Twilight Town
Sora strode up the hill toward the meeting place. He'd have used a dark corridor, but suspected Riku would recognise the scent of his darkness.
Maleficent was already there, but alone.
"You told me he'd be here," she said, recognising him.
Sora ensured Riku wasn't listening in anywhere nearby, then answered, "It's not midday yet. He'll be here, especially if he sees me. If he gets the idea you're working with the Organization, it might motivate him to take action."
"What if he decides to attack?"
"I doubt either of us have anything to worry-" he broke off. He knew that scent. Not as strong as his own, but not quite muffled by it. "He's here. Don't forget. Not a word about me."
Maleficent turned to the path leading up the hill, and Sora took up a position behind her, keeping his hood pulled far enough over to completely conceal him.
Moments later, Riku came into view, still wearing the blindfold.
"So you're the one," he murmured cryptically. "What do you want Maleficent?"
"I merely thought I'd look up an old friend. Is that so wrong?"
"You tricked me, and now you expect me to still call you a friend?"
"Don't forget what I gave you, Riku."
"You gave me Ansem, Maleficent. You've no idea what I had to go through to be rid of that, and even now a part of him still resides in my Heart." Riku noticed him and added, "What's he doing here?"
"He arranged this meeting," she answered.
"Can't be. He's too short to be the one I met."
"I was told another went to speak with you, but this young man is the ultimate architect behind this."
Ultimate architect, Sora thought to himself. Nice term – one I think I'll steal for later.
"Who is he?"
"None of our concern. This is between the two of us, no further. Come back with me, Riku."
"And do what? Help you trick some other gullible fool into taking up the darkness so you can take over the various worlds again?"
"Really, you sound like you think the worst of me."
"Trouble is, the worst is usually true when it comes to you."
"What has the light ever done for you, Riku?"
"It's kept me from the darkness. Light and dark together, leading the way to the dawn. I'm of both now."
"But the darkness still resides within you."
"That's true. And I make use of it when I have to. But it doesn't rule me."
"I see... so you refuse me entirely?"
"I won't work with you. If anything, I'll stop you if you try anything."
"Then I see no further point to this meeting." She glanced back to him, then as she vanished she added, "I leave you in the care of Sora."
Riku drew in a sharp, surprised breath. Sora let one out loudly, almost shouting, "Maleficent!"
A short red sword appeared in Riku's hand. Sora knew of it – Soul Eater.
He drew back from it, not wanting to call on a Keyblade – it would give him away.
Riku was quick though, and after several feints, Sora's hood fell back.
"So it is you! How did you get loose from Roxas?"
"I never went back to him," Sora growled back, pushing him away as he pulled out the Keyblade. There was no point in hiding it now he knew. "I used Xion, made her take my place."
"You what?"
"You heard me. You should have taken off that blindfold and looked at her with your own eyes. You'd have seen her the way she was, instead of the way I made her."
"You lied to me!"
"I lie to a lot of people, you were no different."
"You promised to take care of Xion, not..."
"I made no such promise. I did what I had to."
"So you've left Roxas incomplete."
"Guess again. I made Xion a perfect Replica – Roxas is complete thanks to that. Now all that's left is for me to get my Heart, and I'll be complete too."
"I won't let you do that!"
"Just try to stop me!"
Riku lunged for him, but he was predictable and Sora got clear without any trouble. He focused, pushing aside the blind rage at Maleficent's ignorance of their agreement, blocking where he couldn't counter, and countering where Riku left himself open for it.
Sora had strength built up from taking on all the Heartless he'd come across and created, let alone what the darkness did for him. He circled until Riku was between him and the fence, then pushed him back.
Riku got clear before he was forced over the edge, forcing him to repeat the same again. This time, he paused after getting clear.
"Why don't you give up?" Sora taunted him.
"Come on, Roxas. I thought you were stronger than that."
"Get real – look which one of us is winning!" he answered before he'd even thought about it.
"So... even now, you still have your ties to Roxas."
"What're you talking about?"
"No answers for a Nobody," Riku shook his head. "You don't have that right." He made another dash for Sora, but Sora stepped quickly aside and caught him from behind, sending him tumbling. Riku recovered quickly, ready for anything else, but not attacking.
"How many times do I have to beat you? Or should I just finish you off right here and now?"
"Fine. You've left me no other choice. I have to unleash the power in my Heart."
"What nonsense are you babbling now?"
"The dark power I've been holding back," he answered, getting to his feet and taking off the blindfold. The darkness engulfed him, the smell of it almost overwhelming Sora's senses. It started to take on a familiar tone to it.
When it cleared, what remained was the coat, now floating in the air, but the occupant...
Sora recalled when he'd joined Zexion on the short mission to the Destiny Islands. Riku had appeared there, but had also turned into someone else, someone who looked a lot like Xemnas. Now that same face was looking back at him.
Behind him, the strange creature he'd seen form behind the possessed Riku on the islands appeared yet again. The smell of the darkness overpowered even his own. This was not a fight he should have started.
"Another time, Riku," Sora told him, quickly stepping back into a corridor.
As he left, he heard Riku's changed voice, say, "I have accepted it." He'd heard the voice before, both on the islands and in some of his earlier dreams.
The corridor had been heading back to the castle, but instead he redirected it to exit at the Disney Castle, finding it barely needed any extra effort than any other world just to get there. Almost as soon as he'd arrived, he called in various kinds of Heartless, then also called on the Dusks and Samurais to cause extra trouble. So long as he kept them under control, they'd focus on that trouble instead of each other.
He considered waiting for the inevitable arrival of Roxas, but decided against it. He was still a little winded from the short fight with Riku, and so instead headed back to the castle.
"Where's Xemnas?" he asked Saïx shortly on arrival.
"Out. What do you need him for?"
"I don't know that you'd know... but fine. Who's Ansem?"
"Which one?"
"Tell me about both."
"Ansem the Wise was the ruler of Radiant Garden. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness... I know little about."
"Zexion saw the second one on Destiny Islands, didn't he? On that day I was with him."
"Yes."
"Riku just turned into him."
He expected more of a reaction, but this was Saïx. He merely said, "Explain."
"He found out about me being separate from Roxas still, and we ended up in a fight. When it looked like he was losing, he discarded the blindfold, darkness surrounded him, and when it cleared, this Ansem was looking back at me."
"Interesting. What then?"
"I left him like that. This creature thing appeared behind him, and with the smell of the darkness... I wasn't going to exhaust myself on that."
"Sensible. The creature you saw we know only as Ansem's Guardian."
"Heartless?"
"We don't know."
"Inconvenient. If you see Xemnas before I do, let him know about this will you? I want to get some rest."
Saïx nodded, and he left him, headed for his room. He barely noticed anything along the way, settling onto the bed without bothering to take anything off.
He didn't sleep. It wasn't that he couldn't reach it. He just didn't seem to need any. He couldn't explain it, but wasn't going to go looking for the reason in case he found it was only temporary. After today, bad news was something to be avoided.
Roxas' Gummi ship
Roxas got up, taking care not to disturb Donald as he headed back up to the cockpit where Goofy was keeping watch on their course. They were headed for the Disney Castle after the other two had caught a strong feeling they were needed there. Roxas knew what it was of course, but he was still trying to keep from giving away too much.
He laid a hand on Goofy's shoulder.
"Go on down," he murmured. "You get some sleep. I'll keep watch until morning."
Goofy nodded, yawned, then left him to it.
There was nothing interesting around, though in a while they'd be passing by Hollow Bastion. He checked anyway, ensuring there were no Gummi Heartless or Nobodies around. Travelling by Gummi Ship had it's own share of issues, he'd discovered, though so far he'd proved to be an adept pilot.
As he settled into the pilot's chair, he pulled out the other change he'd made before coming in from one pocket.
At first glance, it appeared to be little more than a small, thin sheet of silvery metal, about the size of the palm of his hand. After Roxas passed a hand over it, the second glance showed it was his access to the simulation's details.
He was the only one who had write-access to the data behind it, with the exception of himself and Sora of course. There was no way he would have come in here without at least some way to keep an eye on things.
Of course, as it wasn't strictly speaking part of the simulation, he couldn't use it openly, and so his chances to use it were few and far between.
He'd automated a fair part of it though, setting it to condense what happened to give him an at-a-glance overview.
It told him little he didn't already know. Earlier that day though, Maleficent, Sora and Riku had appeared together in Twilight Town. A detailed look into the event revealed that Riku and Sora had fought, and that Riku had finally become Ansem. He'd begun to wonder if that would ever happen, and what effect it might have had if Riku had never done that, but it seemed he wouldn't be finding out anytime soon.
He checked up on Sora next. Currently back at the castle again. It looked like he wasn't sleeping again. Why that should be, he couldn't tell. It could have been the one oddity he'd picked up... but that was in the Organization's Kingdom Hearts, not Sora.
Roxas checked it anyway. There seemed to be no way he'd prevent it from being completed before he reached the World that Never Was, but the knowledge that DiZ would be there with the odd device he'd either made or was making by now made it certain that complete or not, anyone who gained power over it wouldn't be able to control the full potential it had.
And yet... there it was again. A single bit of data that had been attached to the Kingdom Hearts that contained just four characters.
'Sora'
There was no author on the data, not even a suggestion of who or what had created it. It was as if it had just turned up by itself.
He nudged the controls, steering the Gummi Ship to one side to avoid a passing meteor, noting Hollow Bastion in the distance, then returned to the sheet, and this mysterious data.
Could the simulated Kingdom Hearts actually have some real power, despite it being only a simulation? And if that was so, could this suggest that it had a mind of it's own... and was doing something to Sora?
Sora's inability to sleep... could that be caused by it?
He set a watch on the Kingdom Hearts data so if anything else turned up, he'd be notified, then with another pass of his hand, the sheet became blank again, just an ordinary seeming bit of metal that was stowed away again.
