Chapter Twenty Six: Protect

Who am I?

"Who is she?"

What am I here for?

"A new recruit?"

Where am I?

She tried to focus, open her eyes. Everything was so blurry and blue, but there were two shapes in sight. She heard a voice, barely enough to make it out. "She will not...Though darkness anchors...light holds too much...though given time."

One shape moved closer, and she could see a face, silver-white hair and yellow eyes. "Well either way it looks like Vexen's work was successful." They groaned and rolled their eyes. "Don't tell me I need to train her."

The other shape moved forward, a yellowish green eye visible from under grey bangs. "That is not necessary Exon. You shall go to the basement and begin to secure our friend."

Exon moved away and something darker appeared further out of sight. "Zexion, do I need to carry—?"

"Yes. Now go." At the other figure's prompting, Exon moved towards that darkness. A darkness that

...she was afraid of?

Her fear was cut short as there was a hiss and rush of water, and the blue around her began to descend.

No...it drained, and with that she could see far easier in her tube. The whole room was white. With the exception of grey and silver machines with lights. And Zexion in front of her in black. She asked him the same question that had haunted her until she was.

"Who am I?" Looking down at herself, clothed in white and purple, bracelets on her wrists. Her hands in front of her flexed as she got used to them. "What am I here for?"

"Your name is Xion."

Xion nodded at Zexion's words. Yes, that seemed right.

"You will meet a boy named Sora. He will call you Kairi. You understand this?"

Of course. It made sense to her. "Sora will call me Kairi."

He held up a finger to her, emphasizing his commands as he continued, "You are to follow him. Let him keep you safe. Do not tell him your true name."

Xion nodded. But then began to wonder, "What do I do?"

Zexion simply smiled, and began to help her off the tube. "You don't need to think about it. We will deal with everything."

But...

"Why?" Why wouldn't she think about it? But even as Xion asked her question, Zexion began to lead her through hallways upon hallways. All of them the same marble white. Every attempt for her to ask for something more was ignored by Zexion. "Please...just tell me! What am I here for."

Zexion stopped finally as they came to a stairway down to an open set of double doors. "You'll know soon enough." Pushing them open, he shoved her down the steps towards the room. She spun around to see him thumbing through a book as the passageway sealed behind her. Frantically she ran to the doors, banging on them to try and get them to open again.

But then she heard a voice behind her and she stopped.

"Kairi?! KAIRI!"

Sora sighed as he closed the door behind him to the illusion of the 100 Acre Wood. He had dreaded having to walk through a forest where Pooh and his friends were afraid of him. But instead what he found was almost worse. Nobody was there. Absolutely no-one. Just empty houses and belongings. Was it getting worse? Was he truly losing all the friends he made the further he went?

"Sora…" Goofy fidgeted as they climbed up the stairs. "You sure you don't wanna go back?"

It was tempting, and some part of him was screaming at him that he should have left this castle alone to begin with. But he sadly shook his head. "No, if Riku's here, he might have some idea of where King Mickey is."

"If that's even Riku!" Donald snapped as he jogged ahead and stood in front of them to block the way. "This whole castle makes illusions of places we've been, remember? That might not be Riku at all!"

Sora grimaced before answering back, "But if it is and I just left him…" At his answer Donald deflated and moved aside to could never forgive himself if that was true. As hollow as they were, Riku's accusations of being left behind stung. Even the idea that he'd leave his friends to suffer while he explored was something that turned his stomach to ice. Not to mention, without a ship they had no other leads to finding their friends. All they could do was climb Castle Oblivion, floor after floor. Door after door.

But as the three of them arrived at another sanctuary, they stopped as they saw who was banging her fists on the door ahead of them. "Kairi?!" Sora gasped as she saw her, and then ran to her in a panic. "KAIRI!"

"How'd you get all the way over here!"

"Shouldn't you be home?"

But even as she turned to look at him with Donald and Goofy's cries, Kairi still backed away from Sora towards the closed door with wide eyes. "You...Who…"

Her confusion brought him to halt as that dread stabbed itself into his heart. "It's...it's me. Sora." He tried to reach out, hoping she would remember something. Anything. But as she looked him over without recognition, horror began to come over him. "You...don't know me...do you?"

Kairi was quiet but at his question, she slowly nodded. "I...I know you'll protect me."

It was small, but it was enough for Sora to hold on. Clutching the lucky charm in his pocket, he nodded. "Yeah. We're going to be home together one day." Sora did his best to smile. If nothing else, he could give her that. "Just like I promised."

"Thank you." While it wasn't quite as wide as his, Kairi's smile as she spoke helped to soothe his pained heart. If only by a little.

Goofy put a hand on his shoulder, "Sora, ya sure you're gonna be alright?"

Sora began to fish in his pockets for the world card. "I'll be fine."

"It's just…" He looked over to Donald, who seemed to be bothered by something. But he just sighed and shaked his head. "Nevermind."

"I don't know. This whole thing just doesn't seem right." Jiminy Cricket peeked out from Sora's hood, concern clear on his face. "The four of us seem to be the only ones who aren't being really affected by this magic. We still care about the friends we know and each other."

Sora shook his head as he found the world card in his pocket. "Either way, we don't have a choice." There was only one card left. One more memory on this journey. Hollow Bastion. He held it up high and the door began to open.

Sora could only hope that helping Kairi through this world would be enough.

DiZ watched the replica follow Sora into the illusion. The Darkness within the boy was teeming within him. He had hoped his companions would see it and say something. But now, still the boy continued on, blind to the Organization's machinations.

Though to be fair, DiZ also failed to grasp the sheer scope of the plan his apprentice had in mind.

The first indication something was wrong was when the nobody of Ienzo had begun to control their operations in the castle. The boy was more content to work as a more secondary resource when he was alive, and although his nobody had become more assertive he was not the type to challenge authority on his own. Much less seize it. Yet as the plan to use illusions to manipulate Sora proceeded, Zexion commanded the group as if it was nothing.

But it was the replica of Riku that made him realize worse things were afoot. The confrontation with Sora had sent it spiraling into a mental collapse, hardly able to be controlled with the minimal instruction the Organization gave it. When Zexion took aside to take care of it, DiZ assumed he would dispose of the replica now that it's purpose had been served. But instead the replica was given a heart dripping with darkness, and immediately it was calmed.

From that day on, the newly dubbed Exon worked with Zexion in concert. He rarely left Zexion's side without his permission. But that which truly unnerved him was how they almost seemed to know each other now. As if they had truly been connected by something else. Or if they simply had everything in common. But DiZ would have to be blind not to notice how their eyes changed color. While Zexion's had been gradually shifting, the change was almost immediate for Exon.

And just how much their language was so similar to that of an old apprentice.

Which raised a possibility that chilled DiZ to the bone. One he needed to confirm observing Exon's errand. He turned his gaze to Riku traversing the castle and coming to the room leading to the next floor. The boy stopped as he heard a voice call out to him, "So you're the one that this body was based on."

Riku gasped as the replica appeared to him for the first time. The vision of himself in the dark suit caused Riku to take a step back as Exon approached him. "Who are you? Why do you look like me?"

"Looks are all we have in common." The replica smirked as yellow eyes met light blue. "I am Exon, and unlike you I don't fear the dark. The darkness gives me purpose. It gives me clarity."

DiZ felt his gut sink at that word. Clarity. At the height of Xehanort's experiments before he had ordered him to stop, he claimed the darkness provided clarity to the heart's inner workings.

Riku on his part was enraged at the comparison. "Purpose?! You keep following the darkness and it will destroy you!"

Exon simply shook his head and crossed his arms. "Only when it is resisted. So long as the light within you struggles against the dark, it will cause you pain." He then stretched out and summoned a mote of shadow in an outstretched palm. "But when one truly understands that power, they are invincible." Riku narrowed his eyes at the display and readied himself to fight, at this Exon sighed and snuffed out the darkness by closing his fist. "But if the darkness is such a burden to you. It might as well be taken from you."

Riku flinched at the threat. He took a step forward demanding answers, "What do you mean?" However, Exon had already begun to summon a dark portal away. "Hey! Wait!"

"Make it through this floor, and you'll get one last chance to keep your power." With that threat, the replica vanished into darkness. To his credit, Riku was quick to recover from the intimidation, pulling out yet another world card.

DiZ however, had a mind mired in thoughts over the exchange. If they planned to take Riku's darkness, then clearly the empty replica would need to serve as a vessel. But to what end? To simply transfer him over to Sora as he fell to darkness? Would the dark seeker even cooperate with these nobodies? Even the original body he had spawned from? And why would they need him now, if they could already produce functional duplicates of Xehanort in other empty things?

He shook his head. That mattered little right now, what was clear was that both Riku and Sora were being led into traps. And if he was to waylay either of those plans, he needed to act now. Focusing on his power, DiZ called his old friend to the castle. The dark portal would bring Mickey close to Riku. Though he could not say if it would be enough to stop what was coming in its entirety, it should give Riku the chance to survive.

More importantly, it would give DiZ the opportunity to contact the one who could save Sora.

Kairi finished packing up her items. She could only hope she was closer to either Sora or Riku. Or just someone she could talk to that wasn't trying to fight her. Some sign of life in the empty memories of worlds that wasn't trying to kill her. And yet even as she fought, no matter how much she tried to ignore it, those words could never stop haunting her.

Her father.

Clenching her eyes shut, she got to her feet. Right now, she couldn't dive into that mystery even if she wanted to. Not when she was just trying to find Sora or Riku. All she could hope for now was that she wouldn't run into any more distractions. "I can't waste any more time."

"I could hardly agree more." The older voice of a man spoke from a dark corridor that had opened by the exit door. Kairi summoned her keyblade to her hands and readied herself. Out from the shadows walked a figure in red and black robes. With red bandages covering every inch of his face, save for the mouth and an orange eye.

Kairi held the keyblade tighter in her grip as he looked at her. "Are you another member of the organization?"

He shook his head, hands folded behind his back. "No. I am not one of their numbers. I am DiZ, the Darkness in Zero, and I am here to assist you."

Kairi raised an eyebrow, keyblade still in her hand. "I've had some very bad experiences with darkness."

For a moment, the man was quiet before looking to the side. "I have no doubt. I do not use the darkness by choice, but it nevertheless defines me." Turning back to Kairi, DiZ looked back at her and spoke, "I realize that there is little besides what I have already done for you that could earn your trust."

"What you've already done?" Kairi didn't quite understand what he was talking about at first. Brow furrowed as she tried to recall her journey through the castle. The only person she had even talked to besides the members of the Organization was..."Wait. Back when I first got here. There was a voice." She looked down at the weapon in her hands as it came together. "Your voice. You gave me this keyblade!"

DiZ shook his head with a closed eye. "It was always yours. If things were different, then I would be content with letting you go on your way to save your friends." He turned to the door ahead and raised a hand, darkness gathering in his fist. "But with what I know, I cannot hide idly any longer, lest we lose everything."

Kairi stepped forward, keyblade still at her side. "Lose everything? What do you mean? What are you doing with the door?"

DiZ continued on, the door frame glowing in shadow as well. "Recent events have forced my hand with regards to the Organization's plans for Sora. They have been preying on his fears. Cultivating the darkness within him with care. And I fear that plan is about to come to fruition."

Kairi's eyes widened as the horrifying possibility became clear. "They want to find a way to control him. Like with Riku and Ansem." Just thinking about losing him to something like that was was always someone who never hesitated to help, always willing to lend a hand when he could. Always knew the best way to help people smile. Not only that, he fought against the heartless and saved everyone.

He saved her.

For someone like him to just be smothered in darkness and turned into a cruel monster like Ansem? There was no way she'd let that happen. Not to Sora. He was…

Some part of her hesitated to think about him just as a best friend. Because after everything, her feelings towards Sora had become something more.

"Sora is one floor ahead." DiZ's voice cut through her concerns. "Fortunately, this one is empty, and the rest of the Organization is occupied. I can use my power to keep the path clear for you to catch up."

"Thank you!" Kairi barely looked back at DiZ as she wrenched the doors open. She ran through the 100 Acre Wood faster than she'd even run in her life. All the fears clawing away at her were forgotten with adrenaline. No matter what trouble Sora was in, or how far Riku had fallen, she'd find a way to bring them back to Destiny Islands again.

It just wouldn't be home without them.

"Woah! Watch it, kid!"

"Sorry!" Ven shouted back to an upset Cid. But right now, he didn't have time to wait. Not while the dream was still fresh enough in his mind. The first thing he did as he woke up was throw on some clothes and run to find the other person in his dream. He'd heard old stories about how hearts were connected, even in sleep. Even though he'd never seen it for himself, and nobody back in the land of departure talked about it.

Okay, it was a long shot, but the only one he had. He just had to figure out where…

"Hey! Slow down!"

There! At the sound of Yuffie's voice he took a left instead of a right down the hall. And sure enough, he saw an out of breath Naminé coming to a halt with Yuffie beside her. Seeing her in a similar state gave him hope, so Ventus asked in between gasps for air, "Naminé...last night...did you have a dream of—?"

"…a woman? ...with blue hair...in a dark world?"

His eyes went wide at Naminé's answer. "Aqua...She's alive." He grinned at finally having some semblance of a clue to where she was. "I don't know where, but somehow she's alive!"

Only for Yuffie to step in between the two of them, her arms on both of their shoulders. "Hey, I get that you're glad on finding something, but I think you might be jumping ahead several steps here. Especially when you're just running wild off of a few dreams."

"Actually, it's not as bad of an idea as you think." The three of them turned to Merlin who had happened on the trio. With a smile he adjusted his glasses. "In fact, The Castle of Dreams is home to someone who specializes in such dreams."

Ventus turned to Yuffie with a triumphant grin, while Naminé seemed almost smug in her satisfaction. Yuffie just rolled her eyes with a smile and let go of Ventus and Naminé."Well, okay. But could we start with the thing that happened last night with your memories?"

Only for the growl of Ventus' stomach to interrupt that thought.

"After breakfast?"