(Is awe-filled at Court of Souls and When All Other Lights Go Out) THOSE stories are on the level of... Of... Of David Eddings and McMaster Bujold. And that's the highest complement on earth, peoples. Read Rem-chan's stuff NOW. She's on my Favorite Authors list.

Those amazingly long, wondrous chapters inspired me. And so, I present to you the third part of Experimental.

THANKS TO:

Shadowwind for reviewing

Ozric 750 for the name Takeo

DIS: I own Anzu, Neko, Takeo, and Oni, as well as anyone in dream segments and the white marble version of the chapel. I DON'T own Kingdom Hearts. Or Hiei, who I'm about to cry on because I don't own Kingdom Hearts, him, or Kenshin. (Falls onto Hiei's very short shoulder in a strangely glomp-like maneuver and bursts into tears)

Hiei: (Gives me a Look with all three eyes) You're lucky that I can't kill you because of my arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Experimental

Beginnings: Part Three

Matrix

*********************

~~ We are at the Hallow Bastion. The only person awake in the entire castle is Oni. In the morning, Leon is to make a speech.

The castle shifts nervously in its sleep. Many strange dreams fly about at this midnight hour, of dark and light and places unknown. A person with a heart of silver, in some places tarnished, feels the gate. The black stars twinkle as he walks into the realm of true dreams, of Other dreams.

~~ Someplace almost like the Hallow bastion. It has- at the same time- the feel of dreams and actuality.

A girl like Neko, but with gold and black hair, runs down a wide passage. She holds in her arms a tiny child with hair of gold and green, with matching wings sprouting from the child's back.

"Bastet! Why are the chasing us?" the tiny one cries in fear. As Bastet takes a few more steps, a mob of people round the corner- Twisted, almost-versions of the denizens of the Bastion we know. Bastet cries out in hopelessness, backed into a corner.

"They hate us for what we are, Isis." Bastet bows her head. "But we will NOT die without a fight!" She drops Isis to the ground and raises her hands.

Dark claws sprout from Bastet's fingers, and she slashes out at the mob. Isis backs away against a wall, pain evident in her face.

~~ We focus in on Isis.

The tiny experiment stares in horror, hand clutching her hair.

"The hate... It hurts. It HURTS!" Isis's cry rings through the castle.

We see the shadow of the mob surround Bastet's. Another cry of pain cut abruptly short.

"It hurts..."

~~ Everything fades to a swirl of darkness. A barely perceptible brightening shows us a figure lying on a floor.

Takeo cries out in his sleep. Dreams are what keeps his family alive- the dreams of hope, and his dreams of Other. The dreams of Other, of what happens if they do something, warn him. And he knows that sometime the Other won't be enough.

Someday, instead of a dream Bastet or Isis, it would be the real Neko or Anzu.

He dreads that day.

***

A/N: That dream thing wasn't planned, but it's setting up for an idea I had. And all shall become clear in time. On with the story!

***

~~ We are in the Chapel the next morning. It has been fixed since the fight with Malifcent, and is mostly in white marble.

Leon sits sweating behind the podium, waiting for the room to fill up. A lot of new people had shown up since Kingdom Hearts closed, such as a strange girl with one green, one blue eye, another girl with red eyes, a third girl with swirling eyes, and a man with one eye. * :: WAY too many freaky eyes, all looking at me... :: Ya' see, Leon suffers from a malady commonly known as... STAGEFRIGHT.

~~ Spooky music plays

Leon: (Thwacks me)

~~ The music stops

(Rubs back of head) Ow... Fine, I'll stop.

Ahem... Well, anyway, he steps up to the makeshift podium (Freaking out from his STA- *Gets thwacked again* Ow! Stop hitting me!) and raises his hands for silence. After a pause, he gets it.

He takes a deep breath. "As most of us know, Ansem didn't always tell us everything." A few people nod and Yuffie mutters something about major understatements. "Well, there are a few things that he hid from us aside from the Heartless." Yuffie, the only person who knows what's going on, mutters again about understatements. Leon gives her a Look and she stops being noisy.

"In his... Quest for knowledge... he had a couple of other experiments. Recently-" Yuffie mutters yesterday, and Leon gives her another Look "- I found his notes on the experiment. He was trying to find a way to improve humans. The results may still be in the castle somewhere."

People start to murmur. More experiments? I thought that we were over and done with this stuff. If it's made by Ansem, I don't want to know more. Ansem?! Not more of HIM! It's probably evil. HE made it?

Leon raises his hands for quiet again. "They are POSSIBLY dangerous. But then, so are most of you." Yuffie- AGAIN- mutters about understatements. Leon glares at her.

"YUFFIE. Be QUIET for once. And if you can't, then LEAVE." Yuffie sees the glint in his eyes and wisely shuts up. "Thank you. Now, as I said, the results are possibly dangerous. BUT we don't want them harmed. I want you to keep all eyes open for them, and to report IMMEDIATELY if you see them. No exceptions. Any questions?" Cid raises his hand. "What?"

"Well, first off, I want to congratulate you on not choking after speaking so long- That means I win the betting pool." Several people groan at this and glance sadly at their soon-to-be much lighter purses. Leon rolls his eyes. "Secondly, I'm wondering... What ARE the results?"

Leon looks out with slightly sad, worried eyes. "Ansem was experimenting on... CREATEING... kids."

***

* The people described are Yuna, Lulu, Rikku, and Auron from FFX.

HA! Leon's go-ot stage fright, Leon's go-ot stage fright!! ^_^_^

Leon: (Grumbles) Get on with it, Alana.

***

~~ In another very small, very dark room.

Oni sighs. Neko appears very happy.

"Well, that's that. They know about us."

Oni looks reprovingly at the short seven-year-old. His eyes are the frosty blues of worry under his blazing headband. "It was inevitable, Neko, but it needn't have been until we were all old enough to handle these people."

Takeo glares. "We could've stopped it, Oni. Why didn't you help us find the reports?"

Oni shrugs. "It wasn't worth my time."

"Wasn't WORTH-" Takeo cuts off as Anzu whimpers slightly.

"Please... Please stop being angry. I can't stand it." These quiet words have instant effect on Takeo.

"I'm sorry, Anzu. But did you hear what he said?"

"Yes. But I don't really care." The six-year old subsides, closing her eyes.

Neko stands up gracefully. "You know, I'm tired of just sneaking around. I haven't talked to ANYONE except us since three years ago. I mean, even the Heartless were almost better than this. I'm tired of just hiding in the shadows from people we have no evidence against. And Leon said not to hurt us. He HAS been pretty much in charge. And, well, I'm curious, Takeo."

Takeo almost winces as he remembers his dream. "Curiosity killed the cat! Are you insane?"

Oni nods at this, also glaring at Neko. His hair starts to darken. "Takeo's right. Did you hear what they said?"

"Guys, yes I did. And clichés effect me about none. I don't care what anyone says. I'm going out." Ignoring Oni's steadily darkening hair and eyes, Neko crouches next to Anzu. "Do you want to come along, Ani *?"

Anzu nods, then shakes her head. "I'm... Not sure. They can be scary, especially some of the fighters."

Neko nods in understanding. "Well, if you want to, follow me." And with another glare at her brothers, especially Oni, she walks out.

Oni glares with pitch black eyes after her, looking like he would swear if he knew any words. He stomps out after her.

Anzu shudders slightly at the anger trailing back like a comet from Oni's black hair, and the hate flashing like sparks only she can see from Neko's lavender, sometimes slit-pulped eyes.

***

*Ani is a nickname for Anzu that I made up. Pronounced Annie.

OK, end chapter. Over three pages! Woo! And 1451 words! ^_^ Well, reviews are beyond welcome, and I have a poll I would like everyone to respond to.

POLL:

Should Neko or Takeo get a Keyblade, and what existing Keyblade do you think fits best for your choice?