Frost had come to the realization that everyone was useless in several ways at a young age. It hadn't been a clear epiphany or an amazing revelation. It had been a gradual buildup that started when she was old enough to notice the world around her, and the world her parents lived in. She had grown up in the upper levels of Traverse City, and had seen her father swindle everyone he could out of money. Some children had grown up with bedtime stories and toys. She had grown up with lessons on how to make money.

At first she thought having private lessons in their house was normal. She thought that it was alright for people to suffer and die because of her father's love for money.

"Money can be easily acquired by those who know how." Her father had said, "Those who aren't able to realize that fact deserve to be used."

Frost had nodded and paid close attention to how her father used and exploited others. He had shown care towards her, and she had loved spending time with him and drinking in the nectar to success, as he had called it. She had sat on his lap as he had carefully explained how to bribe officials, and when to pressure clients to gain most money.

"Donkeys will either obey because of the carrot dangling in front of them or because of the stick hovering behind them." Frost remembered her father saying this to her when she was seven as she had been dutifully doing her homework her languages teacher had set her. "The trick is to know when to use which tool to control the donkeys."

The realization that everyone was useless started when she saw the people walking on the streets with their head down and eyes fixed on the ground. She wondered to herself why they couldn't rise to power. Why were they not smart like her father? Why couldn't everyone know how to be rich and happy? Back then, the two words, rich and happy, had been synonymous.

She thought about it and came to the conclusion that if everyone was rich, then there would always be people richer, and if everyone was richer, then there would be people who were even richer. She had felt proud of herself at coming to the realization that there would always be rich people and poor people, no matter how much money they actually had. But then this brought up the question: if it was inevitable that people would be poorer than others, then was it really their fault that they were poor? And did they deserve to be poor because they lacked the intelligence to make work their way up to happiness?

She asked her father this the next day, and for the first time in the eight years of her life, she saw a flash of doubt in her father's face. She had seen this only because he had personally sat down with her and taught her how to read basic emotions. He had smiled at her and asked her how she had come to that conclusion. She had talked and been diverted expertly.

After that, her father was more guarded around her. She knew now that he had scared him, though he only let it show that once. At first, Frost thought it had been her fault, but soon realized that she had done nothing differently. She realized that not only were the working class useless, but even people like her father weren't doing all they could be.

She didn't know any sociology theory, but she thought of different ways everyone could benefit and have money if the people in power tried. She spent the next four years carefully thinking through ways the world could be a better place, and despite not being armed with theories and diagrams that professionals armed themselves with, she slowly accepted that there were hundreds of ways to help others, if only people in power cared.

Her father had grown more and more distant, and in the end, hadn't talked to Frost at all. Frost didn't care so much, and she had been taking self-defence classes in her spare time as a way to spite her father. He had made it clear that people who relied on physical strength only did so because they lacked the intelligence to use other methods.

"Frost, we used to be so close." Her father had come to talk to her a few weeks before her twelfth birthday. "It pains me to see you distance yourself from me. Why can't you trust me more?"

That was her father. It pained him to see her distance herself from him. Right from the start he had assigned blamed, and Frost knew it had been on purpose. He had gone onto try and convince her that she had been rebelling against him. That part was true. He had then said that she had a duty to follow her father. That part was false. But she had learnt from the best, and she had agreed that, yes, she was at fault. Her father had looked at her coldly, then nodded before heading back into his office.

That was the last time he spoke to her.

A month after her twelfth birthday, she ran away to try out to be a Keyblade Apprentice. She was one of the worst fighters, but scored highly on the academic sides. She was admitted, and everyone had thought she would pursue a scholar's life. A life of comfort and pompous intellect.

She refused. Instead of focusing on her lessons, she trained hard with her quarterstaff for hours on end. She vowed that the entrance exams would be the last time she had to rely on her intellect alone.

She had grown up being told that poorer people were useless. She still believed that later on in her life when she had been on missions to slums and seen people take out their frustrations on their children or spouses. Seeing the brutality of thugs born from poverty, she felt resentment and anger towards bitter men and women who couldn't be bothered to break their habits of debauchery.

But she knew that the most useless people were the people in power. They had the potential to do so much, but they refused to do so because they were sacred they would fall behind in this competition to be on top. The Keyblade Masters were no different. People around the world idolized them, but she saw them as complacent and stagnant.

She had been stationed in Baron as an Apprentice and moved to Troia shortly after. She had seen the lack of effort in trying to do anything, from scouting to attacking to simply winning a war. People forgot that there was a war going on. They were useless and lacked conviction. All the while there were no doubt people starving or circling in the cycle of poverty.

She had suspected this already from her childhood speculations, but she knew now that every Keyblade Wielder was getting fat on peace and comfort. They did missions that helped people who had money to request help. But they did nothing else, and Frost wasn't even sure if the Keyblade Wielders knew they weren't as righteous and glorious as the rest of the world made them out to be.

People were useless at many things, and she was no exception. There had been a time where she had dreamed of changing the world, but quickly saw that with all the flaws in everyone, herself included, it wouldn't happen. Or maybe persevering was just something she couldn't do.

As it was, she settled for something a lot more humble. To be around people she didn't mind, and to live her life trying to ignore the failings in everyone, most of all herself. She sometimes told herself that she was a self-pitying weakling who had given up because she had disliked people too much, but she forced those instincts down. She had forced away her inclinations for intellectualism, and she now shoved away her instincts for power.

Physical training was good at this. It made her focus more and forced her to forget, just for a little while, the troubles of her mind. She devoted her entire mind and body into improving her martial and magical ability, and she soon excelled in her classes. She was made a Journeyman at seventeen, relatively young, and had been sent all over Baron ever since. She had fought magical beasts on Mt. Ordeal, searched for Mysidians through magical dungeons, hunted down dangerous monsters in the arid deserts, and she kept on improving at a rapid rate.

By the time she was almost twenty two there was talk of her being restationed to more dangerous duties that involved more Heartless, and even talk of some Highmasters setting their sights on her talent. The wildest rumours even considered her being considered as a master candidate, although she knew that was just false. Hardly anyone became a master before they were in their late twenties. In a way, she was glad that she had these rumours to occupy her time. It was just another way to avoid her disdain for everyone.

Now, when she was forced out of that illusion by the Divine Beings, she had to fight her instincts that told her she was useless for being able to protect her comrades. They had been useless for getting killed, and the errant masters who were actually walking but empty suits of armour were useless for not being able to cope with the loss of their comrade.

She saw this every day she trained with Ven in a large room that allowed for aerial combat. He would train her hard, engaging her quarterstaff with power that she hadn't experienced before and dodging her lunges downwards with superb agility. He would give her advice and criticism on how to improve, but not once did he talk about anyone else. He was avoiding the issue of death just like she had avoided the issue of everyone around her being useless.

The difference was that she could do it a lot better than he did.

It was especially bad today because he made pathetic attempts at trying to befriend her. He asked her questions about her old life, and tried to talk about what his own life was like. It made Frost sad seeing how hard Ven was trying to actually do something, and she tried to respond as best she could.

"Were you on Baron most of your life?" he asked as she rested from practicing sudden jumps from ground to air.

"I lived on Traverse City for twelve years before I was moved to Radiant Garden for a few months and then Baron." Frost said, "What about you?"

"I lived here, in the Land of Departure." Ven said. He then stopped talking, no doubt remembering some anecdote or incident he'd shared with Terra. As Frost had thought initially, Ven was terrible at hiding grief.

Their master, Eraqus, was even worse. Frost had only seen him briefly a few times as he left the library to walk the halls of the castle. If he was their role model, it was no wonder his pupils acted like that. She couldn't blame them for grieving over a friend, but after hearing about the Divine Beings and their bid for power, it frustrated Frost that these masters, these heroes of Light that she had heard so much about were now hiding away, relying on children to save them. What was more, they were relying on the Kingdom Key and Kingdom Key D, neither of which could be summoned by neither her nor Max. Max had had more success with it than she had, but he still couldn't summon the Kingdom Key D.

Maxwell Mouse. She didn't know what to make of him. At first she had thought of him as the typical spoilt child who would break apart during stress, but to his credit, he acted rationally when they were being chased by vicious gods.

Now, she still wasn't sure what kind of person he was. He had kept to himself like everyone else the past few days, training with Aqua most of the time. Now, she was going to look for him, but was getting lost in this huge castle. She had been wandering around for almost an hour, but still hadn't found a single person. She had walked up and down staircases thinking she was getting deeper into the castle when, in fact, she ended up in the exact place she had started several times, and was starting to think part of the magic of the castle was to keep her in one place.

Suddenly she saw a small figure dart around a corner and quickly ran to catch up with him. Max was moving faster than she thought because even walking quickly didn't seem to close the gap. It was only when she ran that she was able to lay a hand on his shoulder, which he quickly shook off.

"Where are you going?" She asked, looking down at his black hair. She knew he had blue eyes but she couldn't remember actually seeing them.

"To talk with the others," Max replied, "That's why I got you."

"You didn't get me." Frost said coldly, "I was looking for you."

"And did you think you would have found me if I didn't get you?" Max's voice was laden with dry amusement, and Frost wanted to swing her quarterstaff at him. She didn't have an answer to Max, so they stayed silent for a few minutes before Frost asked him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Are you trying to reach me?" Max's dry amusement was getting on Frost's nerve, mainly because he was hitting the mark with each one of his sarcastic comments. But if a smart mouth and brain was all he had, it wouldn't be enough. Frost hoped her evaluation of him was wrong as they started walking up staircases that belonged to a tower.

"Who would have known that this all started with the renegade, Raphael." Frost said, "I wonder what he did after he ran from the Keyblade Graveyard."

"He visited Radiant Garden, then tried to kill the Grandmasters."

Frost looked incredulously at Max. Was the royal prince trying to mess with her? "You saw him?"

"I met him several days ago, right before I was going to Traverse City to be sold off to Xehanort." Max said. Frost expected bitterness to come with the admission that his family offered him up to Darkness, but he somehow was able to say it sardonically. "He was a terrible fugitive."

"You didn't tell anyone?" Frost had been on a mission at that time, so she wouldn't have heard of such an attack. That being said, no one had tried to attack the Grandmasters directly in their eight hundred year rule.

"Tattling on a blundering renegade wasn't high on my list of priorities."

They finally arrived at a door and Frost was about to ask Max why he had brought her up here when she saw the three masters sitting in the tower talking in hushed voices.

All three of them swiveled around sharply when Max intruded, and Aqua asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"I'm here to ask you all a question." Max said, "I was wondering if we were going to hide here, or whether any of you had the guts to actually go find out what's happening."

His words were met with angry silence from all three of them. Ven started to yell but Aqua held him back. "I'm sorry, do you want to be almost kiled by Darkness again?"

"I want to be informed." Max said, "And you want to defeat these Divine Beings. Both goals need information that we obviously lack and we need to take action."

"Child," Eraqus started to rise and walk towards Max but he was cut of by Max's shake of the head. "I'm not a kid, so stop treating me like one. You're a leader, so start acting like one."

There was a tense silence in which Frost regarded Max with newfound respect. Maybe she had judged him wrong after all. He had a mouth on him, but he knew how to use it. He might not be a strong fighter, but he was good at getting what he wanted. If their lives hadn't been dominated by the Divine Beings, she wouldn't have been surprised if Max worked his way into a position of extreme power and fall to all the vices that weighed down the wealthy.

"Very well then." Eraqus said deliberately, making his anger clear to Max. "We have a plan, and we need to stick with it, something I would have thought you understood."

"I understand that this plan might not work." Max said, "We don't know if there are reasons why we can't summon our keyblades. Or maybe we need to be in the presence of another Divine Being or be in danger. That's when I've been able to summon it. But we don't know these things and we need to find out."

"Lea died for you," Eraqus said, "Don't waste his sacrifice."

Frost had been looking at Max's face, or at least trying to. His hair had concealed it the entire time he had been talking. But when Lea's name was mentioned, he looked up and his blue eyes shone out like a cold sun in deep space. It seemed to be the only thing that affected the temperature of the room, and when she looked at them the room seemed to chill. If there was a time hell froze over, she would know who was responsible.

"Don't ever say Lea died for me." Max hissed, "Don't ever throw his name around without knowing who he was."

"You admired Lea, didn't you?" Aqua asked heatedly, "Don't you want to be like him?"

Max laughed, truly laughed, and Frost was actually afraid of him. This wasn't the sardonic chuckle of a cynical prince who thought himself better than everyone else. Max was definitely sardonic, arrogant and a prince, but no one had ever laughed like Max did. Max's laugh was the laugh of a mdman. It was high-pitched, even higher than his voice normally was, and it was sadistic and felt evil. Frost still couldn't see his face, but suddenly felt she didn't want to.

"I would never want to be like Lea. If I am ever under the baseless influence of a dead family member, if I ever give up my life for a worthless cause, if I ever have so much baseless faith in a cowardly kid who has never deserved so much trust-"

Max broke off and breathed heavily. His voice had always sounded like a kid's because it had been so high, but when he talked his voice didn't sound childish. It was smooth, sharp and clear, and it cut through any defences and delusions that might stand in its way. It was a blade of ice, but when Max broke off Frost saw the cracks and nicks in the blade. It had served Max well for his entire life, but it was on the verge of breaking.

"Max, we didn't mean-" Ven stepped forward but Max drew back. "I don't want your pity. I want your strength."

"Our strength?" Eraqus asked in confusion. Frost didn't know where he was going with this either.

"I want the conviction you had in Troia. I want your stupid beliefs and faith. I want your idiotic recklessness that you romanticized as bravery." Max took a deep breath. "I never want to be like Lea, but I need people like him if I want to rule the Realms of Light and Darkness."

There was a huge silence in which no one moved. Then Aqua burst out, "Do you think we're doing this all for you!?"

"We are not trying to fulfill your power-hungry desires!" Eraqus barked. At the same time, Ven was saying, "Can you think of anyone apart from yourself?"

Max let the tumult die down before saying, "You guys are soldiers. Even your master. You fight and you govern, but you don't rule. Good warriors make terrible rulers."

"What about Cecil Harvey?" Eraqus asked, "Don't try to use history against us. We've lived through it."

Max stopped and was more solemn for a moment. "Was Cecil Harvey really real?" Eraqus nodded and Max said, "If he was real, then so was Kain Highwind, and the king of Eblan, Edge Geraldine, and the Summoner, Rydia, and the head of Fabul, Yang, the king of Damcyan, Edward von Muir, and the mages from Mysidia, Palom and Porom."

Eraqus nodded again and Max shrugged. "The only reason there was peace was because Cecil had an iron-clad trust with the rulers of every force in the world. If you have an alliance with every country, it makes things easy to rule."

Max laughed and continued, "Cloud Strife was a great warrior. So were Yuffie Kisaragi, Tifa Lockhart, and several more. Yet who ruled Midgar? It was an official, Reeve Tuesti, not a warrior. Do you think Cloud would have been a good ruler? Would Cid Highwind have been a good ruler?" All the Remnants remembered how Cloud had shrugged his duty as a delivery man in a bout of depression following Aerith's death. Cloud put in charge of Midgar wasn't something any of them wanted to see.

No one spoke, and every bit of attention in the room was focused on Max. "What about Bartz Klauser? Did he end up ruling Tycoon? What about Faris? Did she make a good ruler, despite her lineage? Only Lenna, who had helped from the sidelines, could rule the world. God help Tycoon if Bartz Klauser was forced to rule." Max didn't even know if any of these legends were actually real, but judging by the silence, each legendary hero had been as real as the Remnants.

"Look at the best legendary warriors: Squall, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Zidane Tribal, Tidus, Vaan, Lightning, Snow Villers. Some were inspiring leaders, yes, but citizens don't need inspiration. They don't need passion. They need stability, and do you think any one of those could have given it to them? Would you trust a city to them, let alone an entire world? And what about the others? Would you let the worlds be independent? They'd be at war with each other within a decade. You need someone who can rule every world in existence. Can any of you rise to the task? You Remnants only know battle and warfare. You left the mechanics of the other worlds up to the residents. What do you know of ruling? Do any of you want to rule?"

Max's speech left the room in another silence, and this time he didn't break it. After several tense seconds Eraqus said, "We cannot think of such things until we defeat the Divine Beings. Maybe after-"

"No." Max's voice was soft but it had enough weight to silence Eraqus, who Frost knew was used to having the last word as the most senior master. "We cannot defeat the Divine Beings then spend weeks planning what to do. The minute the influence of the Keyblade Masters is lost, there will be uprisings."

"That's a little pessimistic." Ven said, "How do you-"

"Baron will fall to anarchy for years at the minimum, decades if we don't strike first." Max insisted.

"Strike first?" Aqua yelled, "We're not here to declare war on anyone."

"Right now the Templars, Dragoons and Keyblade Wielders stand against the Fables." Max said, "They were at a stalemate, but how many Templars and Dragoons are there left? And what about the Mistborn?"

"The Mistborn are wise, they'll rule well." Ven remembered Chogon fondly and knew the Chocobos would be good rulers.

"What if the Summoners stay in the Feymarch?" Max asked, "What if they, like the Eidolons, stay away from humans? That will leave the Fables as the main force. How well do you think they'll listen to us after all the Templars and Dragoons did to them? Do you think they'll just forgive Baron for driving them out of Fabul and Damcyan? We have to stop them before it's too late, and before they slaughter millions of people in vengeance."

Of course, there were better reasons for why the Realm of Light would fall apart, but Max felt the Remnants would understand the example he gave better. As he had expected, the Remnants didn't have anything to say, but wouldn't admit he was right. He hadn't expected them to and he didn't care. His speech had misdirected them from his own weakness and covered up his slip. Hopefully they would forget what he had said about Lea in the face of his long tirade.

Misdirection and distraction were very good skills to have.

"I agree with Max." Frost said, "Not about how he wants to rule, but what he said about needing information. We need to find any other Remnants that might be out there."

"How would we do that?" Ven asked, "We can't just go hopping from one world to another."

"Radiant Garden." Frost said, "It has huge amounts of information that we can use, not just to find your companions but to research things." She looked at Eraqus and asked, "Have you had any luck in this library?"

Max snorted, which earned a glare from all three Remnants. Ignoring this, Frost went on to say, "Then we need better information, and Radiant Garden has the best archives in the Realm of Light."

She didn't like this role of a leader she was taking up, but she had no choice. The other Remnants who might have lead people once upon a time were too shaken by Terra's death. None of them wanted to do anything and none of them had motivation to act. They were useless when it came to acting, and Frost had to step into that role if no one else would. She'd be damned if she let Maxwell Mouse of all people take charge.

Eraqus thought for a moment then nodded. "Very well then. What you said makes sense. Do you want to go now?"

Frost nodded. "Nothing to wait for."

The three Remnants stood up and Eraqus made a portal in the tower. The Remnants stepped through first, and Frost followed assuredly followed by Max.

Max had never felt a sense of unease as strong as when he stepped through the portal to Radiant Garden. He had been a lot more scared, but this was downright creepy. His skin was tingling the moment he stepped through. The Remnants didn't notice anything wrong, nor did Frost, who had been stationed at Troia for a decade.

"Something's wrong." Max was looking around him, trying to strain his eyes and ears as much as possible. The thing that set his alarms ringing most was the absence of people. They had landed in the library, but no one was there. There were always people in the library, whether it was people researching worlds they were going to, or people just reading for pleasure.

"There's no one here." Eraqus said, "It's just us. The entire population of Radiant Garden has vanished."

Max beckoned them over and they followed him as he ran across to a staircase and down a few flights of stairs. Frost kept track of the route they took in case Max wasn't able to bring them back. He led them to a deactivated portal where his fingers dashed around the keyboard next to it. It had been here that he had met Raphael before running to Traverse City. Things had an ironic way of repeating itself.

"Two days ago there was a mass evacuation." Max said, "Literally every single non-Keyblade Wielder was ferried to Twilight Town, Traverse City, Agrabah, Atlantica, Gaia, every world with a steady city loyal to the Grandmasters."

"Non-Keyblade Wielders?" Aqua asked, "What about the Keyblade Wielders?"

Max shrugged and said, "They weren't evacuated." He didn't say what he thought had happened to them, though he had a good guess. Corruption wouldn't have left potential vessels for Light. He was just surprised they had let an entire world evacuate. It would have been far simpler to massacre them all.

"Frost, go back to the library with Ven and Aqua. Try to find what you can on any recent events or sightings." Max looked at Eraqus and said, "If the Grandmasters had any information, it wouldn't have been for public use. I'll take you to the towers that housed the Grandmasters and see if we find anything."

They all nodded and split up. Eraqus followed Max but soon saw he was starting to flag. He was only human and couldn't be expected to sprint for half an hour. Eraqus moved to pick Max up, but Max shied away. "I don't-"

"This is not pity," Eraqus said in exasperation, "This is good sense. We need to move as quickly as possible, do we not?"

Max thought for a moment before assenting, and Eraqus carried the small Keyblade Wielder in his arms and started sprinting, following Max's directions. They came to a stop outside the lifts where Eraqus took a moment to be awed by the vastness of the structure. A huge cylinder with lifts lining the sides stretched up until the opening several floors above seemed as small as a coin at the top. Eraqus ran towards a wall, and Max braced himself as Eraqus started running up it.

When they got out and into the open on the thirtieth floor, Max and Eraqus looked around in shock. Eraqus was in shock because he had never seen such a huge city before. He had last seen it as a normal city before he had died, but now the city was an entire world. He saw huge quantities of metal lining the surface, and intricate architecture in the houses that stretched on forever.

Max was shocked because he had never seen the glorious city empty before. Not one person walked the streets, not one voice echoed through the mountains. Max had seen a lot of stuff on his escapade with the Remnants, but this sight drove home the fact that there was no going back. There would be huge change, and it would be up to him and his companions to manage that.

"Which tower should we go to?" Eraqus asked him. Max pointed to one in the center of the city. "That's Grandmaster Astelik's one. We should just start there."

Eraqus nodded and started running across the rooftops. They reached the base of the tower and emerged into another hollow cylinder that led to different rooms. "Where now?"

"No clue. I've never been here." Max said, "Only the top Highmasters were allowed here, and there were only a hundred or so of them." He winced as he realized he had just spoken in past tense, but Eraqus didn't notice. "Just take me to a level and let me wander around. We'll cover more ground that way."

"You know what we're looking for?"

"Anything on the Kingdom Key, Kingdom Key D, X-Blade, and Divine Beings." Max replied, seriously for once. "Don't worry, you can trust me on this." He grinned up at Eraqus who gave him the equivalent of a deadpan look. It worked surprisingly well considering he only had a helmet.

Eraqus deposited Max on a random level and he went to the one below. "If there's any trouble, run down here immediately."

"Don't worry, running's what I do best." Max mumbled and he walked up a small flight of stairs before turning out of Eraqus' sight. He arrived in what seemed to be a living room with a few books lining the walls. There was dust on the floor, and it was obvious no one had been here in years. He went to the books and pulled them out one by one. They were all useless, bits and pieces about histories the Grandmasters had changed and the mechanics of sociology. Actually, the social theories might be useful. There was, after all, a charm to reading books that had been banned by the Grandmasters themselves. Max chose the most promising one, Degradation of Rulers, and then left the room, vowing to come again provided the city wasn't destroyed.

Outside, he looked up at the next level and jumped, using Light in an awkward fashion. With one hand on the book, the other hand was able to grab the ledge above him. He heaved himself up and continued on to the next floor. He was met with a huge door that was obviously made to withstand anything. It was thick with several gears and padlocks on it. Max recognized most of the locks and was impressed with how intricately meshed together they were. If the door was as strong as it looked, it wouldn't yield to brute force or a cunning mind.

Then Max realized the door wasn't locked. Maybe the door wouldn't yield to brute force or a cunning mind, but it might yield to human error, like most things. He opened the door and walked in, noting with surprise that it slid easily on its hinges. As he entered, he noticed the door shut behind him. He just hoped the door didn't lock itself again. The room was small and Max guessed it was because the walls were thick. It was dimly lit, and Max saw with startlement that there was something sitting in the middle of the room.

Eraqus had said there was no one here, and he couldn't have overlooked someone as important as a Divine Being. Max approached the object slowly but backed away suddenly as it turned and stood up.

"You are foolish." Grandmaster Astelik rose to his full height and towered over Max. "Why did you come here?"

Max started to back away, but Astelik turned into a blur and appeared between him and the door. "I will have to kill you now. I thought I had killed enough Keyblade Wielders for several lifetimes. Then again, I have lived several lifetimes, perhaps it is only right that I soil my hands over and over."

This didn't seem like the godly figure of a Grandmaster Max had been brought up to believe. Astelik sounded lonely, as if someone so powerful could yield to such a pathetic emotion.

"Where's Corruption?" Max asked slowly. Maybe Astelik would become the cliché villain and tell him its dastardly plans. Not that it would do Max any good since Corruption's plan seemed simple. Keep the fight between Light and Darkness going as long as possible. And for a god, that was very long indeed.

"He is possessing the four vessels that are now dead bodies." Astelik said, "He has left Agatha, Alethia and I to our own devices so long we accomplish the missions he sets us."

"What missions are those?" Max wondered how talkative Astelik was. The answer was that Astelik was as willing to chatter as a mindless six year old. "Three of the vessels that Corruption possesses are harrying Light and its apprentice. Agatha and Alethia are hunting down the X-Blade. The remaining vessel is searching for you."

"So why are you here?" Max asked, "Were you meditating?" Why was Astelik even talking? He should have killed Max the moment they saw each other, not that he was complaining. Maybe he actually was lonely. If so, then the Grandmaster was a huge let down.

"I was reminiscing." Astelik said, "It is something I have not done in a thousand years."

"What were you thinking about?" Max wasn't sure what Astelik was playing at, and he didn't even think Astelik was playing at all. He had calmed down now, although he was feeling cheated that someone as strong as a Grandmaster had succumbed to something so human as feelings.

"Our rise to power." Astelike replied. Max perked up at this. Maybe he could learn about what the Grandmasters had done. Using Kingdom Hearts and annihilating everyone who opposed him obviously wouldn't work this time, but Max had been fascinated by the Grandmasters and the power they had wielded from a young age.

Astelik paused before sitting down. "You may be the last person to hear this tale. The keeper of Kingdom Hearts, per se." Astelik waved his hand and the door behind him closed fully and locked. "This room blocks anything from entering, even Light, Darkness and Corruption. To all intents and purposes, you will have vanished."

That was why Eraqus hadn't sensed Astelik. Max was aware of his imminent death, but his curiosity overrode his sense of self-preservation. "So how did you use the power of Kingdom Hearts?"

"There were three of us," Astelik said, "Abelia, Kane and I. I met Abelia and Kane as Masters, rather late to form friendships. We were united by our vision of peace." He thought for a moment then said, "You might not know this since we rewrote history, but eight hundred years ago the Realm of Light was at war with itself."

Max nodded. He had been taught that there had been peace for a thousand years after Sora defeated Xehanort, but he had never believed it. "After the citizens got complacent, some started getting power hungry."

"Exactly," Astelik said, "Traverse City had become a no-man's land. A battleground for different forces to squabble over. The Keyblade Wielders were not weak, but too much power rested with different parties. Ivalice sent warriors and mages by the thousands in airships. Gaia sent ships adapted from the ancient Shinra company, specially outfitted for war. SeeD warriors were vying for power under their new king. It was a war that would have stretched for generations."

Max nodded. It was exactly what would happen when the Keyblade Wielders were destroyed. "So you annihilated every army and united the dregs, stripping them of their power."

"You are quite remarkable." Astelik said, "You do not condemn us for such actions."

"You did what had to be done. Emotions don't have a place in the middle of power."

"On the contrary, power, or at least the desire for it, stems from a base of emotions."

Max's eyes pierced deeply into Astelik, but the Grandmaster didn't flinch. "Emotions are useless. What did they ever do for you?"

"Emotions gave me the courage to face massacring millions. Emotions gave me the madness to swear upon Kingdom Hearts."

"Emotions would stop some from killing one man, how could it have helped you slaughter millions?" Max was giving this man the benefit of doubt, although it was getting harder and harder. This Grandmaster seemed like a moping child.

"When I set out to unify the Realm of Light, I didn't do it for power or out of a sense of duty. I did it to get revenge." Astelik summoned his longsword and twirled it around in his hand before dismissing it absent-mindedly. "Rage gave me the power to slaughter millions for peace, and that rage gave my companions something to follow. If I had no emotions, I would have left the Realm of Light to its own devices."

"Why did you want revenge? And who did you want revenge on?" Max couldn't fault Astelik for his logic, although he'd be damned if he ever let his body be ruled by such strong emotions."

"Do you believe that several individuals with no ties to each other could rule separate worlds in peace, or do you think peace can only be achieved with one mind, one purpose?"

"One mind has to rule several individuals who then rule the worlds." Max replied, "People with different interests could never work together."

"You are wiser than we were all those years ago." Astelik said, "Perhaps if you had been one of us, Kane would not have fallen so far."

"What happened to him?" Max asked, "What did Kane do?"

Astelik got up and sighed. "Kane was a brilliant mind. Perhaps geniuses and madmen have a closer relationship than most think. He was convinced that his dreams were right, and did everything he could to realize those dreams."

"Another emotion rulers don't need." Max said, "How can you say emotions are important if Kane relied on them to do, well, whatever he did?"

"A ruler must have vision and determination as well as the means to follow through." Astelik said, "A vision built from cold analysis is useless. If you truly want to rule, you have to find that resolve. You need a reason for power other than just desiring it. If not, you are no better than the many power hungry tyrants we overthrew."

"I already have my vision." Max insisted, "I will rule the Realms of Light and Darkness. What's missing?"

"A reason for doing so." Astelik said, "Your resolve is strong now, but will it last for decades to come?"

"Yes."

"If that is true, then you have your reason, whether you admit it or not." Astelik said, "You did not seem like one to lie to yourself, but perhaps I was mistaken. The gods alone know it has happened far too many times."

Astelik turned around at a muffled noise coming from the door, and Max craned his neck to see what was happening. "Your master Eraqus." Astelik said, "He has been trying to get in for several minutes now."

"He's not my master." Max replied before asking the more urgent question, "And what are you going to do to stop him?"

"Nothing." Astelik replied, "If he does break in, I shall commend his skill for doing what hundreds of Keyblade Masters could not do."

"You slaughtered them here?" Max asked surprised, "Did no one think it strange when they were called to your tower?"

"No, this room would not have fit the thousands of Keyblade Wielders that resided here." Astelik said, "This room was where Kane killed every Keyblade Master eight hundred years ago."

Max's eyes widened. "What about the Highmasters, Journeymen and Apprentices?"

"Back then there were no Highmasters or Journeymen. It was a distinction the ten of us decided to make a hundred or so years into our reign." Astelik sighed with more regret as he continued, "As for the Apprentices, they were hunted down and killed afterwards, though some were able to run away. We had hundreds of apprentices and I could only save my own."

Max's mind was whirling as some pieces started to fall into place. He had always assumed the Grandmasters had been of the same rank and generation, but obviously not. "You and Abelia gathered them to start another war?"

"Abelia had no part in the events that followed, and I did not do any gathering." Astelik said, "Agatha, Alethia, Aelothum and Avomis were already my Apprentices. The rest came to join the five of us as we fought our bloody war. By the time it was over, we numbered ten."

Max listened in silence before the door behind Astelik suddenly burst open. Not only was Eraqus standing there, but he was flanked by Aqua, Ven and Frost. All of them were staring at Max sitting in front of Astelik, both of them cross-legged.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Apologies." Astelik said as he rose to his feet, "I was merely talking to young Max here to pass the time before my colleagues returned from their various missions."

Everyone's weapons were drawn, and Max summoned his Keyblade to his hand. Not the Kingdom Key D, but a normal one that had been given to him when he was sixteen. Astelik summoned his longsword in turn, and the bright fire that swept across its smooth blade lit up the dim room that Max now knew was a slaughterhouse. "I must say I am impressed the three of you were able to unlock the door, even with your Keyblades."

"Enough talk, Corruption." Eraqus said, "Step away from Max."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Astelik said before swinging his sword at Max. Max was expecting the move and rolled underneath it, but Astelik reversed his grip and crushed Max's ribs with the pommel, sending him flying away several metres. Max groaned in pain as he watched Eraqus, Ven and Aqua fly at Astelik. He was aware of Frost dragging him to his feet as the three Remnants engaged Astelik, but was thinking about what Astelik had told him.

"If that is true, then you have your reason, whether you admit it or not." Max had no reason. He was detached and had rid himself of such useless things years ago. He wouldn't concede to the lonely Grandmaster that he was ruled by emotions. He wouldn't degrade himself to fit the Grandmaster's failed logic. He would prove to Astelik that the best ruler did not need emotions.