Here's chapter forty - nine. Thank you Bookworm Gal, Roxasstorm, and caitlinkeitorin for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Forty - Nine: Ghost of the Past

Lea blinked, his eyes straining themselves to adjust to the idea of nothingness. How is this possible? But there was no better word to describe what he saw before him; no darkness, no light, no land, sea, sky. There was simply nothing. "Hey, Merlin, is this-"

He cut himself off as he turned around. Merlin and the three fairies were missing. "What in the world?"

How is this possible? There truly is a Realm of Nothing?

Lea stiffened, a shiver running up his spine. Just as the idea of seeing nothingness was strange, the idea of hearing words without sound seemed off. The latter, however, seemed vaguely familiar. Yeah. In Axel's memories, a voice without sound guided him out of the Realm of Darkness. He turned around, emerald eyes searching for the source of the voice.

In the plain of nothing, there was suddenly something; the faintly transparent form of an armored figure. The figure stared at its hands, turning them over before focusing on its surroundings.

Did my memory initiate this? But how is that possible?

"Hey! Who are you? And why am I here?"

The knight's head whipped around, seemingly startled to realize that he was there.

Axel? No, Lea.

Lea stiffened, about to ask how this strange knight knew his name, when a memory flashed into his mind:

"What truth?"

That either Axel can exist, or Lea. If they fuse, there is no in-between.

That memory wasn't mine, Lea thought as it faded. His fists slowly clenched. So this is the guy who put that idea into Axel's head, huh?

The knight began walking towards him, footsteps soundless in the still air.

Why are you here? You should be learning how to use the Keyblade right now.

"How do you know about that?"

It doesn't matter.

Lea summoned his Chakrams. "I'm sorry, but I can't accept that answer."

The knight continued forward without concern.

Go ahead and throw them at me. It won't matter.

Lea's eyes widened, before narrowing suddenly, his fingers tightening around the grips of his Chakrams. The knight stopped in front of him, tilting its head curiously to one side.

This is strange. Why would-

"-that memory bring me here, to this place?" The knight's voice gained substance, taking on a masculine tone. His armor, in turn, seemed to become more solid. He made a confused noise, tilting his head to the side before lifting his hand up to touch his helmet. For a few moments, Lea stared across the open space at the strange man. Then a low, quiet sound started from within the confines of the helmet, slowly growing in volume.

Laughing. The knight was laughing.

"What is this?" He sounded half-hysterical. "This happened in the Keyblade Graveyard, as well. Why? What is going on?"

"Keyblade Graveyard?"

The knight's laughter died at Lea's uncertain question. "That's right; I don't know how you're here, either." He began forward again. "But regardless, we can take care of that. You need to get to the space between times to learn how to wield your Keyblade."

"Hold on. Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I thought you wanted to learn how to wield the Keyblade. Or was I mistaken?"

"No. But I'm tired of being treated like a puppet." Lea tensed. "Whatever I do will be my own choice."

"Ha. You wish to fight me?" The knight lifted a hand, a sphere of darkness flying from his palm in a split-second to collide with Lea's chest, sending him flying backwards. "I've had thousands of years experience. How long have you been around, hmm?"

"Thousands…of years?" Lea grunted as he pushed himself up. That hurt more than expected.

"Call it a curse. Or a blessing. I'm not sure at this point." The knight picked him up by his hood. He choked as his airways were cut off, then gasped as he was thrown into the air before landing hard on the knight's metal shoulder. "But come on; we don't have any time to waste."

Lea slammed one of his Chakrams into the back of the knight. The armored figure stumbled, caught of guard, allowing Lea to slide free. "Well, what if I say I don't want to?" he asked, spinning around into a ready position.

He could practically feel the anger radiating from the knight at that comment. "You idiot. You don't have a choice!"

"Huh. Funny, I don't like that answer." He shrugged nonchalantly, keeping one eye on his opponent to see how he'd react, ignoring the part of him that questioned the intelligence of this idea. "Maybe I just won't go, then."

The knight was on him before he could blink. He saw the flash of armored claws and pulled back, alarm flaring through him as they nearly scored long lines down his face. "You will come, even if I have to carry you back unconscious."

"I'll always be there to bring you back!"

Lea flinched at Axel's memory. No time for that now.

"What's the matter? Did Axel say something similar?"

Lea tensed as the knight seemed to guess what he was thinking. "How did you-"

"It's written across your face." The knight started towards him again. "Make life easier for yourself and come with me.

Righteous anger filled Lea as he lifted his Chakrams. "Hey, what right do you think you have to make other people's choices for them?"

The knight paused, as if considering this question. Then, "Every right." Lea was struck speechless by this response, leaving his opponent to continue. "The timeline was fractured, a long time ago, by a boy and his brother when they tried to save the world. They succeeded, but in the process took away the freedom of choice. And until the correct point in time at which they timeline becomes stable again, I must make sure that nothing deviates from its correct path."

This guy's insane. A smirk crossed his face. "Heh. You're no better than Zylen."

"Do not compare me to that man!"

"Why? Because I'm right?" Lea lifted his head, his self-confident smirk falling as he lifted his Chakram. "Let me prove to you that we can have free choice."

This time he anticipated the attack, and called up a wall of fire to counter-act the wave of darkness. "Idiot! There will come a time when that's true, but now's not that time! Didn't you hear what I've been saying?"

"I heard," he flung a Chakram when the darkness and fire faded, "but I think you're wrong." The knight deflected the Chakram with one armored hand; by this point Lea was on top of him. "Look at me!" He slammed his Chakram down, which caught on the edge of his opponent's helmet. The knight wrapped a hand around his wrist, stopping him from tearing it off. Lea landed on the ground, and the two struggled against each other for a few moments. "I chose not to be a puppet anymore, right?"

"And how can you say this wasn't all preordained?" The knight shot a darkness-coated fist forward, slamming it into Lea's stomach and causing him to go flying backwards.

Lea groaned, eyes sliding open to see lightning striking down towards him. He rolled away, sending a burst of fire towards his opponent. "I guess I don't," he admitted as the knight cut through the fire. He shot another fireball. "But you know what?" Another blast of fire emerged from the tip of his Chakram. "You're not God; you don't have the right to decide that." He shot a fourth ball of fire, coating both Chakrams in it immediately afterwards and throwing them in an X. The two flying weapons arched in towards their intended target. The knight lifted his arms to deflect them; Lea retaliated by calling up a massive wall of fire. He brought it down, attempting to crash it down on his opponent. The armored man, unable to move, was caught in the blaze. He heard his cry of pain above the roar of the flames.

Then his eyes widened as darkness exploded from within the inferno, quenching it and racing across the ground towards Lea. He attempted to bring up a burst of fire like a shield, but it was destroyed with little effort. The darkness raced around Lea, wrapping his body in its long fingers. He could feel it sinking into his skin and bones, feel it ripping at him from outside and inside. His mind became incoherent; the only thing he had the ability to do was scream in pain.

It seemed an eternity before the pain faded. When it did, he became vaguely aware of someone speaking to him. "I know that. I know that better than anyone. But I can't afford to leave this up to chance!"

Lea closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "If everything's preordained," he hissed out, "then what is there to chance?" He lifted his head, slowly standing and lifting his Chakrams to continued fighting.

The knight stared at him, armor steaming. Then his shoulders sank and his helmet rattled with a sigh. "Of course. That'd make sense, wouldn't it?" A bitter laugh escaped him. "But how can I leave things? What if something goes wrong? What if it's my fault the timeline is distorted again?"

Lea lowered his weapons slightly at the hysterical tone of his opponent's voice. Guess I know to cross 'eternal life' off my wish-list.

"No. I must keep fighting on!"

Lea was unprepared for the knight's strike, and was unable to lift his Chakrams to block in time. Claws sank into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. "I fought so long for this. How do I know you'll make the right choice? How do I know you won't turn back to evil, or that you'll be able to maintain your existence? Do you even know if you're Axel or Lea?"

The words nearly caused Lea to cease thinking. "What?"

"Do you know? Can you tell?" The knight spun around and kicked Lea in the side.

Lea slammed his Chakram into the non-existent ground. "I'm Lea! I was the one who won the battle, not Axel."

"You sound uncertain."

"That's not true!" But he couldn't stop the flash of doubt. This is ridiculous! I'm Lea. Axel was defeated. A pang flashed through his chest. So then…why do these memories keep pressing against me?

He was suddenly flying backwards again. "You see? How can I trust you if you can't even give me the correct answer?"

Lea wanted to answer, but still found himself in a stupor. How can he trust me? As a Nobody and as a Somebody, I have a record of betraying people. How do I know I won't fail to redeem myself? But what he said to the king echoed back through his mind. "You can't. But…it's not your right to try and control others."

He was suddenly lifted off the ground by the collar of his cloak. "How can you say that? Don't you care that you may cause the timeline to fall apart? You idiot! I-"

He stopped abruptly as Lea's hand punched towards his face. His visor shattered as he shoved Ifrit's summon crystal through the glass. "Ifrit." Red light flared around them, and there was a sound like something breaking. Lea closed his eyes against the brightness and his ears against the scream of pain.

"Hey, Master. Now that was an entrance."

Lea blinked his eyes open to see Ifrit standing over what looked like a broken body. Lea stared at it, walking forward. Ifrit bent down to examine the body beneath him. "Hey. This guy's not dead."

"What?" Lea hurried forward more quickly in time to see that the knight, though he was taking on a more spectral form, was indeed still breathing. "What is this guy?"

"I told you," the knight hissed,

I'm both cursed and blessed.

Lea blinked as the soundless words returned.

But I suppose I've been beaten this time, haven't I?

The knight's chest moved up and down as if he were laughing.

My anger always did get the best of me. Figures I'd never grow out of that habit.

Ifrit returned to his crystal, seeming to sense that the battle was over. Lea bent down near the fallen knight. "Hey. Were you the one who broke the timeline in the first place?"

The knight didn't answer at first. When he did, it wasn't what he expected:

Lea. You still don't understand what is required.

He pushed himself up. Lea tensed, ready to fight again, but the knight stilled him with a hand. Slowly he reached up and gripped his helmet, hesitating before pulling it off. The face beneath it resembled that of an old man. Despite that, his long hair still shone black, and his amber eyes glimmered with a fierce light. His mouth moved with words that Lea couldn't hear.

Yes. Long ago, in the Keyblade War, my brother and I used the X-blade to open Kingdom Hearts, and give power to the hopes of children who wished to save the world. But in doing what I thought was best, I inadvertently made the world the way it has become.

Lea suddenly felt an odd kinship with this man. "So you're looking for redemption, like me."

I suppose that's one way of putting it. But I think I just want what I gave up everything for to be saved.

"Everything?"

It's a long story, and unfortunately one I don't have the time to tell.

The knight lifted a hand. Lea suddenly felt drowsy, his memory fuzzy. "Wait!" he protested as he began to drift into unconsciousness. "At least give me a name!"

Just before his vision faded to black, the man mouthed the words:

My name is Gillick.


That would be the end of chapter forty - nine. Reviews would be awesome, please?