Aqua, Riku, and Ven were traveling along the corridors of the palace. They had found themselves in China, for some reason. Riku had recognized Mulan, one of the fighters who had helped Sora battle the Organization. She had, in turn, recognized them. Or at, their keyblades. That was how the trio found themselves walking the palace halls on the way to the throne room.

"I'm sure the Emperor will want to know everything that's happening," Mulan said quietly, brushing her short, straight hair from her eyes. She was wearing a military uniform, black leather, with metal armguards and plated boots, apparently she had the position of general since their last encounter.

So much of the palace was red, bright, and above all, enormous. Riku didn't even think Xehanort had ever shown this much self-aggrandizement.

Ven, naturally, was all eyes on the elaborate etchings and designs on the silk wall hangings. Aqua was more business than her companion, addressing Mulan directly, "How many Heartless attacks have there been?"

"More reports are coming by the hour," Mulan grimly explained, "but the last I had checked, five different outposts reported activity, along with petitions from fifteen different villages."

"It's like the whole world is under siege," Riku said quietly.

"It might be," Mulan agreed, "I have never seen this amount of aggression towards our people, even the crisis two years ago was more subdued."

Riku looked grim, "That's...difficult to imagine…"

Aqua tilted her head, "How do you mean, Riku?"

Riku had trouble organizing his thoughts, but slowly, got through it, "Larxene said Sora just, unleashed the Heartless. But so did Xemnas, he just wanted them loose so Sora would exterminate them. But if the damage is coming that quickly, that fast...well there are two possibilities why."

"What's the first?" Aqua enquired.

"The first is that there are just that many more Heartless behind the Door to Darkness than either you or I imagined," Riku said grimly.

Mulan glanced over her shoulder, voice level and somber, ""We're here," she indicated the large set of double doors, and also that Riku's explanation would have to wait. "Please, allow me to do the talking, unless the emperor addresses you directly. And, please only refer to him as 'Your Majesty'," she instructed, before pushing their way into the throne room.

The emperor's audience chamber was immense. It was stone all the way through, save the wooden pillars that held up the structure. Riku thought a thousand people could have fit inside it comfortably, with elbow room to spare.

Seated at the throne was the emperor, dressed in golden robes that hung around his frail frame. He was ancient, older than Xehanort, Aqua thought. He was elevated compared to a number of civilian and military advisors who were gathered about the base of his platform. His old age had rendered his body thin, fragile looking. His head was bald, and he had a great long grey beard. But the emperor's eyes were as young and alive as any, fiercely looking from one advisor to another, incurring their opinions and heeding counsel as his mind sought the best solution for his people.

"Majesty!" Mulan called out so as to be heard across the great hall. All eyes turned to the only woman general in the empire. She raised her arm, indicating the keybearers, "I have acquired the aid of several keyblade masters. They wish to offer His Majesty counsel on the current crisis."

The emperor raised a hand, bidding the guests come forward, "Friends of my general Fa Mulan are friends of China, and I remember days in my youth when keybearers came to save us once before. You are my most honored guests," he said pleasantly, sounding warm and friendly to Ven's ears. "But we have more problems, I am afraid. General Li, you were saying?" he looked to a large, strong man dressed in armor and a red cloak.

"The total number of attacks is now thirty seven," the general spoke, turning to include the newcomers. "But most importantly, as I was just about to tell Your Majesty, I sent couriers to one of my field armies who were to engage these Heartless creatures. The couriers reported back only hours ago, the force has been destroyed."

This brought up murmurs from the assembled delegates, but the emperor's raised hand quieted them, "Killed in battle? How many survivors?"

General Li shook his head, "None. No bodies to speak of. It is as if they vanished, but their equipment was found scattered, splintered, damaged."

"More like they were devoured," Riku said grimly.

Mulan bowed before the council, "Majesty, sirs, may I present Master Riku, Master Aqua, Master Ventus," she pointed to each in turn. Ven felt like correcting her that he wasn't technically a keyblade master, but bit his lip and waved awkwardly instead.

The emperor looked square at the platinum haired keybearer, "You say, 'devoured', Master Riku? You mean, literally?"

"Their hearts, consumed by the Heartless. It's how they feed. The body vanishes, and another Heartless is born. It is an endless cycle, Your Majesty, it's why we must purge them and seal the heart of this world."

The emperor nodded, voice serious, "How long before they can reach the capital?"

Aqua stepped forward, shaking her head, "Heartless do not travel in a...conventional way, Your Majesty. They could be here soon. They almost certainly will be."

The emperor nodded solemnly, "Masters, I must ask your help. Will you help the Chinese army defeat this threat?"

The three keyblade wielders present agreed with a shared nod.

As the strategy meeting got underway, Aqua leaned in to whisper to Riku, "What was the second option? About the Heartless?"

Riku listened to generals laying out their strategic resources and deployments on the map, but answered curtly, "The Heartless are being controlled by something."

Sora found himself in a dark place. He was entirely surrounded by blackness. How long had he been walking? This place reminded him of the Realm of Darkness, but it wasn't. It couldn't be. It was too...small.

Sora was walking, though he couldn't be sure he was moving forward. Maybe he was walking in circles. How long had he been doing this? Two weeks? He thought back more. No, it must have been months? Surely it couldn't have been years?

There was a presence here. He had felt it watching him. But the only thing that seemed to exist here, was Sora himself. Still the unshakable feeling persisted.

That was the moment he saw the door. Familiar. All too familiar. It was his door, after all. Sora approached it, golden eyes peering around curiously. Someone had to have put this here, but who? As he got closer to the door, the color seemed to saturate back into the world. The sky overhead turned purple. He stared at the discoloration, soft, fluffy cotton candy clouds of pink and blue seemed to be affected by whatever haze was here. There were details coming into focus...but they were wrong. The grass and flowers were...flat. Abstracted, even. Paper cut outs of what they were supposed to be. Even that sight didn't peer too far away from the door. It was only within the ten meters or so as he closed in that any of this had come into view at all.

It was a facsimile, an imitation of the real world. He remembered this pattern though. His mother's garden. Not an imitation. Sora drew the Oblivion out. It was some kind of simulacrum. An imperfect recreation of his own memory. Sora's grip tightened around his weapon.

Found you.

He opened the door to his bedroom. It was mostly as he remembered it, but, larger. His recollections of present were of how small it really was. But this room still held the size he had perceived it at maybe six years old. That only confirmed to Sora he was on the right track.

On the opposite side of his bedroom was another door, however. One that didn't properly exist. It was a mirror of the door Sora had walked through. He stepped over the rug, around one of his shelves, and reached to open it.

Sora froze. It led to the beach, on the small island. The one across the Shoreline Sea where he had played with Kairi and Riku as kids. The island with the paopou tree. He took one steady, slow step into the door. The sand crunched under his shoes. It seemed safe enough. Sora closed the door behind him. He could see the tiny island with the paopou tree, and on it was a figure. He walked towards it.

Clink!

Sora looked down. The beach had vanished. Or rather, it had transformed. It was made of shining metal now. Silver colored, the "sand" now clattered and jingled under his foot. He bent down. They weren't grains of sand anymore. They were large, round, oblong.

Links.

Sora slowly raised his eyes back to the small island from his place on the shore. The figure had noticed him while he had been distracted. He stood at the edge of the elevated island, looking down on Sora. His hair was black, and spiked. His outfit a black and red attire that reminded Sora of Riku's Darkness outfit. His eyes were solid gold, like Sora's. He was Sora's height, had Sora's build, had his hairstyle. He was...not smiling, but he seemed pleased with himself.

"Not what you were expecting?" the figure asked sarcastically.

"I figured if my heart was large enough, dark enough, I'd be able to find you," Sora commented, then, "Not what I'd pictured, no."

"Do you like what I've done with this place?" the red and black Sora waved a hand at the tiny corner of the Destiny Islands he had...recreated. "You should have seen this place years ago. It was so empty, so dull. Master Xehanort was from here, right? No wonder he ran away. This island is nothing but a prison," he grimaced. Then, on a turn, "But I spruced it up! Made it exciting! I didn't have a lot to work with, of course. But I did get a lot of help, maybe….two years ago?" he smiled, bending down, grabbing a handful of the silver link in his palm, and letting them drop one by one to the ground with the metallic patter as they scattered about the piles. He still held one in his hand, examining it, "Oh, this is one of my favorites. Want to see?" Before Sora could respond, the boy had squeezed the link, making it glow.

Suddenly Sora was side by side with the boy, looking out over the shoreline. At the water's edge, Sora saw himself as a boy, and a blonde haired girl; Namine. The figure next to him, smiling venomously, "Isn't it precious? But it conflicts with so many of the rest…" He tossed the link away, reaching down and picking up another, "Ah, this is a special one, truly."

Sora tried to snatch the link from the black haired version of himself, but he was dodged, when the scene changed again, this time to the city proper on the Destiny Islands, and one of the festivals. He didn't recognize it at first glance, but again the scene was focused on he and a small Namine. Sora peered at the shadows of his false memories, but the red and black dressed figure wasn't pleased with that.

"Oh no no no, you're entirely focused on the wrong bit," he grabbed Sora by the shoulder and spun him around, pointing at a woman at one of the booths, "There, do you see it?"

Sora walked forward. This woman was blonde, too, like Namine. Only her hair was slicked back. Short, her face was more tomboyish. She was running a game or the festival. She was about Sora's age.

"Larxene," Sora whispered.

"Oh but not her really, isn't it? She's...what did she call herself...Relena? I've been trying to figure it out, myself. Did Namine just put her here because she didn't know many people? Or did she do it because this memory is real, and she only swapped herself for your little girlfriend?"

"You've gone insane in here, haven't you? Why is this important?"

"It isn't. But it's all I have to do, ever since that weakling Ventus forced me in here with you."

Sora regarded his doppelganger cautiously, "Not such a weakling if he put you in here, is he?"

The boy waved him off dismissively, "It was that keyblade master...Aqua. She weakened me to a point where he could. And of course, you," he glared at Sora. He pointed to the sky, "see that?"

Sora looked up, the sky was still purple, but the coloration was, brightening and darkening at odd intervals. He returned his gaze to the resident, "It's like a scar."

"In a sense."

"Ventus trapped you in here with that?"

This made the figure laugh out loud, "Trapped? Haha! No!" he became serious, looking almost offended that Sora would suggest such a thing, "No, no I built this place," he thumped his own chest, desperately wanting Sora to understand, "I've seen into your soul, Sora. It's frightening out there. No, no this," he held up his arms, the memory shattering into sand and the beach filled with metal chain links replacing it again, "This is my space. My fortress against a sea of troubles. I sleep here, because your heart is so self-destructive it would rip me apart in my weakened state."

Sora narrowed his eyes at the figure. "Ven said your name was 'Vanitas', is that true?"

The doppelganger nodded to indicate such was the case.

"You don't seem like that entity. I mean, how he should be."

"You mean how weak I've become?"

"Yes."

"My powers have...atrophied. I've been asleep for a long time, and without my own body, well, I'm just not that strong. But it is nice that your body has gotten so...roomy, lately. Allows me to stretch."

"Is my heart so bad? Is that why you set yourself to sleep through my life, hidden inside me?" Sora asked indignantly.

Vanitas studied Sora's face, "It is chaotic, self-destructive. A nightmare. I can't blame you for hating everything now. It's why we look alike, after all." Sora didn't seem to bite at the remark, so Vanitas pressed, "You are familiar with the theory about the shape of the Heart?"

"I know enough. It's why Xehanort possessed Riku to assume his primary form, and why my Nobody looked like Ven."

"Well," Vanitas raised a hand, as if presenting Sora, "then here we are, you and I."

"Don't you have that form, I don't know, because Ven and I were linked?"

Vanitas winced, "Oh in part. But you really think that without Ven you would have been a goody-good? Or do you think his presence inside you suppressed your true, innate Darkness?" Sora refused to answer, but Vanitas nodded his head eagerly, "Yes, we have that in common, too." He chuckled, putting his arms behind his head casually, "So are you going to kill me?"

Sora seemed taken aback by the question.

"I know I'm not a match for you. I can sense it. You're at least as strong as Master Xehanort now. Fighting you would only delay the inevitable. I don't mind it. It's what I would do in your place."

Sora looked down to the Oblivion blade still in his hand. He could just kill the shadow presence. It would accomplish the same end goal by hook or by crook, as they say. But he opened his palm, the keyblade dissipating in a shimmer. "Actually, Vanitas," Sora explained slowly, "I've come to free you."

It was Vanitas' turn to look surprised, but the look slowly gave way to a sinister smile.

((A/N: I know what I said.))