(Philia speaking) Hi, my name is Philia. A while ago, I ended up getting sent away from my world, and now I have no memory of my past, other than my skills with a dagger and the fact that I was a treasure hunter. I am currently joining alongside my new friends Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, as we are now finishing the fight against the Heartless, and the true leader behind them.
Last time, we ended up facing down the true villain who pulled Maleficent and her gang of villains behind her back; Ansem, the very man we read about in his journals. Not only was he possessing Riku, but he also semi-created the Keyhole to release the Heartless into the world. However, the biggest bombshell was when he told us that Kairi's heart was really inside Sora all this time. How could any of us not see this?!
Sora ended up beating his possessed friend, but in order to save Kairi and the other Princesses of Heart, Sora ended up using the Keyblade Riku-Ansem possessed, freeing Kairi's heart from his, returning it and the rest of the princesses hearts to their bodies, but he ended up disappearing from our lives, turning into a Heartless. Thanks to Kairi and I, though, we returned Sora back to normal, and we fled Castle Oblivion, heading back to Traverse Town.
During that time, I really thought things through on my journey with Sora and his friends, and I finally came to admitting the truth; I fell in love with him. I spoke to Kairi about my feelings, as she also loved Sora, and we both agreed to allow Sora to choose, and to respect one another as we compete for his affection. She truly is such a kind spirit.
But now, we have to go back again. Sora needs to save Riku. The Keyhole needs to be sealed, and the rest of the princesses need to be protected from the Heartless. We did go to other worlds again, using our new White Quartet ability to gather up all the materials we could, and now, we are ready to take on whatever is ahead! …I hope.
(Cue 'Digimon Adventure Tri Opening 1 - Butterfly TV Size', music on Youtube)
My wings are full of images of holding back, They are still weak but I'm sure I can fly
(As the viewer zoom in on a grassy field, a red shape passes the viewer, revealing Sora in the distance. A light blue shape passes, revealing Philia, then a green one reveals Goofy, and a dark blue one reveals Donald.)
Oh My Love (guitar intro)
(The viewer zooms in and circles around to see the four of them standing there, looking off into the distance. The image becomes blurry as the title appears in front of them.)
I become a happy butterfly and flying the shimmering wind And I will go to see you right away
(Sora was asleep on the shore of the Destiny Islands, but was awoken by a voice behind him. He turned to see Kairi and Riku standing there by the raft, the latter looking somewhat annoyed by Sora's laziness while Kairi waved him over to help. Sora got to his feet and raced to his friends. The screen fades to white.)
Better you forget about unnecessary things, There's no time to joke anymore.
(The viewer zoom out of the white in Philia's eyes as she practices with her Sword Breaker, with Leon and Yuffie watching her. Her blade glowing yellow-green as she thrusted her blade forward in a Dagger Skill. She holds her position for a moment as Yuffie applauds her, then Philia lowers her weapon, looking up at the sky with a sad expression. The viewer looks into the sky, seeing the stars as they shined for a seconds, before quickly disappearing one by one.)
I wonder, wow wow wow wow wow, what will reach the sky
(The viewer zooms out as Maleficent comes into view, standing at the table with the shadowy silhouettes of her villainous allies, and Riku at her side.)
But, wow wow wow wow wow, don't even have a plan for tomorrow
(The scene changes to six of the seven Princesses of Heart, their eyes closed as if they were asleep. Kairi appears in the middle of it, her arms crossed in front of her as she opens her eyes and her body scatters into lights, replacing her position with Sora as he stood there beside Philia, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy on Donald's head as the viewer shifts the angle to behind them, seeing the hundreds of Heartless in front of them.)
Living in a world of nothing after the infinite dream, My love to you is growing weak
(The four begin to display to the viewers their combat skills against the Heartless one at a time, starting with Sora, then Philia, then Goofy, then finally Donald, who rains down lightning onto the Heartless before the heroes charge in to continue fighting.)
My wings are full of images of holding back, They are still weak but I'm sure I can fly. Oh My Love
(The viewer passes the Heartless to see Riku standing at the end, reaching out to Sora as to invite him to the darkness, with the shadowy image of Heartless Ansem mimicking his movements. Philia clears the path for Sora as he races forward, reaching out to his friend. The view shifts to Sora's view, his hand reaching out to Riku as he and the darkness fade away into the light.)
Guitar solo ending
(The screen shines an image of King Mickey holding the Keyblade as Donald and Goofy looking in from the sides. The view shifts to a dark image of Aincrad as it crumbles away, with Philia's face looking to the viewer. The view zooms out as Sora pats Philia's shoulder, causing her to look and smile at Sora as he grinned back. The view zooms back even further to show quartet and Jiminy standing there, smiling at the viewers as they stood on the same hill as before, before the view shifts back to the sky again, with the flower petals flying by once again.)
Hollow Bastion
Standing on the floating rocks, looking up at the castle before them, the four heroes stood together, having just arrived back to Hollow Bastion once more.
"We're back…" Sora muttered.
"Finally." Donald huffed, glaring at Philia, "We just had to go to EVERY world to find treasure before coming here!"
"Hey, I memorized where the white hidden emblems were at." Philia retorted, "I'm at least remembering all that. Plus, we got some sweet stuff from all our traveling." She was indicating things like the materials they discovered, to the Ifrit Belt, which Donald was wearing. They also returned with all the Dalmation puppies back to their owners, gaining their first third-tier magic spell; Aeroga.
"Well, we should be set." Sora stated, producing his Oathkeeper and looking at the keychain. He thought about Kairi, acknowledging that she was now safe, but still missing her. However, he knew that she was still with her, connected to her, within his heart, even if her heart wasn't there like it was before.
Philia looked to Sora, seeing the keychain, and felt a twinge of envy. She didn't have a good luck charm like Kairi did, so she couldn't offer one to him. However, she did have one thing that could count.
She produced her Swordbreaker, and tapped Sora on the shoulder, getting his attention. "Here." She told him, handing him the dagger.
"What?" He looked confused, "But, I don't need-."
"It's MY lucky charm." Philia told him, grabbing his wrist, and placing the handle into his free hand, "I gave it to you before, in this very area, and it helped you reclaim you Keyblade again. Now, I'm giving it to you as a way to let you know you are never defenseless."
Sora looked at the Swordbreaker, then at Philia, who was looking back at him, suppressing her emotions a bit, though still blushing. "You sure?" Sora asked, "You look a bit uncomfortable about it."
"It's fine, okay?!" She argued, bending forward and glaring up at his face, "I got other daggers. Unless you prefer not getting a gift from me."
"No! No! I'm not saying that!" Sora defended, putting the dagger away on his person, "I'll make sure not to lose it."
"You'd better." She replied, placing her pointing finger at his forehead, "If you lose mine or Kairi's charms, you will pay. Got it?"
Sora looked very scared, but nodded in response. Donald and Goofy watched the whole scene, giggling at the pair.
Just then, they heard a gruff voice call out, "You came back." The group looked up to see Beast, leaping down from the floating rocks to join them.
"Heya, Beast." Sora greeted.
"Where's Belle?" Philia asked.
"Still in the castle." Beast answered.
"Against her will?" Goofy asked, a little worried.
"No, I think she stayed for a reason." Beast answered, "The other princesses are inside as well."
"I wonder why?" Donald asked.
"We should go and find out." Philia answered.
"Beware. There is another person in there." Beast warned the group, "I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong."
"Is he after the princesses?" Philia asked, concerned, "Or is he with Ansem?"
"No. He came out of the Keyhole shortly after you left. He has been destroying the Heartless, searching for someone named Bartz."
"Bartz?" Sora echoed, "Who's that?"
"No idea." Beast answered, "But he is a powerful man."
"Let's hope we won't need to fight him." Sora stated, and they leapt up the platforms towards the castle.
In a couple of minutes, the group had gotten off the platform that led them towards the castle front gate. They had almost reached the large door when they suddenly blasted open, as a group of Heartless were flung out, defeated as they vanished into darkness. Bursting onto the scene in front of them was a new character they didn't recognize.
He was a tall man, a little higher than Beast. He had a gray and red complexion, almost like a kabuki actor, and wore a suit of armor, mostly the color of gold, red, orange and gray, including baggy pants that were gray and red-polka dotted. His face was mostly wrapped around a red hood, with a white topknot piece and black horns. In his hand was a naginata.
He landed in front of the group, his back turned to the group as he stated, "I can sense you…I know you are here!" He did a leaping turn as he held a pose, standing on one foot as he had his palm out and his naginata at the ready. He looked down at the group of heroes, who had their weapons ready, just in case.
"Who is this guy?" Sora questioned.
"That is the one who I fought." Beast explained.
"He looks weird…" Donald muttered.
Philia concentrated, wondering if this guy was bad. She did sense a bit of darkness in this man's heart, but not enough to consider a true villain.
"Bartz?" The man looked down at Sora, "Is that you? Something's different about you. Is it the hair?"
"Bartz?" Sora echoed, "Wait, are you talking to me?"
"Nice try! It'll take more than a makeover to pull the wool over my eyes!" He barked, "I am back with a vengeance!"
"Wait, who are you?!" Sora demanded.
"Oh? Don't tell me you forgotten my name." He questioned Sora, "I have been waiting a hundred years for our reunion."
"A hundred years?!" Donald squawked.
"He doesn't look that old." Goofy noticed.
"Bet he's exaggerating." Philia muttered.
"The last time we have met, I was banished to the Rift before your eyes." He stated, "I fought countless battles against creatures of darkness, the temptation to give in constantly nagging at me, but still I resisted! And now, I have returned! My exile is at an end!"
"Rift?" Sora echoed, "He did come out of the Keyhole, right?"
"He must've been in the realm where the Heartless reside." Philia assumed, "I'm surprised he wasn't consumed by their darkness."
"The only reason I did not become tempted by the darkness of the Rift was because I knew there was someone waiting for my return!" He stated, moving about dramatically, "That someone was you, Bartz! There is no stopping our fated duel against one another!"
There was a moment's pause of silence between the group, before Philia exasperatedly demanded, "For real, who IS this guy?!"
"Well, it seems like this feller wants to fight Sora, thinking he's someone named 'Bartz'." Goofy summed up.
"But I'm not!" Sora retorted, turning to the man, "Listen, I don't know you, but my name is not Bartz! It's Sora!"
"Silence!" Barked the man, "You cannot fool me, the mighty Gilgamesh, from knowing who my true rival is! Or are you a coward to not face your most devastating rival?!"
"Hey, I'm no coward!" Sora barked, gripping his Keyblade tightly, "If you want a fight, I'll give you one!"
(Insert 'Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon Raffaello Battle)
Philia sighed at Sora basically being encouraged into this fight as she muttered, "Guess we're doing this, aren't we?" She, Donald, Goofy and Beast readied themselves against the new foe.
"Oh? You plan to gang up on me, Bartz?!" Gilgamesh questioned, "I won't be brought down so easily, no matter HOW many you bring to our fight!"
He charged at Sora's group, swiping at their group. They all scattered and backed away, before Beast came charging at him, swiping his claw fiercely at his face. Gilgamesh blocked the attack with the staff of his naginata, pushing him off, only to get hit by a fire spell from Donald. Sora and Philia tag teamed together, striking at him when he was vulnerable. He was still able to counter the majority of their attacks, despite being phased for a moment. That being said, he still took damage, and was still defenseless against a bash to his stomach, made by Goofy's shield.
He backed off, before leaping high and making a diving stab with his naginata at Sora, who leapt back to avoid the head-on attack, though was carried with the shockwave of the attack. He flew upwards, but was caught by Beast, who jumped up to save him.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Philia barked, jumping forward and unleashing her Fad Edge Dagger Skill, slashing at Gilgamesh several times. He endured the pain, and made a swipe at her, forcing her to back away from him. Donald unleashed a Thundara spell, electrifying him, and Beast swiped at him, forcing him to skid away from the group.
Gilgamesh looked to the five fighters, stating, "This is rather unfair! I can't just fight the five of you with nothing but my naginata. Time to bring out the big guns!" He raised his naginata into the air, and in a flash, he transformed it into a new weapon; a double-barreled rifle. He brought it down, aimed at the startled Sora, and fired. He and everyone else avoided the attack, leaping to different sides.
"What the…!" Sora gasped, "Where did that come from?"
"Haven't we seen that gun before?" Goofy asked.
Philia paused for a moment, then gasped, "That's Clayton musket!"
"How did he get it?" Donald questioned.
"I had discovered weapons like this within the Rift." Gilgamesh stated, raising his musket aloft, "I shall use all I have found to claim victory today, Bartz!" He changed the weapon to familiar-looking large dice, and tossed them at Donald and Beast, who was too curious about them to notice what they were, and they exploded, causing the two to fly away.
"Those dice. Didn't Oogie use them in Halloween Town?" Sora recalled.
They could barely get a break, as they saw him call out another weapon; Hook's rapier. He pointed it at Philia, shouting, "En garde!" Thrusting it at great speeds at her, which she barely avoided.
"Now it's Hook's weapon!" Philia noticed, "Is he using all of our previous enemies's weapons?"
"I merely found these here and there when traveling the Void." Gilgamesh stated, "But I still have these!" He suddenly pulled out twin scimitar blades. "Swords! These are the best weapons around!" He lunged forward, slashing and swiping at Philia, which she attempted to block one after another, but got struck off-guard at one point to get struck hard by a slash, causing her to be sent flying with a yell into the wall. She crumbled to the floor, grimacing.
"Philia!" Sora shouted, as Goofy ran to her, protecting her while giving her a potion to heal up. Donald unleashed a Thunder spell at Gilgamesh, giving Sora the opportunity to get in close with a series of slashes, before ending with a Ripple Drive, knocking Gilgamesh away.
"It'll take more than that to stop me!" Gilgamesh shouted, unleashing Clayton's musket again, and firing at Sora, who blocked with his Keyblade. He kept blocking more and more shots from the gun, being pushed back little by little from each it.
"Aeroga!" Sora shouted, creating a windy barrier around himself and everyone else in the team.
"Good thinking! We could use the defense!" Philia stated, getting to her feet again.
"It doesn't matter what you try. You will ALL fall to my weapons!" Gilgamesh shouted, before they charged at one another.
Gilgamesh was no doubt a formidable opponent. The biggest thing that set him apart from most other enemies they have faced so far was the diverse set of weapons he had. Clayton's musket, Oogie's dices, Hook's rapier, twin scimitars, and a naginata. He was quite nimble, sometimes being sneaky with his attacks, but most of the time, he was pretty head-on. His boastful nature and combat style were able to be read eventually, and the group was able to start pushing back harder against him.
"Doooh! Now you've really made me mad!" Gilgamesh growled, "Time to bring out my ultimate attack!" He leapt high up, producing two more weapons. Both of them were staffs, belonging to two opponents in the past; Jafar and Maleficent. He spun himself around, gathering magic energy, before unleashing a beam of electricity at Sora, who dodged it. The beam continued going as he directed it towards where Sora was at, who practically was running and dodging every which-way to avoid it. With the other staff, he created a storm cloud that rained down fireballs onto the field in random areas, causing the others to also play dodge with him.
"We can't dodge him forever!" Goofy exclaimed.
Beast tried to get in closer to Gilgamesh, only for fireballs to interfere with his path. "I cannot get close!" He growled.
"Someone, do something!" Donald squawked, before getting his tail lit on fire, and he leapt up in pain.
"I'm not in any position, right now!" Sora stated, sidestepping as he narrowly avoided flames and the electric beam.
"Then leave it to me!" Philia shouted, leaping through the flames, enduring some thanks to her wind barrier. She leapt high at Gilgamesh, pointing her dagger to him and shouting, "Force!" Her Gravira spell encased Gilgamesh, causing him to fall to the ground hard, dropping his two staffs in the process.
"Got him!" Philia declared, as Sora charged forward, unleashing a slew of slashes at Gilgamesh, before unleashing one more Ripple Drive that sent him tumbling towards the edge. His body managed to sustain from falling off, but he was definitely hurt hard by the final strikes delivered to him.
"Owowowowow! No fair ganging up on me!" Gilgamesh growled, using his naginata as a way to pull himself to his feet.
"You didn't have a problem with it before." Philia noted, with Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement.
Sora stepped forward as he started, "Hey, Gilga-guy, or whatever your name is. Listen to me! My name is not Bartz. It's Sora."
Gilgamesh looked up at him as he looked quite surprised, asking, "Wait…you mean you're not Bartz?" The heroes all nodded in agreement. "So I was fighting an imposter this whole time?!" He questioned.
"Sora wasn't posing as anyone named Bartz!" Goofy noted.
"We don't even know him!" Donald squawked angrily.
Gilgamesh looked to the group, pausing for a second, then, without any warning, he gave off a hearty laugh. "I knew something was off the moment we clashed blades! Turns out, you were someone else completely!" He continued to laugh at this.
The Beast roared angrily, causing the others to flinch in fright. "You better not have caused harm to Belle! If you do, I swear I will…"
"Woah, easy, Beast!" Philia calmed him, turning to Gilgamesh, "Hey, did you do anything to anyone in this castle? Anything at all?"
"You mean to any of those ladies I saw in there? Not a chance!" Gilgamesh answered, "This castle may seem weird, but I was merely searching for my eternal rival! There wasn't even any good weapons to grab here, except…"
He looked to Sora's Keyblade, examining it a bit, before stating, "I've heard rumors of a legendary weapon in the shape of a key. One that is suppose to unlock any lock, and lead you to many world. That must be the weapon you use. The Keysword!"
"Key…sword?" Sora echoed, "No, this is a Keyblade!"
Gilgamesh seemed to ignore this as he continued, "You may not be Bartz, but you are a worthy opponent!" He hopped himself onto the ledge, turning to the group, "I shall continue my search. When we next meet, it shall be one on one, and I will win that Keyblade! Farewell, worthy opponent!" He jumped back, and fell from view. The rest of the group was stunned at his sudden leap from this height, and raced to the edge, looking down towards where he fell. They saw no sign of him through the mist down below.
"Well, that guy was weird." Philia muttered.
"He certainly has a lot of screws loose." Sora muttered.
"You think we'll see him again?" Goofy asked.
"Hope not." Donald responded.
"Come." Beast told the others, walking to the front door, "I want to be sure Belle is safe." He opened the doors, and walked in.
The others followed him, though Philia paused, looking back at the area Gilgamesh jumped off of, before muttering, "That guy wasn't evil, yet he survived in the Realm of Darkness all this time…" Wondering how a guy like him ended up there, or how long he was there, she decided to give it up, and follow the others.
They ended up back in the library again, as Beast said it was the one place he figured Belle to be in. She apparently liked books. Upon the two reuniting, the heroes watched as Beast embraced the woman that was once asleep before, now fully awake, and joyful to be with her significant other. It was touching, yet rather awkward, considering Beast's appearance.
Once they parted, Belle looked to the four heroes and started, "You must be the ones who saved us. You've come to seal the Keyhole, right?"
"That's right." Sora answered.
"Then please, be careful." She warned them, "The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer."
"We'll take care of it." Sora stated.
"Thank you." She replied, handing Sora something, "This is for you. Use it to face the darkness, as the Beast has." She handed Sora a Keyblade Keychain, which was a silver chain with a rose at the end of it.
Jiminy hopped out of Sora's clothing to see it, and stated, "That looks like the Divine Rose Keyblade. It is a very strong Keyblade."
Sora examined it, before pulling out his Oathkeeper Keyblade, before stating, "Thank you, Belle. I'll hold onto it, but for now, I want to use the one Kairi gave me."
Belle understood, as she knew how important Kairi must be for him. Philia had a twinge of jealousy in her, but withheld it as she cleared her throat, before saying, "Let's go, guys. We have a Keyhole to seal up."
"Right." Sora agreed, not realizing her jealousy, unlike Donald and Goofy did. Beast chose to stay behind as the others made their way towards the Keyhole.
The team could tell the Heartless were a lot stronger than they were last time, as climbing up the area introduced them to more and more Heartless that interfered in their path. They were pulling out more and more tricks to use in the fights.
"Time to try this out!" Sora declared, readying his Keyblade, using the summoning stone he recovered after defeating Maleficent in her dragon form. He twirled his Keyblade above him, before slamming the tip down into the ground. "Summon: Mushu!" Sora shouted, twisting the Keyblade like unlocking a door. Suddenly, smoke and embers started to fume upwards from the ground. From the smoke, it looked like a red, long-bodied dragon appeared from the smoke, looking intimidating. However, when the smoke instantly vanished, it was revealed that the red dragon looked far less intimidating, and was small enough to stand on top of Sora's head. It had four-fingered claws and two-toed feet, and small blue horns on its head.
"I am Mushu!" The dragon greeted proudly, pointing a thumb at himself, "Hey, man. What's goin' on here?"
"Hey, Mushu. I'm Sora." His summoner greeted, "Do you think you can help us out with this mess?"
"Sure thing. You are the one who brought me back to life!" Mushu answered, stretching his claws out until they cracked, "Now stand back as I show you what this big-time dragon can really do!" He started to glow a red hue as he unleashed bullets of fire from Sora's head at the Heartless, peppering them over and over with these attacks. He kept doing this continuously, even as Sora ran around the area. It was rather difficult, as it only targeted one opponent at a time, and he couldn't really use his Keyblade as he used Mushu's firepower. Therefore, it was up to the others to support him with opponents who target him from behind or from the sides.
Once the area was cleared of the numerous Heartless, Sora's summoning time was nearly up. "Not bad, Mushu." Sora complimented the dragon.
"Yeah! That's right! I'm the best! I'm the best!" Mushu cheered, doing a bit of a dance on Sora's head, "Hey, if ya ever need a bit of dragon dandruff in your battle, give me a call, and I'll come a burnin'!"
"Sure thing." Sora answered, raising a hand as Mushu jumped down onto it, swishing a finger at Sora, before vanishing.
"That guy certainly had…personality." Philia pointed out.
"He was annoying." Donald huffed.
"I second that." Tinker Bell agreed.
"Still, he was really helpful." Sora stated, looking back at the team, "Let's keep moving and find the other Princesses."
Getting through all the Heartless was difficult, but they were finally able to reach the hall where they fought Maleficent in. Within, they discovered the five Princesses standing about. Among them, the heroes saw the two princesses they were familiar with, Alice and Jasmine, standing with the other three princesses. One of them had medium black hair with a red ribbon, rosy lips, a blue bodice with red dew drops on her puffy sleeves, a high white collar, a long yellow skirt, and golden slippers.
The next one was in an elegant white dress that looked like it was made for a ball, and she had blonde hair tied into a top bun, with a white hairband. She had white, long-sleeved gloves, and a black choker.
The final princess also had long blonde hair, but she let it flow down her back, with a golden tiara on top. Her dress gown was a deep blue, with a white collar and a golden necklace.
"Alice!" "Jasmine!" Sora and Philia greeted the two young ladies.
"You made it back." Jasmine noticed, glad to see the group.
"We're so sorry for not saving you sooner than this." Philia apologized to them.
"Think nothing of it." Alice answered, "This was rather strange, at first."
"We've been waiting for you, Keyblade master." The white-dressed woman addressed Sora, "My name is Cinderella."
"I'm Snow White." The black-haired beauty followed her introduction.
"And I am Aurora." The blue-dressed woman finished.
"A pleasure." Philia greeted, bowing slightly in response
"Where is Ansem?" Sora asked them. The thought did come across his mind as he made his way here.
"Gone." Cinderella answered simply.
"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it." Aurora informed the group, "It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared."
"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped." Cinderella continued, "We're working together to hold it back."
"I cannot forget the look on his face." Aurora grimaced, looking quite concerned at the vision she had of Ansem's expression, "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling."
"That is a rather darkening thought." Philia muttered, recalling the man they met after Sora turned into a Heartless.
"Sora, please hurry!" Jasmine informed the Keyblade wielder, "Darkness is pouring from the Keyhole."
"It's all we can do just to hold back the darkness." Alice followed up.
"I don't know how long we can manage even that." Snow White muttered.
"Alright, I'm on my way." Sora answered confidently.
"Leave it to us!" Donald declared.
"We're counting on you, Keyblade master." Snow White finished, "In the meantime, we'll do what we can, too."
"Thanks. We'll take the front lines!" Sora declared, before leading the charge to the room where the Keyhole was suppose to be.
The short path to the Keyhole was filled with tons of Heartless, and the team fought through all of them. As they finally cleared the room with Keyhole, Philia treasure hunting instincts came in, and she found a few good things; a piece of Dark Matter, some Dalmatian puppies, and even a new Keyblade for Sora, which was black, and according to Jiminy, was called the Oblivion. Sora decided to continue using the Oathkeeper, much to Philia slight irritation, but did promise to use the Oblivion Keyblade later.
"Right. Let's get in there!" Sora declared, rushing into the open, Heartless symbol-shaped door, and they rushed in.
The moment they did, they found themselves inside a realm that was unrecognizable. They saw mixtures of blackness with red, green, and blue colors. On the other side, they were able to see another large Heartless emblem like the one they entered through, with a golden frame, a fiery aura, and a keyhole on the bottom of it. What's more, the moment they entered in, they saw something appear out of it, first as a transparent being, before becoming opaque. It was a large Heartless, twice the height of the heroes, pale lilac and dark blue, quadrupedal, and muscular, like an elephant. Each foot ended with two-toed claws, and two large curved tusks, like an elephant's, only they went the complete reverse direction, going up either side of its face, and curving inwards, like they were going to form a heart. It had one long black horn on its forehead, and its emblem was on its chest.
Donald squawked in fright, while Philia pulled out her book and examined the content. "The Behemoth..." she read, "Name says it all. It's immensely powerful, and can repel most attacks. However, there is a weak point."
"Where is that?" Goofy asked.
"That horn, on its head!" Philia answered, pointing to the said horn.
"Then that's the strategy!" Sora declared, readying his Keyblade, "Guys, let's take it down!"
"Right!" the other three answered, and they charged in.
Right as they ran towards it, the Behemoth did a leaping charge at them, hitting the ground with immense force and a shockwave that caused the four to get sent flying. They fell all over, but were able to get back to their feet again, seeing the beast was just standing there, looking about at them. It was strong, but not that fast.
"Donald and I will distract it!" Philia shouted, seeing herself and the said duck near her, "You and Goofy get onto the Behemoth's back and hit that horn with all you have!"
"Got it!" Sora answered, and the two made their way right behind it.
"Over here, ugly!" Donald squawked at the Behemoth, as he and Philia charged around the front of the Behemoth. All the while, the other two leapt onto the back of the Heartless, running to the horn, and unleashing all the strikes they could on it. The Behemoth roared as it tried to shake them off by slowly throwing its head around, all the while stomping on the ground to try and hit the other two. Those on the ground dodged around the stomping attacks, before Donald unleashed Fire spells at the horn. Philia readied her dagger, making it glow a yellow hue, before unleashing her Eternal Cyclone Dagger Skill, reaching the horn with her spinning slash, dealing repetitive damage.
"Down you go!" Sora shouted, giving one final hammer slash onto the horn, causing it to stumble and fall, hitting the ground. Sora and Goofy slid off, before Goofy turned, sending his shield like a discus to strike the horn again, while Sora unleashed Ars Arcanum, unleashing several strikes with his weapon.
"That's a lot of damage!" Donald cheered.
"It's not over, yet!" Philia responded, as the Behemoth recovered again. It rose to its feet and, with a roar, caused lightning strikes to rain all around him, causing the unsuspected group to get zapped hard by the attack. Once Philia found the feeling in her hands again, she raised her dagger up high, casting a healing spell, and curing everyone of their wounds.
"Thanks." Sora called to her.
"Switch out with me, Sora!" She called back, running with Goofy as they make their way to the back of the Behemoth.
"Hey, what about me?!" Donald demanded angrily.
"You're not a melee fighter, and magic doesn't work that well!" The treasure hunter shouted back, "Just focus on distracting and healing!"
Donald grumbled angrily, but Sora patted him on the head, before seeing the Heartless leap at the two. He grabbed Donald by the scruff of the neck, and leapt out of the way of the attack, taking Donald with him.
Philia and Goofy chased after them, with Philia grabbing Goofy and tossing him towards the Heartless, and he landed shield-first onto his back. "That could almost work for an attack." She stated as she caught up, and leapt onto the back with Goofy, before going to town on the horn.
They kept up the momentum of this, with Goofy and Philia using special techniques amongst their bashing and slashing of the horn, while Donald and Sora tried to keep the Heartless distracted enough to not focus on the two on its back. Their strategy worked, and it fell once more, causing the group a chance to unleash an assortment of techniques and magic at it. When they saw it recovering, Sora gave the signal, and they all backed off from the Heartless as it rose and roared, unleashing a rain of electricity from around it. This time, the team was able to avoid the attack.
"My turn again!" Sora shouted, running to the back.
"I am with him!" Donald followed up.
"No, let Goofy..." Philia called out, but he was getting his chance as an offensive threat, regardless of what the others said. "He's so stubborn to get some limelight..." she sighed, before joining Goofy's side as they went on the distraction.
As Sora got onto the back with Donald, the two suddenly noticed that the Behemoth was charging up its horns with energy, gathering it in between tusks. Everyone noticed it as Goofy called out, "Watch out! It's gonna do somethin'!"
"Sora, Donald, you should get down, now!" Philia cried out.
"No!" Donald shouted back, "Not until I do some damage!" He launched ahead of Sora, and hammered his staff over and over against on the horn of the Heartless, whacking it all over. Sora, meanwhile, took Philia's words to heart, and backed off.
"Donald, stop!" Goofy hollered, but his cry was called too late. Donald suddenly whacked hard at the energy the Behemoth was gathering, and suddenly there was an explosion. The Heartless raised on its hind legs as its attack launched upwards, the energy scattering about, before falling to the ground outside of the area. Donald screamed as he flew up and crashed in front of Sora, who was shocked to see him charred and smoking.
"Donald, are you okay?!" Sora cried out to him.
Donald coughed out smoke, but snickered as he stated, "Got 'em..." Sora looked incredulous at first, but smiled as he shook his head. He really wanted to be of use.
"Sora, let's finish him together!" Philia called out, as she and Goofy charged at the Heartless with dagger and shield.
"Right! Donald did give us an opening!" Sora responded, and he leapt onto the back of the Heartless, reaching the head, and unleashing a couple Gravira Spells. It smashed onto the Behemoth's head, forcing it to lower to an angle easy for the other two to unleash an uppercut with a shield, and for Philia to unleash her Shadow Stitch Dagger Skill. Sora then leapt high, and with a hammer slam from his Keyblade, caused the Behemoth to give way, and collapse. It tried to raise its head, but it was too weakened by the attack, and couldn't move. It faded from existence as a heart rose from its disappearing body, and it flew into the air, disappearing from sight.
"Way to go, guys!" Sora cheered.
"But, Donald!" Goofy pointed to the collapsed, roasted duck. Everyone gathered around him, Philia pulling out a Hi-Potion, and downing it down their friend's throat. After a moment, Donald got onto his feet, shaking off the injuries, before confidently standing their proud.
"You're welcome!" Donald told the group.
"Hey, look!" Philia pointed to the floor where the Behemoth vanished, seeing a belt on the floor.
"That's the Omega Arts." Jiminy explained, "That's quite a powerful piece of equipment."
Philia picked it up, and took it over to Donald, dropping it in his hands. "It's yours, Donald." She told him, "Just don't do anything crazy like that, again."
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Donald waved her off, placing it on him, looking confident at his foolish accomplishment.
Once the team was done getting themselves together, they approached the Keyhole on the other side. "A-hyuck! Now let's go seal that big Keyhole!" Goofy declared.
"Sora, if you would do the honors." Philia waved him forward.
Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke up from the other side of the portal, saying, "Sora, you did it." They all turned in surprise. It was no doubt Leon's voice, but they had no clue why he was there.
"Should we go speak to him?" Sora asked the gang.
"But what about the Keyhole?" Donald questioned.
"It won't take too long. And it's not like it's going anywhere." Sora stated, "Come on, guys."
"Friends always seem to come first before saving the world, huh?" Philia stated in a slight sassy manner. She wasn't complaining, either, as Leon was one of the people she first met when waking up in Traverse Town. However, out of respect of him, they exited the area through the portal.
When they reappeared on the other side, they discovered not only Leon there, but Aerith and Yuffie as well. Donald and Goofy hung back while Sora and Philia approached them.
"What are you doing here?" Philia asked, "And how did you get here?"
"We came in Cid's ship." Yuffie explained, sitting on the railing as she looked back at them.
"This is our childhood home." Aerith pointed out, "We wanted to see it again."
"This is your home?" Sora asked.
"It's in worse shape than I feared." Leon sighed, looking about with a concerned expression, "It used to be so peaceful."
"Don't worry." Aerith assured him, "If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island, as well as your home, Philia."
"Really?" Both Sora and Philia asked in unison, with the latter mentally asking, 'Does that mean, when I find out where I come from, will I have my memory restored?'
"But, this also means goodbye." Yuffie interrupted her thoughts, getting a surprised expression from the two heroes.
"Once the worlds are restored, they'll all be separate again." Aerith explained.
"Everyone will go back to where they came from." Yuffie followed.
"Then, I'll just visit you guys with the Gummi ship." Sora suggested, thinking this was an easy fix to a problem.
"It's not that simple." Leon retorted.
"Before all this, you didn't know about other worlds, right?" Yuffie asked Sora, who shook his head in response.
"That's because every world was isolated." Aerith answered, "Impassable walls divided them."
"The Heartless destroyed those walls." Yuffie followed her point, "But if the worlds return, so will the walls."
"Then...that would mean the Gummi ship wouldn't help us get to you." Philia understood sadly.
"So you're saying we'll never...?" Sora asked, looking quite crestfallen by this realization. The two ladies nodded in response, answering his unfinished question. Sora and Philia looked to each other. Did that mean that when they returned to their worlds, they wouldn't see each other? Sora felt bad on losing a dear friend, but Philia felt worse because he meant a lot to her. Was there any way to get around this?
"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." Leon told them.
"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." Aerith followed, touching her heart.
"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to." Yuffie sassily added, looking to the pair.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora demanded. The others laughed at this remark.
Philia stopped her laughter as she told the Traverse Town trio, "Still, I can't thank you guys enough. You were there when I was lost and confused, and helped me find a purpose, when I had no memory."
"Hey, it was fun while it lasted." Yuffie responded, hopping off the railing to walk over and pat her on the shoulder.
"I hope you are able to regain your memories again." Aerith prayed.
"Thanks. I hope so, too." She answered. She then looked to Leon, exchanging locked eyes, before he nodded to her. That was his way of saying he was gonna miss her, too.
"Sora!" Donald squawked, getting the pair's attention.
"Hurry! Come and close the Keyhole!" Goofy hollered.
"Right." Philia answered. She waved to the three, before racing towards Donald and Goofy.
"Sora, good luck." Leon told the Keyblade wielder, who nodded in response, before going after Philia.
The four re-entered the realm past the door, approaching the Keyhole once again, which was glowing brighter. "Better do this quick, Sora." Philia told him, as Tink came out of Philia's pocket to watch.
"Right." Sora answered, with Jiminy popping out to watch as well. He produced the Oathkeeper Keyblade, and waved it at the Keyhole. It gathered up light at the tip, and shot a beam at the Keyhole, causing a locked sound to echo in response. After a glittering of lights, the Heartless symbol, and everything else, vanished before their eyes. It was finally closed.
"Now that that's done, let's go tell the Princesses of Heart." Jiminy suggested.
"Good thinking. They need to know that it's all good, now." Sora agreed, looking to the team, "Guys, let's move out!" They nodded in response, and raced out of the realm, back out into the castle again.
They made their way back to the main hall where the Princesses were before. They were all waiting for them as they approached. "Thank you, Sora." Alice thanked, "I think the darkness has begun to weaken."
"Unfortunately, I can feel a powerful darkness growing somewhere far away." Jasmine pointed out.
"It's the heart of the darkness. It must be where Ansem went." Aurora assumed.
"Then we should finish things up completely." Philia understood.
"Yeah. We'll take the Gummi ship and deal with both Ansem and the Heartless." Sora decided.
"A worthy answer, Keyblade master." Cinderella responded, raising her cupped hands, "We offer this power to aid your battle." In her hands, three magic orbs appeared, glowing a fiery color. It shot right into the trio of magic-users, granting them a fiery boost. Their Fira spell was now upgraded to Firaga.
"Sora, Philia, Donald, Goofy, your courage can bring back our worlds." Snow White told them.
"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state." Aurora noted.
"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora asked.
"Most certainly. And you should be, too." Cinderella responded. This made Philia's heart twinge a bit in sadness once again at not seeing him again.
"But we still can't go home yet. Not until we find the king and Riku." Sora noted.
"That's right." Goofy agreed.
"Let's go!" Donald declared.
Suddenly, something appeared nearby them. They looked to see a portal open up in the same place where one opened before, left by Maleficent after her first defeat.
"What is that doing there?!" Sora asked.
Philia couldn't answer immediately before her heart pounded hard in her chest. She grasped it painfully, getting the others attention. "Are you alright, Philia?" Tinker Bell asked in a worried manner.
"I...don't know." Philia responded, "All of a sudden, I could feel something. Something powerful in there."
"Is it Ansem?!" Sora asked.
"No, it couldn't be." Jasmine answered, "The darkness has not left the area I could sense from before. And what's more, I don't feel any darkness through that portal, either."
"It's not darkness." Philia stated, "Nor is it light. I...I'm not sure what it is, but it's powerful, and dangerous."
"Not darkness or light?" Jiminy asked, confused.
"Then what is it?" Donald questioned.
"I don't know, but if it has Philia worried, then we should do something about it." Sora answered, looking to the portal, "Let's go in!"
"Sora, wait!" Philia stopped him, "I'm not sure if we should! I have a bad feeling about it..."
Sora looked at her. She wasn't one to avoid battles, but if she did want to avoid this one, then she really meant it. Was whatever she was feeling that powerful? Was it that dangerous?"
"Philia, I know you are looking out for me, but if it is as dangerous as you say, then we can't ignore it." He told her, "Besides, who's to say it won't go after the Princesses? We gotta stop it before it does anything!"
Philia could understand the logic behind Sora's words, but it didn't stop her worries. Still, his logic won her over, and she decided, "Well...okay. But, we have to be extremely cautious. I have no idea what's in there."
Sora nodded in response to this, making sure he was fully set and ready, as did Philia and the others.
"Please, be careful." Snow White told them.
"We trust you will gain victory over whatever is in there." Aurora told them, as the four ventured into the portal, disappearing from their view.
They reappeared in the room where they fought Maleficent when she was a dragon, looking about the place. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"You sure something is here?" Goofy asked Philia.
"Trust me. It's close." She answered, glaring about. The strength of whatever was in here was so strong, it came from everywhere.
As they walked inside, unbeknownst to them, something, or someone was phasing in and out of existence as it approached Sora from behind. It was only when it got close did Sora, as well as everyone else, suddenly notice the presence of the person. He was wearing a black coat with a silver zipper, going all the way down to his ankles. His face was hidden by a hood.
Sora gasped as the man suddenly phased right through him. He fell as his mind suddenly started thinking many things. Many words he had said throughout his journey. Many memories of what he had gone through. He had no idea why he was thinking of all of this. Was this man doing this?
He fell onto his butt as the man continued to walk past him. "Sora!" Philia shouted, racing to his side. Sora was uninjured, but was rather stunned at what had transpired. He then turned to the man in the black coat, who still had his back to them.
"Who are you?!" He demanded, getting to his feet again.
"Ah, it seems you are special, too." The man's voice spoke up, though his voice was more like a soft echo.
"Are you related to Ansem?" Philia growled.
The man turned his hooded head towards them as he answered, "That name rings familiar." He turned fully, and based on what he felt, Sora felt the gaze of the man on him. Something started to static and surge from his right hand. A great amount of energy was building up as he continued, "You remind me of him."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora asked. However, before he could get an answer, his instincts kicked in, and he summoned his Keyblade, and got his guard up just as the man fired off an static energy attack right at him. It was not lightning, but a sort of dark-light energy. Sora struggled hard against it, but was able to finally deflect it into the air, hitting the other side of the room with an explosion. Dust and debris fell from the air as a result.
"It means you are not whole." The man answered, "You are incomplete."
'Not whole? Incomplete?' Philia echoed those words in her mind, wondering what that meant.
"Allow me...to test your strength." The man finished, more static energy emanating from his hands. This led to everyone else to produce their weapons, ready to fight the man.
The unknown man sudden shot two energy balls at the group, which they tried to avoid by going to the sides, but the moment the balls were close to them, they expanded into energy fields that struck Sora and Philia, along with Donald and Goofy, knocking them over. They were able to recover, but saw the man approach them, barely giving them any time to get focused. Sora took Donald while Philia yanked Goofy out of the way as the man sent two more energy fields to explode at where they were at.
The man immediately went to Sora as he rolled onto his feet, brandishing an laser sword from the palm of his hand, bringing it down onto Sora. He raised his Keyblade to block the attack, barely enduring it as it was pressured down onto him. The man then swirled around and struck Sora in the side, knocking him hard and sending him flying.
"Sora!" Donald squawked, before unleashing a Firaga spell at the man. He turned and deflected it with the energy blade, before thwacking Donald away.
"Get away!" Philia shouted, unleashing her Cross Edge Dagger Skill on the unknown man just as Donald was knocked away, knocking him back from Sora. The treasure huntress jumped over Sora, pursuing her prey as he turned to unleash another energy blast on the ground, knocking Philia back.
"Sora, Donald, you okay?!" Goofy hollered to the two recovering boys.
"Somehow..." Sora grumbled, "But that guy is seriously tough."
"Philia!" Donald shouted, seeing Philia roll backwards onto her feet, but almost fell again had it not been for her free hand holding her up.
The unknown man shot forward with his energy blade, bringing it down on her. However, Goofy got in with his shield to block the attack. The force of the attack was so strong, it caused Goofy to fly away, but it gave Philia enough time to back off, leaping to Donald and Sora's side.
"He's not giving us a break, guys!" The treasure hunter addressed the situation.
"Then we should try giving him a break!" Sora answered, seeing the unknown man dash at them. He used his Keyblade, and unleashed his Gravity spell, hitting his mark. The man suddenly halted under the pressure, but was not being squashed or even brought down by the spell. However, this did give the team a chance to counterattack.
"Go!" Sora shouted, as he, Donald and Philia charged ahead, unleashing a united strike of attacks and spells together. The combination caused the man some damage, but he was able to recover and back off. At the same time, Goofy rejoined the team as they readied for the next round of the battle.
The man recovered as he saw Goofy and Philia go in first with a strike, only for him to erect a barrier to block their attacks. They were repelled by the energy barrier, while the man phased right through it, slashing the both of them with his energy blades. Donald unleashed a Fire spell when he got a clear shot, and Sora followed this with a series of slashes, dealing damage to the man.
The man was giving all four of them a really tough time, what with his energy blade, his speed and teleportation around the field, the explosive energy fields he shot at them, and the barriers he erected to block their attacks, before counteracting with his own strikes. Sora, Philia, Donald, and Goofy were struggling to land a decent hit without taking a big hit themselves, focusing a lot of their magic energy on healing rather than offense. They had potions and ether, but they were saving the elixirs they had for a last measure. Fortunately, they did find that one of his biggest weaknesses was the Gravity spell and Philia's Shadow Stitch Dagger Skill, as it held him down for a few seconds, allowing the four to deal some major damage to him without any issue.
"We got a rhythm going here!" Philia called to Sora.
"Yeah! We can do this!" He answered, charging in at the mystery man.
The man backed away from Sora's Keyblade as he swung it, and created a ring of energy shots in front of him, before sending them homing at Sora. He panicked and braced himself with his Keyblade, blocking some of the shots, but got peppered quite a bit by the rest, knocking of back.
"Oh, no you don't!" Philia shouted, getting in close and unleashing her Shadow Stictch Dagger Skill to stop him again. However, just as she was going through her leg sweep, the man caught her off guard with his hand grabbing her foot, followed by consuming her in an energy field that paralyzed her and continuously damage her. She couldn't move, but she was screaming in pain from the numbing attack.
"Philia!" Sora shouted, while Donald and Goofy raced to her, striking the man with their weapons. He discontinued his attack, causing Philia to hit the ground, gasping for breath after the damage she was dealt with. The man unleashed a pair of energy blasts at Donald and Goofy, causing them to fly away, falling unconscious.
"Guys!" Sora shouted to them, getting to his feet. Philia rose up as well, getting angry at the man. He was gonna pay for the damage he did to the friends that saved her.
Sora charged forward, readying his Keyblade before going into a lunge, unleashing the Sonic Blade technique, going after the man continuously. He tried to produce a barrier, attempting to stop Sora's attack. However, as Sora was in the middle of his pivot to go after him again, Philia came in with a glowing dagger, shouting, "I knew you would do that!", and unleashing her Armor Pierce Dagger Skill, hoping it could break the barrier with its affect. The attack worked, and she shattered the energy barrier, the force of which sent the man backwards. He skidded to a halt before seeing the tip of Sora's Keyblade coming homing at him, before being struck hard by it, sending him flying even further.
He came to a halt as he summoned another ring of energy shots, sending them homing at Sora and Philia, who used their bladed weapons to parry the beams with rapid succession. This gave the man enough time to teleport to the two of them, producing two energy swords, from each hand, before swinging them into a combo at the pair. The two parried as best as they could, before counterattacking at him, with Sora in the lead striking his head, followed by Philia going into another Shadow Stitch, paralyzing him. This gave the two more chances to strike him more.
Once the man found the ability to move, he suddenly unleashed an energy barrier around his body, forcing the two back. He immediately followed up with several beams from his palms, striking everywhere, striking both Sora and Philia as he did so, causing them to scream in pain as they were knocked away. They collapsed to the ground as the man continued his attack, turning towards Sora, ready to focus all beams on him.
Philia saw him go towards the person she loved, frightened at the consequences should nothing happen, and acted quickly. She dug into her pocket, felt what she was looking for, and procured the Megaelixir. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." She told herself, and uncapped it with her mouth, before raising it high. The bottle shined, before floating high above, and shattering, raining down the essence onto herself, Sora, Donald and Goofy. The effect of the Megaelixer took affect instantly, restoring their bodies back to normal, regaining their magical energy, and waking them up from consciousness.
Sora felt all his stamina come back, and he rolled away from the oncoming lasers sent by the man. Donald, Goofy, and Philia rose to their feet, fully restored. The man ceased his attack, his barrier dissipating, before looking to Sora as he rose up, then to the trio behind him, coming at him.
"You are gonna get it, now!" Donald squawked angrily, before unleashing his Gravity spell onto him, forcing him to a paralyzed position.
"You won't beat us, today! Nor ever!" Philia growled, her dagger glowing a purple hue, before unleashing her Rapid Raid Dagger skill, striking numerous times at the mystery man, while Goofy hammered his shield over and over against at the man.
He had just started to regain himself, and produced two more energy blasts that knocked the two away that were closest to him, before teleporting away, appearing before Sora once more, prepared to strike with his energy blades. However, Sora saw him coming, and reacted. In slow motion, Sora used a big of magical energy at his feet, and slid straight behind the man, avoiding his downward slashes. He had just turned around to face Sora with his blades again when he was crushed under another Gravity spell, forcing him to his knees.
"You are finished!" Sora shouted, unleashing a stream of slashes before backing off, concentrating his Keyblade at the man, gathering up magical energy, and unleashing the salvo of light shots that was Ragnarok, striking the man numerous times, causing his body to spark like crazy from the damage of the final attack, dark flames mixing along with them. A light was coming from his chest, almost looking as if it was piercing through him. He clenched his fist to it, the sparks from his hands going all over as he stumbled back from the group.
The four watched him, thinking they were able to finally take him down. However, just as he was a good distance from the group, he mustered himself, and with a whip of his clenched fist, dissipated the flames, sparks, and light from his chest, looking almost undamaged. The others were shocked at this, wondering if they did anything to him at all.
"Impressive." The man spoke up again, "This will be enjoyable."
"What are you talking about?!" Sora demanded, charging at him with his Keyblade. However, just as he got close, the atmosphere seemed to become monochrome and pixilated, like a computer crashing, as the man became transparent, and Sora phased right through him. He stopped and turned, startled and questioning what just happened.
"It is beyond your comprehension, for now." The man told him, looking back at him.
"Try us." Philia responded, now close to the cloaked man, her dagger pointed at his face, "What is it you are trying to gain here?!"
The man was not in the least bit threatened by her weapon or her words, looking to her for a moment, before his body vanished and reappeared behind her, his back to her. "You will find out, eventually." He answered, before whispering to her, "It's a shame you didn't become part of us like you should have." Philia looked stunned at these words, wondering what he meant by this. Part of 'them'? Did that mean that he wasn't the only one? And what did he mean 'she should have'?
"Until we meet again." he told both her and Philia.
"Wait, what are you-?!" Sora demanded, before the man started to pixilated and fade away.
"I am... but a mere shell." He answered, fading from them entirely. With that, his presence finally disappeared, leaving the four of them in silence.
"Just who was he?" Goofy asked, looking to Donald.
"How should I know?" Donald asked, looking exhausted at the battle they were dealt with.
Sora and Philia looked to each other in silence, wondering what he meant by his final words. "A mere shell?" Sora echoed.
"Did that mean he was a shell of the actual person?" Philia asked, "No...I felt like he spoke about himself." She tried to figure out everything about the man in black, including the words he told all of them, including the one he whispered to her.
"Look at this." Sora noticed, picking up a couple things; a paper that contained an Ansem Report, page #13, and a bracelet.
"Oh, wow!" Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket, examining the accessory, "That's an EXP Bracelet. It boosts the experience you gain from fighting."
"Neato!" Sora stated, instantly equipping onto himself, "I could use it for our final fight!"
"Speaking of which, we should get going." Philia told Sora, "I think we spent enough time here."
"Agreed." Sora answered, "I am curious about that guy, but we still need to find Ansem and stop him."
"And find the King!" Donald declared.
"And hopefully, my memories and Riku." Philia finished. With the group voicing what was still missing, they raced out of the room, returning to the great hall.
When they arrived, they saw the Princesses of Heart standing there, waiting for them. "Are you okay?" Snow White asked.
"Somehow." Sora answered, "But the guy has vanished, now. He won't bring harm to you."
"That's good to hear." Alice stated.
"Well, we wish you the best of luck against Ansem." Jasmine told the group.
"We will accept it and use it to win." Philia responded.
"Take care of yourselves." Goofy told them, waving them goodbye, before the group of heroes raced off, heading back out of the castle.
As they made their way out, they stopped in the library, meeting up with Aerith, who gave them the rest of the pages within Ansem's journal, pages #2, #4, #6, and #10. Not only that, she also gave them a boost to their healing magic, upgrading their Cura to Curaga. Thanking her for that, and waving goodbye to Beast and Belle, they exited the castle, returning to the Gummi Ship.
When they returned to the ship, they sat in their seats, exhausted. "What an ordeal." Philia sighed, relaxing her body.
"That Heartless, and that mystery man took a lot out of us." Sora pointed out, his hands limping on the arms of his seat.
"Not to mention that weird guy before." Tink added.
"Oh, yeah. That Gilgamesh guy." Philia added, "I really hope he doesn't come back again. He was annoying."
"Considering how many times Hook fought Peter, I think you might be disappointed on the answer." Tink warned her, causing the treasure hunter to grimace.
"Hey, since we need time to rest up, how 'bout we look at all those Ansem Reports?" Goofy asked.
"Good thinking." Sora answered, pulling out the five pages, and placing them into the computer to be scanned, "We can at least figure out a little more about Ansem before we kick his butt." After a minute of scanning each page, they looked at the computer screen to read each one out.
Page 2:
It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:
-Extract the darkness from a person's heart.
-Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.
-Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.
The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.
Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?
"That's wrong!" Donald squawked angrily.
"He actually experimented on people, which caused them to turn to Heartless?!" Philia questioned.
"I guess Ansem really is horrible to do that." Sora summed up, "He was that close to the darkness, that he was causing people to lose their hearts."
"And looking at the third page that told about how he decided to call them Heartless, it just makes it worse." Jiminy added, looking at the page in question.
"Let's see what the fourth page has to say." Sora stated, going to the next page they scanned.
Page 4:
The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've proved them both living and nonloving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.
I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.
Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?
It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in peope's hearts?
The heroes finished reading and while they didn't say it, they could all envision the man they met that took over Riku tossing helpless people into a swarm of Heartless, only to become one of them, made them sick to their stomachs. Clearly, the respect they had for the man before meeting him was gone now. Without saying anything, they moved onto the next one.
Page 6
A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be teh ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observation of the Heartless.
The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too; the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt the immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.
The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?
"So he even observed the Heartless's goal to consume the heart of the world." Jiminy understood.
"And as a researcher, he didn't even attempt to stop them, did he?" Philia questioned, "Did he not think of what would happen if the Heartless succeeded?"
"I don't think he cared." Goofy responded.
"What about the next report?" Donald asked.
"I'm almost afraid to find out." Sora answered, pulling it up.
Page 10
Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart.
Yes, that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all-knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.
"That's...disturbing." Sora muttered, "He decided to let go of his body in order to enter the darkness?"
"So does that mean the Ansem we saw before was not the same Ansem before?" Philia asked, "He let go of his former self to seek out darkness. Basically, an Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, if a title were made for him."
"A man who gave up his original body to become one with darkness. That sounds about the right name for him." Jiminy agreed.
"He was that obsessed with darkness, he would willingly give himself up to seek it out?" Goofy questioned.
"He also went to find the Keyblade wielder and the Princesses of Heart, too." Donald noted.
"Guess he did find both of them, didn't he?" Goofy questioned.
"Yeah, but he lost both." Sora answered, "And now, we'll stop him from getting everything else."
"But I am now more curious about the last page." Philia noted, "Aerith gave us all of the other ones, but this one was dropped by the mystery man. Why did he even have one of these reports?"
"Let's see if the answer is in the report." Sora answered, pulling up the final page.
Page 13
Where does the body go when it separates from the heart? If the soul remains within the body, is it still considered to be deceased?
When the heart returns to the Heartless, the physical form disappears. But that is merely true in this world. Perhaps the body exists in another form in another world.
If that is the case, then it is possible for one to exist in two worlds.
A being that is neither darkness nor light; belonging nowhere; abandoned by its heart; a mere shell of its former self.
The relation between the heart and the body is complex. However, I am certain that if your self exists here, then by definition the other cannot truly 'exist'. The other, the one which does not exist, shall be dubbed.
'Nobody'.
The group looked in silence at the last word. Nobody. A being stripped of its heart. No longer 'existing' in a way, and yet still there. The last words of the mystery man left behind to them matched some of the words they read in the report.
"So...the man we fought was a Nobody?" Sora questioned.
"Based on everything here, it seems like it." Jiminy answered.
"Oh, I'm so confused." Goofy grimaced, massaging his head.
"What else is new?" Donald asked.
"But that still doesn't explain why the guy we fought had this report in the first place." Philia stated.
"Maybe he picked it up somewhere, learning about it?" Sora assumed.
"Maybe..." Philia answered, although another theory came to mind. Considering Ansem shed his body off to become part of the darkness, that meant he left his body behind while the Ansem they now know as the Seeker of Darkness is seeking out the same place the Heartless sought after. Could it mean that the Nobody they fought was really...
Suddenly, there was a puff of black smoke above their heads, causing them to jump in shock. They looked up to see the smoke dissipate to reveal a familiar-looking letter. "It's from Hades!" Sora recognized.
"Another tournament is happening at the Coliseum!" Donald realized as Sora opened it up and read it.
"But what about Ansem?" Goofy asked, "Shouldn't we get going to stop him?"
"That is true..." Philia admitted.
"But we should get ready to stop him, right?" Sora retorted, closing the letter, "That last fight already showed how tough things are gonna get. Might as well enter this tournament so we can get stronger, get new equipment, and prepare to fight him."
"Are you sure?" Philia asked, "Reminder that Riku is still controlled by Ansem."
"Yeah, I know..." Sora agreed, looking worried at first, before smiling as he finished, "But he is strong. I know he will hold out until we find him. That's why I want to do this."
Philia sighed before smiling and stating, "Ever the optimist. I hope you are right."
"Alright! Olympus Coliseum, here we come!" Sora declared, before gunning the Gummi Ship towards the direction of the world to face their next challenge; the Hades Cup.
Next time on Sword Art Kingdom Heart's Origin:
Hades Cup & Monstrous Heartless