Chapter Twenty Six: Back to Twilight Town

A/N: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and Disney. Similarly, I do not own Dresden Files, which is the property of Jim Butcher. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of.

Three days…or was it four? Pence groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, relishing the pressure between his fingertips. Yeah…it was four days wasn't it? Four days of looking over the security footage from the mansion's computer systems, searching for a trace of anything that might be a clue to any source of darkness. Heartless, Nobodies, members of the Organizaiton, any denizen of the dark…

He was in the basement of the mansion, alone, save for his phone connecting him to Ienzo. Hayner was tending to the ice cream shop in Xion's place. Olette was somewhere with Vivi, Pence wasn't quite sure.

"I admire your dedication, Pence," Ienzo said, his image projected on Pence's Gummiphone. "Not everyone would be willing to spend what little remains of their summer vacation cooped up inside, looking up old video records."

"This is what I'm good at," Pence said simply. "Roxas and Xion have Keyblades. I have computers…but we've gone back through two months of data, and so far the worst thing I've seen is Sora being confronted by that dude who kidnapped Master Ansem and the other guy in the black robe. Which is kind of ironic—I spend my whole life waiting for exciting stuff to happen, and I'm a hundred feet from it."

"I count it as a blessing," Ienzo said. "I would put nothing past Xemnas in terms of manipulating anyone. I shudder to think what might have happened had you left the premises with Sora."

"You sound like Olette," Pence said. "She's had nightmares about what's happened. Can't really say I blame her."

"Yes," Ienzo said. "Circumstances such as the ones you've all experienced are enough to give nightmares to anyone. And the unnerving lack of knowledge for what's happening now is arguably worse. I have to admit my own concerns regarding Roxas and Xion's safety."

"You've seen them?" Pence asked. He felt the tension in his shoulders tighten. It had only been a few days, but it had felt like so much longer, and that wasn't even getting into Sora's disappearance. "How were they?"

Ienzo didn't say anything for a very long minute. Pence's breath caught—had something really bad happened?

"Physically, they are fine. I spoke with them recently. They had quite an adventure in Olympus, but they escaped without lasting injury," Ienzo said assuredly. "You needn't worry about them."

Pence wasn't convinced. Physically they were fine? Yeah, he could buy that. Roxas and Xion fought monsters with magic. It's what they did. But Xion…Pence wasn't completely oblivious. She'd been having nightmares—he could tell by the bags under her eyes. And the way she always apologized for stuff…something bad had happened. Something Ienzo knew and didn't want to elaborate on. Pence chewed his lip. He'd let this go…for now, but he would worry about Roxas and Xion. Pence turned his attention back to the computer screen.

"You wouldn't know a way for us to speed the process along, would you?" Pence asked. "Or a way to filter the data so that only the material that would actually concern us would be visible?"

"There are ways…with the assistance of the computer program called Tron," Ienzo said, "I think we may well be able to refine the search. Tron would be most willing, I believe. He was good friends with Sora."

"Tron?" Pence asked. "Wait a moment, what do you mean he would be willing? And he's friends with Sora?"

"Yes, Master Ansem copied the data of a world some years ago, before I even was first apprenticed. to him. This copied world twisted and developed over time and exists entirely separately from its original counterpart. The programs of this system are sapient, and capable of communication with one another and with computer users."

"Wait, you mean there's an entire world in your computer system?" Pence asked. "Not just cyberspace?"

"Yes!" Ienzo said happily, "Quite fascinating, when you stop to think about it. Hearts can live anywhere, even inside data. All the more remarkable, given what Roxas and Xion are dealing with right now. Now if I can remember the password…and here we go…ah ha!"

"Good day, User Ienzo!"

Pence's mouth fell open, but he didn't notice. Inezo's image blurred away and his place was the image of the strangest looking man Pence had ever seen. Skin that was neon blue and..was that armor?

"Greetings, User. What is your name?"

"Uh…Pence? You're Tron?"

"Yes. I am Tron, Master Control Program of the Radiant Garden, friend to Sora, Donald and Goofy."

Pence gave a low whistle. So much for being good with computers.

xxxx

"And by analyzing all video footage and cross-referencing the data you have on User Xion, I am able to isolate individual frames that fully identify her."

"Thanks, Tron!" Pence said. "This could be a big help in finding out if there's any new bad guys to worry about."

This was far beyond even Pence's wildest dreams. The Master Control Program was sapient and could have conversations with him! This was a technological wonder in its own right! And to think, a heart, an essence! Tron lived within the computer, but had his own thoughts and feelings. This was far beyond what he had ever considered, even when he had been helping Master Ansem reconstruct the data they needed for Roxas to return.

The computer screen began to flash rapidly. Pence shook his head and pinched his nose again.

"I will store the images and video recordings of User Xion in a specific file," Tron said. "I will organize the other data into files as well. Heartless, Nobodies, Organization XIII. There are files similarly organized for Radiant Garden. Would you like them to be connected?"

"That might make things easier in the long-run," Pence said. "Thank you, Tron."

"You're welcome, Pence. If it can assist the Users, then I live to serve."

"That's really great of you," Pence said. "You're a good friend."

"A friend…yes, I do enjoy making friends with my Users. I think fondly of the adventures I had with Sora, Donald and Goofy."

Pence chuckled. Sora had always said he didn't "couldn't computer," but he hadn't said he'd actually made friends with one. Ah, classic Sora.

Pence took a sip from his soda bottle. Ah, his favorite flavor—apricot-passionfruit. With the computers being organized at a rate far faster than he could have done, even with Ienzo, Pence's mind began to wander. Where was Sora now? And Roxas and Xion too. Wherever they were, he hoped they were safe. Or having an adventure. Wait a moment…

"Tron, did you say you had adventures wth Sora?"

oooo

"Sixteen…seventeen…eighteen!" Olette said. "Good job, Vivi. That's better than I could do when I was your age."

Vivi picked up the ball he had been bouncing off his Struggle bat and blinked his little yellow eyes. He seemed a little surprised by the compliment.

"Thank you…Olette."

Such a kind little boy Vivi was. Olette had been trying to keep an eye on him, but it hadn't been easy. Now that he wasn't constantly following Seifer around, Vivi was actually a lot harder to find. She had spent nearly two hours looking for him, before she had found him practicing Grandstander.

"I bet that when you get a bit bigger, you may even be able to beat Roxas's record."

Vivi's eyes widened until they were perfect circles. Olette could tell he didn't believe that was possible. But you never knew unless you tried.

"Yo, there ya are. Took me long enough to find ya! I got the ice cream, ya know?"

Olette turned around. Rai was walking towards them, a bar of ice cream in his hand. It was starting to melt.

"A deal's a deal, ya know? Roxas beat us fair and square. So here's the ice cream, shrimp."

"Thank you…" Vivi took the bar of ice cream in his little hand and began to nibble at it. Olette smiled.

"Yeah, yeah…ice cream every day for a month. This is getting expensive, ya know?"

This wouldn't have happened in the first place, if you and Seifer hadn't stolen from Vivi. Olette wanted to say more, but then decided it wasn't worth it to try to make an argument out of it. Such things were rarely worth it.

"Hey, where's them other kids, anyway, ya know? The ones you're always with?"

"Hayner's working at the ice cream shope. Pence is tinkering…" Olette frowned. She wasn't going to tell anyone, least of all Rai, what Pence was working on. She didn't even like that he was still going over the security footage at the mansion. It felt like an invasion of privacy for Roxas and Xion's sake.

Maybe it was a little silly of her to be so concerned about "privacy," or maybe that wasn't quite the right word. It was true that Roxas and Xion didn't like talking about their pasts, but Olette still knew quite a bit. That Roxas and Xion had been part of the Organization—Axel and Isa had been too. And Master Ansem had explained that Roxas had specifically been born when Sora had released his heart to free Kairi's, and that he had had to return to Sora in order for Sora to wake up. And Xion had been created by Vexen—he hadn't really elaborated, but it sounded like he had meant to clone Sora, but goofed up and made Xion instead. All of that was pretty bad by itself, but it worked out in the end. It didn't bother Olette that her friends had once been part of the Organization.

The really bad stuff was everything else. Hayner had a point that Roxas pushed himself much harder in the small jobs they did for the grown-ups in town. Lifting heavy bags of potting soil by himself, carrying entire troughs that had to weigh as much as he did, putting up twice as many posters in half the time as she could…it was like Roxas didn't know how not to work. And that went double for Xion. Olette bit her lip; Xion's constant self-criticism was…scary. Blaming herself for everything that went wrong, even for things that couldn't possibly her fault. She'd even tried to blame herself for Sephiroth showing up. The darkness in Xion's heart? That wasn't right—it couldn't be right. Olette wasn't sure she had ever even heard Xion raise her voice. How could she possibly have enough darkness to attract that…lunatic?

Olette's thoughts went to that little burned up diary. Xion's diary. Olette had only read one page—not even enough to gauge anything, in or out of context. But Roxas's name had been there. And Axel's. And the name Xemnas—Ansem with an X. There was something to that—Roxas was an anagram of "Sora" with the X and Axel was an anagram of "Lea." Olette knew there was something significant to that, but she wasn't sure what it was. Or whether it really mattered. But the diary still plagued her memories.

Because it was burned, that meant someone or something had tried to set it on fire. And Axel was very skilled at fire magic… Did that mean, at some point, Axel had tried to hurt Xion. In some ways, that made sense—Axel had kidnapped Kairi after all. But he adored Roxas and Xion. He was part best friend, part big brother, part dad. What could have caused him to hurt Xion? Or maybe…had Xion forced him to fight her? Whatever it had been…was that part of why Xion was so quick to blame herself and apologize over and over?

And why, why had nobody been able to remember Xion? She'd been gone…just as much as Roxas had been. Sora had sought to find a way to recover Roxas—as well he should have—but nobody had so much as mentioned Xion. Something bad, something horrible had happened—Olette had been able to guess that much—but it unnerved her just how…complete it seemed. And…that day in the Underground…

"It was worth it. I would do it again if it meant helping Sora."

"Yo! Earth to Olette! I didn't mean Hayner and the nerd! Where do ya think I got the ice cream, ya know? Where them other kids act, ya know? The weird ones, ya know?

Olette's jaw tightened. She didn't have Hayner's temper, but that was horribly inappropriate. Rai had no right to say such a thing.

"That's none of your business," Olette said cooly. "And Roxas and Xion are not weird."

Rai shrugged and walked away, his heavy footsteps pounding against the paved street. Olette turned around, wait a second where did Vivi go? He was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't heard him leave.

Olette frowned. She had hoped to be able to take him to the library. Come to think of it, it might be a good place to take Xion to, if—when—she and Roxas finally got home. But that would have to wait until they actually got back.

Olette walked down the street slowly. She hadn't used to take such a leisurely pace, but after everything that had happened…after Sora had faded…there was a certain beauty to the slowness she had never fully appreciated. Walking this slowly gave her the chance to see a starling fly by her, a ladybug crawling on a daisy in a flowerbed, the colors reflected off water flowing from a gutter. It let her see what life looked like.

Where were Roxas and Xion now? Olette chewed her lip. They could literally be anywhere…which wasn't comforting. She had set up the candles in her window as a way to guide Roxas and Xion home, the way Kairi said they did on the islands. She wanted her friends home. And Sora. But what real use were the candles in the grand scheme of things?

"What's that about candles, dear?"

Oh crud, had she said that out lout? And who was that coming up the road? A man barely taller than she, wearing a black robe and white collar and a warm smile.

"Father!" Olette said, swallowing the lump in her throat as best she could. "I didn't see you there!"

"And yet here I am," Father Forthill chuckled. "How have you been doing, Olette? I've missed having you in the choir."

Olette hesitated. Father Forthill was the priest at the church she went to. Father Forthill was a very kind man, patient and understanding and he never rose his voice, in all the time Olette had known him. His hair was white and thinning, his eyes the color of robins' eggs. In a way, looking at his eyes reminded her of Kairi and Naminé. Father Forthill was frankly, one of her favorite grown-ups.

Father Forthill had patiently answered all of Olette's questions when she was little. He was one of the first people who had seen through Seifer's little "disciplinary committee." He had offered to help search for Roxas, way back when she and Pence and Hayner had been trying to help Sora in the first place. Any problem she had had, Forthill had been there.

But he couldn't know there were other worlds—the rules for "world order" were strict. Not many people were even allowed to know about Keyblades…the need for secrecy meant lying to a priest…this made her feel really guilty. She couldn't tell the full truth…but she wouldn't lie either.

"I'm worried about a friend…" Olette said quietly. "They…they're…doing something really hard, and there's not much I can do to help them."

"Something hard?" Father Forthill said. "Is it dangerous? Is there anything I can do?"

"I…um…no sir, I don't think these friends know you. They tend to be a little shy around strangers…and they might not think you'd be able to help them."

"May I have their names?"

It couldn't hurt to tell him that…come to think of it, he knows Xion doesn't he? He's gotten ice cream at Granny's place.

"Roxas and Xion…" Olette said. "The new kids Hayner and Pence and I are friends with. They're…going through a really rough time."

"I understand," Father Forthhill said, his eyes almost twinkling. "Rest assured, my dear child, I will be lighting a candle for them in the chapel tonight. You're welcome to come as well."

"I'll keep that in mind, Father. Thank you."

Father Forthill patted her shoulder lightly and walked away. Olette watched him go down the street until he was out of sight.

She hadn't lied to Father Forthill. But why did she still feel so guilty?

oooo

"I never want to see another ice cream, as long as I live," Hayner groaned. "I lost count of how many bars I sold after two hundred. That was six hours ago."

"You've done well, Hayner," Granny said cheerfully. "Especially after the little incident with the soda bottles."

"I didn't think it was even possible for someone's lip to get sucked that far up a bottle," Hayner said. "And I really don't think I'm better off for knowing."

Hayner grunted. He had done this for Roxas and Xion. And for Olette, too. Hayner grunted again. Mister Yanushi hadn't needed anything for that community vegetable garden, so he had come here in stead. But man, as much as the garden could wear him out, it was nothing on selling ice cream.

Six tantrums, fourteen dropped ice creams, three soda fights…he was exhausted. And Xion had done this every day for weeks?! And Granny had kept it going for how many years? Hayner was never going to think she was just a little old lady again. She had to have superpowers…come to think of it, that would make sense, given how well Xion had done at this job. You needed superpowers. Or a Keyblade. Or both—and Hayner had neither. No matter how many times he wiggled his fingers, he couldn't summon one.

"Well, you've done your part well," Granny said. She handed him an envelope, with the tips Hayner had picked up through his shift. "And here's your cash pay."

"Thank you," Hayner said. However he felt about the job itself, there was nothing like holding cold hard cash in his hand. "I'll be sure to be back tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm taking tomorrow off. Now you run along," Granny said. "I'll close up the shop. Find your friends—haven't seen them all day, now."

Hayner nodded and walked out of the shop. The air was warm, and the sunset vibrant. He had done his bit for the store…so now that meant checking in with the real work. He hadn't had a chance to do any sort of physical training today, but Pence had been cooped up in the mansion's basement, pouring over the archived security footage. He'd find his friends and then they'd make it count.

xxxx

Tracking down Olette had taken less than twenty minutes—he'd found her pouring over the menu at Scrooge's bistro, saying something about planning a "Welcome Home" meal.

"I think it'd be a good way to show our appreciation for them, especially since you ate their ice cream stock."

"It was going to go bad! I did them a favor!" Hayner argued. "Imagine the looks on their faces if they came home to freezer-burned ice cream!"

"Fair point," Olette said. "But I still think cooking is a good idea. Do you have any idea when they're coming home?"

"Cooking?" Hayner asked. "Isn't that Sora's thing?"

"Technically laddie, that would be my Little Chef's thing. Sora was an assistant, and not a very good one either. The number of eggs that boy broke is second only to Launchpad."

Hayner blinked as Mister McDuck waddled up to them. The businessman…er, business-duck had swapped out his usual blue coat for a red one, and his top hat seemed…taller than before.

"Now then, if you don't mind my interruption, I think a little party to welcome the Keybearers when they return is a very nice thing indeed. From what Donald reports, they haven't had it easy, but then no Keybearer ever truly does. If you want catering, I am more than happy to oblige."

Hayner glanced at the bistro—all sorts of very tasty dishes. If Mister McDuck was willing to pay for it…well, that certainly sounded like a plan.

"Now, tell me, do you know the Keybearers' favorite dishes? I'd like to prepare ahead of time. Conservations of resources, don't ya know?"

Favorite dishes….

"Er…"

"We don't really know that…" Olette mumbled, her face flushing with shame. "What would you recommend, sir?"

"Hmmm…well, Little Chef's tarts always proved popular with Sora and his friends. That there's a start. Do you think that the lad and lassie will like that?"

Hayner bit the inside of his cheek. Roxas was one of his best friends…but really, what did he know about him? Not much…at least, not much beyond the Keyblade and Sora stuff. He knew that Roxas liked working, or at least was way better at it than most teenagers. He also knew that Roxas was unshakably loyal to his friends. But what did Roxas actually like? They hadn't had a chance to set up Pence's old laptop, so he had no clue what video games Roxas liked. And he didn't know what shows Roxas or Xion would watch on tv, either. Hayner felt his own ears begin to burn.

"Thank you for the offer, but we better be going now," Hayner said. Beside him, Olette looked nauseous. McDuck bid them a good day and walked back into the bistro. Hayner walked Olette away from the marketplace, towards the sandlot. Even that was deserted.

"I know it's only been a few days, but…" Olette sighed. "I just wish there was a way to help them in a way that really mattered."

Hayner felt a familiar twinge of guilt in his gut. He knew exactly what Olette was getting at. He looked down at his hand. No Keyblade, no staff, no shield. No weapon of any kind that could be used against the monsters that lurked in the shadows. He glanced back at Olette. She had always been so sweet and gentle…he couldn't imagine her using a weapon in any context. And she didn't deserve to beat herself up like that either.

"You got the stains out of Xion's blouse. I think she's going to like that a lot," Hayner said. He paused. Encouraging words weren't his strongest suit. "I think the best thing to do now is…track down Pence."

xxxx

Pence didn't look up from the computer screen when Hayner and Olette walked in the room. He was hunched over it, muttering the weird computer language under his breath.

"So if we connect the modems and the processors, you can transform the data-sized versions of Users into their original incarnations…."

"Thereby allowing for rapid transportation between two like-points, provided the servers are online."

What was that?

Hayner raised an eyebrow. The voice hadn't matched Ienzo, or any of the other scientists from the world called Radiant Garden. Pence had been calling every day, but so far Hayner hadn't heard any voice he hadn't recognized.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!" Pence said. "If this works, it's going to be the scientific discovery of the millennium! Across all worlds!"

"Alright," Ienzo said, appearing on the computer screen. "tI's nearly online now. I'll be testing it myself, I don't dare test this on anyone else."

"And it's only going to take an hour or so of our time, right?"

"It should take less time than even that—time is fluid across some worlds, in both time period and duration," Ienzo said. "But within the datascape, it is even greater than that. An hour there is only thirty seconds here, and with the connection of our mainframe, I should be within your company within two minutes."

"You following any of this?" Hayner whispered to Olette. She shook her head, Hayner couldn't remember much of what he learned about computers in school—it'd been seven years ago—but he was pretty sure Ienzo and Pence weren't using the terms correctly.

"Alright!" Pence said. "Safe travels, Ienzo! May your heart be your guiding key!"

That was something Keybearers said to each other, Hayner recalled. He had the common sense not to say it out loud, but the truth was, he found that phrase a bit hokey.

"Oh, there you guys are," Pence said, turning around in his chair. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago," Olette said. "Pence, have you been down here the whole day?"

"Yep, same business as usual. Analyzing footage—nothing to report since those bad guys stared down Sora, but they're history."

Hayner grunted—the computers had been useful enough, but a huge amount of material was exactly the same. Woods, woods, woods and more woods. Some Heartless and a few Nobodies, but for the most part, there wasn't much to go on. Of course, that made sense—Sora had wiped out most of the bad guys. New bad guys would probably avoid the area…but Sora wasn't around…so why would they avoid the area then? Was this one of those chicken-egg-circle questions?

Hayner was brought out of his thoughts when the computer began to glow. Now that he knew wasn't supposed to happen! A moment later, the glowing formed a cylinder—made of a hexagon pattern, from what it looked like. Kind of like honeycomb, only white, and a moment later, a figure stepped forward. He was slightly taller than Hayner, with thick blue-gray hair that covered one eye. Hayner knew who he was, but had never actually met him in person. Ienzo.

"Hahaha! It worked!" Pence shouted. "It worked!"

"Indeed it did," Ienzo said. "Greetings, Hayner and Olette! We haven't had the chance to formally meet. I am Ienzo, Apprentice to Ansem the Wise."

"You just came out of the computer," Hayner said. Ugh, that sounded kind of stupid, but he wasn't sure what else could be said.

"Yes," Ienzo said. "Such a method of inter-world travel had not yet been conceived, but Pence's theory proved sound. Sora frequently used such a mechanism to search the datascape in Radiant Garden. Given this world is linked to the same computer, it was well worth the investigation that such travel worked at both ends."

"Wait," Hayner said. "You mean to tell me the computer has a heart?"

"Technically, the programs within the computer have hearts. The device itself is merely that."

Translation, the computer had a heart. Hayner was beginning to wonder whether there was anything that didn't have a heart.

"It's good to see you, Ienzo," Olette said politely. "But did you let Master Ansem know that you were going? You mentioned there's a time difference between your home and our home. Won't he be worried?"

"Oh!" Ienzo blushed and Hayner couldn't help but smirk. For a genius, Ienzo could be as big a goof as Sora was. "Well…I am certain that Master Ansem will understanding that the opportunities this posed were too much to pass up."

"I understand completely, Ienzo," Master Ansem's face appeared on the computer, next to some blue dude Hayner had never seen before. "This is quite an achievement! And Pence, what a wondrous accomplishment—I've never seen someone take to my systems so readily. That being said, Ienzo, you had us worried—Aeleus, in particular, was quite distressed."

"Hasn't it only been about five minutes for you?"

"A thousand apologies, Master," Ienzo sounded deeply ashamed. "I…got ahead of myself and that was wrong of me. I will return home at once."

"Time is relative, Ienzo. Pence is correct in that only a few minutes had passed. You are still young and I dare say you need to spend more time with an appropriate peer-group. You may stay a while longer, my boy."

He hung his head low, so much so that Hayner was no longer able to see his face at all. Pence and Olette exchanged worried glances.

"Ienzo…" Olette said. "Before you go, can I ask a quick question?"

"Technically, you have already done so, but I gather that this concerns Roxas and Xion," Ienzo said. "I am not sure how much I am at liberty to disclose with regards to their mission, but I can tell you that they are drawing strength from one another."

"Did something bad happen?" Hayner asked. There was definitely something that Ienzo wasn't telling them.

"Nothing bad, per say," Ienzo rubbed the back of his neck. "But they are under immense pressure and dealing with situations that they are finding very stressful. That said, I did inform them when we last met that you were all concerned for them, and they are most appreciative."

"Do you have any idea if they're going to come home soon?"

"I'm honestly not sure," Ienzo admitted. "Master Ansem and I saw them depart on their latest mission a few days ago, but we haven't heard from them since."

Hayner sighed deeply and he saw Olette's shoulders sag. Pence groaned and pinched his nose.

"Oh, come now," Ienzo said. "I'm sure that you will be reunited with them soon. As it happens, Master Ansem will be returning to Disney Castle to discuss things with King Mickey tomorrow morning. Most likely, they've completed their mission."

"Morning your time or our time?" Hayner asked. "Isn't it like midnight in Radiant Garden?"

"Not quite," Ienzo chuckled. "But I acknowledge your point. So with that in mind, I best be getting back."

Ienzo turned back to the computer and punched a few keys. The screen began to glow—Hayner realized that Ienzo was preparing to return back to his world. Through the computer. Which worked…somehow.

"I will make sure that you will be informed of what is happening. I know how much Roxas and Xion mean to you, and I'm sure you'll all be on the clock tower again soon."

Soon…

A/N: And with that, another chapter is completed, my dear readers! It's been ages since we've been in Twilight Town so I wanted to give Hayner, Pence and Olette some attention again.

I also took the opportunity to expand Twilight Town a bit, and in so doing, incorporate a favorite character from a series unrelated to Disney or Square Enix. After Harry Dresden and Michael Carpenter, Father Forthill is my hero. Though this is really more of a shout-out than a crossover.

Thank you for reading! Leave a comment, if you're so inclined.

I appreciate each and every one of you.