Chapter Twenty: Support

It was strange. Naminé's greatest worry before talking about her past was about how things would change. If the people of Hollow Bastion would look at her any differently, even if Ventus would stand by her side. To decide to leave her out of the work. Whisper rumors about the empty witch of memories. Or just throw the two of them out and be done with them.

But a week later, she was relieved to find very little had changed. Merlin and Aerith still were amiable as ever, Even Cid was gruff as he worked on setting up the construction equipment, he was willing to answer her questions on what he needed for his work. It was more patience than he showed for Ventus and Yuffie. Leon was even willing to give a few quick pointers on handling her sword a little better.

And Yuffie? She was as reliable as ever during their missions into town. Working together with Ven's keyblade, they drove the heartless back district by district.

Though today, they seemed to be rather driven in keeping this particular warehouse, fighting tooth and nail, it was almost hard to keep track.

"Naminé! Behind you!"

Though friends helping out made it a lot easier.

Heeding Yuffie's warning, she jumped away from the sky soldier swooping at her. With a steady swing that was slowly becoming familiar, she delivered a slash at her enemy's wings. The flying heartless tumbled to the ground, and with a few more slashes, evaporated, releasing its heart.

The swarm of bookmasters up above were unamused, and pages turned conjure fireballs to rain down on the three. Holding the sword with both hands as Leon instructed her, she blocked the magic coming her way. But as the magic continued to rain down, she winced. Her defense left her unable to use the cards and magic she preferred. She could either wait for a break in the assault…

"Over here!"

Or Ventus could leap in and start bashing the heartless horde. His power already worked up to a Fever Pitch he leaped from wizard to wizard, his new keyblade carving up the shadows above them.

Oddly enough, it seemed Ven was the one most changed by sharing their stories. Though that was probably due more to his own than Naminé's. He seemed to have more focus, not being so torn on all of the monsters of his past. But he still was a good friend, watching her draw, talking about some of the places he had been on his journey. As the last heartless vanished, and he nodded at her with a smile, she was glad that their relationship hadn't changed too much.

With the air situation under control, she looked over the group of shadows, soldiers, and defenders closing in. Yuffie had begun to toss her shuriken into the group. Naminé began to reach for her more familiar power. With the flip of a card, a figment began to slice away at the approaching heartless.

But as the small soldier fell, it seemed only as if a new heartless jumped in to take its place. She pondered if the card for Leviathan she had on hand would be the better way to handle the group. Powerful to be sure, but she was hesitant to flood the already weakened building so soon after the town had been mostly drained.

She looked to the defenders, trying to keep track of the heavy hitters of the group. But to Naminé's surprise, they seemed to be moving away. Why? Why did they seem more interested in the column in the middle? A few shadows seemed to be just gnawing at it.

But then they began to bash their monstrous shields into the warehouse support, and she knew exactly what they were interested in.

"They're going to bring the ceiling down on us!" Naminé called out as she began to throw out an ice ball to attack the defenders. Yuffie caught her blade, then hurled it over to the larger heartless. With their attacks two of the three defenders at the column fell, leaving one whittling away at the creaking support. Ventus landed to the ground and took aim, and though the thunderstorm of magic hit a few of the crowd of heartless in front of them, most of them managed to strike the last one that threatened to break the support beam.

Ventus watched as the rusted steel beam creaked, asking, "Did we stop them?

Then it began to buckle.

"RUN!" Yuffie cried as the trio headed to the warehouse door. They sliced away at the horde before them. With shuriken, blade, figment, or keyblade, it didn't matter. They could hear the sound of the roof collapsing above as they reached the door. Throwing as much strength as they could against it, their exit burst open. Ventus, Naminé, and Yuffie kept on running from the debris as the heartless hive collapsed.

With the keyblade's power nearby, the damage was lethal to the monsters inside, as the mass of floating hearts above could attest.

Naminé sighed as she caught her breath, "We managed to win, but I really hope there wasn't anything important there."

Yuffie chuckled as she holstered her weapons, "It's been underwater for about Ten years. The only thing that was important was the heartless hiding down here."

"Then I'd say we took care of things," Ventus nodded as he dismissed his keyblade. He turned to Naminé with a smile, "You're getting better with that sword."

She studied the blade in her hand, "You think so?" Though the weapon had become a bit more comfortable in her grasp, she still preferred the magic her cards provided.

Ven smiled as he walked up to her, "Well, you were able to take down some heartless, and were able to help cut a path out! That's pretty good!"

"Definitely not bad at all," Yuffie remarked as she looked to the castle under construction, "Cid'll be glad to hear we've cleared out this district at least."

Naminé nodded as she put away her sword, "Shall we head back?"

Ven stretched as they began to walk through the town, "Can't think of anything left to do here. So that works for me."

"And besides, it's good to see how everything's come along in a week." Though their current position in the outskirts hardly seemed to indicate anything. But as they approached the castle it was much more obvious. The main concern Cid had with restoration was that they could only corral the heartless away from where they worked, a process that took time and a lot of planning.

But with Ventus' keyblade able to defeat the heartless permanently, the slow influx of refugees returning home had an easier time working on the town. With workers not needing to watch their back against heartless returning, houses and shops were being rebuilt. Even the castle was slowly beginning to shed the warped machinery Maleficent had grafted onto it.

Of course, the process of slowly anchoring it back to the ground safely meant that they still needed to use the lift platforms, precarious as they were. Though as soon as they reached the walkway leading to the castle, Cid was running down towards them, panic in his eyes. But seeing the trio safe released the tension in his body as he muttered, "Saw the warehouse collapse from up here. Kinda worried that you'd bought the farm with that one."

"Well, the heartless got a bit crafty, but we made it out in time," Yuffie began to grin before her confidence wavered, "Just...don't ask for anything important that used to be there."

"But with that taken care of you've got a clear shot to the fort, right?" Ventus pointed to the edge of town, where the largest building in town still stood, "We should be able to find something important there, right?"

"Maybe," Cid scratched his chin, "Our records say that used to be where the castle researchers did experiments. I wouldn't be surprised if Ansem did something to your friends when they got here a long time ago."

Ventus seemed puzzled at the name, so Naminé explained, "The former king of this world. He performed experiments on people's hearts which made the heartless. In doing so he became one himself."

He grimaced as he crossed his arms, "He sounds like Xehanort. Just diving deeper into the depths of darkness just for power."

"Unearthing that can of worms might take a while," Cid jerked a thumb into the castle, "In the meantime, the old wizard wants to see you regarding keyblade stuff. Things on other worlds."

She looked to Ven, and they both nodded at each other. They raced up the stairs…

"Wha—Hey!"

Before stopping at Yuffie's voice. Turning around, they saw Cid holding her by the shoulder, scolding, "And you ought to be getting back to helping the rest of us out. We can't have you gallivanting off with them."

"And how does helping them help us equal wasting time?" Yuffie pulled back from Cid's grip and huffed, "I mean, isn't fighting to clear the town a pretty big contribution?"

"Honestly, she's been a great help in our missions so far," Naminé spoke up, "I'd prefer if she came along to help."

"Yeah! Besides, Sora had help on his journey, right?" Ventus continued as he spoke on Yuffie's behalf, "We could use some too." Cid crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he thought things over.

Yuffie coughed causing Cid to turn to her, "And might I add, I am the only person besides you who knows how to fly your ship."

This got Cid looking at Yuffie very intensely. But finally, he groaned and stepped aside, "I'm going to regret letting you do this, I just know it."

Yuffie grinned and raced up to Ventus and Naminé, "Alright! What are we waiting for?" And continued past them up to the castle.

Ventus and Naminé did their best to keep up, but Yuffie's practiced athletics let her beat the two to the library handily. By the time they caught up to her and reached Merlin, Yuffie was already pestering him with questions, "So, who are we fighting? Maleficent? Pete? That Xehanort guy?"

Merlin, simply chuckled and reached into his pocket, "Yuffie, though I appreciate the enthusiasm, this message is not intended for you." Holding a letter, he handed the parchment over to Ventus, "I believe you know the sender."

He and Naminé looked at the envelope, addressed to them. Their rooms in the castle clearly marked down.

And the name on the return address was Yen Sid.

Slowly, they opened the letter and read,

Ventus. Naminé,

Merlin has updated me on your journey, as well as Maleficent's survival. While this and her continued operations is regrettable, I am certain we will be able to thwart her plans, whether or not they involve the χ-Blade.

Thanks to your warning, we have been able to find a refuge for most of the princesses of heart. In the meantime, continue your search in Hollow Bastion for any clues as to Terra and Aqua's whereabouts. If you are so inclined however, Merlin has a few matters requiring the assistance of a keyblade wielder.

Regards,

Yen Sid

P.S. From Merlin's reports of Naminé's character, I believe she can be trusted. Though I would advise you in the future to be more mindful of where you discuss private matters regarding her nature.

A bit further from my office, perhaps?

As the two blanched at the post script. Merline raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Forget to mention something to him?"

Naminé cleared her throat, "We...mentioned the Organization and how it's made up of Nobodies." Looking away sheepishly she admitted, "We didn't really mention in front of him that I was a Nobody too."

Yuffie winced, "Yeah, I could see how that might be awkward."

Ventus relaxed at the accepting sentiment before realizing something, "Most of them? Did something happen to one of them already?"

Merlin stroked his beard as he recalled, "The story is a little unclear, but it seems one of them vanished in search of her friends." He shook his head, "But I have a feeling she'll turn up somehow. More to the matters that I'm concerned about, one is my colleague. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. She said that, although the princess is safe with the others, there is a rather powerful heartless wandering the world."

Ven's eyes lit up in recognition, "The Castle of Dreams? What else?"

Merlin reached for a book next to him and began turning pages, "The other is an artifact in a world known as the Dwarf Woodlands." Eventually he came to a stop, showing "A mirror that has vision beyond any other. It was taken by the ruling queen and lost with her in the realm of darkness. But if the worlds have been restored, it may have returned. And I'm certain Maleficent will seek it out."

"Which means she could find the princesses," Naminé realized.

"So we'll go get that mirror first, then stop and see in Cinderella's world." Ven nodded and turned to the door.

Yuffie ran up besides the two, "Hey, you think we'll see that blonde haired kid again?"

At this, Ven's brow furrowed, "I wouldn't be surprised."

And unbeknownst to all, shades of nothing vanished from their perches outside with the news of their target's plans.

"Can you remember the last time the Organization had to run combat training for one of us?"

Axel shrugged at Larxene's question, "Well, that was probably when a new member of our group showed up."

Of course, human nobodies were rare enough. Still, she rolled her eyes, "I imagine a few members could stand to go through a few more rounds." Demyx immediately leapt to mind. The frustratingly inept musician always flitted between laziness and half baked competence. What she wouldn't give to have him make up his mind for good.

Axel watched the battle below, between Roxas and the captured heartless they had on hand overseen by Erxart. He crossed his arms, "You have to admit, Erxart's really helped Roxas iron out some of his hiccups."

"I dunno, those were some hiccups." But despite the quip, she had to admit Erxart's training of the runt was working out well. Watching him leap from target to target, each heartless crumbling to the Thunder Bolt Roxas unleashed. It wasn't half bad.

It wasn't anywhere as good as she was, but for a jack of all trades that the keyblade lent itself towards, it was certainly acceptable. Maybe sometime, she ought to get a round in with the teacher. Figure out what made him tick. See if he was in any way more interesting than the rest of the Organization.

On the training ground below, Erxart called out, "Excellent, now focus on the foes above!"

Taking his keyblade and aiming at the wizards above, Roxas began to float. Then in a flash, he began a photon charge between the creatures, shredding them into pieces.

Not half bad at all.

"Your training of Roxas is proceeding well." Speaking of which, Xemnas himself came forward. Not surprising, since the Superior had asked for Erxart to train him in what he knew about the keyblade.

Erxart just nodded and answered, "Yes, I've helped him to grasp some of the more nuanced techniques. Some, commands, styles, shotlocks."

Xemnas looked over to the boy, "Indeed, his progress has been most remarkable."

Erxart cleared his throat as he walked forward, "Though I believe it might be prudent to make sure he gets some experience…"

Wait…

Larxene tuned out the conversation between Xemnas and Erxart. As the sight of the two together made her think. At first she brushed the strangeness she got seeing Erxart off. Figuring it was something to do with just seeing a new face in the organization. But seeing his face next to Xemnas...It was so strange, their faces were...almost…

No.

They were identical.

And as Xemnas finished whatever speech he needed to make, she then realized what clue she could give Ventus and Naminé. All she needed to do was look for an opportunity for them to meet Erxart.

A swirl of nothingness. Her Ninja, and Axel's assassin with a report. On whispered shades, she could hear it.

The free keybearer departs to intercept Maleficent in the Dwarf Woodlands.

"Now...currently, there are no pressing matters that require attention." The superior began to look up at the few nobodies that had gathered to watch, "Unless anyone present knows of important intelligence."

Perfect.

Larxene leaned forward from the balcony and called out, "Why as a matter of fact I do."

Axel raised his eyebrow as he turned from his assassin, "What do you think you're doing?"

She gave him a smile, "Just making sure our keyblade wielders get some hands-on experience."