Chapter Twenty Nine: Ignite

The twin heartless growled and pawed at the ground, claws raking across the wooden floors. Each swipe kicked up more smoldering embers that only added to the growing flames. Naminé winced as the smoke began to grow, eyes stinging as the heartless backed into the dark clouds they were adding all around them. She pulled out a card and sent a figment into the darkness, hoping to hear some sign of contact.

But if it did manage to hit either target, there was no sign. "Ugh. Clever." Yuffie grumbled as she scanned the room. "It's easy to forget that these big heartless can be smart when it comes to fighting." A flick of the wrist sent a small volley of Kunai out. Only to hear contact with the wooden walls.

"Where are they?" Ven asked as he looked around the burning room. A snarl was his only warning before the red maned heartless cats pounced through the smoke. He dived away, only for its twin to catch him straight in the back. As he was knocked to the ground he felt the weight bearing on him even as he struggled to get a hit in.

But with the sound of magic and flung steel, that pressure stopped as figments and shuriken knocked the black maned heartless back. Ven got to his feet quickly, and Naminé was at his side in a moment. Pulling out a healing card she winced seeing Ven's scratches. "This isn't good. We can barely get any hits in before they hide again."

Yuffie watched to make sure nothing else came out while Naminé's magic healed Ven up. "We've got to find a way to get one of them to stay put long enough to do some damage."

Ven furrowed his brow before glancing to his keyblade. "I've got an idea. But I'm going to need to act as bait."

Naminé glanced at the mending wounds and winced before putting a hand to his shoulder. "Ven, are you sure?"

Ventus put his hand on hers as he looked back at her. "Trust me, Naminé," he asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Nodding back at him, Naminé let go and took a step back. Giving Ven some space while he watched the room. Smoke and shadows swirling all around them. But then there was a glint in the dark. Ventus whirled around to face it, and just in time.

The black maned heartless bounded out of the smoke with claws extended. But this time, Ventus was ready to block. The keyblade in front of him strained as the creature clashed against the weapon. But while Ventus still stood, the heartless was stunned. And it was an opportunity that the three of them wouldn't waste.

Yuffie flung her Kunai into the heartless' back legs. As it's grip on Ven's keyblade loosened, A figment knocked it away entirely with a strike raid wreathed in ice. The attack caused it to stumble to the ground, giving Ven the chance to move in and bash the heartless with his keyblade.

But despite the attack the beast still thrashed, a stray claw swipe causing Ventus to back away. Yuffie and Naminé readied their weapons to join in, but a snarl from the smoke gave them pause. A snarl was the only warming before the other heartless pounced from the dark towards Naminé. She spun towards the threat and blocked with her sword, wincing as the attack reverberated through her weapon. Still, it was enough for Ven to cast a volley of blizzard spells at the heartless, which caused it to lose its grip on her weapon. Naminé looked at Ventus and smiled, "Thanks."

Ventus nodded with a grin and answered, "Anytime! Now let's take them…" His voice died down, however, as he saw flames gather again around both of the heartless sisters. They dug their claws into the floor and their eyes began to glow. Ven's eyes widened and he cried out, "More fire! Look out!"

No sooner had he called out his warning then the two heartless' eyes flashed. They had just enough time to raise their weapons to deflect some of the heat that burst forth from the creatures. On the one hand, the blast cleared away most of the smoke, letting them see again. On the other, the room was practically falling apart by now, any finery reduced to ash. The door to the rest of the mansion hung by its hinges, and offered little resistance as the two heartless broke through it to escape.

"You're not getting away that easy!" Yuffie cried out as she ran after them. Ventus and Naminé were right beside her as they arrived into the main hall. They looked over the balcony to where the two heartless had found footing on the stairs. They snarled up at them, as the fire from their claws began to ignite the tattered rug. But snarls were not the only thing that was heard. From the shadows cast by the mansion debris, chattering and chittering could be heard. Dark shapes sprang forth from them, almost immediately taking form. Yuffie clicked her tongue at the sight of the rising shadows. "Tch. Looks like they called some backup." She turned to Ventus and Naminé with a grin. "We can take them on, right?"

But that smile fell as she saw the two of them. Naminé clutched her sword just looking at the dark creatures that were all too familiar. Instead of the rounded features of the heartless, the creature's shape was jagged with slitted red eyes. "No...It can't be!"

"It's the Unversed!" Ven called out before striking back against one of the flood leaping at him.

"Oh, great. And they're creepier than in your story!" Another flood lept at Yuffie, only to be kicked aside as she grumbled, "At this rate, it's just a matter of time before Organization XIII shows up!"

From the trees just outside the mansion, Erxart grimaced as he watched the glow brighten in the mansion windows. "Is it really a good idea to leave the keybearers to this threat?"

Axel shrugged and leaned forward on a stump as he continued to watch. "Don't look at me. They pretty much vetoed any kind of cooperation between us."

Erxart frowned and closed his eyes. "Because of the suffering caused by members of the Organization."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Larxene smiled as she walked up beside him. "Besides, that was when we only knew of a single keyblade wielder and maybe his brain dead nobody. Now everyone is—."

"His name is Roxas," Erxart growled as he glared at Larxene, "And despite these new wielders, the Organization's policy has not changed. If they're putting out a death warrant for Maleficent merely posing a potential threat, I think their survival is important enough for that policy to stand."

Axel shrugged as he joined Erxart and Larxene near the top of the hill. "Okay, that's a fair point. But still, accomplished keyblade wielders are no pushovers. I should know." He squinted his eyes as he saw dark shapes appear and crawl inside the smoking mansion. "So far it just seems like a standard heartless pack leader calling for backup."

"Wait. Those creatures look familiar." Erxart jogged forward down the hill to get a better view of what was swarming inside the house.

Larxene placed her hands on her hips. "You mean besides the fact that they're heartless?"

If he heard her, Erxart didn't show it. Instead, he jogged down to the bottom of the hill next to a gap in the stone fence. Watching from the shadows, he saw the dark shapes scale the mansion walls. But instead of the round yellow eyes of the heartless, these creatures had red slits. And a few of them bore a symbol that Erxart knew. Erxart turned back and dashed up the hill to Axel and Larxene, who seemed content to remain where they were. "Those aren't heartless! They're unversed!"

"Unversed?" Axel raised an eyebrow before shaking his head with a shrug and answering, "Never heard of them before."

"But Erxart has. And isn't that something?" Larxene put a hand to her chin as she walked past Erxart down the hill. "It's a little suspicious that we haven't heard of these things even once in all these years? But our other rookie who shows up out of nowhere with a keyblade knows exactly what they are?"

Erxart and Axel looked at each other with a raised eyebrow. Erxart scratched the back of his head as he suggested, "A stroke of luck maybe?"

Larxene rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Do I need to remind you that this is the second rookie that our beloved leader found out of the blue with a keyblade of his own?"

Axel walked up next to Erxart, holding a hand out as he asked, "If you've got a point here, would you mind sharing?"

"Xemnas is keeping secrets," she answered, raising a finger as she continued, "And I'm betting that these are secrets that aren't in the best interests of a good amount of the Organization."

"Larxene. This accusation is serious." Erxart closed his eyes. Desperately trying to ignore how often that same accusation had gone unvoiced in his own head. However, "It's one you can't just make out of nowhere with nothing to support it."

Larxene smirked, and she pulled a hard drive from her coat. "Then how about we go through some of his data and find out."

"You stole it from him?!" Erxart took a step back before protesting. "If he ever finds out—!"

"If being the key word here." She idly tossed the disk drive in her hands and put a hand on her hip. "Look me in the eye and tell me with a straight face that you aren't the least bit curious about what he's up to."

Erxart looked over to Axel to see his reaction to the offer. Xemnas' orders were to report her actions to Axel, but now there was little need to do so. Not when she had made her offer so brazenly.

Unfortunately, it was an offer that Erxart was tempted to accept. He was desperate for answers. About his past, his role in the organization. Anything that could shed some light on the questions that dogged him.

But seeing Axel mull the decision over brought that train of thought to an end. Right now, he needed to trust his friends. Even though Erxart couldn't understand just why he believed in this so strongly now. He just knew that long ago he didn't. And he lost...

Falling into darkness.

A hand in his.

"I'm with you."

He lost something more important than words.

"Well Larxene. Stealing from our boss isn't exactly a good look." Axel's voice interrupted Erxart's thoughts. He looked in surprise to see Axel slowly begin to smile. "But if we're just verifying his good intentions, what's the harm?"

"Assuming this stays between us, no harm whatsoever," Larxene answered with a grin as she walked up and put a hand on Erxart's other shoulder. "And besides, I'm pretty sure our new keyblade master would love to learn why he was chosen, right?"

Despite Larxene's smile as she leaned on him, Erxart couldn't help a slight cringe. "It would...clear things up."

"Great!" Larxene gave him a slap on the back before letting go. "I'm going to get a better look around the mansion. I'll catch up with you soon enough."

"Remember. We're observing. Not interfering." Axel tapped his head as he asked Larxene, "Got it memorized?"

"Yeah, yeah. Committed it to memory and all that jazz." With a wave of her hand, she vanished in a flash.

Erxart looked to Axel, still uneasy. "Are you really sure about this?"

Axel slowly nodded. "Trust me. It'll be better in the long run if we let this play out. And besides—" He gave a casual salute to Erxart, "—I've got your back pal."

With that reassurance, Erxart relaxed. Maybe he could understand the connection between him, Roxas, and that boy Ventus. Maybe even where Aqua was.

Because if Ventus was a real person. Then so was she. And even though he had no heart, something within Erxart told him that he needed to find her.

Perhaps that was why he was still concerned about Ventus. He was the only other lead that Erxart had to the truth. His hands balled into fists as he watched the burning mansion.

"Come on! I can do this all night!" Yuffie shouted as she sent her fuuma shuriken careening from unversed to unversed. Catching it, she turned her attention to the rising shadows from the floor, muttering quietly, "Or at least long enough for Ven and Naminé to finish those heartless."

As she dashed around the edge of the room taking down what unversed she could, Ventus and Naminé made their way across the balcony. Flood after flood leapt out at him as he and Naminé fought closer and closer to the staircase where the heartless were watching them intently from the ground. While the main hall wasn't quite as incinerated as the study that they entered in, it was getting there. The fire stoked in one room was beginning to spread, and the two heartless did their part to fan the flames with their mere footsteps. It was a race against time before the mansion burned down.

Ventus shuffled his grip on his keyblade, idly giving it a spin. The unversed were one of the last things he wanted to see from his nightmares. Another nightmare of his past returning to haunt him. From the corner of his eye, he saw a scrapper brandish metal claws. He spun to face it.

Only for a slash of Naminé's blade to knock it away. Looking at her, a slight smile came to his face. That's right. Unlike his journey ten years ago, he wasn't alone this time. With a final slash of his keyblade, he got rid of the last unversed in their path to the stairs down. As the two of them dashed over, Ven quickly glanced over to Naminé. "Let's focus on one of the Heartless. The red one"

With a nod she pulled an ice card and a fire card, "Right, should be easier with them in the open. I'll cover you." Coming to the top of the stairs, they saw the two heartless charging straight at them. Tossing them forward, she called on a stream of water directed mostly at the red maned heartless. The spell caused the two monsters to dive away, though a snarl made it clear the attack hit home.

But before they could kick up more smoke to hide again, Ven dived towards the weakened heartless with a blitz of attacks. Its black haired sister tried to move in to protect it, but was stopped by a figment thrown by Naminé as she followed Ventus. As Ventus gave a solid hit as a final flourish, the red-maned heartless was knocked back, skidding into a pillar supporting the balcony with a thwack!

"Easy down there!" Yuffie called down from the upper floor as she carved through another scrapper, "Give me some warning before you bring this place...down..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced below to see the heartless struggling to stand next to the damaged pillar. She began to grin and brandished her fuuma shuriken. "Actually, let's bring this pillar down!"

"Huh?!" Ventus was baffled at the suggestion. "What about the unversed?"

As if to illustrate his point, A scrapper began to dash towards Yuffie. Only for an ice spell from Naminé to stop it. She called out in concern, "Are you sure you're going to be alright?!"

Yuffie rolled her eyes before tossing a barrage of kunai at the black haired heartless sneaking up behind Ven and Naminé. "You worry about the heartless and the pillar! I'll worry about the unversed!" With that, Yuffie swatted away the universe with the large shuriken on her back before beginning to hack into the balcony she stood upon.

Naminé frowned before nodding. "Alright then." She hurriedly grabbed a card of ice with an attack card, summoning a figment that flung a keyblade wreathed in ice. The ice raid was enough to hit both the heartless as it finally got to its feet, but also the pillar next to it. Causing the balcony to creak where Ventus had weakened it.

Looking up at the sound, the red-maned heartless snarled and tensed to leap. But Ventus quickly flung his keyblade at the pillar again and again, tossing it as fast as he recalled his weapon. But even so, the pillar just needed one more—!

"Behind you!"

At Naminé's cry and a subsequent roar, Ventus realized the other heartless had changed targets. He rolled right out of the way of a back attack made by the black maned skidded to a stop right in front of its sister.

But before it could leap back into action, Yuffie lept from the balcony onto its back with Kunai drawn. "See, totally fine!" Yuffie called out with a grin as she managed to steer the thrashing heartless over to its sister before kicking off of it.

The two heartless began to rise up again, eyes glowing. "Not this time!" Ven shouted out, feeling energy flow between the three of them, breaking their limits. "Together!" With that cry, the three of them tossed a blade storm at the heartless and any unversed that dared to jump down. Keyblade, mirage, and steel pinned down their opponents, and whittled away the pillar to almost nothing.

As the assault ended, the stone finally gave way and crumbled with the balcony atop the heartless. Burying them in a heap of wood and stone. With a puff of shadow two hearts drifted into the night.

The unversed still remaining above glared at the three of them. But after a moment of staring each other down, the creatures vanished into shadow. "Guess they weren't going to stick around without back up." Ven sighed as he tried to catch his breath. However, the smoke only caused his gasps for air to result in a painful cough.

Naminé grabbed his arm and helped Ven steady himself. "We should put out the fire, since we aren't being attacked anymore."

"It would make up for some of the property damage." Yuffie chuckled as she stowed her weapons. "But I don't think I'm quite as good at it as you two."

At that, Ven and Naminé quickly went to work casting blizzard into all the fire they could find in the hall. The flames melted the ice into water that put it out in short order. Coughing through the smoke they made their way upstairs to the study. Another spell of water from Naminé put out the worst of the inferno that ate its way into the room.

Ven waved away the resulting steam and smoke as best as he could. "Good thing the window's open, won't have to worry about backdraft." Though the cloud was still thick, he could still see the moon shine through the window to illuminate the ruined study.

"Too bad there's still smoke." Naminé coughed in the haze before she turned to him and asked, "Maybe you could cast a wind spell?"

Yuffie shook her head as she made her way across the burnt floor. "Smoke like that isn't leaving this place anytime soon. I say we get out of here and get some fresh air." With a grin, she sat on the windowsill and waved to the two of them. "Race you down!" With that, she leaned back before she was practically falling off the edge

"Yuffie, wait!" Ven shouted as he ran to the window with Naminé. As they approached, they could see Yuffie let go and fall. However, their momentary horror was replaced with amazement as they saw her tumble through the air and land gracefully on the ground little worse for wear.

"Great ninja, remember?" Yuffie laughed as she dusted herself off. She called back up to the window, "You should be fine! Keyblade power should let you handle a fall like that no problem!"

Ven and Naminé looked at each other, not quite happy with the suggestion. Naminé in particular was hardly happy as she asked, "What about me?"

Yuffie's grin faded as she began to understand the issue. "Right. She'd probably have to take the long way." But after a moment, her eyes fell on Ventus and she smirked. "Unless you feel like carrying her."

That suggestion brought Ventus' mind to a halt. And looking over to Naminé, it seemed to have the same effect on her. At least, that was his guess from the way she slowly looked over to him with wide eyes. It was a simple suggestion, and to be honest, he didn't hate it. Naminé was a special friend to him by now. But...would Naminé be okay with being that close to him?

Wait, there was one other time Naminé was pretty close to him. He slowly began to suggest, "We could just..fly together on the glider?"

The answer managed to get Naminé's attention and she began to quickly nod. "Yes, yes of course." As he pulled out his keyblade and transformed it outside the window, she put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her for a moment, a light blush on her cheek, blue eyes looking back at his. Placing his hand over hers, at first just to help her on the glider. But seeing the smile that came to her face caused his hand to linger just a little longer.

Honestly, just seeing her happy—

"Aah!" And in an instant the moment ended as Naminé clutched her head in pain.

How did I get so small!?

You still have the same dream?

He'll be alright. He won't give into it.

I just need to keep on believing, right?

"You coming down on that thing or not?" Yuffie's voice from down below got their attention. Slowly, Ventus helped her aboard the glider and they slowly made their way down to Yuffie tapping her foot. "About time...you..." Her impatience died seeing Naminé's state, and she rushed over to the two of them. She held out a hand to help Naminé down from the glider. "More memories?"

"Yes." Naminé nodded as she began to search her pockets. "Let's go tell the Fairy Godmother and head back to Hollow Bastion."

Ventus hopped off the glider and was right beside her. "The sooner we can do that, the sooner we can figure out what's going on with Naminé's memories, our dreams, Pete, the Unversed, Xeha—."

"Breathe." Yuffie held up a hand to stop Ventus' fretting. "We'll tell them everything when we get there. First we need to get back to town." At that, Naminé pulled out the summon stone for Chocobo. And in a flash, called the bird to their side.

Erxart watched as the summoned bird carried Ventus, Naminé, and Yuffie back to town. He was certainly relieved at seeing the flames die down, rather than consume the mansion. Despite Naminé's condition, the fact that she survived along with Ventus eased his…

Whatever he had.

"Hey, show's over." Axel's elbow to his side got Erxart's attention. "Let the underlings handle the rest of this and head back for our update."

"I couldn't agree more." Larxene spoke as she emerged from the trees. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a dark portal back to The Castle That Never Was. "Shall we?" She quickly walked through the portal.

Erxart glanced over to Axel with a raised eyebrow. He had to admit, more time to prepare a suitable story. He just looked back with a knowing smile, "Just leave Larxene to me." He tapped a finger to his head as he asked,"Got it memorized?"

"Of course." It was a little hard to forget someone like Axel. With a plan in mind, the two headed through the dark corridor. Corridors of shadow that he followed through corridors of steel. Corridors which led to the grey area.

Axel called out as they entered and saw a familiar figure next to Demyx. "Yo Roxas, we're back. How…" But as he fully entered the room, Axel became silent. Roxas was certainly there, but Xigbar and Xemnas were as well, and they looked far from pleased.

The latter especially stuck out to Erxart. "Xemnas usually doesn't listen to these debriefings in person." His eyes narrowed as he tried to listen to them.

"Why, thank you for that insightful reminder." Larxene chuckled as she crossed her arms.

"I would recommend you wait." Saïx's stern voice brought the three to attention. "Roxas has encountered a new threat on his mission with Demyx."

As the three of them went quiet, Roxas' report was far easier to hear. "...and they weren't like any other heartless. And it wasn't just looking different, they didn't release any hearts once I defeated them."

Demyx scratched the back of his head as he shrugged. "A real shame, they were some pretty potent packs of darkness."

Xemnas' eyes narrowed. "These creatures, did they have red eyes, and a different symbol than the heartless?"

Roxas nodded eagerly. "I think I can draw the symbol if you—."

Xigbar scoffed, "Nah. I think we get the picture." His eye held no illusion of mirth as he looked to Xemnas. "We know exactly who these creatures are."

"The Unversed are roaming the worlds once again." Xemnas closed his eyes and turned to everyone who had gathered. "We must all discuss this. Now."