"Do you understand Riku?"

The silver haired bishounen was slow to realize that he was being addressed. It had been a long time since he had been called that, Riku. It had been a long time since he had someone to talk to. His life had been filled with the murder of the black devils that were the source of his imprisonment, his sacrifice. Now he was being busied with questions of the dark world, royal affairs, and a new mission.

"Could you explain it again, Sir," Riku asked the King, politely excusing himself for zoning out.

"The Heartless have escaped," King Mickey explained, "After the years that we were imprisoned behind the door, they have become much smarter than we expected. They discovered a way to open the door, and let us out in the process. Now they have flooded the worlds that have since become connected after we shut them out—"

"So we hunt them down and get rid of them. Again," he interrupted, "nothing new,"

"That would seem to the case, wouldn't it?" The King said, "But they are no longer the brutal, heart-devouring machines we know them as. No, now they hunt by seeking hosts, and slowly taking over populated worlds. Starting with the smallest, we predict that they will consume the amount of worlds that they originally had in a much shorter amount of time."

Riku didn't speak for a moment. All he could think about was a certain small world that had been haunting his dreams since they had escaped from behind the door. Would it be consumed by darkness once again? Did it even exist anymore? Had they survived…

"Riku, am I losing you?" the King inquired as he noticed the boy slipping out of reality again. He was afraid this would happen. After being in the dark so long, a massive dose of light would allow for memories to come back to him at an alarming rate. Mickey knew how far the boy had went for the one named Kairi, and he knew that he would want to see the special princess after being released from his prison. But there were more important things at hand, and Riku held the Key.

"Riku, this is very important," the King urged. Riku snapped back into reality, but his eyes were still clouded with a fear for his old friends, "Do you understand?"

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Riku said, almost bitterly, "I couldn't stop them the first time, what gives you the idea I'm any better off stopping them now?"

"You hold the Key," Mickey explained, "you hold the Key to the worlds."

"What Key to the worlds? Sora has the keyblade. I have nothing, go find him,"

"Sora is not the boy we are looking for," Mickey never lost his patience, and it was good. For a normal person who was not a mouse and not a King, he would have let his temper get the best of him. But the King stayed calm in spite of the boy's attitude and continued, "Sora is the Knight of Light, you," he paused, making sure that the boy was indeed with him, "You are the Knight of Dark," that got his attention, "And it is because of this, that the heartless will not recognize you."

"Since you have spent so much time around these vile beings, you have become immune to their effects. You will move through the worlds undetected. You will collect the six treasures of Ansem."

"I thought Ansem was evil," Riku cut in, "You know, with the whole 'using me to lore Sora and take over with the heartless' thing," his tone was obviously bitter. This was one memory he did not enjoy, "Why do we want his treasures."

Mickey adjusted his crown; "Ansem was not always as dark and sinister as you know him. He was once an educated, sophisticated man who held knowledge of the impending heartless armies," this was true. Ansem had once been a good friend of Mickey's before his heart was consumed by darkness, "Before the armies came, he created the six treasures that would unlock another door. One that would pull the heartless into an unending void, ridding the worlds of them forever."

"He put his door in a very secret place, and spread the treasures among the worlds. He then hid the information about this door and the treasures somewhere where he would never find it,"

"And you know where it is, I suppose?"

"No," Mickey replied, "No one does,"

"Then what's the point of even trying?" Riku exclaimed, suddenly angered by the conversation. The heartless were unstoppable. He thought he had them contained, and they break out and cause mayhem. Why was he always the one to stop it? And now, now they didn't even know where this so-called door was. Sometimes he believed there was a fate out there that didn't want him to be happy.

"To get to the door, you must find the six treasures," Mickey explained, "They will show you the door."

"And where are the treasures?" Riku asked, rather darkly, "Are they hidden too?"

"No, we know where the first one is," he assured the boy, "she will lead you to the rest."

"She?" In his heart, Riku hoped this 'she' was Kairi. Surely if the girl he once knew was a princess of heart, she could be the one to lead him to Ansem's door.

"Yes," answered Mickey, "She. She has the first treasure, the secret volume of Ansem. She will be the one to lead you to the treasures, and then, to the door."

Riku sighed and looked up at the King. He sat there, so calm, and so…well, not happy. Content. How he could sit there without any trace of obvious worry was beyond Riku. How he could be so at ease, while Riku boiled in his own self-pity and anger. This was the man that saved him from the heartless countless times, who wanted only for the worlds to be safe. And now he was questioning his loyalties because he wanted to see the girl he didn't even know was alive. Anyone would jump for a chance to save the world a second time. Sora would jump for a chance to save the world a second time.

That thought made up his mind.

"Where is she?" he asked the King, standing up, now determined.

"She is on the Island of Timh Ortons," Mickey smiled. The boy wouldn't let him down, "we have a Gummi Ship waiting for you." The King rose from his throne, and led the boy down the hall and into the launching room.

"When I find this girl," Riku asked, "Will she know who I am?"

"Sadly, no," Mickey replied, "You will have to explain all of this to her. It might be hard to persuade her to come with you," he smiled, "she's a little wild, so keep an eye on her."

"Will do," Riku said as he climbed into the Gummi Ship.

"One last thing," Mickey called to one of his servants. They brought over a small cage looking thing with a black cloth draped over it.

"What's this?" Riku asked curiously as he took the cage from the little man. He pulled off the black cloth…

…and immediately regretted doing so.

Out of nowhere or apparently from underneath the cloth a little gray bunny-type creature jumped onto his head with a pronounced 'boing'.

"Ah! Get it off!"

"Mabby! Mabby!" the creature chirped, happy to be atop his head. Riku, however, was not pleased.

Mickey was amused by the spectacle, and chuckled as he explained, "This is Maboka. He will allow you to communicate with us while you are in the different worlds."

"Must it be so, so hyper?" Riku exclaimed as he attempted to tear the thing from his head without ripping any of his precious silver hairs. It reminded him much of a certain yellow-dressed girl from Destiny Island, and this perturbed him greatly.

"You two will get along just fine," Mickey assured him, still laughing, "Good luck on your journey, Riku,"

And with that, the Gummi ship began to rise. Moboka had settled into Riku's lap, excited for his new adventure.

"Wait, King Mickey!" Riku called, suddenly realize what he didn't know, "The girl! What is her name?"

"Her name," the King replied, "Is Candace."