Chapter 54

(Brink of Disaster)

People had cleared the streets, leaving a desolate landscape of cobblestone streets littered with papers and dropped food items. The fight had fallen into a rather odd pause suddenly, the silence seeming to extend into forever, making Kaiyou's heartbeat sound all the louder in her ears.

It likely wouldn't be long before Steiner and his idiots showed up and Kaiyou really didn't want to meet him again. Falling into her fighting stance, which had her weight on her left leg, behind her, sword in her right in front, she licked her lips, "Let's get this done with quick," she told Laguna who stood ready beside her, his gun out and aimed.

"Axel, Roxas," Xigbar called from where he stood on a hotel balcony above them, "Come back to us."

Shaking his head, the blonde she didn't recognize stepped closer, "Never. You know he only wants us back so he can kill us."

"Aww, you don't give him enough credit," the one-eyed gunman replied with a grin, "Don't you remember all the fun you, me and Axel used to have? Picking on Demyx?"

The redhead next to the blonde snorted, "It was fun, but sorry, no dice." Kaiyou eyed the pair, deciding that the blonde was probably Roxas, the redhead was likely Axel. Odd names.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Laguna called to Xigbar, "Why don't you join us! I mean, just because you're a Nobody doesn't mean you have to work for Xemass!"

"His name's XemNAS, you moron," Axel replied rounding on Laguna, "Let me spell it for you," lifting a finger he stated, "M. A. N. S. E. X. Got it memorized?"

Eyes widening, Kaiyou bit her lips together as she started sniggering, Roxas covered his face with a hand and the silver haired boy outright chuckled. Xigbar blinked, blinked again and slowly curled over, laughing so hard his face started turning red. "Alright!" he gasped, "You win this round!" Unceremoniously, he tripped backwards into a portal and disappeared.

After a moment of staring around, the group did a general stand-down. Keyblades and various other weapons were sheathed or disappeared, and Kaiyou shook her head slightly. "Today... has been insane, and it's not even noon yet," she observed, scratching the back of her neck absently.

"Hey! It's Aros! We found Aros!" the yellow fairy announced, flittering over to Kaiyou and circling her head.

Eyes widening, Kaiyou watched the fairy twirl around her briefly, then looked away when she got dizzy, finding everyone else staring at her. Unnerved by the attention, Kaiyou ducked away and skittered behind Laguna again. He, however, had other ideas and reached back, pulling her forward, grinning like the cat that got in the cream.

"Stoppit," Kaiyou whimpered at him, blushing as she accidentally met the silver-haired boy's eyes once more.

Turning to face Kaiyou, Roxas held out his hand, "The book. Give it," he sad abruptly.

Eyes widening, she tried to slide back a step, but was prevented by Laguna. Taking a breath and drawing herself up, Kaiyou shook her head, "No. I don't know you."

"But- Sora!" Kairi started to object, stepping forward.

"Aros!" Kaiyou shouted, "I'm not Sora! I was confused before!"

Folding his fingers in, Roxas shook his head, "Sorry, Aros," he paused, "Gah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that. It's just, the book is important."

Kaiyou frowned, folding her arms, "If it's so important, why should I trust you and just hand it over? What if you're the one who wants to use it to make the weapon?"

"What?" Laguna asked.

"I'm not stupid, I can read. It's a weapon that uses the energy from hearts," Kaiyou stated, "And considering the alignment of my enemies, and the fact that I've got no clue who you people are, I'm going to keep hold of it and probably burn it."

Stepping forward, the short mouse-man in red shook his head, "Please, Aros!" he objected.

Frowning at him, she slowly started to drop her arms as she looked the short mouse-man over. He looked a lot like Queen Minnie and the mouse-man that had been in the painting with her, "You're... King Mickey, right? But you were locked up, did... did Sora save you?"

"No- a girl did, Kosuiko," Kairi supplied. "She looks like you..."

"I saw her," Kaiyou stated blankly, keeping her opinions to herself. 'She...felt like you, Umi... Umi? You've left me again... How many copies of Sora are there? Me, this Kosuiko, Sora - does Umi count?'

Shifting her weight, Kaiyou stared at Mickey for a long silent moment before taking a breath and slowly reached for her side-pack. "...You trust Sora a lot, don't you?" she asked slowly.

Mickey nodded, not quite sure what he'd walked into, but answered anyway, "With my life."

Unclipping the flap on her side-pack, Kaiyou murmured, "I see..." as she lifted the book from her pack and took a breath, "I... think he trusts you too. So..." Shyly, she looked towards Laguna who nodded with an encouraging smile.

"He's a good person," Laguna told her reassuringly, "You can trust him."

Chewing on her lip a little, she thought on that, then decided, "I don't know him," she stated, "But I know you." She wanted to make it clear, after all, there was a distinction. Kaiyou had chosen to trust Laguna's word, rather than Mickey's. She turned to look at Mickey once more and the group collectively held their breaths as Kaiyou stepped forward cautiously. A blush of monumental proportions slowly grew across her cheeks, her eyes flicked from one staring person to the next, as she pulled the book free from her pack and extended it towards Mickey. Reaching up, the king grasped the book, taking it from her. There were a few sighs of relief around the group and Kaiyou scowled slightly at it. 'What'd they think I was gonna do? Pull my Keyblade and bash his brains out then run off with the book?'

Digging in his pocket briefly, Mickey came out with something of his own, "Here," he said, letting the pendant fall from his palm, hanging from its thin silver chain. "Take this in return." The pendant was a star with an eclipsing moon in the center.

"...what is it?" Kaiyou asked, unsure.

"A Keychain," the silver haired boy stated blandly, arms folded. "You stick it on your Keyblade, dumbass."

Turning bright pink, Kaiyou scowled at him then lifted her middle finger in return, "Twirl on it!"

Gasps went around the group and Axel chuckled softly, "I think I like this one," he murmured. The silver haired boy just quirked his brows, silently agreeing with Axel, after all, it was a less innocent version of Sora, and that was likely to prove very interesting in the future.

Kaiyou huffed, taking the Keychain from Mickey then paused, "Um... thank you," she added to him, because he at least deserved a little respect, or something.

"Thank you... Aros," he said in return but paused as if he would have called her something else but didn't.

"No, thank you."

Appearing from a black portal, a tall redheaded man stepped out, and with a deft snatch, swiped the book from Mickey's grasp.

Eyes widening, Kaiyou turned to look at the man as he briefly got distracted scowling at Axel, who remained firmly beside Roxas. "You give that back!" she shouted, calling her Keyblade – and was shocked when a new blade appeared in her hand instead of the crown-ended one. This blade, she felt, was called Twilight's Edge, the hilt was clear crystal with the tails of shooting stars making a circle around the hilt, the stars themselves sprouting twin shafts of clear shot with white and black marble patterns to create the blade. Protruding off the end of the blade was a crescent moon with sunray-spikes shooting off the outside curve.

Shaking off her shock, she leapt forward, swinging the blade at the redhead as he dodged back.

Sadistically smirking, the man easily dodged her swings, leading her away from the others by running up the wall of a building nearby. Furious, she followed, easily bounding up the side of something most people would have found difficult to climb. On the flat rooftop, the man stopped and turned to face her, pulling out a short pole that crackled on the end. "While it's not in my orders to take you, I think you'll make a lovely present to President Rufus ShinRa."

"You're... a Heartless though," Kaiyou said, and how she could tell that, she didn't know, but it was definitely a gut feeling she trusted. "Aren't you working for Maleficent?"

With a roll of his eyes, the man snorted, "That old bag?" he didn't bother explaining further and just leapt forward, swinging his weapon. Startled, Kaiyou lifted her new Keyblade to block, then pushed him back with all her strength. He moved, but she didn't get the feeling that it was because of anything she'd done. Leaping back again, the man dodged her swing and blindly, she stepped forward, following him across the spine of the roof as he easily avoided her strikes. Out of nowhere, he spun around, slapping her against the side of her head with his stick, and the world went black for Kaiyou.


He was drawn by some invisible thread that he simply couldn't deny...

And he hated it.

This odd feeling was foreign. Imposed upon him by someone else, someone dark, someone who knew enough about hearts to manipulate them.

The name Ansem came to mind.

Followed by Xemnas.

Riku wasn't the only one to go after Aros and the other man, he was just the first to reach the top of the roof – just in time to see Aros struck in the head with a stick that was crackling with energy. She dropped flat like a rock, obviously knocked out, and unexpectedly furious, Riku launched forward, swinging Road to Dawn with a shout.

"Stay away from her!" Riku shouted, standing over Aros as the redhead came to a stop a short distance away.

"How strange," the redhead commented, jade eyes flicking away from Riku briefly to look at the others that had finally reached the rooftop. "I'm sure Hojo would love to hear about this development. I'll be sure to tell him."

"Who are you?" Riku demanded.

"Aww, Kadaj, you hurt my feelings!"

Growling, Riku shifted his stance slightly with a shout of, "My name is Riku!" then launched forward, lashing out at the man with an upwards slash. The redhead dodged the first strike, but not the second or third.

Knocked off balance and wounded, Reno stumbled to the edge of the roof, "Fine, since you don't seem to remember, I'll tell you," Smirking, the redhead lifted a finger, "The name's Reno... got it memorized?" Abruptly, Reno turned away and opened a portal as Riku ran at him once more, barely dodging getting stabbed in the back by his leap into the darkness. The portal closed behind him, leaving Riku growling and panting at the edge of the roof.

Turning away, Riku looked over the rest of the group, finding the people he recognized and didn't recognize all staring at him. Except Aros. She was sitting up now, staring at the ground, jaw clenched, fists clenched in her lap. On the surface, Riku supposed she could pass as a boy, but somehow, something inside of him knew what she really was.

He found himself staring at her, and she, in turn, glanced up, eyes widening as she caught sight of his expression. Looking away, she struggled to her feet, apparently unaware of the blood leaking from the side of her head. Laguna was the one to break the silence by striding forward. "Aros," he said, "Hey, take it easy-" he continued when she shoved his hands away when he tried to steady her.

"...failure," she muttered, then snapped, "Teleport us!" and in a flash of light, Laguna and Aros were gone, leaving Riku staring at empty space, with that single first word she'd muttered echoing in his head.

'Failure...' why did it hurt so much to hear her call herself that?

Riku shook his head as Kairi dashed over. "Riku, are you okay?" she asked, grabbing his hands.

"I'm alright," he replied, then shook his head again, "I didn't take any damage, why're you ... oh never mind," he sighed and took her hand, stepping around her to guide her back over to Roxas, Axel, and Mickey. Yuna was standing nearby at about five-foot-five and clasping her hands in front of her short pleated skirt, "Roxas," Riku stated, "You take Kairi and Mickey back to Disney Castle, I'll go after Aros."

Temper flaring, Roxas glowered, "And who're you to order me around?" he demanded.

"Please!" Mickey interjected, holding up his hands as he stepped between the two, "Don't fight. We can't afford to fight amongst ourselves, we have enough enemies as it is."

Taking a breath, Riku reigned in his temper and nodded, then glanced aside at the other blonde, the one with the sword nearly as large as he was strapped across his back. ...The blonde that had been staring at him for quite some time now.

Mickey, meanwhile, had turned towards Roxas, "I really need to get back to Disney Castle and it's the safest place there is right now."

"What about the book?" Axel asked.

Looking down, Mickey shook his head, "We don't know where Reno took it." Axel bit his lower lip and looked away, accidentally straight towards the strange blonde in the black half-coat. Eyes widening, he quickly looked away.

Stepping forward, the strange blonde stated, "I'll go with him," he pointed at Riku.

Irritated, the silver-haired boy snapped, "What the heck! Why not invite the whole universe? Party at Riku's!"

Kairi slapped his shoulder, "Riku! Quit it. That's Cloud, he's a good man, a good fighter. He'll be a lot of help." Subsiding into silence, Riku scowled off in another direction as Kairi turned to Cloud, "Don't mind him, he's a little abrasive sometimes, but I'm sure you two will get along."

"I'm sure," Cloud replied, though he sounded rather deadpan.

Roxas took a breath, "Fine. I have to get back to Disney and talk to Sora anyway," he stated, still scowling at Riku, "Let's go then."

"...what about Kosuiko?" Namine asked, making everyone pause, "She got taken by Gary."

Mickey shook his head, "I don't know what we can do for her. We don't know where they went."

"Demyx will look after her," Axel inserted, "He's been looking after her for years."

Turning to look at Axel, Roxas folded his arms and asked, "How would you know anything about it?"

Sighing, Axel lifted his hands in a shrug, "You know I like finding secrets, and Demyx is fairly easy to follow when he's 'sneaking'," Axel made quotation marks around the word with his fingers.

Unable to help it, Roxas snorted, "Yeah," he agreed, "But can he take on Gary?"

"Probably not," Axel admitted, "But he wouldn't have to, really. He's good at running away at least. I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere."

"So unconcerned," Cloud muttered.

Turning to face the blonde, Axel replied, "In case you didn't notice, it requires a heart to care," lifting a hand, he gestured vaguely, "And I don't happen to have one. Let's go, Rox."

Nodding, Roxas reached out for Kairi's hand, then took Mickey's hand. "Teleport us," he called, and the four of them disappeared in a flash of light leaving Riku with Yuna, her orbiting fairies, Rikku and Paine, and Cloud.

"How do we find where Aros went?" Yuna asked, breaking the silence.

Taking a breath, Riku reigned in his temper and cleared his expression before turning to face her. "By looking at the paths between the worlds. If she went onwards to a new world, a new path would be opened. If she backtracked, she probably went to Radiant Garden." Stepping over to Cloud, the two of them locked gazes, Cloud's lips turning downwards at the corners, but not enough to quite call a frown. Riku was sure his own expression was just bordering on disgust as he lifted a hand and placed it on Cloud's shoulder. "Teleport us." He stated, and the five of them disappeared in a flash of light.


Looking around carefully, Demyx shook his head at the large and mostly empty room, taking note of the shelves with books and various strange equipment, and the desk in the center of the room with a lit candle on it. Resolutely, Demyx kept hold of Kosuiko's hand to keep her from breaking anything that Minnie might not want broken. Oddly enough, she'd led them to a tower, opened the door and told them to go to the top, and that had been it. So here they were, at the top of what had to be the tallest tower ever created by man (or mouse as the case may be), standing in a silent little office and wondering when the axe was going to drop.

Well, Demyx was wondering that at least and had no idea what was going through Kosuiko's mind. She was just standing beside him, rocking from heels to toes, chewing on her fingernails as she stared blankly. He sighed softly at that. "Trust you to be exactly the same no matter what's going on," he stated softly.

Blinking, Kosuiko looked up at him and grinned, a bit of her nail clenched between her teeth. Lifting a hand, he picked it out and flicked it aside, "Don't do that," he admonished, "It's gross."

"But your nails are short, Demyx," Kosuiko protested, lifting the hand that held hers and ran her thumb across his short nails.

Shaking his head, Demyx sighed, "Because I trim them with clippers so I can play my sitar," he pointed out and poked her nose lightly, "You'll make your fingers bleed if you keep biting them like that. Remember the last time?"

Deflated, Kosuiko pouted at him and dropped her hands to her sides again, still holding Demyx's hand firmly; perhaps she didn't want to be let go of just as much as he didn't want to let her wander around?

He sighed, eyes flicking around the room once more, reconfirming the fact that they were indeed quite alone.

Except he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

Again, Kosuiko started swaying, humming under her breath for a moment before she started singing out loud in a soft alto that echoed in the quiet room, "Where has my love gone, where has she gone?" It was a song that Demyx had made up some years ago. He'd played it for her first, then presented it to Xigbar, been told it sucked, and never played it again.

Abruptly, Kosuiko stopped, then started singing again, "Whenever sang my songs... on this stage on my own... whenever said my words – wishing they would be heard... – Demyx," she said suddenly, "What song is that?"

Frowning as he looked at her, Demyx cocked his head to the side, and asked when she abruptly stopped singing again, "Where did you hear it?"

"I don't know. It just came to me... But now it's gone," she pouted.

Just as silence fell between them again, an explosion of smoke behind the desk nearly made Demyx jump out of his skin. Spinning around to face the possible threat, he fell into a stance he could easily turn and run from, then gasped.

"What a strange looking man," Kosuiko said innocently, having never had to learn to filter between her brain and mouth, "What big eyes you have, mister!"

Looking grim as ever, Yen Sid stepped forward and took a seat in his chair, "All the better to see you with, my dear," he intoned.

Shocked, Demyx leaned forward, blinking a few times, "But - but Gary said he killed you!"

Flicking his fingers dismissively, Yen Sid replied, "Gary is not powerful enough to defeat me. He killed a hastily made clone. You can stop pretending to be surprised now, Demyx."

Eyes briefly narrowing in irritation, Demyx straightened and dropped his hands to his sides once more. "Fine," he stated as the back of his mind pointed out that he really was only acting. Lifting his shoulders, he added, "But can you blame me for trying?" he pleaded slightly, wanting at least a little validation for his attempts.

Yen Sid simply sighed.

Kosuiko giggled softly, "He's got a pointy hat," she observed the obvious. "I like it." Turning to Demyx, she asked, "Can I have one like that?"

"Ah..." Demyx paused, unsure of what exactly to tell her. "Maybe later, Koko. Please behave for a moment?"

Pouting, she nodded. "Okay, as long as I get a pointy hat later."

"Your reward will be much greater than a simple hat," Yen Sid murmured and folded his hands together on the desk in front of him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Demyx asked and immediately stepped between her and the old wizard. "If you think you're going to take her from me... uh, you're wrong."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Yen Sid replied, "No, though if I had intentions of taking her, you would not be able to defend yourself, nor her from me."

Something akin to pride made Demyx clench his hands, scowling at the old mage. With a yelp, Kosuiko ripped her hand from Demyx and rubbed it, "Owie," she whimpered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Demyx demanded, "I may not be the best at fighting, but I can take you on!"

"Calm yourself," Yen Sid ordered and with a gesture, a pair of chairs appeared in front of the desk, "Sit. This may take a while..."

Hesitating, Demyx looked around, then licked his lips, "A while... How am I able to be here at all?" he asked, finally recalling the question that had occurred to him on the way up the stairs. "The Cornerstone of Light is functioning, right?"

Yen Sid nodded, "The Cornerstone is fine. It is you that has changed."

Confused, Demyx stepped closer and took the chair Yen Sid had offered him. "Me? How?"

"Someone has taken most of the darkness from your form. As a twilight being, you were unable to open a portal to this world; now, however, you are more light than dark," Yen Sid explained calmly, then fell silent, letting Demyx process this information.

Finally, the musician stated, "Gary. He was trying to absorb me. After he stabbed me with Obsidian Heart."

"If you'd had a heart, you would have most assuredly been lost to the darkness," Yen Sid replied, "As it was, there was nothing the seeds of Darkness could take root in. Only one other has survived a strike from that sword..."

Demyx lifted his head as he answered, "Sora."

Slowly, Yen Sid nodded. "Indeed. But that was with the help of the Amplifier."

Eyes widening, Demyx leaned forward in his seat, "He found it? Where?"

Holding up a forestalling hand, Yen Sid continued. "Here is a question you should perhaps think on... You were saved by someone and brought to this world where Heartless and Nobodies cannot enter for fear of disappearing like a shadow in noon-sunlight. Who was that?"

Confused and curious, Demyx slowly sat back, fingering the hole in his shirt as he thought, "Kosuiko..." he whispered softly and looked over at the chair he'd thought she'd taken a seat in. Instead, he found her across the room at the bookshelf, looking at the spines of the ancient tomes, hands clasped behind her back. Attention caught by his speaking her name, she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, then turned back to the books.

Looking back at Yen Sid, Demyx had to ask, "But- does that mean she's mostly light as well?"

"No, she is not."

"I mean it would make sense, what with her being Sora's twin and all... wait, she's not?" Demyx leaned forward, head cocked to the side. "But she can't be dark..."

Yen Sid shook his head, "She is not."

"So she's neither?" Demyx demanded, "That's not possible!" Irritated, he slapped his knee and stood, folding his arms on his chest, "You're pulling my leg."

Sitting back in his chair calmly, Yen Sid shook his head, "You know the answer. It is in your memories. Take some time to look into your past and you will find it. Go now." He pointed towards the door to his left, "If you are to fight, you will need better clothes than that."

Demyx scowled. "Obnoxious old man," he snapped, "What if I don't want new clothes? What are you? Some kind of wardrobe?"

In a puff of smoke, Yen Sid disappeared, leaving Demyx with no one to gripe at except Kosuiko and she was busy sitting on the floor with one of Yen Sid's books, a finger running slowly across the page as her mouth sounded out the words silently. Pacing over to her, Demyx knelt, "Hey, what're you reading?"

Looking up, she smiled at him, then looked down again to read the first line out loud, "It is my du-ty to expose what this darkness really is... I shall s- k- condu-ckt the follo-wing exper-ri-ments: Ek-stract the darkness from a person's heart. S... K-cult-i-vat-ee darkness in a pure heart. Both su- sup-press and amplify the darkness within..."

Demyx stared at the book for a long silent moment before swallowing and taking the book from Kosuiko's hands. "Don't play with things that aren't yours," he admonished.

Eyes wide, she stared at him as he put the book away then pulled her to her feet, guiding her gently over to the door to Yen Sid had directed him to. Stepping through the door, he paused again, staring at the three fairies that stood facing him. "Oh my," said the blue fairy, "This won't do at all!"

The musician blinked in confusion as the three fairies turned to each other and began tittering. Yes, tittering. Demyx cleared his throat, "Uh, Yen Sid said something about you giving us new clothes..?"

Turning back towards him, the three fairies looked him over.

Demyx swallowed.


"Sora?"

"hhmm... five minutes Matron..."

"Sora," the hand that shook his shoulder did not go away, in fact, it redoubled it's efforts to awaken him.

Opening his eyes slightly, Sora grumbled, "...it's Saturday..."

"Sora!"

Finally, it occurred to Sora that, a: he was lying on the floor, head pillowed on a pile of books and his arm, and b: the owner of the hand and voice attempting to awaken him was none other than Squall.

Groaning softly, Sora slowly sat up, wincing at the kink in his neck and back from sleeping on the hard floor. "Here," Squall said, holding out a cup of steaming liquid. Blinking at it Sora took it and looked into the murky depths of the coffee he'd been handed. He didn't generally like coffee, but by the way his eyes wanted to fall shut again, he groggily supposed he needed it and took a mouth-searing gulp.

"Gah! Hot," he gasped setting the cup down before he spilled it.

Crouching on the floor in front of him, Squall gazed down at Sora with the faintest hint of a smile quirking the corner of his lips, elbows resting on his knees. "Wake up. I think we're going to really need you today."

Sora groaned softly, scrubbed the crumbs out of his eyes, and stretched till he gasped with pain and dropped his left arm, "Ouch... shouldn't have slept on the floor," he complained, glancing around the torn up office. They'd searched for hours the night before for some sort of disk with a backup of Tron's programming on it, but to no avail it seemed.

"Ask Aerith to help you with that, then. But make it quick," Squall replied and fluffed Sora's spikes before standing and walking off. "The town's defense systems are down, so we're likely to have trouble today. Like I said, we need you."

Lifting his eyes, Sora blinked up at the man's back, eyes focusing on the white wing designs on the back of his leather coat. "Ah- aww crap!" he gasped, "I've gotta meet Roxas today though."

Pausing, Squall looked back, "Roxas?"

"I ...did I not tell you about that? I thought I did." Sora paused and shook his head before taking up the steaming coffee again and taking another gulp. "Roxas is my Nobody, but he's currently got half of my heart so we can be separate. I sent him after Aros." Climbing to his feet, Sora stretched one leg out, then the other, holding the coffee in one hand as he rolled his aching shoulder, "Well, he knows where I'm supposed to be. He'll show up here if I don't show up over at Disney Castle on time." Nodding to himself, Sora took another sip of the coffee, cringing at the taste of the black brew, "All the better. We'll have more people to help." Turning, he cast a smile at Squall.

Completely confused, Squall blinked twice, shook his head, and continued onwards, heading towards the computer room, "Aerith is at Merlin's, by the way. Think you can make it there without a chaperone?"

Sora stuck out his tongue at the older man, "I'm a big boy," he stated, quoting Aros. Squall only gave a vaguely amused grunt and headed onwards, through the door to the computer room. Taking a breath and letting it out in a sigh, Sora finished off the coffee and looked around, finding that the room had partially been sorted, the items that might possibly be backup disks of Tron set in a pile on one side of the room, those already tested and found not to be what they wanted were piled elsewhere.

Of Goofy, Donald, and Khimari, there was no sign and Sora set the cup down on the desk in the center of the room. 'Yeah, seeing Aerith about these muscle cramps would be good. Before hell breaks loose.'

Stepping towards the door, he swallowed hard as his heart clenched with painful guilt.

'Failure! I lost it! He got away! I should just kill myself!'

Clutching the edge of the desk, Sora swallowed, hand gripping his necklace, "Kaiyou," he gasped, "No- don't say that!" Clenching his eyes shut, he shook his head.

'But I lost it!'

"It's okay! It's just a thing, you can get it back! It's not worth killing yourself over!" Sora objected, unaware that he'd raised his voice or that Squall had come jogging back into the room and was now standing in the doorway, staring.

'But- they'll make that weapon and it'll be my fault!' she shot back.

Shaking his head, Sora replied, "No, Kaiyou, not everything is your fault!" Grinding his teeth, he shoved past her guilt and shouted, "You're always blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong, but you need to stop it!" She abruptly fell silent in his mind, her pain easing, "Kaiyou..." Sora said softly, "You're a good person, a wonderful sister, I love you, but it hurts me when you tear yourself up like this."

'...sora...'

Then the feeling of her presence faded and Sora sank to his knees, suddenly feeling very weak.

"Sora," Squall said, striding over to take hold of Sora's shoulders. Looking into the younger man's sky-blue eyes, Squall paused as if he wanted to say something.

Shaking his head, Sora wiped a hand across his forehead, "I'm not crazy," he said softly, trying to explain, "Kaiyou... is my sister," darkness converged upon him then, preventing him from speaking further as he collapsed against Squall's shoulder.


Sniffling and wiping her nose on her arm-sock without losing hold of her pendant, Kaiyou clutched Laguna's robes with her other hand feeling suddenly very drained, but... better oddly...

'I love you, but it hurts me when you tear yourself up like this...'

"Shh," Laguna whispered, petting her hair, "It's alright. It wasn't your fault, Kaiyou. You did your best."

Biting her lower lip, she put her face against his shoulder again, "But... that boy had to... had to save me." 'Why do I care so much about his opinion though?' she had to ask herself as the feeling of being connected to the voice she'd named Sora faded as her distress eased away. She didn't feel much better about her failure, but she didn't feel quite so hysterical anymore, which was an improvement, because now that she thought on it, she had a splitting headache and a gash across her temple that needed fixing somehow.

Petting her hair, Laguna kissed her head gently and really didn't have a good answer for that at all. All he do was hold her.

She, however, had different ideas. Pushing off him, Kaiyou got to her feet. "I need a shower," she told him, wiping at her face with her fingers, coming away with clotting blood. Pausing, she looked down, "...Dad...what's the point of going on?" she asked softly. "I've got no reason to be going anywhere. Should I just... sit and wait till Sora shows up again?"

Slowly climbing to his feet, Laguna shook his head, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Kaiyou," he said gently, "I'll follow you wherever you want to go."

"Why?" she demanded, eyes wide as she stared up at him.

"Because... I know what you're looking for."

Frowning, she stared at him.

Laguna smiled slightly, "You're looking for Home."

"And you know where that is?" Kaiyou demanded.

Cocking his head to the side, the man agreed softly, "Yes. But it's not something I can just tell you. It's a place you have to find for yourself. I can tell you that you're close, though. All you have to do is open your eyes."

'He sounds just like Umi...' A shiver went through her spine as she stared up at Laguna.

She closed her eyes as he cupped her face gently. "Just know," he said softly, "that I love you."

Breath catching, Kaiyou opened her eyes again and stared at him. "I... love you too," she said softly.

Brushing her hair back from her face, Laguna released her, "Go get cleaned up, take your time."

Nodding, she turned, heading for the door at the back of the bride.

Laguna sighed softly as the door closed behind her and looked down at himself, looking at the blood and tears on his shoulder. Shrugging, he divested himself of his robe, tossing it over the back of one of the chairs as he took a seat.


"Ish he okay?"

"Gawrsh, Leon, what happened?"

"He's... pushed himself too hard lately."

Opening his eyes reluctantly, Sora looked up into the faces of Donald, Goofy and Squall. He was lying on the floor of the office again, this time with Leon's thigh as his pillow.

"I'm okay..." he said softly, surprised to find the older brunet's expression rather knowing. Goofy and Donald looked worried. Carefully pushing himself up, Sora put a hand behind his head to feel the slightly tender spot there and winced, "Kaiyou called me," he explained, "I usually can't hear her when Roxas has half my heart... but... it felt like Roxas was there with us. I'm alright now."

Struggling to his feet, he ran a hand through his hair and smiled, although it felt plastic. Squall had more sincerity in his blank expression, though there was something in his eyes that made Sora think that he wanted to say something but present company was making him keep that information to himself.

Goofy shook his head, holding out a hand to steady the slightly taller boy, "Careful, Sora... Gawrsh, are ya shure you're okay? Ya still look a little pale there. Maybe you should lie down?"

Leaning back against the desk behind him, Sora took a breath and shook his head, "I'm alright, really, I just... need to eat something." Stretching, he winced as something popped. "I think I need to see Aerith about my shoulder before anything happens." Dropping his hands to his sides, Sora sighed, "I'm getting too old to sleep on the floor anymore. Warm sand makes a better bed." This time, he managed to summon a real smile, which made Donald and Goofy relax, he rather preferred his friends laughing to them being concerned over him.

"Leon!"

Heads snapping around, they stared as Yuffie came jogging into the room. "Leon! It's Sephiroth! He's with those two clones, attacking the town!"

"No time for breakfast now," Squall stated and stood, dusting his pants off. Turning to look at Donald and Goofy, he gestured, "You two, go ahead with Yuffie. Sora and I will catch up."

Nodding without objection, the two ran from the room, heading past Yuffie. The ninja shook her head, "About time you told him," she grumped and turned, running after.

"Told me what?" Sora asked, lifting his eyes to stare up at Squall, noticing once more that they were nearly of a height.

"About GF's."

Blinking, Sora drew back slightly, "Huh?"

Taking a stand in front of Sora, Squall folded his arms, "Guardian Forces. They're like summons." Lifting a hand, he placed it on Sora's forehead, "I'm transferring Ifrit to you," he closed his eyes and for a moment, Sora felt as if Squall's hand were on fire, then the fire sank into him. "Remember to summon him often, for the more he likes you the more form he will have in this world and the more damage he'll be able to do. Come on," lowering his hand and turning away, Squall headed for the door.

Confused and knowing that Squall had something else that he was supposed to say, Sora could only follow. "Hey, Squall," he said, realizing that the man hadn't complained about Sora's use of his real name, "...Do you have siblings?"

Squall grunted.

Ahead, the hall burst with bubbles of darkness, Heartless swarming out of the hell-holes they'd created in reality.

Calling his Keyblade, Sora leapt into battle, Squall directly beside him. Slashing downwards with his Ultimate Keyblade, Sora destroyed one Shadow, then moved onto the next behind it, forging his way towards the middle of the pack. "Sora!" Squall called and leapt over a pair of shadows to slash at a Heartless that had jumped at the younger man's back just as Sora paused. Ahead loomed a strange Heartless that looked... mutated somehow, twisted out of all recognizable shape into something that almost looked like it had been made of wax. The other Heartless were avoiding getting near it.

Landing, Squall pivoted, standing back to back with Sora. "Hyne," he cursed softly, "What is that thing?"

Looking back, Sora frowned, realizing that there was another creature of similar proportions standing behind them. "Yin and Yang," Sora stated, "The one ahead is white with a black head."

Squall shook his head.

"So... you like my pet scientist's work?"

Startled, but not daring to take long to look for the source of the voice, the two looked to the left as a dark portal opened.

White coat fluttering around his ankles as he stepped out, the man lifted a hand to push his blonde locks from his face in a practiced gesture, "I admit, Hojo's creations aren't always pretty, but he does good work." Lowering his hand to his chest, which was clothed in a white Armani suit jacket, the man smiled slightly, "Forgive me. I've not introduced myself... I... am President Rufus ShiRa... soon to be ruler of the universe."

Behind the man, another stepped out, this one wearing the tattered remains of a dark blue suit, the coat with the bottom and sleeves ripped off now resembling a vest. In his left hand, he carried a green book.

Sora gasped, "Axel?"

The redhead snorted, "As if. The name's Reno."

Rufus smirked, slowly lifting a hand, "Kill the tall one," he ordered, crisp blue eyes looking from one Heartless monster to the other, "Capture the shorter one." Turning, he started off down the hall, heading the way Sora and Squall had just come, Shadows skittering out of his way like leaves, "Come Reno. We've business to attend to."

"No!" Sora shouted and rushed after the man. That, however, seemed to be the signal that Yin and Yang needed and a black arm swung out to slam into Sora's back, knocking him flat.

Rushing over, Squall slashed at Yin's arm, making the Heartless monster withdraw slightly, long enough for Sora to get to his feet and call his Keyblade to his hand. Regaining his balance, back screaming in pain of pulled muscles, Sora shifted his weight to his toes. "Thanks," he said over his shoulder as Yin and Yang, as he'd started thinking of them as, circled with their multitude of attending Shadows scurrying between their massive stumpy feet. The things were bipedal, about eight feet tall and hunched over in the hallway, arms nearly as long as their legs, and possessing a head in the center of their chests rather than atop their shoulders. Those heads had the hint of humanoid features but they looked to have been made of wax and melted by being too close to a fire.

This time, Yang waded forward through the flock of Shadows, towards the pair. Lifting its handless arm, it drew back and launched a punch at Squall that the man didn't bother blocking. Both the men ducked aside and rolled away at the same moment, but unfortunately went in opposite directions. Getting his feet under him, Sora released his Keyblade with his left hand and focused his attention on the bracer on his arm, calling forth the blade just in time to spin and slash a Shadow that had thought to sneak up on him.

Swinging Ultimate around, Sora caught another Shadow in the stomach and threw it aside where it disappeared, then turned to face Yin as the black monster came lumbering towards him. Ducking under the clumsy attempt to grab him, Sora leapt up to slash at Yin's white face. Startled, the creature shrieked and jerked, slamming its shoulders into the ceiling which caused dust and bits of the ceiling to clatter to the floor.

Squall dived aside from Yang's second punch and finally came back in to slash at a heavy arm. Drawing the arm back and away, Yang clumsily hit the wall, making it crumble inwards and the sound of beams groaning under the shifting weight echoed through the halls. "If they keep that up, they're gonna bury us!" Squall called to Sora.

Having enough difficulties of his own at the moment, Sora kicked a Shadow in the face, then leapt up to slash at Yin again, driving it back a step. "They're not that tough!" he called back to Squall, "Kinda disappointing –" upon landing, he stumbled as the world turned black. "Squall!" he shouted.

"Sora – you've been blinded! Behind you!"

Staggering forward as something heavy hit his back, Sora spun around to counter attack, slicing... something. His next two attacks whiffed through the air with little effect and he stumbled to a stop as he heard Squall grunt and something smash against the wall. "Squall?"

There was no answer before something with the solidarity of a wall of rock hit him in the back of the head, sending him to the floor. Rolling to his feet again, but dizzy now, Sora slashed several times, and still hit nothing. "Squall! Answer me!"

Shaking his head, Sora staggered aside as he felt the claws of a Shadow slash at his right leg. Straining his eyes, he tried to see through the blinding spell that had clouded the world in darkness, but still, he could see nothing. His hearing, however... he heard the sound of Yin and Yang shuffling, the Shadows skittering across the floor.

"SQUALL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he began lashing out in all directions, kicking and slashing. His blades actually connected with things, the clangs and scrapes telling him he'd hit walls or floor, the soft shrill shrieks telling him he'd hit Shadows. Yin and Yang had closed in on him and were trying to get close, but their punches only occasionally weren't met with his blades and Sora always rolled to his feet again afterwards.


Roxas looked around the library, frowning slightly as he found it empty. The annoying rodents had told him that Minnie would be waiting for him in the library. He stood in silence with Axel behind his right shoulder and Kairi on his left.

Sighing, Mickey looked around, "Boy, it's good to be home," he commented and turned towards his desk, "Wonder if the brooms put my paperwork back in order..."

"Mickey!" Minnie shouted from the door and rushed into the room, throwing herself into his arms.

Irritated that he wasn't likely to get any information out of Minnie while she was distracted, Roxas folded his arms and turned away, inadvertently facing Kairi. She smiled and stepped up beside Roxas, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be out of here shortly," she told him.

"We?" he asked, "You're staying here," Roxas insisted.

Frowning, she shook her head, "I'm tired of waiting around," Kairi insisted."

Shaking his head, Roxas sighed, "Kairi – Sora would never forgive me if I let something happen to you. This is the safest place –"

Eyes narrowing Kairi frowned at him, hands going to her hips as she loomed at him, despite being shorter than he, "You're making excuse and you know I can handle a Keyblade –"

Axel, who'd been trying to ignore everyone, rolled his eyes.

"But these guys – especially Gary aren't out just to take your heart or anything. He'll probably kill you. It doesn't look like he needs you for whatever he's planning."

"He's planning to become a god," a new and unexpected voice interrupted.

Silence fell and the two turned towards the door, watching as the man strode in, the fur on the collar of his short sleeveless leather jacket fluttering in the breeze as he walked. Beneath the coat was a brief dark blue tank top that left his pale midriff uncovered, his legs were clad in knee-high dark brown leather boots, his pants clinging and black. Coming to a stop in the doorway, Demyx lifted a hand and flipped his bangs out of his eyes in a classy stile with a grin, "Hey there," he winked saucily at Kairi.

Pattering up behind him, Kosuiko giggled, "Quit flirting with Namine," she accused and dashed over to Kairi, throwing her arms around the redhead girl. "I beat up Gary!" she said cheerfully, "and saved Demyx!"

Demyx winced, shoulders sagging, but he didn't deny it.

Clinging to Kosuiko briefly, Kairi asked, "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"But what's this about Gary wanting to become a god?" Roxas interrupted.

Straightening, Demyx shook his head, then lifted a gloved hand in a palm up gesture, other hand on his hip as he explained, "Well, when he was draining the life from me he told me the entirety of his rather simple and diabolical plot. First, he's going to absorb the members of Organization Thirteen," he ticked down a finger on his raised hand, "then take out Maleficent," another finger ticked town, "and for dessert, he's going to absorb the power of Kingdom Hearts to destroy everything and remake it as a realm of darkness, which he would rule over."

Mickey, having finally released Minnie gasped, "But – he couldn't possibly have the ability to control that much power."

"He could if he had the Amplifier," Demyx replied, dropping his hands and becoming quite serious. "But currently, it's in pieces and not really much use to him in that form."

Silence fell then and Roxas shifted uncomfortably, looking from Kairi and Kosuiko to Minnie and Mickey, and finally at Demyx. Axel was standing behind him still, silent with his arms crossed on his chest in a way that meant that he wasn't going to say anything unless it was something snide. Frowning, he licked his lips and spoke up, "Yen Sid said something about the Amplifier to me and Sora," he admitted, "Sora has a piece of it on his forearm... How he got it, he wasn't very clear to me about."

Demyx quirked a brow, "A- piece of it? Hm." He rubbed his chin lightly.

"What I'd like to know," Axel stated, "is what you're doing here?"

Jerking out of his thoughts, Demyx put on a surprised expression and spread his hands, "Hey, Axel, I'm like you – I've quit being Xemnas's whipping boy! I'm tired of being ordered around like a dog in that pompous tone he always uses, like he owns me. It's his fault we're like this anyway! I don't owe him anything." With a firm nod, Demyx folded his arms and lifted his chin.

Lips pressed together in a hard line, Axel narrowed his eyes... and doubled over laughing. "By the Planet, Demyx! I never thought I'd see the day you grew a backbone!" he slapped his thigh, cackling.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Roxas reached over to shove Axel, "Shuddup," he grumped, then turned towards Demyx, opening his mouth to ask another question, but his thoughts were derailed by Kosuiko.

"Where is Sora?" she asked, stepping away from Kairi, her ocean-blue eyes wide as she stared at Roxas, then Kairi, then Roxas again, "He's supposed to be here? Where's the boy with silver hair? He's with you too, right?"

Closing his mouth, Roxas looked towards Minnie and asked, "Wait – Sora hasn't shown up here yet?"

Shaking her head, she clasped her white-gloved hands together, "No..." she admitted.

"And it's nearly evening as it is," Roxas replied, "He should be here... Unless something happened to him on Radiant Garden." Turning towards Kairi, Roxas addressed her, "You stay here with King Mickey, Axel and I are going to go to Radiant Garden and see if Sora is alright. If he shows up here, tell him everything we know and tell him where we went, okay?"

Pressing her lips together, Kairi stomped her foot, "That's not fair!" she accused, but stopped as he lifted his hands, cupping her face.

Leaning in on sudden impulse, he pressed his lips to hers and blushing crimson, released her to turn and grab Axel. "Teleport us!" he shouted, disappearing in a flash of light with the still-giggling redhead.


AN: Mansex, got it memorized? Lol. I couldn't resist putting that in there somewhere! Oh, and belatedly mentioned: webpage update! Happy-scene-pic of Dagger and Kaiyou's dance, Laguna's ff9 outfit, and tarot card readings for Kaiyou and Laguna have all been added.
I also figured out why Kairi spends most of her time captured or elsewhere in the games. Her presence hinders the throwing of proper Angst Parties.
Anyway, once again, sorry for the delay in posting chapters. I'll get back on schedule once the fall semester really starts up. I've got big gaps in my school-schedule that I'll put to good use, and one of my classes is like so easy and stupid it's not funny. Seriously, first day, the teacher was telling us about how to post on a bulletin board and what a 'thread' was. I'm thinking I'll have plenty of time to write in there. Currently, however, I'm ill and stressed with too many projects going at once and... very sorry, but school comes first even though I love writing this fic. I promise though, I WILL NOT ABANDON IT!

Next Chapter: Sora's battle with the forces of Yin and Yang, Rufus, Reno, Sephiroth, and the Sephroids. Riku's battle with himself, Kaiyou, Cloud, and Gary.