Chapter Six: Namine
Nick made his way into the Hollow Bastion residence. He realized that the man he had seen on the dirt road earlier was the N.E.O. He was getting to the bottom of this all, even though he still had some questions that severely needed answering. When he reached the castle, he found out it had a doorbridge. Separating him from the castle was a classic river—but this was no ordinary river.
"In the name of…" The dumbfounded professor muttered.
It was a river made up of a black, gooey substance. If you looked closer, you'd be able to see yellow marble-like spheres shining from underneath the surface. But Nick was horrified to see what they really were. Those weren't bright yellow stones…those were Heartless eyes!
"Dear Keyblades!" Nick exclaimed.
The river was a Heartless river, and anyone who fell on it would become one of them. Since nobody was guarding the doorbridge, nobody would be able lower the doorbridge. He would have to find another way into Ansem's "palace".
"Great… Now where do I go?"
Nick searched for fifteen minutes and circled the residence once and still didn't find any apparent second-hand route into the castle.
"You will never find a way in." A voice said from behind.
"What the—Who's there?"
Nick wasn't surprised to see the cloaked man this time. He obviously couldn't tell if it was the same person or somebody else, and he assumed that all of the Enigmatic Men would have the same deep voice.
"Ansem's castle is unreachable. It is nothing but a waste of time to try to enter."
These hooded people were really starting to annoy Nick with their know-it-all personalities.
"Thanks for the tip…" Nick said sarcastically.
"The only way into the castle is by that doorbridge."
"Really? Wow, you really are a wise guy."
The emotionless unknown ignored Nick and once again used his supernatural abilities to control gravity and seemed to pull the doorbridge down. A loud thud echoed throughout and the Enigmatic Man lowered his hand again. Nick tilted his head to face the N.E.O.
"How did you…"
"Unimportant." The man said and then disappeared into thin air.
Nick stared at the spot where the shell stood a second ago. How did the Enigmatic Men have such powers?
"Well… As he said, right now it doesn't matter. I better get into the castle."
Nick entered the castle, and as soon as he did, the doorbridge closed itself right away. Concentrated on seeking the answers he was looking for, Nick ignored the new strange thing; having seen weirder things that same day. But the castle was very dark. It was already nightfall, and he could barely see the crumbling brick walls. But then, torches on the wall lit themselves and illuminated the place. It was a huge room, with a throne at the very end. Nick walked towards the throne checking every little detail about the gigantic room.
"Well what do we have here?"
There was a letter on the throne's seat. It was stamped with the Heartless symbol. Nick struggled to open it, but when he did, he pulled out a very old paper that he had to touch with the tips of his fingers in order for it not to break.
Dear Ansem,
I send this to you for when you return from the Twilight. You have done a great job, and the Organization has almost reached its goal. While you are gone, the Organization will have surely completed its mission. Then, when you return, you will tell us how we can return to our dimension. Sora has almost reached the door of light, and then he'll be able to hand over the final Keyblade to Riku. When the real Key Master has it, the Organization will take it from him; and all the Keyblades will finally be ours. All of us await your return from the Twilight, Lord Ansem. Then our pact will be finished. You will have all the Keyblades, and you will tell us how to return to the Twilight. I hope you find whatever it is you seek for.
Namine
"Ansem is in the Twilight?" Nick asked himself under his breath.
"No." A voice answered.
But this voice was different. And the person it was coming from was different. It was a N.E.O. but slightly shorter than Nick. It also had a female voice. A soft voice; different from that of the other Organization members. Nick couldn't help but start to interrogate.
"Who are you?"
"I am…"
The unknown removed the coat's hood to reveal herself. She had long, blonde hair slightly beyond her shoulders, and she was staring at the floor.
"…Namine." She finished.
"You're the one who wrote the letter!"
"Yes, but that was a long time ago."
"What happened since then?"
"Ansem betrayed us—all of us. He left this dimension and never returned. So the Non-Existent-Ones that came to this realm never found a way back. Including myself."
"You're a N.E.O.?"
"Yes, among others."
"Why did you all come to this realm?"
"We had plans for the Keyblade wielders. We succeeded, but we never found a way back to our realm."
"And why don't you just live a new life here instead of being so melancholic?"
"Because they would find us if we did."
"Who?"
Before Namine could answer that question, Heartless began to appear out of nowhere. Small, pitch black portals opened on the floor everywhere, and Heartless just came out of them. They waited for yet more to come and prepared to attack while they did.
"I'm sorry, but I must leave before they find me."
"Wait!" Nick cried out loud, "Where's Ansem!?"
Part of Namine's body had already vanished. Soon, only her floating head was left.
"Wait! Namine! Please, come back! Answer me!"
She continued to stare at the floor, but she replied slowly.
"Paradise…" She whispered.
The Heartless were now all gathered together, and they began to leap into the air towards Nick. But Namine reappeared in front of him and raised both hands open wide. The Heartless all froze in the air. Namine squeezed her hands into fists and released them as they were before again. All the Heartless flew aback, soaring high into the air. Then, another hoodless Organization member appeared in one of the corners of the room. He squeezed his fists like Namine did and released them. Fire began to fill the room. All of the Heartless burst into flames as they perished into dust that blew away. Afterwards, the fire extinguished itself. Nick caught a glimpse of the unknown before he raised his hood and covered his head. He teleported towards him and Namine and looked down at his female companion.
"Come Namine, leave this human alone. You know we shouldn't make direct contact with them." He remarked with the same deep voice the other hooded men spoke.
"Axel…" Namine whispered.
The Enigmatic Man Namine had just referred to as "Axel" looked back at Nick.
"Leave Hollow Bastion, mortal. That is your final warning. Do not approach this castle again or we won't be here to protect you next time."
As they began to vanish, Namine spoke one final time.
"We will meet again Nick."
And after that, they vanished. Alone, Nick whispered in solitude.
"Paradise…"
He then picked up the envelope with the letter inside. He put it in his pocket and left back to the city. He would take the envelope as proof and tell everything he had just experienced that day to Steve.