Lightbringer; Chpt. 3- Prey

Adalai- Alright Dante, Disclaimer!

Dante, Muse of Drama- Adalai does not own Kingdom Hearts, it's characters, worlds, ect. Those belong to Square and Disney. Adalai does not own the flame in the void trick either; that belongs to whomever owns the Wheel of Time series. However, Adalai ownz this fic, Asher, Ellos, Strife, Yul, Alma, Danya, Hector, Root May, Root Kay, The End, the plotline, any new concepts or ideas, and fills my food bowl and cleans my litter box, and that's what matters!

Authors notes at bottom
... ... ... ... ...

Ansem's Other Report

Do Keyblades have hearts? They certainly seem to. A weapon that can choose who it will go to instead of its intended wielder seems like a weapon with a heart. But since all the different keyblades have different powers and abilities, these differences must exist in the hearts of the keyblades. Different hearts must make different keyblades.

I have manufactured Keyblades from hearts of both humans and heartless. All the powers present in the heart are the also present in the keyblade, as well as new ones. The material used also affects the Keyblades powers. But all keyblades do have similar abilities; power to unlock doors, locks, and hearts, to varying degrees. For a full report, see Lab Journal L2.

The ability to unlock hearts is of particular interest to me. It can unlock the heart to light, or darkness, or both, causing the two to balance each other out. Also it can unlock abilities and memories in the heart that have been long forgotten.

But none of these keyblades are able to open the door of Kingdom Hearts. The hearts are not strong enough, or of the right type. I believe that the original keyblades where made from the hearts of the same race that built the door of Kingdom Hearts. Perhaps the remnants of this race exist somewhere, waiting to be found... even if Maleficent that they are all dead.

Also, it appears that it is also possible to create a set of "modifications" to a keyblade in terms of abilities and form, called a "keychain". When the keychain is attached to the end of the keyblade, the modifications present in the keychain, combined with the abilities and form of the keyblade, combine to create a completely new keyblade. After the keychain is removed from the original keyblade, the new keyblade can be summoned direct from the keychain, without the original keyblade. Even the original keyblades themselves have keychains that the original keyblades can be summoned from.

But now I am working on trying to create keyblades made from multiple hearts and which have the properties of machines, magic items, ect. I have been able to create a keyblade that unlocks darkness in people's hearts. All subjects, when struck, their hearts shatter into many fragments, each becoming a heartless.

A keyblade that unlocks darkness in hearts... I shall call it the Dark Keyblade.
 ...

Yuck.

Finishing of the last of the fiber rope, Ellos began to rummage through the cockpit, looking for something to wash the last vestiges of the fiber rope's taste out of her mouth.

Fiber ropes consisted of starch, carbs, water, and fiber, made from processed potatoes. And Ellos hated potatoes. But she needed the sugar. Manifesting an astral body outside of your own took a lot of energy. Although relaxed and energetic on the outside, inside she was dead tired. That was another thing you had to do in the present world that you didn't have to do in kingdom hearts. Before, on Yul, for some reason, their was no need for anyone to eat. Which was just as well; if they had to grow their own food, they probably would have starved.

Finally, Ellos found one of the dead soldier's hip flasks, filed with a clear, colorless liquid. Probably vodka. Ellos unscrewed the cap and took a sip. The fiery chemical taste of vodka was not much better than potatoes, but it got the taste out of her mouth.

Ellos turned around, looking at the ship. My ship, If I do this correctly. It was low-slung, small, handsome, fitted with a mirror-like stainless steel-esque metal over a gummi-block frame made in an age noted for it skill, functionality, and aesthetic machines. Adaptable, tough and versatile, it could travel in a wide range of atmospheres, as well as intra- space. It could also burrow, swim, have cloaking abilities, and camouflage. It also had a large amount of useful little extras installed by the mercenary team; souped-up defense system, decoys, shields, and a few other odds and ends. It consisted of 2 rooms; the one she was in now, with the cockpit, airlift, hibernation booths, and cell. On either side of the cell were doors which lead into a room which served as storage, living quarters, and kitchen.

But what Ellos liked was the simple, streamlined style of the rooms. The cockpit room's ceiling and side walls was a plasma screen display which projected the space immediately outside on itself, with the help of nanocameras which crawled over the ships hull, creating a seamless illusion that the cockpit was open, with nothing between the driver and intra-space. The rest of the cockpit was tastefully furnished in black and grey leather, sterling silver, and a rich, dark, polished wood, in sumptuous curves, with very few straight lines. The floors where some kind of glossy black tiles which pulsed with dark, rosy light, changing color and luminosity according to environmental presets. The console was made up primarily black glass planes, inside frames of polished wood, leather, and touches of silver. As she moved toward them, red interactive holograms flared into life.

Nice. Very Nice.

Sitting down in the pilots chair, the city of Twilight town moving below them, Ellos began typing on a holographic console panel. Under her fingers, the holograph shifted and reformed, becoming a keyboard. She opened up her own file. A 3-D screen appeared, a holograph wrapped in a loose, slowly rotating cylinder around her head, visible only to her. Under her fingers, the keyboard shifted again, forming a mouse pad and mouse. Using the mouse, Ellos scrolled down, reading her bio.

Last know name- Ellos

Age- 19

Hair- Ash Brown

Eyes- ???

Height- 6' 1"

Not very big, not a lot of info. Good.

Under that was a listing called "Leads"

Reported seen on Twilight MXIV, Reported seen on Disney Kingdoms/Traverse XXXXVIIII, Reported seen on Traverse/Twilight XVII ...Hollow Baston..., Reported seen on..., Reported seen on... etc., ect. Quite a lot of those last ones. True, she could move between the worlds without a gummi ship, but in order for her to be in all those places, there would have to be a hundred of her.

Under that was another listing called "Crimes"

Wanted for murder of Mercenary Henry Eacher, wanted for murder of... ect., ect, Ellos read, scrolling down. Wanted for impersonating a member of the Royal police force, wanted for impersonating a member of the British royal family, wanted for questioning in emergency re-entry and crash of gummi vessel M9dla7, Wanted for questioning in the murder of... yadda, yadda, yadda. Wanted for questioning in connection to Ansem, whoever that was. Wanted for questioning in connection to the Nobody, wanted in connection to the Disappearance of Riku Tiewaz, whoever that was, too, and...

Ellos froze. "Wanted for questioning into the disappearance of Sora Merrick 1" Wasn't that the name of Strife's friend that he told me he was trying to find? The sentence was hyperlinked. She clicked on the link.

The computer scrolled down to a listing called "Offers". It consisted of 3 columns, the first listing private parties, governments, and prisons, in chronological order, the second listing where the prisoner would be dropped off, and the third listing the prices they would pay for Ellos' incarceration. This list was, if it was possible, longer that the list of worlds she had reportedly been sighted on. A variety of groups and individuals wanted her dead or locked up for various reasons. For some, it was simple revenge. For others it was for information; Ellos had been a scientist of sorts in Kingdom Hearts, and carried a lot of important information with her that people would kill for. Rewards ranged from 3,000- 75,000 in price. Finally, the computer stopped on the last, most recent addition to the list.

Ellos blinked. 1.5 million. A glaring exception to the rest of list that made Ellos take notice. Munny or a specific currency of choice, hard cash. Opening the offer's complementary folder, another holographic window opened in front and to the side of the previous one.

Offer- 1.5 million

Age- Twilight Town

Group- Private Party

Currency- ???

Cash or credit- Cash

Source of money- Twilight International Department of Treasury

Ellos sat back, thinking. The reward that was posted was by an individual or small group of individuals, but the reward was being paid with government bills; the source of the money was the same as the drop-off location. The party was probably a high ranking politician. This thing stunk of political intrigue.

"Hmm..." Ellos murmured to the screen. It did not respond; neither did the room's other 2 residents. The lack of response did not trouble her; It was her business, after all, not theirs. Just as well. Ellos was tired, and not really the talkative person, even when she was in a good mood.

An idea, nebulous and vague and first, began to emerge in the back of her head. Closing the holograms, Ellos pulled up Asher's file, scrolling down to the section labeled "Offers". If all went as planned, the bounty would be removed from her head, and she would walk away a very rich woman.
...

Rat Poison...Rat Poison...Rat Poisoonnnn... Ahah!

Pulling a container out of a compartment, Ellos looked at the side of the container. 50 pellets, 16 grams, 7% Arsenic, Ellos read. Divide 16 by 50, multiply by .07. Which meant .0224 grams arsenic a pellet, and the woman was 120 pounds, based on height...

Ellos calculated out the amount of arsenic she would need; 4 pellets, not enough to kill, but enough to produce the desired effect.

Curious, Asher leaned forward in his cell. What was she doing? As he watched, Ellos ground up the rat poison pellets, dissolved the dust in a saline solution, and loaded a syringe with the solution, and carefully injected it into the form of the woman mercenary, who Ellos had placed in one of the cryosleep booths for safekeeping. Taking off her own blindfold, Asher once again got a look at Ellos' unearthly eyes. It made him shiver. Carefully, Ellos tied the blindfold around the mercenary's eyes, cocking her head from side to side, observing how she looked. Seeing if she can pass her off as herself, he realized. The female mercenary and Ellos had about the same height, the same general body structure, the same hair color. To the casual observer, they would be able to pass as each other. The only thing different about them was the eyes and skin; the mercenaries eyes would be covered by a blindfold, and one of the side effects of arsenic poisoning was that it turned the skin very pale, almost white. Like Ellos' skin. Within an hour, the Mercenary's skin would turn from golden brown to a pale white.

Satisfied with how she looked, Ellos got up and slipped on a pair of what looked to be sunglasses, but on a second look, turned out to be some kind of hybrid between sunglasses and goggles. They where unlike any pair he had seen; the design was completely alien to him, and their composition hinted that they where designed to do more than simply dampen light. Straightening up and checking to see if the woman's body was deep in cryosleep, a spectral arm reached out of her side, reached back into her chest, and withdrew the mercenary's heart. It then carefully placed it back inside her. Removing her jacket, Ellos began to lift up her shirt, but then stopped, seeing Asher looking at her.

Suddenly, Ellos grinned at Asher. A real grin of amusement, not sadistic or sarcastic; just the grin of an ordinary girl who just found something funny. Pulling down her shirt, Ellos, grabbed her jacket from the floor, and placed it over the bars of the cell, obscuring Asher's view of the cockpit. "No peep show for you, Ash." Ellos said, amusement creeping into her voice.
...

Finally finished, Ellos pulled off her jacket from the hatch in front of the cell and placed it on the female mercenary. Asher blinked; she looked exactly like Ellos; she was wearing Ellos' clothes and blindfold, and the arsenic had made her pale and thin. Ellos was also wearing the mercenary's clothes, looking exactly like her except the glasses and pale skin. Grinning, Ellos picked Asher's gun with one hand and brought out a different pair of handcuffs with the other. The mercenary acted as if in a trance; confused and drowsy, she let herself be guided into the center of the airlift by Ellos, and cuffed, hands behind her back. Picking up the identification paperwork, which Asher had worked out soon after they had captured Ellos, and placing it in her backpack, Ellos grabbed another pair of handcuffs and pushed the release button for the cell. Pointing the gun at Asher, she motioned him to come out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Asher asked, emerging from the cell. Even though he sounded angry, inside he was scared. Was she going 'dispose' of him? Toss him out the airlift? Ellos handed him the cuffs. Starting to become slightly irate, she jingled them to catch his attention "Well what are you waiting for? Are you dense?" Suddenly he realized what she wanted him to do. Taking the cuffs, he turned around and handcuffed himself behind the back. Guiding Asher back next to the female mercenary, Ellos drew out a remote control and pressed a button, causing the airlift to descend.

The gummi ship hovered a mile above the treasury department, a large black skyscraper which stood out against the skyline of Twilight town. Slowly, the sheet of metal detached from the bottom of the ship, lowering down onto the surface.

Mouth agape, Asher looked around at Center City, Capitol of Twilight Town. It was truly an awesome sight to behold. Twilight Town's pride and joy was it's multicultural harmony; many different races and cultures are lived together in peaceful cooperation. The city's skyline was a testament to this fact. Neon-lighted skyscrapers rubbed shoulders with levitating ivory domes, energy tentacles hanging down from the bottom of the dome, and strange, geometrically-shaped structures covered with flowing liquid metal. Colorful trains chugged along on tracks on the ground and in the air, running not only between far-flung cities on the other side of the planet, but also between other worlds as well. Thin, incredibly ornate and detailed spires stuck straight up from the ground high into the air, each with it's own little light, flashing different colors and pulsing. Famous in the Twilight System, they where a symbol of all that was Twilight Town. They had many purposes, but for now, at least, they where primarily being used to light up the city against the coming night, A spectacular sunset could be seen off to the west, hence the age's name; in the day, the city was stuck in perpetual twilight, until night. When night came, it always rained.

"You know, Asher, I'm not the only one with a big bounty on my head." Ellos said, eyes still on her two prisoners. "Wanted for the murder of Audrey Ann Huber, 24. Whipped to death. The sentence has already been decided on; life in a maximum security prison. They keep a cell open for you, you know." Asher blinked, not quite understanding what Ellos was saying. But when he stepped off the landing onto the building, he did. 2 groups of people were on the roof; one was a group of clerks and a group of guards, carrying a large suitcase; Ellos' reward money. But a smaller group was also there; a father and a daughter, with a lawyer, police, and a prison escort, also carrying a smaller suitcase full of money. Not only would Ellos collect the bounty on her own head, but she would also collect the bounty on his head, and he would spent the rest of his life in prison, convicted for the murder of the prisoner he had whipped to death all those years ago.
...

His voice...It's left me...

Kairi gasped, falling to the ground. Something seemed to have ripped inside her, imaginary claws tearing, tugging at her heart. Wincing in pain, She looked at the sky. A lone meteor streaked through the sky. Hand over her heart, she ran to the beach, hand still over her heart, and looked up at the sky.

Please let it be a lone meteor. Kairi thought, looking at the sky. Not an implication of something more sinister. Tensed, she watched, as the meteor traveled across the sky, and vanished over the horizon. Kairi breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that she had been holding her breath. Turning and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ears, she looked out over Destiny Islands.

From her vantage point, she could see the two southernmost islands; Village Island and Party Island. Village Island was the island she was now on, which consisted of a dirt road and about 20 houses that the islanders lived in, a general store, school, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka's training school, and the mayor's house. Beyond that lay Party Island, the island they had played on when they where kids, the sun sinking low behind it. Their was nothing in the sky save the clouds and the sunset; she had probably just seen a comet.

Turning around, Kairi headed down the path and went back home. Just as she was about to step inside, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A streak of white? Was it her imagination playing tricks on her? She turned around.

And the sky began to fall. A meteor shower filled the air, falling down on the serene islands. Kairi felt herself begin to panic, her legs wobbling and her body shaking. No, not again...

Kairi braced herself against the doorframe. Since she had returned from the End of the World, she had found herself becoming prone to panic attacks, freezing when confronted with something she felt she couldn't cope with, like the heartless. Breath coming in short, shallow gasps, she slowly recited something to herself over and over; It's okay...It's okay...It's okay... Memories rushed back from her previous encounters with the heartless; the pain of having her heart ripped from your chest by heartless, of watching one of her best friends fall into evil trying to save you, and the other giving up his life so she could be free.

She used a trick she had learned from one of the new inhabitants of Destiny Islands; the flame and the void. Imagining a flame in her mind, she fed all her panic and thoughts into it, until their was nothing but an empty void in her mind, free of fear and ready to fight. It was supposed to be used to help you concentrate in a fight, but Kairi found it worked equally well with panic attack.

Calm again, Kairi went inside to grab her crossbow and quarterstaff. Sirens where blaring outside, calling all the warriors available to head over to the hill overlooking the town.

This time, she wouldn't let fear control her life. She wouldn't stand by, paralyzed by fear, while everything she loved crumbled and turned to dust.

This time, I'll fight.
...

Because of the teleportation abilities of the heartless, ordinary defenses would not work on them. They would just teleport behind the ranks of defenders, straight into where the helpless inhabitants where lurking, devouring their hearts and then, when they where strong enough, attack the defenders. So the plan in case of heartless attack was this; get all the people out of their homes and on the water, in boats; the last time the heartless attacked, none of them had come into or from the water. The warriors would stay behind and try to defend their homes. That way, even if the town and two island where taken, they might still have some chance of surviving.

Turning around, Tidus saw a girl with shoulder-length red hair, short and thin, with a round face and petite, well sculpted features, wearing a schoolgirl-esque uniform; plaid pleated skirt, sleeveless blouse, white, tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt under it, carrying a hollow steel quarterstaff and a crossbow strapped to her back. "Kairi!"

"What?" Kairi replied, looking upward and seeing him.

"Get that ass up here! NOW!" Tidus yelled from on top of the hill, in the middle of a group of 20 to 30 warriors, all staring at something up beyond the hill.

It was enough. Kairi knew that Tidus didn't curse unless he was really angry. Or really scared. Kairi sprinted the rest of the way up the hill, moving to stand beside a man named Auron, who had already removed his guns and was loading them. Looking at what she saw, she understood why Tidus had cursed.

She was prepared for heartless; little shadow heartless, Nocturnes, Wizards, Operas, Neo Heartless, Darksides, ect.; all the heartless she had seen 4 years ago. After all, how much could the heartless change in just 4 years?

But nothing she had seen from the heartless could have prepared her for this.
...

Hundreds of worlds apart, another person felt the same icy claws ripping at their own chest, the same ripping feeling deep inside their own heart. This person showed no sign of the pain that was now ripping at his heart; he had been trained to handle pain. The only sign he gave was one hand on his chest, held over his heart. Speeding up, he walked unnoticed through the neat, clean streets and sidewalks of Center City, heading for the bus station. Citizens of Twilight Town went about their business, not noticing but noticed, with the air of people who considered themselves slightly superior. Humans of every variation in hue, culture, dress, class, stature, and sensibility walked through the busy but not crowded streets, accompanied by alien races, dragons, monsters, fairies, animals, and other creatures too strange to describe here.

Dressed in black and white clothing, with a full, round face, tapered jaw, narrow chin, messy, long blonde hair that fell into his sapphire blue eyes, and a tall, spare figure, he made his way through the crowd. Aloof, eyes down, hands in his pocket, to the casual observer, he seemed to notice no one, but in reality he took note of every passing individual, missing nobody. Just not with his physical eyes. He needed to find the woman now, before it was too late. The pain in his chest was already a sign that the link was beginning to weaken, and he needed to woman to find Sora before that happened.

Sensing another presence, he looked upward. Clinging there on the side of the building, a soldier mindless clung to the ornate framework like a spider to a web, weeping face insignia and maniacal smile pointed at straight at him.

Readying himself, the figure projected his psyche body just barely inside his own physical one, an leaped into the air, landing on the side of the building. If someone had looked closely at the figure, they would have seen small, barely noticeable, thin lines of lightning, hugging close to his body and jumping back and forth across his skin and clothes. When his feet neared the side of the building, those tiny lightning bolts jumped from his feet to the building's side, gluing his legs to the surface.

Running across the surface of the building, he raced after his quarry. The mindless stretched out impossibly long and wide, cartwheeling and spinning between buildings. Suddenly, the creature disappeared into the side of the building. The Dual wielder stopped, standing still on a vertical wall, as if his feet where attached to the building by suction cups. Even though mindless could walk through walls, the portal it had passed through had been opened by a Nobody. Odd. But that was impossible; no Nobody would help a Mindless; in fact, the Nobody where sworn to the destruction of the mindless.

Crouching down, the dual wielder examined the plane of glass where the mindless disappeared. There where coils upon coils here, and it would take time to undo the knots. Standing up again, he leaped from building to building, headed not for the train station this time, but for the Bell Tower.
...

There was no showers, no tubs, no pools of water to wash off dirt and infectious bacteria in the Shelter. What little water the shelter had was exclusively reserved for 3 purposes; washing yourself, washing your room, and washing your wounds. There was no need for food and water in Kingdom Hearts; people just didn't get hungry or thirsty. They didn't get tired, either.

That was the hardest part about life on Yul; no sleeping. It felt weird to stay up all day and night and not go to bed; it messed up your internal clock.

Sitting on a rock ledge near the bottom of the Shelter, Strife looked down at the octopus machine at the bottom. Emerging from the stairs onto the platform above the machine, Wash emerged, balancing a 20-gallon demijohn on top of her head, full of water.

This was how you washed on Yul. When Wash was in her 20's, a lava flow burned her legs clear off of her body. To support herself and her children, Wash would, before dawn and dusk, grab a large, empty demijohn, head down to the bottom of the Shelter. Scooting on the palms of her hands, she would navigate among the maze of catwalks and stairs that twisted in and out of the pipes of the machine, finally getting to the very bottom of the machine. There, water synthesized in the arms dripped down into pools on the cavern floor. Minerals dissolved into the water, actually making for a healthier soak and eliminating the need for soap. Filling her demijohn, Wash would make her way back up to the platform above the machine, dump the water from the demijohn into a cauldron, light a fire under it to keep it warm, and barter cups of wash water in return for slag from the surface and service. She also sold lye soap, made from ashfall by her children, who collected it from the mouth of the moleholes.

People like Wash where not unusual; in fact, they where the norm. Almost everyone here seemed to have something missing; an arm, a leg, a finger or toe; that was the price of survival on Yul. When Wash scooted by on her hands, nobody batted an eyelash. If they didn't have a hand, people would just wave a stump at you, in a friendly way. There was no such thing as disability pay on Yul; If you lost something, find a way to survive without it. It was also not unusual to have very young children earning their keep, like Wash's children, too. Most children here where orphans, anyway. Like Ellos. The only exceptions to this rule (other than very young children) where the Roots, Ellos, and him.

Strife rubbed the rough cloth blindfold over his eyes. After his brief respite from darkness in the Shelter, Ellos had come up to him and tied it around his eyes, saying that if he didn't wear it, he would never get his second sight. His sight had so far not improved or changed, but his other senses had, especially his hearing. He could hear every tiny sound around him, and from echoes bouncing off surfaces, he could actually create a rough image of the area surrounding him, like echolocation in bats. While worse than normal vision, but he could tell the texture of items and how far apart things where with greater accuracy than with normal sight by their echoes. Also, he found that, as a side effect of his new hearing; when he heard sounds, it triggered colors in his brain. Litterly, he heard in color. It was a neural condition called synaesthesia 2. He read about it in one of his father's books; hearing in color was the most common form, but there where other forms too; tasting shapes, smelling in color, hearing sounds when you see colors.

Climbing down, he sat down on the surface of the platform, near where Wash was pouring water into her kettle. The cavern began to rock and shake with the sounds of muffled explosions, thousands of shades of yellow inside his brain; dawn, like clockwork, had again come to Yul.

Covered in a grey mud made from a mixture of ash and her own sweat, Ellos was the first one back from the surface. Setting down a huge basket filled with slag and various odds and ends collected from the surface, Ellos traded some things she had collected with Wash for a bucket of water, and sat down next to Strife. Her expression unreadable, thoughts concealed, she took out something edged, reflective, and pointed, and waited for the rest of the inhabitants to come down, sharpening it against a stone.

"Still here, are you?"

Outwardly neutral and inviting, Root May came up to Strife. If not for the blindfold, her eyes would probably be twinkling. Strife listened politely, but didn't let down his guard. Root May's mood could just as easily turn sour. The last time he'd let down his guard he had gotten knifed in the arm. He was still favoring that side. As Ellos had told him when she bandaged his arm; there are rules you have to find out for yourself to survive in this place, and if you don't learn them, Yul won't kill you; it's inhabitants will.

Unexpectedly, Root May held up her left hand. It looked as if it had been run over by the sled in the big tunnel. Many, many times. But they were all there, speaking volumes about their owner's ability to take care of herself even here, at the underside of hell. What had originally been a wedding ring glittered in her skin; it had long ago melted into her palm, and the skin had grown partially around it. The original diamond and setting was in the middle, sticking out of the skin. It was nearly as scarred and roasted as the flesh that encircled it.

"He was damn handsome. Don't remember his name, though. Yul has that effect on you; no time for anything but the present."

Root May, like most people here, had the ability to impress a lot of meaning into very few words, summing up an entire personal history into 3 sentences, which she chose not to expound upon. Picking up a metal bowl, she filled it with water from Wash's cauldron. She held it out to Strife. "Have one on me. Soaking away dirt's pretty much the only real pleasure around here, seeing as your going to be here the rest of your unnatural life."

Strife made no move to take the bowl. "What, you don't like my water?" Wash asked.

Instantly, the atmosphere turned from friendly to hostile. The other inhabitants of the cavern began to gather around them, muttering angrily under their breath picking up rocks and weapons, surrounding Strife. Root May and Wash eyed him hostilely. Ellos stopped sharpening her weapon.

One could go solo, as Ellos did, but refusing hospitality was crossing the line.

"Maybe he knows nothings free on Yul."

The crowd glanced at the speaker. Ellos had resumed sharpening.

"Nothing to sell, nothing to trade; too wet behind the ears to go topside." One of them said. "Nothing he'll give, anyway."

"We could take it..." another said, eyeing Strife's shoes.

"Information." Root May said. "First newcomer in years. Information for water; that's a fair trade."

"What kind?"

"News. Outside news. From the present world. Like the rumors."

"Too much chatter about the same thing. Whip and Lash talked about heartless in the present world. And then the mouse king, talking about keyblades and stuff."

"We hear things, even down here. Nobodies talk to Shades, Shades talk to us, Newcomers talk, heartless and mindless and Shades and Nobodies bitch among themselves. Talking about heartless in the present world, lead by a human. Destroying ages."

"Which ages, Which ones?"

"Say their leader can't be killed, because he's already dead, even a Nobody, and that he can make heartless."

"Say some mighty warrior has a special sword that's the only thing that can kill them."

"Say he wants to open up the door to Kingdom Hearts. That he has a key to do it."

"Is any of this true? Is it just all Nobody bullcrap?"

Strife looked at the last speaker, Root May. "His name's Ansem. He's the heartless' leader. He destroyed my world, Destiny Islands. Took over Hollow Baston. I don't know about the others."

"Is he...dead? We were their when the door was open, but someone shut it. Who?"

"Yeah...,my friend Sora shut the door, with the keyblade."

One of the crowd stepped forward. "I'm from Twilight Town...your not lying to us, are you? These heartless, this Ansem, they really exists? If Ansem is dead, do you think the heartless will go away, too?"

"I was there. On Hollow Baston. I helped close the door."

Another man stepped forward. "Hollow Baston... Damn. I have family from there. Do you think they'll take Twilight Town, too? Even with this 'Ansem' gone?"

People left the crowd, spreading the up the rings of tiers as a carrier spreads a disease. Whispers passed across the chasm, an ill wind that blows no-one any good. "Hollow Baston... they're on Hollow Baston..." Most people on Yul were from or descendents of Hollow Baston. Others stepped forward to ask about worlds, ask if the heartless would stop their rampage. But seeing the look on Strife's face, they drew back, silent.

It was transparently clear to them, even to Strife. They knew heartless; they may cower for a time without their leader, but their hunger for human hearts would force them out of hiding again, to search for food. For ages. Stating the obvious would just make everyone feel worse.

Faces, Strife's included, turned to Ellos, waiting for her to say something. To announce her home world. Ellos just stared down, looking at her reflection in weapon, a long, S-shaped thing, part sword and part staff, as long as she was tall.

The crowd now looked at Strife with a newfound respect. Maybe the claim he had made wasn't as ludicrous as it had first sounded; maybe he would find a way out of Kingdom Hearts. After all, he had helped close the door; who better to open it again?

Seeing Ellos was not going to answer, Strife turned to Root May, took the cup of water, and walked off.
...

Author's Notes

1.) I had to make up a last name for Sora. If anyone knows his real name, review and tell me and I'll change it.

2.) synaesthesia- a dominant, sex-linked genetic disorder where the "wires are crossed" in the nerves controlling senses in the brain. 1 out of 25, 000 people have synaesthesia. It is more common in women, lefties, and people who have a family history of dyslexia, autism, and ADD. Symptoms and Types listed below

Symptoms

- the sensations are involuntary: they can not be suppressed or incurred, though the intensity is influenced by the situation they occur in

- the sensations are projected into the environment: it is not just in the head but the person actually sees a sound or hears a picture, etc.

- the sensations are durable and generic: every time you hear a bell you always see red, it doesn't change over time or situation and will always be experienced with the stimulus

- the sensations are memorable: they are often the aspect of something that is remembered best. For example it may be easier to remember that a person's name is yellow than the name, although the color helps to recall the name

- the sensations are emotional: having this experience causes ecstasy and is viewed as an accomplishment

Types

Coloured-Hearing or Chromaesthesia- sound evokes perception of color

Coloured-Olfaction- smell evokes perception of color

Coloured-Gustation- taste evokes perception of color

Tactile-Gustation- taste evokes a shape

There is also a form where you see colors and hear sound, but I don't know it's name
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Adalai- Wootage! It's don-one! And a day early, too! Okay, so Sora and Stinky are still under the endtable; we are trying to lure them out with low-carb mint chocolate chip ice cream and science diet cat food, but so far, it isn't working. And the magic mirror needs Windex, dammit! So Review, until I figure out how the read you mind with this stupid thing! kicks mirror, then hops around on one foot holding the other, howling in pain

Dante, muse of Drama- don't you need a disclaimer for shrek's mirror?

Adalai- fine... don't own the mirror from Shrek, never did, never will, and will probably get arrested for 'borrowing it without asking'.
...

What is evil lives forever.

- Spanish proverb