Yay! Another fast chapter out and done! This one is sorta short and sorta by the books, but necessary for foreshadowing and some plot development, so I'll let it slide. Anyway, I don't have a ton else to say about it other than enjoy! Let's get started!


Chapter 9: At Dusk

You must be kidding me,
Did you really think
I could say no?

"I wanted to meet you… at least once."

Something had called him here, a voice he doesn't know nor does he understand. Still, here he stands in solemn silence before the old mansion, a place known infamous for the countless legends and myths surrounding it. But those things couldn't be further from his mind as he gazes up at it now, awash in growing confusion, dread, perhaps even frustration as he desperately tries to reach out for answers he can never seem to grasp. It's like everything he thought he ever knew is steadily, rapidly crumbling apart at the seams all around him, the foundation he thought he should be standing on shattering apart piece by piece. His very life becoming less his own… and more someone else's entirely.

And yet… that turbulent tide slowly starts to calm the moment he catches sight of her. Her simple white dress and slight frame almost blends into the spotless curtains she stands in front of, a hand pressed against the glass window as she stares down at him from above. In many ways, she's almost like one of the ghosts rumored to be inhabiting the dusty halls of the otherwise abandoned mansion, but he knows better. He knows that she's real, at least as real as he is anyway, he'd seen her face, heard her voice, felt the connection between them that he can't explain. A connection that can't be broken, no matter what chains of memory come undone.

"Roxas…" she mouths his name from beyond the glass, or at least he thinks it's his. For all he knows, it could be someone else's name altogether. And by all accounts, it probably is.

"Naminé…?"

Naminé…

"Thank Naminé…" Sora whispers to himself as he slowly slips out of yet another one of Roxas' memories. In a sense, it's like waking up from a distant, yet nostalgic dream, blurring the fine line between memory and reality just as much as his own image tends to blur between himself and his Nobody. Though he's largely grown accustomed to this nearly constant flux in and out of a past that isn't even his, Sora can't deny that it still feels rather disorienting, perhaps even a bit deceptive. For as he steals another glance up at the window of the stately, yet silent mansion before them, he finds that, unlike what Roxas' memories had shown him, Naminé is—unsurprisingly but still disappointingly—nowhere to be found.

"Did ya say somethin', Sora?" Goofy asks, glancing back at him.

"Hm?" Sora shakes his head, finally fully grounding himself back into the present. "Uh… no. I was just… um…" He trails off, finding himself at an odd loss for words. Something that's been happening more often than usual, he realizes.

"Did you see another one of Roxas' memories?" Donald infers.

"Y-yeah!" Sora nods, relieved that he doesn't have to lie this time. "Well… at least that's what it was this time…" he mutters to himself, briefly recalling the ominous voices that had pulled against his heart mere moments ago.

"What do you mean this time?" Donald asks, aptly suspicious upon overhearing this.

"Oh, uh, nothing!" Sora says, forcing a calm laugh to allay his confused companions before quickly changing the subject back to the mansion before them. "So… what do you think, guys? This place is even creepier than the last time we were here."

"Well, they do say this mansion is haunted…" Goofy notes as Donald cringes in fear at the very thought.

"Haunted, huh…?" Sora repeats, largely in thought as he looks up to the window once more. He's hardly superstitious in light of everything he's seen and experienced, but as he thinks back to those sinister voices and the frightening effect they'd had on him, he can't help but wonder if those ghostly rumors might hold some merit after all.

In the dense silence filling the almost gloomy area, the trio is more than a bit on edge. But their tense nerves finally reach a breaking point when something happens to lightly skim Sora's shoulders. He nearly summons his Keyblade, Donald and Goofy loudly panicking alongside him as they quickly spin around, only to find an equally startled Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing behind them.

"Yeesh…" Sora huffs, suppressing a sigh of relief at seeing the trio of familiar faces as opposed to the alternative. "Thanks for the heart attack!"

"Oh what?" Hayner smirks. "Did we scare you guys?"

"Not a chance!" Donald retorts, shaking his fist.

"Our bad," Olette chuckles, amused. "We'll try to give you more of a heads up next time."

"So, how'd it go?" Sora asks the trio curiously. "Did you get any leads?"

Their otherwise playful manner falls into disappointment at this as they shake their heads. "Nope, 'fraid not," Pence admits, frowning. "The asking around town thing was a total bust. Nobody knew a thing about anyone named Roxas."

"So it looks like this old mansion is our only hope," Hayner affirms, looking to the mansion. The others do the same, each of them carrying the same resolve that the answers they're looking for could be held somewhere inside.

"You guys ready?" Olette asks, eager to continue their search.

"Another Twilight Town awaits!" Pence chimes in boldly.

"Yeah, let's go," Sora readily agreed, already taking the first steps towards the mansion. A small burst of warmth fills his heart as he did, warmth that unmistakably comes from Roxas himself. Almost as if he somehow knows just how far they're all willing to go to find a way to bring him back, to bring him home. And that warmth, that feeling of bright, expanding hope shared between Nobody and other alike, is what prompts Sora onward further still, determined to do nothing less than exactly that.


Since they already know exactly where they're going, the group doesn't waste much time checking the mansion's other dust-laden rooms. Instead, they all make a beeline for the basement, its clean metallic walls a far cry from the rest of the structure's dilapidated state. Now bereft of its original purpose, the computer room is also just as quiet as the rest of the abandoned building, save for the occasional idle beep and blip from the several-screened machine tucked securely inside it. A machine that, at least as far as any of them knows, is just about their only resort to finding their first and possibly only clues to helping Roxas.

"Here we go!" Pence exclaims, rushing to the computer the moment he sees it. Since the others know this is his area of expertise, they all congregate around him as he takes charge in operating the complex machine. "The password was… uh… 'sea-salt ice cream', right?" He taps the phrase in, which, just as it had before, grants them access to whatever data the computer has to offer. "Ok, I'm in. Now let's get that transporter working…"

Opening up the transporter that leads to the alternate Twilight Town should be every bit as easy as it had been when they'd needed it before. But of course, this time, it isn't as simple; the computer suddenly flashes red, sounding a blaring warning alarm the moment Pence so much as tries to access the digital Twilight Town. "Oh man…" he frowns as the computer's main screen is overtaken by an error message. "The transporter's been protected…."

"Protected from what?" Sora asks, confused as he always is when it comes to essentially any type of advanced tech.

"I guess from us?" Pence ventures a guess. "We can't use it to get to the other Twilight Town."

"Why not?" Hayner cuts in, annoyed by this sudden roadblock. "It worked before! We sent Sora there!"

"Well, that was then and this is now," Pence shrugs.

"And… there's no other way?" Olette asks, frowning.

"…None that I know of…" Pence admits, tapping a few more keys on the computer, though to no avail. A sigh of shared disappointment rises up from the others, all of them equally dejected by the thought that they might've come all this way only to leave with nothing to show for it. They're just about ready to turn around and head back to town, until a loud, cheery tune suddenly chimes out throughout the room, catching everyone off guard.

"What's that?" Donald asks, glancing around for the source of the sound.

"It's the Gummiphone!" Jiminy pipes up as he hops onto Sora's shoulder. "Looks like someone's tryin' to give you a call, Sora. You'd better answer it."

"Oh, uh… ok?" Sora pulls the device out of his pocket, fumbling with it for a moment or two before he manages to figure out how to answer it. When he does, the face that appears on its small screen is one that none of them recognize, not even Sora, who the lab-coat clad young man greets cordially.

"Oh! Hello, Sora!" the stranger says, not catching the mutually confused glance Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchange. "Interesting… I wasn't expecting the phone my terminal picked up on to be yours, but since I was planning on giving you a call soon anyway, it really is rather fortuitous!"

"Um… do I know you?" Sora asks, raising a cautious eyebrow.

"Ah, that's right," the young man grins somewhat uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. "We haven't spoken since the castle, and… from what I've heard, it appears as though you don't remember much from that time. To keep things simple, my name is Ienzo, though you would have known me as Zexion during my time with Organization XIII-"

"The Organization?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaim in equal alarm.

"Aw, he's one of them!" the captain scowls hotly.

"We don't wanna listen to anything anyone from the Organization has to say!" the magician adds just as crossly as he turns his beak up at the phone.

"No, no, you don't understand," Ienzo rushes to clarify. "A few of my colleagues and I were part of the Organization, but we're not anymore. When you defeated our Nobodies, we were 'recompleted', thus reverting to our original identities. Xemnas-or Xehanort, rather-has no hold over us now. We're just students of the heart, exactly the same as we were before all of this began."

"Hmph, yeah right," Donald scoffs, not buying it.

"Hm… ya know, now that I think about it, Axel's on our side now," Goofy points out. "And he was part of Organization XIII before too."

"So… you're one of the 'good guys' then?" Sora assumes, glancing back at Ienzo. He's still a bit wary of the idea of trusting any member of the Organization, former or not, but his curiosity ultimately outweighs everything else in prompting him to press for more details. Whatever those details might entail.

"I'd like to think so," Ienzo says with a small chuckle. "We have friends we want to bring back to this world, just the same as you. To do that, we have to work together. Along those lines, Sora, I'd like to ask: you wouldn't happen to be standing in front of a computer, would you?"

"Um… yeah," Sora nods, a bit of his former apprehension returning. "How'd you know that?"

"My team and I are working out of Ansem the Wise's old lab in Radiant Garden," Ienzo begins. "It's actually where we were based before… everything went wrong. A-anyway, I was tinkering with Ansem's computer just now, trying to decrypt any code that could prove useful. And I noticed that someone had logged in from another terminal. Coincidentally, we recently linked our system here up to the very same network your new phone is part of-with some help from Chip and Dale, of course. And since that phone is the nearest device to that terminal that I was able to locate, I figured I might as well give it a call to see who was trying to gain access to it."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that was us?" Sora shrugs, largely lost by this lengthy explanation. "I'm pretty sure that's what we're doing here-trying to get a log terminal to, uh… work the net?"

"You don't know what any of that means," Donald bluntly, correctly assumes.

"Oh, and what, you do?" Sora retorts in a dry whisper.

"I know I haven't got a clue," Goofy chimes in with a small laugh.

Amused, Ienzo briefly shares that levity before getting back to the matter at hand. "So if it wasn't you, then… who did log in?"

"Oh, hi there!" Pence pipes up as Sora hands the phone over to him. "This is Pence. I'm the one who logged into the computer."

"Good," Ienzo nods, allayed. "As long as we know it's a user that we know we can trust."

"Yep. But… we're kind of stuck here," Pence glances back over at the secured computer. "One of the programs is protected so… we can't run it."

"Which program?"

"Ugh! The transporter to the other Twilight Town!" Hayner snaps, frustrated at how slowly this conversation seems to be going. "It's the only way to find Roxas. You gotta help us!"

"Oh? You're looking for Roxas?" Ienzo asks, intrigued.

"Well, we're trying to," Sora says with a frown. "But… we haven't really made a lot of progress so far… But…" he perks up, a sudden idea coming to him. "If you used to be part of the Organization just like Roxas was… then maybe you can help us!"

"Well, I'd certainly like to do whatever I can," Ienzo smiles, though it quickly falls. "But considering Roxas's current… status, bringing him back might be easier said than done…"

"I don't care how hard it might be," Sora asserts, refusing to let anything sway him from his mission now. Even if achieving that mission seems so very far out of reach. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes to help Roxas out. The only problem is… I don't know how."

"Hm…" Ienzo muses thoughtfully for a moment. "You said something about another Twilight Town…?"

"Yeah…" Hayner says, arms crossed.

"And a 'transporter'?"

"Mm hm," Olette nods much more patiently.

"Okay…" Ienzo ponders, trying to make sense of it all. "A virtual town inside the computer, made of data… Fascinating! Maybe I can do something to help… Pence, let's get that terminal connected to our network here; that way we can try to look into this on both ends of the spectrum."

"Sounds like a plan," Pence agrees. And with that, the two get to work, exchanging information in order to link the two computers across the span of worlds standing between them. Despite how well versed both Pence and Ienzo are when it comes to the tech they're working with, it still takes quite a bit of time to get everything completely set up on both ends. At least an hour passes with very few updates, which is why it isn't too surprising that during the idle time, Sora nods off more than a few times, much to Goofy's amusement and Donald's annoyance. Still, it's something of a relief when, after what feels like ages to just about everyone else, Ienzo finally announces that the lengthy process is at last complete.

"Ok, sharing is enabled," the researcher confirms, effectively snapping Sora out of his most recent bout of standing slumber.

"Oh! Were you able to fix it?" he asks, eager to hear any new developments as he holds his phone up once more.

Ienzo doesn't provide a clear cut answer at first as he instead opts to explain exactly what he and Pence have accomplished. "Now that our two computers have been successfully networked together, I can take control of the terminal there and change the privileges. So in a sense… yes, we did fix it. Or at least allowed some form of progress to continue."

"And Roxas?" Sora presses, largely not caring about the specifics so long as it all can help his Nobody in some way.

"Yes. For the virtual world to be completely realized, Ansem the Wise would have included Roxas' full data in the construction. Meaning, somewhere on your machine, there's a log of that data that-" Ienzo stops short, noticing that Sora looks more or less completely bewildered by all of the technicalities on the other end of the line. Which is why he decided to finish explaining in a way that's much simpler for someone like him to grasp. "Uh… basically, we could theoretically use the digital Twilight Town as a waypoint to bring Roxas back, but… I still need more time to look into exactly how."

"Ohhh, ok! Great!" Sora smiles, more or less understanding, though he's still admittedly confused by how it all works. Still, Ienzo's encouraging tone alone is more than enough to convince him that there's a chance that this could work after all, even if it's a chance they might have to wait a bit longer on. "I can't computer so… do that."

"Glad to know you're following along," Ienzo smirks knowingly. "Don't worry. We'll handle it. I'll call you back as soon as we know anything more."

"Thanks, Ienzo," Sora nods. It's strange for him to feel genuinely grateful to an ex-Organization member, yet that gratitude is nothing less than completely sincere. In many ways, he feels somewhat inadequate when it comes to looking for answers this way, as out of the loop with computers and data and research as he is. But it's still a reassuring sign to see that there are so many others who have decided to join him in his cause to help Roxas, from Donald and Goofy, to Hayner, Pence, and Olette, to even Ienzo and his crew far off in Radiant Garden. Certainly, Sora hopes, with so many people working together towards the same goal, there's no doubt that they'll find a way to bring Roxas back in no time at all.

"Oh, before I forget—a bit of troubling news," Ienzo continues, his tone turning grave. "It's about one of the Organization's former members. You knew him as Vexen—but to us, he was another one of Ansem's apprentices, Even. He was recompleted like the rest of us, but hadn't regained consciousness yet. Then, sometime after Lea left, Even vanished. Aeleus and Dilan—the two you knew as Lexaeus and Xaldin—went out to look for him, but… he's just gone. And I'm starting to worry."

"You think he's on their side?" Sora asks, remembering Yen Sid's warning that the Organization will likely be seeking to fill out the rest of their ranks in any way possible. Including recruiting any former members it can, no doubt.

"I think it's a real possibility," Ienzo says earnestly. "He's a devious researcher. You should be careful."

"Got it. Thanks again!" Sora bids the researcher farewell as the call comes to an end, making sure to keep his warning in mind for future reference.

"Soooo… what happens now?" Hayner asks, stretching boredly.

"Well, you heard Ienzo," Pence hops up from his seat in front of the machine. "There's not a ton we can do on this end while he's looking into the transporter. I guess we've kinda hit a bit of a dead end, but hey, at least we've made it somewhere."

"That's definitely better than nothin'," Goofy nods, grinning.

"Speaking of going somewhere," Donald pipes up, tapping his foot impatiently. "We need to get going to look for those Keys! And I doubt that computer is gonna help us figure out how to do that too."

"So what are these Keys you guys are looking for anyway?" Olette inquires, curious. "Even if the computer can't help, maybe we can."

"They're thirteen very special, very important Keys," Goofy begins to explain. "Course, we only just started lookin' for 'em, so we don't really know what they look like, but we're hopin' one might be somewhere around here."

"Even if they could be anywhere…" Donald mutters dryly. "Sora, since we can't do anything else about Roxas right now, maybe we should-" He stops short as both he and Goofy glance back… only to find their young companion isn't standing behind them anymore. In fact, he isn't in the computer room at all. "Sora?"

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Olette asks with a worried frown.

"And why'd he run off without telling any of us he was leaving?" Hayner scoffs a bit more hotly.

"Say, Donald…" Goofy pipes off softly, anxiously. "Ya don't think…?"

"He's following Roxas' memories again?" Donald infers, sighing. "If he is, then we'd better find him before he gets himself into any more trouble. And after we do, we oughta buy him a leash to keep him from running off like this."

"If he just left, he couldn't have gotten that far," Pence points out, overhearing the pair.

"Why don't we head back into town to see if we can find him while you two search the woods?" Olette suggests.

"Alrighty," Goofy says as Donald nods. "We'll catch up with ya'll in a bit."

Hayner, Pence, and Olette all agree as they head out first to head straight back to town. Donald and Goofy follow not far behind them, though as they do, they can't help but spare a good bit of worry. After all, it isn't like Sora to just mysteriously disappear like this, especially without saying a single word to anybody about it. And after everything that happened during his exam, everything that had happened in Olympus, everything that's been happening to him here, they can't shake the feeling that something might be wrong with their young companion. Something neither of them can scarcely begin to understand, something that Sora himself might not even know about.

Something so much worse than anything any of them could have ever anticipated.


"You have been lost for so long…"

He walks through the crisp shade of the forest, far off the beaten path as he's drawn deeper and deeper into its unknown shadows. His pace is steady, his eyes half-lidded, and his thoughts silenced into obscurity, any freedom banished from his body in much of the same way. All that remains in their place are the voices, 12 of them to be exact, all echoing the same message, the same intent, the same beckoning call that he can't ignore, can't resist, can't do anything but heed every last haunting word of.

"Let us guide you to where you belong…"

He lets them do exactly that, curling shadows closing in around him, blocking what little light still spills through the trees. Afar in the distance, four figures stand, their faces concealed by the dark hoods covering their heads. As they continue luring him closer, one among them steps forward, extending a hand out toward him.

"Let me guide you home, Sora" one voice rises above the others, a voice some part of his mind almost recognizes, almost knows. He finally stops just a few feet shy of the owner of that voice, his own hand starting to raise to meet theirs.

"Everything you are is ours…" they tell him, a sinister message spoken so soothingly, so softly. ""Everything you have will soon cease to be… Forget your past… embrace your future… Become what you are meant to be…"

He's still all but lost to the spell they have him under, his hand nearly skimming the one held out in offering to him. Nearly ready to take the future, the fate, they plan on giving him, whatever that fate might be. Until…

"Sora! Stop!"

He draws in an unsteady breath, pulling his hand back just the slightest bit. Their heavy hold over his heart is broken, if only for a fleeting second, long enough to give him some much-needed clarity. Enough to actually see the cloaked figures standing before him, even if it's just the faintest glimpse before he's dragged under their oppressive sway once more.

"You were made for one purpose alone..." Back within their thrall, his hand slowly draws near to theirs, his body, his mind, his heart, nearly sacrificed and surrendered to the pull of their power. "You cannot escape from that purpose, just as you cannot escape from us… Give up… Give in… and be part of something so much greater than you could ever dream…"

"Don't listen to them!"

"Don't give up!"

"Whatever you do, Sora, don't stop fighting," this voice, the last of three, resonates the strongest from somewhere inside his heart. And as it speaks, it awakens his mind, brings him back the control that had been stolen from him, and fills him with enough hope and light to chase away every last shadow set to enshroud him. "Because we'll be right here, fighting with you the entire time."

"Roxas…" the name falls out of his mouth in a revenant whisper before his vision even properly clears. As it does, the visions surrounding him swiftly disappear, the darkness retreating to reveal the sun-speckled forest he'd somehow wandered into. Sora lets out a weak, tired groan as he collapses to his knees, his chest aching dully as his mind reels with far more questions than he can even try to keep track of. When did he leave the old mansion? Where is he now? How'd he end up here? Why is he out here all alone? And most importantly, where are-

"Sora!"

"Donald? Goofy?" he glances behind him, trying his best to pull himself to his feet. He struggles with the effort though, his legs nearly giving way underneath him until his companions rush in to hold him steady just in time. "W-what's going on?"

"You tell us!" Donald exclaims fiercely. "What's wrong with you? Why did you just walk out like that without saying a single word to any of us?"

"And why'd you come all the way out here in the woods?" Goofy wonders worriedly as he properly helps Sora stand on his own again. "Did another one of Roxas's memories bring you here?"

"No!" Sora exclaims, unnerved to the point that he knows he needs to be honest. Especially when there's still a persistent pang of pain ringing across his heart, when those unknown, unnerving voices still echo across his memory. "I-I don't know how to explain any of it, but this wasn't Roxas this time. It was-"

"Someone calling you onto your proper path, perhaps?"

Sora chokes on a gasp, his heart suddenly seizing up with so much sudden agony that it nearly knocks him to his knees again. Donald and Goofy keep their firm, securing hold on him as he grips his chest in a weak, desperate attempt to stop the swelling pain. Neither of his companions have the faintest idea as to what could be befalling him, and in his muting anguish, Sora is hard pressed to even try to explain. But all the same, they're quick to support him on both sides as they all steal a glance up to watch a familiar pair step out of a newly-formed dark portal just a few feet before them. A pair none of them had ever hoped to see again.

"Ansem!" Donald shouts, summoning his staff with his free hand.

"And Xemnas!" Goofy adds just as harshly, holding off on pulling his shield out for now in favor of keeping Sora on his feet.

The darkened duo fixes the trio with a set of shared, icy smiles, something that sets Sora, Donald, and Goofy equally on edge as they realize they're being faced with two of the most dangerous foes they've ever had to contend with. Foes that they're in no way ready or equipped to fight in their current state, though strangely, a fight doesn't appear to be their aim in this unexpected visit at all.

"W-what do you two want?" Sora asks, eyeing the pair distrustfully as they stand a safe distance away from the trio.

"We're here to bring you a much-needed taste of reality," Ansem begins, his tone as haughty and condescending as ever. "Certainly you don't actually believe you can bring Roxas back, do you?"

"Huh?" Sora jolts, confused and unsettled by such a question. "What are you talking about? Of course I can!"

"What you seek is impossible," Xemnas counters coolly. "Roxas should have never existed in the first place."

Upon hearing this cruel, dismissive claim, Sora forces himself to stand on his own, a sense of righteous anger rising to take the peculiar pain still suppressing his heart and body alike. "Y-you're wrong!" he snaps as firmly as he possibly can. "Roxas does exist! His heart is inside mine, and I'm getting him out, whether you think I can or not!"

"By all means, do what you can to free him then," Ansem sneers, crossing his arms. "Roxas and the others, for that matter."

Before Sora can even hope to ask about such an odd, almost ominous statement, Xemnas is quick to cut in instead. "And in the unlikely event that you do manage to separate Roxas's heart from your own, where is it that you intend to put it?" he asks as if he already knows the answer. "He will never have a heart, much less a body, unless you give up both of your own. Are you really ready to make such a great sacrifice for someone so insignificant?"

"Don't say stuff like that about him!" Sora warns fiercely, livid at the audacity of such slander against Roxas. Slander that, if Roxas isn't present to defend himself from, Sora makes sure to do in his stead. "I'll find a way for both of us to exist at the same time-I won't stop until I do! In fact, i-if Roxas used to live in the other Twilight Town, then maybe… h-he could…" He trails off, quickly regretting his knee-jerk idea before he can even finish saying it out loud.

"So, you understand the shortcomings of your 'brilliant' plan," Ansem assumes with a smirk. "The other Twilight Town is just data. Any existence Roxas might have there would ultimately be an empty one."

As much as Sora doesn't want to say it, he can't help but internally agree. Ienzo had said that Roxas' data is likely contained within the digital Twilight Town, which means that it could very well be possible to find a way to set Roxas himself up within that world. And yet, as stable of an idea as it is, it's far from satisfying. Sora doesn't want to see Roxas stuck in a disconnected version of the world that's only barely real to begin with; he wants to see Roxas brought back into the real world, to reunite with the real people who also want to see him return. He wants to truly meet his Nobody, not just in dreams or data or distant memories, but face-to-face for the first time. And, simply put, just throwing Roxas into the alternate version of Twilight Town would accomplish anything but that.

"Hm… Ansem and Xemnas used to be part of the same person, right?" Goofy speaks up, seeming to go on an entirely different tangent altogether. "But look: now they exist separately just fine. If they can do it, then I don't see any reason why you and Roxas can't too."

"Yeah! You tell 'em Captain Goofy!" Donald chimes in boldly.

"...Yeah, that's right!" Sora grins, his hope rapidly starting to rise again. "All we've gotta do is figure out how to make that happen and Roxas will be here in no time. We both will." He fixes Xemnas and Ansem with a determined glare, refusing to let either of them deter him from his ultimate goal, from what he strives to do, regardless of what challenges he might face.

Despite the trio's shared brazen resolve, however, their duo of foes is hardly phased. "In that case, by all means," Ansem nods, surprisingly calm.

"Nothing would please us more than Roxas' return," Xemnas adds, keeping his sights trained on Sora. "After all, freeing him from the depths of your heart would allow us to easily lay claim to our missing thirteenth member."

"You wish," Sora scoffs harshly, still trying his best to ignore the persistent sting ringing through his heart. "Roxas will never answer to you again!"

"Still so blind," Xemnas shakes his head, wearing a cold, cunning smile. "We are no longer interested in having Roxas as a member. In fact, he is one of the only obstacles standing between us and our true final vessel: you, Sora."

The arrow of shock that strikes the trio upon hearing this is sharp and swift. In fact, it might as well pierce Sora clean through the heart for the amount of intense anguish that rushes through it, so immense and powerful that he can hardly bear it. And yet, instead of crumbling under the crippling strain, he remains standing, as if frozen in place by all of the frightening thoughts and feelings suddenly running through his heart and mind all at once. He doesn't have time to even come to terms with any of them, however, as Donald and Goofy rush to protest this disturbing claim in his stead. And as at an absolute loss for words as he is by what he just heard, he's more than willing to let them do exactly that.

"No way!" Donald shouts fiercely as both he and Goofy step in front of Sora protectively. "Sora would never be a part of the Organization!"

"That's right!" the captain adamantly agrees. "And we would know! We were there to help save Sora from becomin' one of Xehanort's vessels!"

"A valiant effort, that was ultimately for nothing," Ansem counters. "He was already ours long before you rushed to his 'rescue'. Long before you ever met him, before he was even born." Sora shudders when he hears this, mystified by the unthinkable, incomprehensible implications of what it might mean. His growing fear spikes even higher though, when Ansem turns his attention back over to him. "You can feel it, can't you?" he asks, his twisted grin deepening. "Already the darkness is starting to take a hold upon your heart. And through that darkness, soon you find yourself helpless to resist the master's call to join our ranks so you may become what you are destined to be."

"Call…" Sora repeats softly, his eyes widening with the dawning, horrific realization. "Those voices… T-they were..."

"They very well could have been," Xemnas interjects. "Or… perhaps they were the shadows of your own heart, urging you to your true purpose. Either way, you would do well to heed it; resisting its command will only delay the inevitable."

"B-but…" Sora starts, skimming a trembling hand over his heart. "I don't… I-I'm not-"

"You two have no idea what you're talking about!" Donald sharply interrupts, aiming his staff at the pair. "Sora wants nothing to do with you or with Xehanort, so get lost!"

"And if you don't," Goofy finally calls upon his shield, raising it high with the intent to throw. "Then we'll make ya!"

Despite these courageous warnings, Xemnas and Ansem merely exchange an unimpressed glance, their former smiles completely gone as they issue Donald and Goofy a set of vicious glares instead. "You've already failed to protect him from the beginning," Ansem scoffs dryly. "What makes you think you can do a single thing to protect him from what he's always been meant to be a part of?"

"The simple answer is, you can't," Xemnas says sharply before either of them can get a word in edgewise. "There is no point in even making the effort to try. But if you still strive to," he lashes his hands out, long, bright red beams of burning energy bursting out from both of his open palms. "Then we'll be more than happy to show you the price that anyone who tries to stand between us and our thirteenth."

"Bring it on!" Donald challenges as Goofy stands firm alongside him, both of them ready to fight. And yet, it's a fight Sora refuses to let either of them engage in, especially for his sake. His eyes widen, his breath caught in a terrified gasp when he sees Xemnas begin to swing one of his blades straight for the pair. And even despite the constant ache still eating away at his heart, he doesn't hesitate to act in any way he possibly can to save them, before they can fall in trying to save him.

"Stop!" he shouts, swiftly throwing himself in front of Donald and Goofy. His Keyblade isn't summoned, but he holds his arms out wide to shield the pair as much as he can, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the brunt of a no-doubt agonizing blow. And yet, that blow never comes. He feels the heat of Xemnas' blade lingering mere inches away from his neck, but it doesn't touch him. He's shaking, he realizes as he looks between the dark duo, his breathing short and his expression desperate, pleading almost. Please, superiors… he feels strangely compelled to say, though he doesn't know why in the slightest. The words don't come out, and fortunately, they don't have to as Xemnas surprisingly pulls his blade back before putting both of them away.

"How disappointing," Ansem speaks up, scowling with clear disapproval. "You listened so well to us before, yet you still choose to show rebellion now. But your current disobedience is of little consequence; we will snuff out every last trace of it until only a humble, loyal vessel remains."

"N-no…" he begins weakly, lowering his arms as his hands curl into fists at his sides. "I don't care what you try to do to me, I'm not about to lose myself to the darkness!" By now, he's finally worked up the strength to summon his Keyblade, which he brandishes brazenly as he prepares to defend both himself and his friends from the pair's continued cruel manipulation. Manipulation he refuses to believe, lest he falls for the lies they must be telling. "So you can just go and tell Xehanort to find himself another vessel because it's never going to be me!"

Donald and Goofy smile proudly upon hearing this resilient proclamation, both of them glad to know that Sora hasn't lost his verve against enemies as dangerous as the Organization itself. And yet, even despite this courageous show of determination, Ansem and Xemnas still don't take him seriously in the slightest.

"If that is what you believe, then you are free to struggle and suffer until your heart can no longer bear the weight of the freedom you're so desperately trying to cling onto," Ansem concludes unsympathetically.

"And in the meantime, we implore you to do all you can to liberate Roxas' heart from your own," Xemnas adds, though there isn't a hint of sincerity in his tone, "But bear in mind, that if you truly do want to bring him back, calling upon the power of darkness, the very power you're so determined to resist, is really the only route you can possibly take."

Sora tightens his grip around his Keyblade at this, his hands wrapped so tightly around it that they're practically shaking both from fear and from anger. Fear over everything they've said about him and anger over everything they've tried to say about Roxas. "You really think I buy any of that?" he asks as fiercely as he can manage. "I don't need the darkness to help Roxas or anyone else. I'll find another way instead, you'll see."

"Go on then," Ansem remarks, smirking mockingly. "But remember, Sora: the shadows are never out of reach if you need them." At this, he nods to the space behind the trio, where, as if on cue, a sizable group of Heartless is rising from the grass, ready to attack. Xemnas swiftly adds onto the monstrous horde, calling upon a swath of Nobodies to create a feral force that's already dead set on attacking the trio before them.

Sora steals a brief glance away from the creatures to the duo that had summoned them, noticing that're were getting ready to take their leave instead of confronting the trio in battle themselves. "Enjoy whatever fleeting time you have left to bask in the warmth of the light," Xemnas begins, already calling upon a dark corridor for their retreat.

"For soon enough, you will stand in the depths of darkness alongside the rest of us," Ansem finishes with a dark, goading grin. "Now, number thirteen…"

"Let us set your heart free," they both finish in unison as they disappear into the darkness from whence they came.

Yes, superiors, something inside of Sora practically screams at him to say. When he doesn't, when he resists that invasive, unnerving, unnatural urge, he's met with an entirely new stinging surge of anguish flooding through his chest. But that anguish, as well as whatever its unknown source could possibly be, is something he forces himself to ignore in favor of rushing to join his companions in their newfound fray. And as he does, resolves himself to prove every last claim the malicious duo that had called upon them had made wrong in any way he possibly can. "It's not darkness," he mutters to himself, feeling the pain in his heart finally, thankfully starting to subside "Not if it helps him!"

And with that, he throws himself into the fight alongside his companions, taking the force of Heartless and Nobodies head on. Despite their numbers, the creatures are a minor obstacle at best, and as such, hardly any of them are really focusing on them, even as they steadily start to cut them down. Instead, their thoughts linger on their alarming encounter with Xemnas and Ansem, on their discouraging words, on the even more frightening implications they had dropped. Of course, they only have time to properly discuss and think over those implications once the monsters that had been sent solely to distract them are taken care of.

Donald and Goofy are quick to reconvene after the fight is through and their foes are gone, though they almost immediately turn their already fretful attention over to Sora. He stands a few away from them, his back turned and his expression unknown as he stares off into the deeper shadows of the forest, his thoughts just as scattered as the trees before him are. As worrying as what Ansem and Xemnas had said concerning him had been, he strangely finds himself focusing much more on what they'd said about Roxas instead. He refuses to believe that the only way to help his Nobody would be to play right into the Organization's hands. There has to be something else he can do, and even if he has no idea what that something might be, he's still willing to do whatever he could or go wherever he has to just to find it.

"...Herc told me to fight with all my heart…" Sora mutters to himself, finding more meaning in the hero's inspiring words now than ever before. "So that's what I'm gonna do. I won't give up-not until Roxas is finally out and here with all of his friends-with me."

"But aren't ya worried about what they said?" Goofy asks, aptly apprehensive. "About… you know?"

"About you being… one of their vessels?" Donald finishes, just as worried.

Sora pauses, glancing back at his companions to find their expressions awash in dread and concern, all solely for him. Concern that he can't help but appreciate, especially given the circumstances, yet even still, he finds their worries largely unfounded. Even if a large part of him feels as though he shouldn't. "No," he shakes his head, his hand lightly skimming over his now-calm heart. "I'm not. They probably only said all that stuff to try to psych me out or scare me like they're always trying to do, but it's not gonna work this time. And besides, it's like you guys said; you and Riku and Axel and the king saved me and stopped Xehanort's plans, so there's no way that whole 'vessel' thing could be true, right?"

Donald and Goofy exchange an uncertain, wary glance, both of them still harboring their fair share of doubts. While they usually wouldn't take much stock in anything the Organization had to say, they've certainly had plenty of points of concern ever since their new journey began, most of those concerns surrounding Sora alone. And yet, when they meet their young companion's bright, reassuring smile, those concerns are quickly put to rest. After all, if Sora really has begun to fall victim to the sway of darkness as Ansem and Xemnas had claimed, then he wouldn't be able to maintain his usual upbeat resolve or his confident, carefree smile, right? Both are proof enough for them that it can't be true, that he's still ready to stand against the Organization he'd never allow himself to be a part of, that he's still himself through and through. And that's something that both the captain and the magician hope will never change.

"Well… ok…" Donald relents, sighing. "But still, you need to be careful, Sora. Especially if the Organization really does wanna force you onto their side."

"Which is why, if ya start noticing that anything's wrong or off, ya gotta promise to tell us about it," Goofy asserts with rare stern sincerity in his tone. "That way, we can help keep ya safe from anything the Organization might try to do to ya!"

"Oh, come on, you guys, nothing's gonna happen," Sora scoffs, smirking. Even so, he's quick to recant that casual reply upon seeing the gravely serious expressions his companions share. "But… ok. I… I promise." He looks away as he says this, knowing that he's already largely broken this promise by not telling either of them about the voices that had beckoned him all the way out here or the pain that had both pressed so viciously upon his heart. He almost tells them, almost comes clean to kick his new promise out off on the right foot. And yet… something stops him; a small, yet palpable burst of dread swelling up inside of him, the burgeoning terror that silences it all into obscurity. And in the end, it's what keeps him from revealing that his confidence is a front, his resilience a mask to keep his already rising doubts at bay. All worn in his desperate effort to hide the truth from them, and even more so from himself: that he's every bit as frightened as his companions are by the mere possibility of something so horrible happening to him.

By the very notion that he could perhaps become everything he's ever feared, everything he's ever hated. Everything he's never, ever wanted to be.


As Donald and Goofy had promised, they return to town with Sora in tow to reassure Hayner, Pence, and Olette that he's safe and sound. The local trio is certainly happy to see him, though their meeting ultimately turns bittersweet as Sora, Donald, and Goofy realize that this visit to Twilight Town has just about reached its end. After all, they've largely reached a dead end, both in their search for the first Key and for anything else they can do to help Roxas from here. So the most they can really do is move on and come back later, whenever there's more work they can do and more leads they can find. Even so, they all still make sure to solidify their shared resolve one more, their mission to continue working towards bringing Roxas back, even if all they can really do for now is wish and hope for his eventual return. And while it perhaps isn't the quickest or most direct way of bringing that return about, at the very least, it's something; and that something is far better than the nothing they'd started off with.

Still, as the group begins exchanging their fond farewells and warm wishes, they're entirely unaware of the pair closely watching their parting from somewhere far above. Ansem and Xemnas stand atop a nearby building, more or less unseen by any of the oblivious townsfolk as they observe the scene on the street below. Or rather, as they keep their sharp sights set carefully on Sora alone.

"He still believes that his heart is safe from the influence of darkness," Ansem sneers, as he looks down at the boy with lingering ire. "Pitiful. Our power has already taken root within him; it won't be long before it manifests itself in a way that even he cannot stubbornly deny."

"His heart is strong, to be sure," Xemnas muses more evenly. "And it doesn't help that it's fortified by the three that have been lost within its depths. But in the end, those hearts will all succumb, including his own. He will belong to us without question."

"Yes," Ansem slips on a cold, satisfied grin at this. "It won't take much effort to cast him down from the unstable pedestal he stands upon. His naiveté is bound to be his downfall, if not his insatiable weakness for those he cares for most."

"Well, that should be an easy weakness to exploit, huh? Especially when you think about just how many friends that kid seems to have."

The pair turn at this, unsurprised to see a dark corridor open up on the rooftop behind them as Xigbar steps through it to join them. Neither Xemnas nor Ansem offer him much of a greeting, instead turning their focus back to Sora and not paying any mind to Xigbar's broad and knowing smirk as he does the same. "Still, aren't you making it a little too obvious?"

"We were instructed to guide him," Xemnas replies simply. "To point him towards his proper place among our ranks, no matter how long his… 'recruitment' might take."

"So it really is him, huh?" Xigbar asks, still smirking. "And I thought the old man was just pulling everyone's leg by dropping all those hints. But I gotta say…" He takes on a faux thoughtful look as he keeps his sights trained on Sora, who's still completely unaware that he's being watched at all. "He doesn't really look the part…"

"He will," Ansem assures. "In time."

"Well, well, you two sure seem confident," Xigbar muses dryly. "But let's not forget how many times Sora still managed to rain on our parade. So what's the plan for when he ends up slipping through the cracks and figures out some way to keep his pure little heart out of Xehanort's reach?"

"He won't," Ansem counters calmly. "He can't. There is no escape from the path we have set him upon. He will fall in line and become what we require him to be."

"And if he so much as tries to do anything else than what we desire of him," Xemnas adds, fixing the boy below with a hateful scowl. "Then he'd best be prepared to pay the highest price he can possibly imagine."

"Oof, that doesn't sound too nice," Xigbar pretends to wince. "I definitely wouldn't wanna be in that kid's shoes with what you all have planned. Then again, I guess he should consider himself pretty lucky that the old man's going to such trouble for him. He seems pretty deadest on Sora in particular for some reason. Wonder why that is…?"

"The reason is not important," Xemnas rebuffs succinctly. "What is important is that the process has begun. Try as he might to refuse or resist, there is nothing Sora can do to protect his heart from the tide of darkness already overtaking him."

"And once that tide inevitably tears his heart apart," Ansem goes on as they all look back down to Sora once more, their sinister intentions for him clear. Their darkened designs for him already set in motion, whether he's willing to believe they are or not. "Then we'll be there, to pick up what's left of the broken pieces…"

At this, the rooftop trio finally takes their leave, allowing the group below to continue on their journey, wherever it might take them next. However, there's still yet another pair of eyes focused on them, this time from an even higher vantage point: the top of the clock tower itself.

From this lofty height, one of the telltale black cloaks of Organization XIII is thrown, left to be carried off by the lofting summer breeze. Its owner easily lets it go, just as he lets go of any sort of association or allegiance he might have once had for the group or its leader. In favor of that allegiance, he has his own goal in mind, though his target is very much the same as his former Organization's is. And as he catches sight of that target just as he begins to leave town, he feels a spark of all too familiar warmth burn in his heart, a warmth that he hates and craves all at once. A warmth that will help him claim what's rightfully his, once and for all. "There you are…" he says softly, not even having to question if he's picked out the right face in the crowd. After all, his looks almost exactly the same. "Looks like I've finally found you… Ventus…"


Ohohoh looks like our baddies pretty much all got their eye on Sora! Which of course is bound to lead to some... exciting things (namely angst, ahahaha ya get what ya paid for with this fic lol (if you paid for it, which you don't, I have no idea what I'm even on about at this point) ANYWAY, next time around we'll have ourselves another interval chapter (one that's gonna be entirely original!) before we finally jump into some Disney worlds! So keep an eye out for that and until then don't forget to leave your thoughts in the REVIEWS! Until next time!