults without me around?"

"No, that's alright," I grinned back. "We're all friends here. We shouldn't have any secrets from each other."

Anti-Liam just snorted derisively. I figured there was no point in staving off the inevitable, so with a snap of my fingers – eventually, since the clawed Heartless hands I'd been left with weren't really made for it – I called a selection of Samurais to either side. A wordless suggestion as I'd done so suggested to them that they should not yet reveal their own cards.

"What's wrong?" Anti-Liam inquired nastily. "Don't think you can beat me on your own?"

I merely shrugged, "What's the point of having help if you don't ask for it?" Then with a gesture, each Samurai drew their blades. I fully intended to give him the impression that the cards weren't necessary.

He remained cautious though, not calling his dark Keyblade to hand. The cards he'd rapidly collected were kept in his off hand, ready to use at a moment's notice. Using the cover of one of the Samurais, I made gestures to get Mickey's attention without looking at him, suggesting silently that he should join ranks with them. After a few moments he got the idea, and with his Kingdom Key in hand he took up a position among them.

Anti-Liam wasn't going to make the first move though. He awaited some sign that confirmed the requirement of the cards, or the lack of their necessity. I was going to have to see what I could do to deal with that.

With a very brief glance I checked the first card in my own deck, which was a red attack card. I had hoped it would be a magic card, which would have been easier to conceal, but I could improvise. I concealed the card between my hand and the grip of the Keyblade, then picked my way through the massed ranks toward him. His attention focused instantly onto me, knowing as well as I did that he and I were the key players here.

Anti-Liam called his Keyblade at last, to my relief still the darkened copy of Gilded Light. He may have had my hands now, but he did not have my Keyblade. He held it very defensively, keeping it between the two of us so he could evade whether a card was used or not.

It inconvenienced me somewhat, as I had to keep the appearance of a healthy wariness of his Keyblade even though it was completely useless in this battle. He was still burdened with the uncertainty though, and that caused him to take an exceptionally defensive pose.

Finally I got around it by raising my Keyblade as if to strike. He shifted his own to respond, and as he did so I dropped the Keyblade, willing it to dismiss itself – which it obligingly did – then I pulled the attack card on him, striking out low with the one-use Gilded Light it granted me.

Anti-Liam jumped back though, still caught by the tip of the blade but it was only a glancing blow. He quickly drew the first card from his other hand, which was also an attack card that struck down on one shoulder. If I hadn't bent my knees before the blow they would have buckled under the force, but bent as they were they allowed me to withstand most of the force behind it and even get up, grab his own head and smash it into my own.

We both stumbled back away from each other, ears ringing, but during the exchange the Samurais had already taken their cue and exchanged their blades for the decks of black Heartless cards, the first rounds of Heartless already being summoned in before them. Mickey showed momentary surprise, but gave both Nobody and Heartless alike the benefit of the doubt, ignored them, snatched a red card from the deck in my hand, then darted in and used it to attack Anti-Liam on his own. Evidently as a companion he had to work with my deck and cards as well, but how had he learned that?

"I told him, that's how," Neku told me. "Just concentrate on your fight before your distraction costs you."

I suppose I was asking for that.

The Heartless summoned were all of one variety this time, Zip Slashers specifically. They were about the same height as me, each with thin but sharp blue blades for each hand and each clinking with every movement as their armour shifted.

By the continued unspoken commands through which the Samurais communicated with the Heartless, the Zip Slashers marched forward to block my Heartless from reaching the retreating Mickey. With no cards in hand he could not attack, and he had only taken one card from me.

Anti-Liam's focus had not yet worked around to the Samurais, so he had not noticed they were summoned from cards. He took in the ranks of Heartless advancing on him, then dismissed them as being of no importance and tried to bull his way through, apparently thinking that as they were not, as far as he could perceive, using or called by cards, they were no threat to him.

They quickly disabused him of that notion. Mickey winced clearly as Anti-Liam made a number of sounds and remarks from their attacks. During that distraction I picked out a selection of blue and red cards and passed them to him. Only a handful, but they'd allow him to participate for a time. I then withdrew to a position behind the Samurais, which obligingly closed ranks to bar the path of anyone who attempted to reach me.

Anti-Liam finally managed to extricate himself from the massed attacks with only one Heartless lost, quickly replaced with another Zip Slasher. Muttering to himself, he picked cards carelessly, using whatever the first card to hand was to try and deal with them. He used a number of Heal magic cards that had little effect after the first, but his inattentiveness was costing him.

I took more care with my cards, selecting the blue magic cards first. The advantage to them was that they still gave control in some measure to me in how they affected the area around. Fire and Blizzard flew over the heads of the Heartless and Nobodies, further annoying Anti-Liam and proving had a similar gift for being offensive in his remarks.

I suppose if you really wanted I could go into detail, but he differs from me in that his remarks tend to be graphic descriptions of what he wants to do to people. Very graphic, and very detailed.

Somehow I didn't think many want to hear about that.

Not all magic was aimed at Anti-Liam directly though. Zip Slashers are part of a family of Heartless, a number of which have elements to them. Some carefully placed and controlled magic changed two into the Heat Sabers with some fire magic, while a Blizzard switched another two became Chill Rippers. Thunder turned a further two into the thunder-aligned Blitz Spears. I almost directed more magic at the remaining four, but Anti-Liam dispatched all four neatly with an attack that made him look like he was in the center of a miniature tornado.

The Samurais replaced them not with more Zip Slashers as had been done before, but with a Blizzard Plant, a Fire Plant, a Green Requiem and finally a Barrier Master, the latter of which quickly cast its own magic over all of us to create an impenetrable barrier, then falling back alongside me. It gave me a look, then shuddered and edged away as if nervous.

At the same time, the Green Requiem swooped low over each of us, dropping a healing dust over us all. Not all of us required it, but unlike my Heartless it did not need a card to do this, so there was no wastage involved. Once its task was done it too withdrew from reach, only it flew up above the main battle.

"Oh, come on!" Anti-Liam snapped. "Play fair!"

"Can't do anything but!" I called back. "The cards see to that!"

He ducked under Mickey's card, a blast of wind magic that tried to throw him back, kicked the Blizzard Plant in combination with a green card that engulfed his foot in a dark fire. The barrier prevented the direct damage, but it set the Heartless alight until it awkwardly managed to spit a ball of ice at itself to put the fire out.

Mickey ducked back out of the battle to rejoin me, breathing hard from the exertion, while my Heartless continued to try and break through the barrier erected by the nearby Heartless, which drew back even further when the little King joined us. I started to re-think the possibility that Heartless have no feelings. They do consume hearts, after all. Maybe they confer some simple feelings on those Heartless who manage to take them.

"You're gonna have to do something," Mickey told me after the Green Requiem made another pass. "Any idiot can command a force, even one like this, but against your Heartless it's not enough. You're doing well, but..."

"But we need something more powerful to break through," I finished, thoughtfully tapping my deck against my chin. I called the Keyblade back to my hand, glanced at it for a moment, then said, "I think it's time for that change over I warned you about. I don't know if you'll experience anything, or if the next thing you'll know is when I bring you back out again, but I'll try not to leave you there too long."

"Don't worry about me, Liam. You're the important one here. If it means getting yourself back under control, I can stand it. Just do me a favour and don't take too long – I don't wanna worry Minnie too much this time."

"I'll see what I can do," I laughed knowingly – I did have a boyfriend waiting back at home, of course – then I tapped him on the head with the Keyblade of People's Hearts, uncertain of how this worked.

The effect was quite interesting. After the tap, a silvery glow surrounded him, attached to the Keyblade by a sliver of light. The glow shifted shape as I raised the Keyblade, forming into a more humanoid shape. When it passed the point where Data-Riku's head would have been, Mickey faded out even as Data-Riku faded in again, the glowing light fading.

"About time," he said ungraciously. "Don't bother me with the details, I know how this goes. I do what you need me to, you don't do anything to me."

"I see you lack the charm Riku has," I observed, quickly leafing through the remaining cards in my deck, separating the green from the rest, occasionally adding a red or blue to the mix. "Take these, and do what you can to irritate my Heartless. Don't be afraid to use your darkness."

"Did you want to tell me how to swing a sword too?" he asked acidly, gesturing with Soul Eater called into one hand, waved uncomfortably close to me. "You do your job and let me do mine."

Without another word, he paused to terrorize the Barrier Master into replacing the barrier which had disappeared with Mickey, then shoved his way through Nobody and Heartless alike to, there was no other word for it, beat up Anti-Liam. I received a few complaints from the Samurais about him, but he was inconveniently useful for the moment.

My Heartless wasn't out of tricks yet though. He couldn't harm our forces directly, but he quickly came up with a trick that I had to admire despite myself. Data-Riku sent Dark Firaga at him, so he uprooted the Blizzard Plant and threw it into the path. The dark spell ignored the barrier as the two were on the same side, allowing it to destroy the Heartless.

He appeared to realize that unless he did something about the sources of the Heartless, that wasn't going to be enough. The Samurais did their best to keep out of his reach but also keep the line between him and me, along with the still cowering Barrier Master. They were quick enough to realize when they were in danger though, and the Heartless quickly crowded in to prevent them from getting harmed.

In a fit of irritation he sent out a blast of darkness that I could smell fouling the air, aimed at the Barrier Master. I quickly tried to call it away as soon as I picked out the direction of the attack, but there wasn't enough time for it to get clear. In one swift attack he managed to eliminate all but the Green Requiem, two Samurais and Data-Riku – who jumped in front of Anti-Liam, pulled out three green cards, then thrust Soul Eater as he used them. Anti-Liam gave a yelp of pain, then once again turned and fled into a corridor, leaving behind him another black enemy card which Data-Riku picked up to hand over to me.

"You run a good fight," he admitted grudgingly as he gave it to me – Wisdom Form, I noticed with a brief glance. "And your Heartless is an... interesting opponent. Don't think this means I like you any more than I did before."

"Maybe I should see if Neku will let you join Data-Sora upstairs so you can see what Riku is like."

"Liam," Neku said quietly, his voice coming from Data-Riku. Neku used his arm to point toward a figure in one corner of the room.

"I wish he wouldn't do that," Data-Riku muttered. "I hate feeling like I'm not in control of myself." Then he noticed my curious expression and asked, "You know who that is?"

"Roxas," I nodded. "But what is he doing here? Roxas!" I called to him.

He turned to face me, looking puzzled.

"Do I know you? Or better... do you know me?"

"Know you? You're... wait, what do you remember?"

"I dunno," he replied, picking his way through some rubble. "There was a boy in red... then I was here and you called me Roxas. It just... felt like it was my name. That's all."

"This boy... did he look like me, do you remember?"

Roxas looked me over intently, then shook his head. "Taller, and with different hair."

"Sora," Data-Riku suggested. "But he never had a Nobody."

"What's a Nobody?" Roxas asked with only mild curiosity.

I shared a look with Data-Riku, then sighed and beckoned for Roxas to join us as I headed for the door – which was covering the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion.

"Come with us. I'll try to explain when I get the chance."