Chapter Thirteen: A Glimpse of the Truth

-New Ability-
Roy – Chaos Form: An unstable form that renders Roy berserk. Despite the uncontrollability of the form, it is immensely powerful; even more so than Roy's True Form. Unfortunately, Roy loses his speed and agility boost in this form. The Phoenix Sword is also unusable in this form; due to the lack of restraint, the special blade cannot maintain integrated.

"What?" I gasped as I found myself back on our Gummi Ship's bridge.

"There you are! What happened to you, Roy? You just up and disappeared!" Amy asked me… sort of.

"Well… I…" I began. "It's… nothing. It's nothing," I told her.

"It's not nothing, Roy! You look exhausted!" Jason shouted. "What happened?"

"Well… I… I was a pirate," I told them. "A lot of stuff happened in Port Royal, and…"

"Wait. YOU got to be a PIRATE? That's my lifelong dream!" Jason said. "Why, oh why, couldn't it have been me?" he complained.

"Hey, it's not like I asked for it. Besides, being a pirate is no fun…" I muttered. "Anyways, what happened to you guys?"

"We went to Agrabah. Nothing like a day in the desert to rekindle your spirit!" Amy remarked.

"Yeah, Aladdin had some problems with his dad. We helped him sort them out," Jason said.

"Well, how are Sora and Riku? Are they doing alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, they're fine, I suppose. But something's… different… about Sora. I can't place my finger on it… but he's… darker, somehow," Amy said.

I figured as much, I thought. Without Kairi, his light…

"Well, we found these papers in a tomb on our way. They look important, but are as cryptic and faded as those papers you found," she told me.

"They mention the basement of Hollow Bastion. And maybe Xehanort's Heartless machine," Jason told me.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said.

"Yes, sir!" Amy and Jason said simultaneously. I wasn't sure if they were joking or being serious. Either way, they hopped into chairs and punched in the coordinates, sending us straight toward the Radiant Garden.

We landed in the market square. I began walking, but Jason and Amy were hesitant.

"What are you waiting for, guys? Let's go!" I said.

"Um… shouldn't we wait for Sora and Riku?" Jason asked.

"Why? It's not like we can't handle ourselves!" I said, hitting my chest as a show of confidence.

"I guess you've got a point. Let's go," Amy resigned.

We restarted our walk together. Going past the grand castle, we walked toward the ruined castle beyond the Dark Depths. We walked up to the cliff, taking in the sight. It was in a shambles, falling apart at the seams. Several of the towers had crumbled and fallen.

"Well… let's go," I said, hopping off the cliff. I landed on the slope below, sliding across it to reach the bottom. Amy and Jason followed closely. We then ran up to the cliff surrounding the plateau. I used the wrapping on my Zangetsu to repeatedly spear the cliff, scaling it. My friends did the best they could without something to help, and made it up a couple minutes later.

"What took you so long?" I asked them playfully.

"You're… terrible…" Amy panted. I laughed a couple of times, then went off. They followed. The wind blew my coat back as I walked up to one of the fallen towers. I squeezed in through a crack. The inside was pitch black, and I felt something long forgotten stirring in myself…

After my eyes had adjusted, I looked around some more. The glint of light streaming through helped, as well. I saw I was able to walk along the sides of the fallen tower, and wouldn't have a difficult time moving through it. I moved aside so Jason and Amy could get through.

"Man, that's a tight squeeze!" Jason complained.

"Are you never happy?" Amy asked him.

We began the trek down into the ruins. Fighting past almost constant hordes of Heartless, we made our way into the depths of the ruins. The further down we went, the amount of Heartless increased, as well as their strength. Soon we were surrounded by a seemingly limitless amount of Heartless.

"Why does it seem we always get ourselves into these predicaments?" Jason complained.

"How should I know? Maybe it's fate," Amy answered.

"No time for that!" I shouted, slashing at the Heartless with my still-drawn Zangetsu.

We then began a desperate bid to fight off the Heartless. In a long, drawn-out battle, we fought them, but there seemed no end to their numbers. But then there was a light…

"There you are! What happened to you guys?" Sora asked. He had appeared with Riku in that flash of light, which had banished all the Heartless. The duo had summoned their Keyblades.

"Ah, nothin'. We were just following the papers," I said. "Yet another mysterious report leads us on…" I muttered.

"Why didn't you wait for us?" Sora asked.

"No reason. Just felt like doin' this ourselves," I told him.

"Next time, wait," he said. I heard a tone of force in his voice… that was uncharacteristic of him… We then continued the trek down into the dark abyss. After going deep into the ruin, we found a sideways door.

"We all know what's behind that door. Let's go together," Riku said. Amy, Riku and Jason went ahead. I stayed behind to say something to Sora.

"Sora… wait a moment," I said.

"What?" he asked, sounding a little exasperated.

"Don't lose what's most important to you," I told him.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Think about it," I said, going into the room. I walked in, looking at the dimly lit room. The Heartless machine therein was continually making Heartless; within seconds of stepping into the room, we slew a Heartless.

"So, how do we shut this thing down? If it stays on, Heartless will never stop spawning from it," Jason remarked.

"Simple. We bust it up!" I shouted, taking my blades to the glass chambers. They shattered with ease.

"Roy! Stop being so reckless!" Amy shouted. I barely heard her yells over the shattering of glass. After only a few moments, the machine was broken beyond repair.

"Ha HA! Now it'll just make formless darkness!" I exclaimed.

"You reckless idiot! What was that all about!" Jason yelled at me.

"Does it matter? It's destroyed! Now…" I began… but then I heard something. It was like footsteps in the hallway.

"Roy? What are you…" someone began, but I ignored them. I went out into the hall, and looked down into the darkness. I saw something there… it felt like my head was about to split open… There was a woman there… wearing a purple cape… or was it black? It was flashing, yet both colors at the same time…

I screamed at the pain in my head. I couldn't keep it together… I felt myself fading, then I passed out… I think.

You'll know the truth. I promise you that.

When I came to, I was still immersed in the darkness. Although I was propped up against a wall, my head was still pounding. I stood up and went one way. Reaching the end of the dark tunnel, I found the warm sunlight, where my friends stood. I walked into the light.

"Roy, are you okay? You just fainted all of a sudden," Amy asked.

"I'm… fine, thanks for your concern," I said.

"I had some… problems, as well," Sora told me.

"Let's not worry about it for now. We have other things to worry about," I said.

"What are you searching for?" Riku asked us.

"A way home," I said in a dignified manner. In reality, I was searching for something else, as well; the truth about myself. "What are you searching for?"

"Kairi," Sora said.

"Well, let's look together. How about it?" I asked.

"Fine. But only until we find Kairi," Sora agreed.

"It's a deal!" I yelled, giving Sora a high five. We then beamed back up to our respective Gummi Ships.

I pondered the truth about myself as Jason and Amy looked for another world. What am I? I'm no normal human… but I'm not a Nobody, Heartless, or Luce either. I have the exact same Keyblade as Jason, because of what I did. What does that mean?