Author's Note: I started on this chapter probably a little too early, so I'm not entirely sure what to say. I finished it way too early, I know that. So actually, I had to wait to upload it. The reason was I need more feedback than I know. o_o

Anthem's Report: Chapter 13

By Deus Magi

Cloud glanced at Squall as they charged through the squirming walls of Heartless. Neither of them had fought anything quite like these monsters. After reading a certain file, however, they knew exactly what to expect. Cloud's enormous Buster sword cut through several rows of the shadows at one time, while his comrade's situation was hardly unlike his own. Soon the shadows disappeared and the room was silent once again.

Squall straightened at looked at Cloud. "You don't suppose he's responsible for this, do you?" he asked, swallowing a lump in his throat. Cloud shook his head, causing his already tousled spiky blonde hair to fall into further disarray.

"I don't know," he replied warily. "He obviously knew way more than he wanted us to find out." Cloud tightened the clasp of his tattered cape. He had barely had time to remove it after returning to the castle when the Heartless swarmed up from their hiding place - their prison. Now it remained less than a torn rag, but he had always been reluctant to part with it during any adventure for some reason.

The two swordsmen shouldered their blades. With a meaningful glance, they agreed the best thing to do right now was find Yuffie and Aerith. With any luck they had managed to shepherd the rest of Hallow Bastion's citizens into the makeshift gummi ships. The castle's engineers had been working on them ever since King Mickey's visit. There was no shortage of materials, either, as the meteor showers, when they occurred, had been fruitful as a spring rain.

Aerith and Yuffie met them at the Lift Stop. Both were exhausted from battle, more so than Cloud and Squall. Aerith's expression remained the same, somber visage she had since her last encounter with Ansem. Cloud placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Cloud murmured. He brushed his hair from his face. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be cool."

Aerith looked up at him. Had her eyes not been drained of tears, they would have been filled at this point. She took a deep breath, looked back down to the floor. Where once she had seen a gleeful reflection, now only a sorrowful blur remained.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I can't stop thinking about what he said to me. He showed so little care for his own people." Aerith shook her head, drawing away from him. "At least they're safe from these monsters. . ."

A blast of green fire shot through the door. All four turned simultaneously to see the cause of this nightmare. A woman in green-tinted black robes stepped through the flames, an ugly crow on her shoulder. She was noticeably thin even through her robe. Her staff, a wooden rod with a crystal on the top, seemed to be the source of the flames. She was flanked by two enormous Heartless carrying shields that had beastly, living faces.

"What does it matter if everyone but you escapes?" the woman said, her voice gentle yet wretched beyond comparison. "Such bold actions as yours only lead to a painful end."

Yuffie swiped the air with her fist indignantly. "What do you care, you old hag!" she cried. "Whaddya want with Hallow Bastion, anyways?"

The woman's devilish smile only widened. "It's not this pathetic world I want. There's something here I wish to find. Something that will lead me to ultimate power - the true darkness!" She gracefully waved her free hand. "But such matters do not concern fools such as you. Heartless - destroy them!"

~

A resounding click of heels echoed through the chapel as the woman made her way to the front of the room. There stood a red-clad figure, his face obscured by the darkness of his hood. The woman stopped before him.

"No one remains on this shell of a world. All that remains is to locate the seven Princesses of Heart and the Keyblade," she informed him. "With all seven hearts together, the door will reopen. . ." The woman stroked the crow's head lovingly, a pleased smile on her lips. "Then Kingdom Hearts will be ours."

The figure did not move. "Tell me," he said, in a deep voice. "What am I to call you?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Maleficent."

"When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go?

"Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?

"Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears.

"However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?

"If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere.

"An existence neither of darkness nor of light. An in-between existence. Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light.

"This mystery cannot be easily resolved. The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one.

"But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent.

"Therefore I shall call them...

"'The non-existent ones.'"