"He knows now," Saïx says coolly, leaning back in his raised white chair. He steeples his fingers before his face, looking almost thoughtful. "Sora knows that every Heartless he destroys serves our purpose. That could make him harder to control. His anger may not be enough."

"Even if it isn't," Number II interjects in that lackadaisical voice of his, "his heroism will be. That kid can't help himself but to save people from the Heartless. Too much of his pure little heart's in it."

Number X nods once, idly rearranging a hand of cards. "Not much of a gamble then, is it? And here I'd thought this might be fun."

"Fun?" Xaldin says, raising a single bushy eyebrow. "Fun is not the objective, even if we had feelings enough to identify the sensation. Demyx was rather dedicated to finding fun in his missions, and the Keybearer destroyed him. Would you like to share that fate?"

X shrugs. He plucks a single card from his hand and examines it, then gingerly places it three cards down. "Well, what's the point in betting on something if you already know the outcome?"

"Speaking of points," II interjects, "mine was that all we have to do to make Sora dance our way is present him with a suitable villain. Namely, us."

"He truly hates us now," Saïx says, almost smiling. "I've seen it firsthand. That is how we will control him."

Xaldin clears his throat pointedly. "Which leads us to the topic I wish to discuss. We have all witnessed the Keybearer's power and skill. It is not inconceivable that he could manage to threaten us directly. What then?"

"You wish to know whether or not you can kill him," Xemnas states, speaking up for the first time in the meeting.

"Yes."

The Superior appears to think about it for a moment, then shrugs minutely. "If he is to die so easily, then he is of no use to me."

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear," Xaldin says with a single nod, more for his own benefit than the others. "You know it isn't in my nature to hold back."

"And Maleficent?" Number II asks. "She proved herself no match for us, but she still retains some small control over the Heartless."

"The witch is irrelevant," Saïx answers. "Her forces were too depleted by the attack on Hollow Bastion, just as we believed they would be. She barely defeated a phalanx of my lessers with her most powerful magic. She is nothing."

KH-KH-KH

"Unacceptable!" Maleficent roars, green fire blazing all around her. At this point she hardly even cares about the property damage; this tower has proven a useless stronghold anyway. "To think that I have stooped so low as to assist that Keyblade wielding child and his lackeys! A disgrace!"

"Aw, c'mon now Maleficent," Pete attempts (stupidly) to cheer his mistress up. "At least we got outta that mess in one piece."

The witch responds to her minion's statement with only a withering glare, strong enough to raise his cowering instincts. "I'd almost rather they'd killed me. At least that I could have accomplished with some of my dignity intact."

Pete chuckles a little. "Oh, all that dignity stuff is overrated anyway, believe me. All that really matters is escaping to fight again."

"Fight with what, you oaf?" Maleficent asks with deceptive calmness. A single raise of her eyebrow is the only outward indication of displeasure. "The bulk of our forces were invested in this siege, and it failed. They were decimated!"

"Well, I could always go back out and…"

"No," Maleficent states flatly. "Every time I send you to another world, you manage to lose far more than we gain."

"So what?" Pete asks, puzzled at his mistress's unusually defeatist attitude. "We're just gonna give up? Let them Organization goons get their hands on Kingdom Hearts?"

The jade-skinned witch gives him a glare, but it's halfhearted at best. "Of course not, imbecile. We merely need to bide our time. It seems obvious that Sora and this Organization are adversaries. Though I am loathe to admit it, he should prove adequate enough to sufficiently thin their ranks and locate their fortress. Then, once their strength is reduced…"

"We swoop in and snatch that there Kingdom Hearts right outta their hands!" Pete finishes, leaping up out of his seat giddily.

"Quite right," Maleficent affirms. Flicking her hand, she opens a dark portal. "Now, come let us away. I would not imagine it too long before the residents of the town arrive here. They will assuredly not be happy."

KH-KH-KH

Deep in the pristine white bowels of the Organization's stronghold, Kairi sits in a cell. It's a surprisingly spacious cube, with pale purple walls and an arched ceiling. Her only view of the outside world is a barred door.

The cruelest thing about the whole situation is that she knows she could easily slip through the bars. They're inexplicably spaced nearly a foot apart, presenting a tempting target.

No, the real hindrance to any escape attempt is the fact that beneath those bars is a long drop down. A long path juts out from the opposite wall of the chamber, ending almost twenty feet from her cell. A jump would be suicidal, and so Kairi waits. Again.

The girl huffs once, frustrated, and stands. Her feet move almost of their own accord, and before she knows it she's pacing back and forth.

At least the first time, she'd had an excuse. It wasn't like there'd been a lot she could have done as a limp, heartless body. But now here she was again, trapped in a villain's lair awaiting help. It's the kind of thing that could really give a girl a complex.

If only she could get that weird Light burst thing to work again. But no matter how hard she tries, how much she concentrates, it just isn't coming.

Sighing once more, she slides back to the floor to think some more.

KH-KH-KH

DiZ fixes the machine at his feet with a scowl, pulling tightly on his wrench to secure the latest bolt.

Once he's sure it will hold, the man lets go of his tool and sits back, letting his arm rest. A dull fatigue has set in there, and once again the bandaged man feels inescapably old.

He spares a glance at the nearby monitor, but only sees the same thing he had before. Repair work has already begun on Hollow Bastion, the citizens out in full force. Some of them work because they're assured their family and friends made it through safely. Others knew those who died, and work through their pain.

The man known as Leon stands in the middle of it all, supervising and pitching in where he can. He's a natural leader, easily mingling with those under his charge.

Unlike the last "leader" of Radiant Garden, DiZ thinks bitterly, shaking his head and resuming work on the machine. It's been difficult work, from the design process on up to actually building the thing. But if it's been done correctly, the machine may just save the worlds.

"If only," DiZ speaks aloud, to himself and the thin, lonely air, "it could save me."

KH-KH-KH

Naminé takes a deep breath, letting the air rush in and out of her lungs with absolute serenity. She feels the weight of the pencil in her hand, just begging to be lifted up and out to paper.

She takes another quick peek at her subject, a brightly colored bird sitting on a rock not far away. Then another deep breath, in and out, and she lifts the pencil. In and out. In and…

Her hand falls once more, resting against the log she's sitting on. The bird musts sense the sudden movement, and it squawks once before flying away.

The blonde girl shakes her head, frustration settling in. Her breathing loses its calm pattern, resuming its normally shaky, ragged journey in and out.

It's been like this for weeks now, ever since the man calling himself Ansem had let her go. She'd run, desperately seeking a refuge away from the madness that had been her life before.

After a day of travel, stopping over through nearly a dozen world, she'd found herself in this jungle. A serene, calm place, devoid of human presences as near as she can tell. There is the occasional odd, boisterous yell, but she figures that's just some animal she's not familiar with.

Within minutes she'd seen a subject worth drawing, a tiny yellow lizard scuttling by on six legs. She'd drawn out her sketchbook, grabbed her pencil and…

Nothing.

Whatever inspiration she'd had before, the drive to immortalize her thoughts and visions, has somehow dried up. Now every time she raise her pencil, she can only seem to put it back down again.

KH-KH-KH

Riku leans back against a rock, closing his eyes to clear his thoughts. Not that the darkness behind his lids is much different than the darkness of his current realm.

He almost couldn't believe it, seeing Sora in the flesh again like that. The urge to say something, to call out and let his oldest, best friend know that he was there, so close…

And then he remembers, why he couldn't. Why he can't now, perhaps never again.

Tears prick at his eyes, then spill over tired lids and down a face that is not his own.

KH-KH-KH

Sora opens his eyes and gazes down the length of his soft bed, safe in his cabin on the Gummi ship. The portal from the Realm of Darkness had deposited him and his friends directly on the ship's bridge, naturally scaring the living daylights out of Jiminy Cricket.

He'd left the explanations to the others, too tired to bring the chronicler up to speed. He'd come down here and immediately collapsed.

But he's awake now, and immediately he is haunted by a barrage of thoughts, none of them comforting. He's still no closer to finding Riku, Kairi is in the Organization's clutches, and even his efforts to help the worlds have only put them in danger.

In an odd way, he wishes for the simplicity of his last journey. Sure things had gotten dark, he'd faced numerous dangers again and again, but at least he knew what the right thing to do was. Now, he has no idea.

The door creaks open and he looks up to see Telary poking his head in. He nods once, permitting the wizard entrance. Azlyn comes in after him, one hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Hey," Telary begins, fixing Sora with a weak smile. He stops beside the bed, looking down on the younger boy. "Are you doing okay? We were worried."

"Telary was worried," Azlyn quickly interjects, faking disinterest. "I just came here because he was."

"Sure thing." The Keybearer sits up, giving his friends a reassuring smirk. "I'm doing okay. I took a little nap, so I'm not so tired anymore."

"That's good," Telary says with a nod, and he looks so uncomfortable that Sora just rolls his eyes and gestures for the older man to sit on the bed.

Azlyn doesn't hesitate, hopping over Sora's body to lay on his right side. Telary joins on his left, his smile becoming a little more genuine.

"Crazy day, huh?" Sora says, just to say something. The others nod, mumble a little bit. "Crazy day."

"Took down an Organization member," Azlyn adds, reawakening the unpleasant memory in Sora. Looking over at Telary, the Keybearer can see that he seems even more perturbed by the mention of Demyx's fate.

"Sure did," Tel sighs, laying back to hide his slight shiver. After a long moment he sighs and lays an arm over his eyes. "It was awful."

Sora nods and gives a tiny grunt of agreement. In a way, he's relieved that Telary seems so broken up about it. He never thought he'd see the day he was afraid of the wizard, but that day had come with a vengeance.

"What are you talking about?" Azlyn asks, nearly scoffing. "One less Nobody can only be a good thing, far as I'm concerned."

"You don't understand, Az," Telary says sharply, sitting up. "It wasn't like casting a fire spell on some Heartless that looks vaguely humanoid. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn he was a regular person. What I did was…"

"What you did was for the good of everyone in Hollow Bastion," the knight cuts him off, a steely knife-edge to her voice. "Because of what that lowlife did, people died. Probably a lot of people. He was keeping the defense grid down, he was preventing them from getting help. He deserved it."

"But I lost control Azlyn," Telary counters, a hitch of sadness in his voice. Grief, almost. "I wasn't thinking about those people in town, or justice, or any of that. I only cared what he did to you, and what that did to me." Tears slowly make their way down his face.

Azlyn climbs over Sora and wraps Telary up in her arms, letting him lay his head on her chest. She mutters soft words to him, so low that Sora can't hear even though he's only a foot away.

After a long minute Telary sits back up, and Azlyn lets him go. The wizard wipes his eyes, the tears gone.

"This is what they want," Azlyn says, her voice hardening again. "They think that if they go around acting human, then that's how we'll think of them. Well, from now on I'm not letting myself be fooled by their act. If you two wanna play with kid gloves, go ahead. But I won't be. Guarantee it."

Sora says nothing, not sure what to say exactly. There's no doubt in his mind that the Nobodies of Organization XIII are a threat, monsters whether they look the part or not. But still something in him hesitates to agree with Azlyn, to let himself dehumanize them completely.

Despite Azlyn's words hanging ominously in the air, the trio lay back down. For several long minutes there's only silence.

"Heck of a day," Sora finally says, letting out another sigh. He examines his bare arm, mentally imposing the wounds he'd had earlier back on the skin. "I can't remember the last time I saw so much blood. All of it mine, of course."

"I can remember," Telary speaks up, drawing the others' attentions. "I'm sure you do too Azlyn."

"Really?" Azlyn asks, propping herself up on an elbow. "When?"

Telary grins at her. "You know. The time Goofy took us fishing with Master Donald?"

The knight smiles and lets out a short snort. "Oh, yeah. Right?"

"What?" Sora asks, sitting up and laying his hands behind his head. "What happened?"

Telary's grin gets even larger, and he sits up fully in complete storyteller mode. "Well, it was a nice day out, school wasn't in session. So, Captain Goofy gets this idea in his head that we all go fishing. The king was busy, so it was just the four of us and, heh, if you think you can't understand Master Donald normally, then just imagine how he sounds with a fish hook stuck in his beak…"

Sora laughs, letting the story wash over him along with his friends' presence. So things are bad, that's undeniable. The situation is dark, ambiguous, and promising nothing but more danger.

But in spite of all of that, Sora can't help but smile. All of this fear and confusion and Darkness, in the end it's all going to be worth it.

Someday, and soon, all his friends, new and old, will be together again.

Just a little transition chapter, catching up on a few characters. Reminds me of the "Gummi Ship" chapters I did in the last story.

Shoutout to Goddragonking for the last chapter's review! Until next time.