Ah boy here we go with another chapter warning. So yeah if you aren't comfy with descriptions of blood/gore and starvation, this one might not be fun for you. Just putting that out there. Either way, I am proud of how it turned out. I got hit in the honey nut feelios while writing it, and I'm sure you will too, pour one our for our poor, sad, stressed Key Boy cause he has a horrible time in this chapter. Enjoy!


Chapter 48: Alone on the Run

Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here

The first night is spent in lonely silence.

That night's only just fallen when he stumbles out of the dark corridor, emerging into a world he doesn't recognize at all. The sensation of traveling through sheer shadows is still more than enough to easily sicken Sora; his mind swims in a painful haze for several minutes following his arrival, and his stomach still feels uncertain even as he manages to stand again. At the very least, he's able to take solace in the fact that Young Xehanort hasn't followed him from the islands. And that nobody else, for that matter, seems to be even remotely in his vicinity either.

A vast, arid expanse stretches out for miles before him, dry and dusty ground dotted by the occasional brittle brush. A full, silver moon hangs high in a brilliantly starry sky, casting a pale light over the tall canyon walls bordering either side of the wide valley. The noisy din of singing cicadas rings through that valley, a lone coyote's mournful howl echoing from somewhere far away. Under any other circumstances, Sora might've found such a scene strangely serene. But now, as he stands here in this dense natural silence, able to clearly see the empty horizon as it unfolds unobstructed, the only thing he can feel is just how alone he really is here.

And now that he is… he has no idea what to do. There isn't a Key in this world, he could tell that much alone mere seconds after arriving. But even if one was hiding here, he wouldn't be that motivated to search for it anyway. Not when he knows any given member of the Organization is just one step behind him, ready to steal that Key away from him… or force him to obediently hand it over himself. Not when he knows he can't take that Key back to the lights either, not now that they'd capture him the second they see him.

He absently rubs at his wrists, shaking thoughts of chains being latched around them out of his head as he choses a direction to start walking in. As unfamiliar with this new world as he is, he's not sure exactly what he'll find. His hope is that he'll come across a nearby town or village, or at the very least some kind of passable shelter to spend the rest of the night in. When morning comes, he can formulate a more long-term plan, decide on what he needs to do and where he should go now that he has no goal, no destination, and no one by his side to help him figure any of that out.

But for now, a good night's sleep is bound to ease his thoroughly frayed nerves at least a little. The last time he'd really rested had been back in Agrabah, though he's hard pressed to actually call that rest when he'd awakened to find himself lying in a jail cell with only his malicious master to greet him. True, Xehanort or any of his other followers could and likely will confront him whenever they see fit. But even so, Sora finds himself futilely hoping that they'll leave him alone for a change.

That they'll at least be kind enough to give him time to grieve everything he's so swiftly lost in peace.

As he continues to tread along an untrodden path through the canyon, Sora tries his best not to think about his now former friends, only to think of nothing but. Riku and Kairi's cold accusations continue playing through his head on a near-constant loop, reminding him that they don't want to help him, that they don't care about what happens to him. That the only thing they do want to do with him is chain him up and lock him away so he won't have to be their problem anymore. A small, almost miniscule piece of him wishes he could be angry at them, wishes he could hate them for such a fast and vicious betrayal after years of what he'd thought had been close and cherished friendship. But even now that they've all but turned against him in every way, he can't bring himself to despise either of them, or any of the other lights for that matter. Not when his aching, fading, foolish heart still loves each and every one of them so very much.

Which is why it only hurts so much more to think that they all must certainly hate him.

"Stop it," he whispers sharply to himself, wiping the tears away before they can even come close to falling. "Stop crying all the time. It won't change anything." He pauses, stealing another glance down at his hands, at his unnaturally long claws, each tipped red as if already marred by the blood they could so easily shed. Blood he could so easily shed, without even meaning to at all. "...Nothing will now…" he reminds himself with a long, tired, miserable sigh.

He lets his wander into silence after this, instead opting to soak in the quiet atmosphere surrounding him as he continues walking. While most of the area's animals have likely settled in for the night, he does occasionally spot a small lizard scampering across the brittle earth, or notice a wide-winged bird gliding high overhead. He imagines it'd likely be quite hot and dry here during the day, but at night, it's pleasantly cool and crisp, something Sora certainly appreciates. When he closes his eyes, he can almost hear Donald complaining about how late it is, or Goofy commenting on how pretty the stars are. Only to open them seconds later and find that he's still every bit as alone as he'd been before.

Sora can't say he's too accustomed to traveling on his own, at least for any extended amount of time. The longest he'd ever gone without any consistent companions had been during the Mark of Mastery exam, but even then he'd had plenty of encounters with friendly faces. Here, he's isolated to the point that it's practically suffocating, despite all of the wide open space surrounding him. He's used to having someone else to talk to, most usually Donald and Goofy, used to their casual conversations, their lighthearted laughter, even just their reliable, constant companionship. He knows he doesn't have much of a right to miss them, not after how he hurt them. But he can't help but selfishly long for the comfort of their company all the same.

He's been walking for about an hour or so when boredom starts to set in. The wide canyon landscape remains largely unchanged, with no signs of any sort of civilization in sight. As a result, Sora soon starts to grow weary of the vacant atmosphere of the area, especially as quiet and desolate as it all is. Eventually, his hand reaches for his pocket, and without much thought at all, he pulls out his Gummiphone, hoping to find some small way to entertain himself through it. And yet, what he does find when he turns it on is something that makes his heart sink straight to his stomach instead.

He hasn't touched his phone since Twilight Town, hadn't really thought much about looking at it either with everything that had happened there and in Agrabah. But now that he actually has a moment to spare, he can finally see the immense number of missed calls and messages waiting for him. They come from just about all of the lights, a mountain of confused, concerned questions about his whereabouts sent from Ventus, Aqua, Axel, and Mickey alike. But even more are from Riku and Kairi. Guilt sparks through him every time he sees either of their names on his screen as he scrolls through the countless notifications. And while doesn't dare listen to any of their many voicemails, he does catch more than a few of their urgent, ultimately unanswered text messages, each and every one only serving to make him feel even worse than he already does:

"Where are you?

"Why aren't you answering your phone? What's going on?"

"Sora, please pick up. We need to talk."

"You need to let me know where you are right now."

"Is something wrong? You have to let us know."

"Call me back as soon as you see this."

"I'm serious, Sora, you have to call me back."

"Call me back immediately."

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"Sora, please… Say SOMETHING to me."

"Sora… why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm going to find you, Sora. No matter what it takes."

Those last two hit Sora the hardest, the ones that confirm that they do know, that they are trying to track him down and drag him back and lock him away. He forces his way past the notifications screen, refusing to glance at any more of them as he ends up navigating to his photo gallery instead. Yet he quickly finds that even doing that much is far too bittersweet for him to really bear.

From the moment he'd learned how to snap photos using the device, he'd done so in just about every world he's been to so far, from Paradise Falls to the Land of the Dead to even as far as New Orleans. There are plenty of beautiful shots to be found of the incredible landscapes of his more recent adventures, and mixed in between them are pictures he'd also happened to take of himself and his friends, both old and new. Photos taken in more quiet, idle moments in between action, with the likes of Woody, Buzz and Jessie, with Carl, Russel, and Dug, with the members of Big Hero 6, with Milo and Kida, with Héctor and Miguel, with Tiana and Naveen and still so many others. Donald and Goofy feature in many of them, and seeing the sight of their smiling faces now only makes Sora miss them even more. But the tipping point by far is all of the pictures he happened to take at the ball, on that one perfect, picturesque night not so long ago when he'd dared to hope that things might finally turn out alright before he'd been proven so terribly wrong.

Despite his best efforts to hold them back, tears brim in his eyes as he slowly scrolls through them. Between images of Cinderella's glittering castle, of his friends' equally elegant attire, of the fun, playful poses he'd captured of them having the time of their lives. But there's one among them all that can barely stand to even look at, even as he stares at it in silence, stopping dead in his tracks as he does.

It had been snapped mere minutes after they'd fallen into the fountain, his phone fortunately not ruined as his clothes had been. Aqua had volunteered to take the picture of the three of them, sitting on its edge and smiling sweetly as they pressed in close together for the shot. And then, as he sat wedged warmly between them, Riku and Kairi had caught him off guard at just the right moment, each of them acting on the same unspoken plan to lean in and lightly kiss him on both of his cheeks. The picture reflects that moment, his face flushed red in flustered surprise with both of his best friends' lips pressed against it. He'd gotten his revenge seconds later by pulling them both back into the fountain with him, drenching each of them from head to toe all over again. And when they surfaced, their shared laughter had echoed bright and happy into the night, his heart warm and filled with love than it had ever been before.

But now...

Now the only response that picture elicits from him is a sob, small and sorrowful as he realizes he'll never know that love again. That whatever blissful, beautiful dreams he'd fallen asleep that night holding onto are all but dead and gone now, killed by the very despicable darkness bleeding through the cracks of his own broken heart. And with the death of those dreams, there's no need to cling onto the memory of any of them any longer; after all, the most they'll ever be for him now is an empty reminder of what could have been. Of what will never get to be.

Between his tears he prepares to delete that photo, trying to see if there's a way to get rid of all of the others right along with it. Yet before he can even figure anything out, the phone abruptly buzzes with an incoming call, startling Sora to the point that it falls out of his hands completely. The device is sturdy enough to sustain no damage when it lands on the brittle earth before him, its screen still facing upward as it continues to vibrate with a call he knows he won't answer. A call he can't answer, not when there's no doubt that it's coming from one of the lights. Not when so much as showing his face to any of them for even a single second could be such a huge risk to his already fleeting freedom.

The phone stops ringing, only to immediately start again seconds later. As Sora stares down at it, he quickly realizes this isn't bound to stop any time soon. As long as the lights continue to search for him, they'll keep on calling him, keep on messaging him, keep on trying to contact him to gain some sort of intel about his whereabouts. And as soon as they get so much as even a small lead, they'll come for him, they'll capture him, and they'll chain him up until they can't be bothered to keep him around any longer. As much as he hates to admit it, he might very well have to do what Young Xehanort had advised: to cut his time with his former friends, to keep the unthinkable from happening. To keep himself from becoming a prisoner to people he still holds so dear.

And really, what better way to cut his ties with them than to eliminate the last and only means of contact he still has with them?

The Kingdom Key flashes into his hand, its cracked edge shining in the dull moonlight. The Gummiphone goes still and silent once again, and this time, another call doesn't try to come through. He hesitates at this, knowing he should send out one final message, one final apology to Riku and Kairi at least. And yet… he can't even bring himself to do that much. Because whatever meager, meaningless apologies he might have to give now won't change their minds, they won't convince them to welcome him back with open arms. And they definitely won't make either of them love him, not in the way that he still so foolishly loves them.

So he closes his eyes, chokes out another mournful sob, and slams his Keyblade down onto the phone's screen, straight onto the picture of the three of them still shining on it. He repeats the motion over and over again, the sharp sounds of shattering glass and grinding circuits slicing through the otherwise calm night. Eventually, he stops, his Keyblade slipping out of his grip before it disappears the second it hits the ground. His knees land in its place soon after, his hands trembling as they sift through what little remains of what had once been his Gummiphone. It's nothing more than a small pile of colorful scrap metal now, its scattered pieces all but irreparable, much less functional. As he picks up a handful of those broken pieces, Sora immediately regrets what he's just done, though he's well aware that it's far too late to take this burst of blind destruction back. And through that destruction, he's gotten exactly what he wanted: a way to disconnect himself from the lights, from his friends, from just about everyone he once wanted to be with, once and for all.

He leaves the Gummiphone's remains lying where they are, not even looking back once as he quietly continues on his way into the dead of night. Eventually, he comes across a small, empty cave carved into the canyon wall, likely the best bet for shelter he's going to find here. It's hard, rock-ridden floor is where he ends up falling into a fitful slumber, without a single other soul around for miles.

Without anyone around to the tears staining his face as he slowly drifts off to sleep.


The third night is the first he goes to sleep hungry.

Sora leaves that first world not long into the next day, largely for one very simple, yet very important reason. He can't find a single source of water anywhere, something that soon starts to become a problem when, after only a few hours of wandering under the relentless sun, his rising thirst slowly starts to turn into the first signs of dehydration. He's already feeling weak and lightheaded when he caves to summon a dark corridor; and, as he's quickly starting to get used to, he feels even worse after he crosses through it.

He still doesn't know how to control where his dark portals lead to, not that the destination really matters as long as it's as far away from either the lights or the Organization as possible. Fortunately, the first thing he sees as soon as he collapses out of the corridor is a river, rushing clear and cool just a few feet away from him. He nearly falls into it, desperately swallowing several mouthfuls of water until he ends up inevitably choking on it. His stomach settles rather quickly this time around, but he's left with a lingering headache from the short trip through the shadows. He does what he can to ignore it as he splashes some water onto his face, washing off the thin layer of dust and dirt he hadn't even realized accumulated on it back in the canyon.

Upon taking a cursory glance at the rest of his surroundings, he finds the river is bordered by dense trees on either side of it, woods that are more comparable to a jungle than a forest. The air is hot here, but different than it had been in the last world, much more humid and bearable as a symphony of wild sounds sing out from the surrounding trees. But what catches Sora's attention the most is something he can see from his spot on the riverbank, resting downstream just a short distance away: a village.

It's a relatively tiny town, composed of a collection of simple huts and houses that are by most accounts, largely primitive. Still, Sora heads straight for it as soon as he sees it, knowing that where there's a town, there's bound to be something else he's in need of if his rumbling stomach is anything to go off of: food.

Despite its small size, the village is quite populous, filled with midday hustle and bustle of its humbly-dressed residents going about their usual business. Most of them barely notice Sora as he unceremoniously walks into town, though a few do spare him odd or curious glances as they pass him by. To not arouse any unwanted suspicion or alarm, he keeps his hands tucked into his pockets, his claws out of sight and his head down as he strolls into what appears to be an open air market. Several stalls have set up shop, pedaling a variety of goods and foods, from fruit to meat to herbs and more. Out of all this, the appetizing scent of freshly baked bread is what draws Sora over to one certain stall, one selling all sorts of loafs, biscuits, and even a handful of cakes. He eyes the impressive display hungrily before picking out several delectable-looking rolls, as well as a few small, fruit-topped tarts for good measure. He's still going through the stall's stock, however, when its owner finally speaks up from her spot on the other side of it.

"Your eyes certainly seem to be overloading your stomach, boy," the older woman remarks, her tone grouchy and detached. "That doesn't matter much to me though, as long as you can pay for that stash you're piling up there. You can afford all that, can't you?"

"Oh, yeah, no problem," Sora nods, shifting his potential purchases to rest on one arm. He searches his pockets, checking his jacket first and then his pants, only to reach a very startling discovery: he doesn't have any money on him to speak of.

Before, he'd never really needed to carry money. Between the three of them, that had usually been Donald's job, a job he'd taken away from Sora relatively on into their first adventure together, claiming that he wasn't "responsible" enough to handle their funds. Sora had playfully brushed the comment off at the time, and over the years, had largely gotten used to either Donald or Goofy keeping track of any money they obtained and what supplies they spent it on. Only now that he's on his own, without a single cent to his name, that he wishes the pair had trusted him just a bit more, at least enough to carry a little of their money around, just in case.

"Um… so… this is pretty funny, I'm sure you'll get a good laugh out of it," he begins, throwing on the most charming, pleading smile he can manage. "But... I don't really have any money…" he hesitantly tells the shop owner, looking between her and the bread in his arms. "You… don't happen to give out free samples, do you?"

The shopkeeper only responds with a cross, deadpan look, one that gives Sora an answer that's every bit as clear as words would have been. "Right…" he sighs in defeat, putting every piece of food right back where he found it. "Didn't think so…"

He sullenly stuffs his hands back into his pockets as he walks away, trying not to steal a glance at any of the other surrounding food stalls, lest his unsatisfied hunger only continue to rise. He nearly makes it out of the market altogether before he spots something he's hard pressed to pass up: a stall selling several different types of fruit. Among them is his favorite by far, a treat he'd always enjoyed snacking on back on the islands: mangoes. The stall doesn't carry many of them, in fact its entire stock seems to be rather small and unimpressive, but one is really all Sora wants right now. After all, even something as small as a simple mango is bound to suffice after three days of eating basically nothing at all.

It'd be easy enough to just take one too. The stall's owner has their back turned, preoccupied with going through the rest of what they have to put out. All he'd have to do is swiftly pass by, pick one up, and shove it into his pocket without anyone seeing. He's not very keen on the idea, especially after how much trouble stealing the Oracle had given him back in Agrabah. But that had been a priceless, magical treasure; here, the only thing he intends on making off with is a single, largely inconsequential piece of fruit. And given just how hungry he's starting to get, how bad could taking just one really be?

He nearly moves in to do exactly that, though stops short only a few feet away from the stall as a small child, no older than 6, suddenly runs out from behind it. "Papa! Papa!" the boy calls, standing on his tiptoes to peer over the edge of the stall. "Can I have one of the mangos? Please?"

The shopkeeper turns, a kindly-looking man, though his eyes are tired as he looks down at his young child. "Oh, I'm sorry, son," he frowns, shaking his head. "But those are the last few we have. You know the harvest wasn't good this year, and if we don't sell those, we won't have enough to get the materials your Mama needs to make you new clothes." The shopkeeper smiles a bit as he steps out to hoist his son up into his arms, affectionately ruffling his hair. "You're growing so fast that it's getting hard for us to keep up with you."

The child laughs as his father carries him back behind the stall, his former request for food all but forgotten. Neither of them notice that their warm exchange had been watched from afar, and as soon as it's over, Sora instantly feels guilty for even considering the thought of stealing from them. Of taking something from a family that clearly needs it to survive, simply for his own selfish, singular needs. He hangs his head in shame as he briskly walks past the stall, not even sparing it a second glance as he starkly leaves the village behind entirely.

He finds a place to sleep not too far outside of town, in a well-shaded nook at the near edge of the jungle. It rains that night, and he largely doesn't sleep, even though he manages to stay relatively dry thanks to the thick canopy of trees overhead. Because for the entire night, the most he can really do is lie there, his arms wrapped around his empty, aching stomach, silently pleading for some kind of relief from the starvation he doesn't know how to stop. Eventually, he somehow falls asleep, dreaming of all of the delicious dishes his mother used to masterfully make for him back home, from freshly steamed salmon, to sweet pineapple cake, to savory vegetable soup. Only to wake up the next morning, still longing for food, longing for his mother, longing for home.

All while knowing painfully well that he won't get to see any of those things any time soon.


The fifth night is spent struggling to survive.

He's weak and worn by the time he moves on to another world. He'd managed to forage for a bit of food back in the jungle, though he hadn't been able to find much outside of a few nearly-rotting bananas that had fallen off the back of a wagon en route to the village. It hadn't been much of a meal, but it had been enough to offer him enough energy to call upon a dark corridor. He took it in the hopes that he'd have an easier time finding food somewhere else, only to end up collapsing to the ground in a place that's quite similar to the one he just left behind.

A vast, thick rainforest sprawls out all around him, tall, wiry trees stretching up to a dreary night sky. As dark as it is, Sora can't make out much else about the area, though the low rumble of approaching thunder is more than enough to tell him that he should get moving. He struggles to stand, essentially leaning against a nearby tree as he tries to shake off the returning sickness that his trip through the darkness has left him with. By now, he's really come to miss the luxury of the Gummi Ship, a much safer method of traveling through the worlds by far compared to the dark corridors he now has no choice but to rely on. And even beyond that, at least the Gummi Ship is fitted with a safe, comfortable place to sleep, something that he also hasn't been lucky enough to have for several nights on end now.

After shaking the remaining shadow sickness off, Sora sets off, keeping his arms wrapped loosely around himself as he forges a path through the untamed forest. The surrounding jungle is noisy, filled with the din of squawking birds, buzzing insects, and even a few indistinguishable growls and hisses coming from the foliage. It's enough to set Sora on edge a bit as he quickens his pace, only for the unsettling sounds to continue following him, growing not only louder, but closer. Eventually, he picks up into a soft jog, the shrubbery just to his left rustling in time as something starts to pursue him from a distance. And what that something is soon becomes clear when the creature finally leaps out from beyond the trees, stopping Sora dead in his tracks the moment he sees it.

He's never really seen a panther in person before, but he can tell almost immediately that's what he's dealing with here. The creature is large and lean, its fur jet black to the point that it nearly blends in with the surrounding shadows, though its bright yellow eyes practically shine as they stare straight at Sora. He takes a small step back, his entire body tensing up in instinctual fear as the panther creeps forward, its body bared low as it bears its teeth in a soft, yet vicious growl.

"Uh… n-nice kitty," he whispers to it, holding his hands up defensively. He continues backing up, only for the panther to maintain its slow, steady pace toward him, its ravenous gaze focused on him and him alone. Matters are only made worse, however, when several more big cats emerge from the surrounding jungle, all part of the same pack as the first. Sora quickly counts about seven of them in total, far too many for him to try and fight off on his own, especially as tired and hungry as he is. So, in favor of fighting, he's really only left with one other option: running.

He turns on his heel just as the first panther finally pounces. He narrowly lunges out of the path of its claws, breaking into a sprint back through the maze of trees he'd just traversed. He hopes to lose the panthers in that maze, though of course, they're quick to give chase, erupting into a chorus of wild roars and growls as they thunder through the forest after him. His speed has always been something he's been rather proud of, but he knows well that even he's powerless to outrun a creature as fast as a panther, much less seven of them. As a result, he spots more than a few of them rushing wide past him with the intent of cutting him off somewhere up ahead. He does his best to outmaneuver them, all the while desperately searching for some way out of the rainforest, a way to get out of the immediate range of the pack that plans on making him their next meal. However, when he does finally break out of the jungle, what he's met with is anything but the escape he's looking for.

A startled cry escapes him as he breaks through the treeline, only to nearly plummet over the edge of the steep cliff mere feet beyond it, one that drops straight into a rapid ravine many miles below it. Sora stops just a few inches shy of it, almost teetering over the side of it altogether until he manages to catch himself, regaining solid footing just in time. He barely has time to catch his breath, however, before he turns to find all seven of the panthers have caught up with him, and now, they have him exactly where they want him. Trapped, without anywhere to go or anything to do but die.

If only he actually could.

"Well, at least this can't get any worse…" he mutters to himself as the big cats start to slowly make their final approach. But of course, he's almost immediately proven wrong when the sky rattles with a sudden bright burst of lightning, a clap of thunder booming across the area. And with that thunder, a heavy downpour begins, sheets of icy rain instantly drenching him from head to toe. "Oh come on! Seriously?!" he shouts at the sky itself, infuriated by his own absolutely rotten luck.

That luck only diminishes even further as one of the panthers takes the opportunity to leap at him, its sharp claws latching onto his arm. It pulls him away from the edge of the cliff, but in the process, painfully pins him down to the ground to allow another one of the cats to dig its teeth into his leg. His agonized shout echoes over the chaos of the storm, though it doesn't deter any of the panthers as they all press in at once. They tear away at him, teeth and claws slicing through his skin as they all eagerly get their first taste of their unfortunate prey. Sora tries fighting them off, making use of his own claws to desperately lash out and strike them. Only about one or two of the panthers are repulsed by his resistance, but the rest remain, continuing their bloody assault until the moment it reaches its breaking point. Until one of them makes the grave mistake of biting into the side of his neck.

By most accounts, this should be a killing blow, with his windpipe punctured and blood gushing out of his throat freely. But for Sora, it has the exact opposite effect. His eyes open wide, flooded in void, empty, garish gold as an inhuman howl erupts from his damaged throat. A thick blanket of shadows sweeps over his body, swelling from his arms and legs and working their inward toward his chest and face as his claws and fangs both lengthen. At the same time, his mind is thrown into a half-aware, pain-muddled haze, in which he can only roughly see what's happening, in which only has some dimming level of control over his own brutalized body. But this time, he gladly welcomes the pull of power the darkness fuels him with, if only to let it free him from the grave danger he can't escape from otherwise.

His powers pulsate in accordance with his rage and panic as long, black spikes burst out from the surrounding ground, scaring two of the panthers away outright. The rest are soon swiftly chased off as Sora abruptly moves to attack them, digging his claws into them in the same way they'd done to him mere seconds prior. The frightened yelps of the animals are overwhelmed by his own feral snarling, raw, violent instinct overtaking his every thought and action. Some small, slipping part of him that's still holding onto whatever's left of his humanity feels sorry for the terrified creatures, even after they'd so savagely mauled him. But that sympathy is quick to vanish along with the rest of his senses as he lets the last of his already waning consciousness finally drift away. As he decides to willingly let the darkness devour him, embracing the odd sort of peace it provides his mind with as his body continues its ravenous rampage blindly.

In that rampage, his body only strives for one thing, and one thing alone: hearts to quell the insatiable hunger of the darkness now controlling it. And in a world teeming with as much life as this one, he finds more than a few to do exactly that and then some.

When he finally breaks out of it the next morning, his own wounds are nothing more than lingering, no longer lethal scars. Even so, as his mind slowly crawls back into proper consciousness, he finds dried blood staining his hands, clothes, even his face. Whether that blood belongs to him or to something else entirely, he doesn't know. He's not so sure he really wants to either.


The seventh night is when the nightmares start.

He spends the day in a different world, in a regular forest as opposed to a jungle. It's a welcome change of scenery, one that helps him get his mind off of the terrifying events two nights prior. But he still has plenty of problems plaguing him, hunger being by far the most persistent. He hasn't had an actual meal in almost a week now, not since Agrabah really, and his body is starting to make him pay for the meager scraps of food it's gotten in the meantime.

He feels faint as he walks through the woods, looking for any sort of place where he can get something to eat, even if he knows he won't be able to pay for it. His hands haven't stopped shaking in hours, his head pounding and his entire body aching, especially his still-empty stomach. He'd tried foraging for berries not long after arriving here, though he didn't want to risk accidentally picking out any poisonous ones for the sake of something as small as a snack at best.

He'd also made an attempt-his first ever really-at hunting, an attempt that likewise, had yielded little results. He knows nothing about how to set up any sort of proper traps, largely because he's never had a reason to, so instead he scaled a tree surrounding a lush clearing, hoping to skewer something with a spike produced by his powers. He waited around through the entire morning, well into the afternoon, spotting a few passing rabbits and squirrels, though each of them proved to be far too fast for him to catch.

Eventually though, something else wandered into the clearing, something that would certainly be more than enough to keep him well fed for several days: a deer. A lean, healthy doe to be exact, who had decided to stop and graze just a few feet below the tree Sora had positioned himself in. He'd leaned forward on the branch he'd been sitting on, his magic swelling within him as he prepared to create a spike from the ground beneath the creature. He wasn't very keen on carrying out such a violent act against an innocent animal, but at the very least, he intended on aiming in such a way as to take it out with as little pain as possible. Or at least that'd been his plan, before the doe's baby happened to wander in alongside her.

The fawn couldn't have been more than a few days old, its thin legs wobbly and unsteady as it awkwardly joined the doe in munching on their grassy meal. Sora sighed in defeat the second he saw it, already knowing he couldn't go through with this, just as he hadn't been able to go through with stealing back at the market. As young as it was, the fawn certainly wouldn't be able to survive on its own without its mother's support, and there was a good chance that it would die within only a few days on its own. Sora should know; after all, he already feels like he's dying without the support of his own mother, without the support of Donald and Goofy, without the support of anyone else he used to rely on to help him simply just stay alive.

He'd decided to look for a town not long after that. Maybe if he's lucky, someone there will be charitable enough to spare him a bit of change, maybe even some food that he won't have to pay for or kill for himself. This forest is a far cry from the last one he'd been in, bereft of any sort of predators with temperate and pleasant weather. Even so, the sun soon starts to set over the tops of the trees, twilight falling as he realizes he still has no idea where he is or where he's going. He's learned by now that traveling at night is a risky venture, one that he's not in favor of doing after his run-in with the pack of panthers a few nights ago. So instead, he searches for somewhere to turn in for the night, picking out a small, secluded spot with plenty of soft shrubbery. The night air brings a bit of a chill, so he builds a small fire, one that he'd much rather be cooking over instead of merely warming up around.

Still, with nothing to eat and nothing to do, it isn't long before he lies down a few feet away from the fire, his eyes growing heavy as he watches its flickering flames dance and listens to its embers crackle quietly. Sleep is a welcome diversion from his hunger, a way to escape the deterioration of his body and the despair filling his mind, at least for a few hours each night. So he falls into it easily, letting it ease him out of the misery of the waking world and into whatever much better reality his dreams might have to offer him.

Except tonight, the place where his dreams take him is somewhere far worse.

It doesn't start off that way, though. Because when he opens his eyes, he finds himself back on a familiar beach, a golden sunset gleaming upon the vast sea. He stands in the shallows of that sea, confusion swirling through his mind as it tries to make sense of how he got here. But that confusion only mounts when he happens to glance down at his hands. His normal looking hands, his unclawed fingers and naturally tanned skin. He receives even more of a surprise when he looks down at his reflection in the water, only to find that his hair is brown, his eyes are blue, and every other sign of what's been happening to his heart is nowhere to be seen. But even beyond that, something else is different; he seems somewhat older somehow, his face sharper, his build a bit taller, his entire appearance more befitting of a man in his early twenties rather than a boy in his mid teens. His clothes have also changed to something more simple and breezy, nowhere near as damaged as they'd been before. For several silent seconds, the most he can do is stare down at his reflection, baffled and amazed by it all at once. Yet he's met with something even more stunning as soon as he hears an unmistakable voice brightly call his name.

"Sora!" Kairi shouts, racing from the dock toward him. Riku follows at a more casual pace, but both of them wear warm smiles as they approach him. Smiles that Sora doesn't return as he fearfully stumbles backward, not that either of them seem to notice. "There you are!" Kairi stops just a few feet shy of him, allowing him to see that she also appears to be more mature, they both are. Yet even so, she's every bit as beautiful as she's always been to him, both of them are. And even now, he knows he still can't hold a candle to either of them; he never could. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"We need to get going," Riku adds, grinning as he slips his hands into his pockets. "If we're late to another party at Disney Castle, then you know Donald will never let you hear the end of it."

His heart aches when he hears their voices, sees their smiles. Even after only a few days apart from them, he already misses them so much, almost as much as he's missed them every time the three of them were separated before. But now, here they stand with him, acting as if all is well, as if nothing ever happened, as if he never lied to them or left them at all. He doesn't understand what this is, but he wants to; he wants to hold onto this moment for whatever it might mean. He wants to hold onto both of them, to be with them for a lifetime and even far longer after that.

"Don't worry, Sora," Kairi flashes him a playful smirk. "I'm sure if you ask Goofy, he'll convince Donald to cut you some slack. This time anyway."

"I-I…" Sora starts, though he quickly falls into silence when he realizes he has no idea what to say. Because by all accounts, there's so much he wants to say to both of them, to the point that words fall short to convey any of it at all.

"Sora?" Riku's smile fades into slight concern at this. "Is everything alright?"

Time seems to slow as Sora stares between the two of them for what feels like ages, still completely lost in just about every way. He glances down at his hands again, feeling his own sun-soaked skin to confirm that this is real. He's really here, really with them, really beyond all of the pain and grief and fear that now only feels like a distant dream. And maybe that's all it had ever been, nothing more than a nightmare that he's only starting to wake up from.

But in reality, the nightmare's still yet to truly begin.

Somehow, he finally manages to offer the pair a soft, sweet smile, his heart swelling with deep, undaunted affection for them both. "Everything's perfect," he sighs happily, deciding to forget what he thought had been. And instead, deciding to live in what truly is, to cherish every second he gets to spend with the two people he loves most.

"Then come on," Kairi chuckles, her laughter like music to his ears. She extends a hand out in offering toward him, Riku doing the same with a caring smile of his own. "Everyone's waiting for you."

The idea floors him, to the point that he can scarcely even comprehend the idea of anyone waiting for him, anyone welcoming him, anyone wanting him at all. But for as much as he doesn't understand it, he also relishes it, elated at the thought of seeing all of his friends again. Of laughing with Donald and Goofy again, of chatting with Aqua and Axel and Mickey again, of hanging out with Ventus, Roxas, and Xion again, of dancing with Riku and Kairi again, of belonging with any of them again. It all sounds too good to be true, like something out of a beautiful, blissful dream.

Because that's exactly what it is.

He reaches out to meet their hands, yet the second he so much as skims them, his own hands fall straight through. He gasps, watching in alarm as they both freeze in place before him, their still-smiling forms flickering in and out of existence before they abruptly disappear entirely. Only for someone else to appear in their place.

Sora nearly falls back into the water when he sees his master, frigid fear quickly filling into his heart where warm joy had just been. Xehanort greets him with a cool, cordial grin, his manner as imposing and icy as the islands begin to darken and disappear around them.

"The future you imagine for yourself is a beautiful one, my thirteenth," the master says, still smiling. "But it's so simple, mundane even. You were born to reach far greater heights than a life as unassuming and insignificant as this. Allow me to show you the future I have in mind for you, my boy; the only future you'll ever get to see."

A sharp, anguished cry tears its way out of Sora's throat as the ground suddenly gives way beneath him. In a flash, his body is back to his usual age, but with that regression also comes the return of his claws, his fangs, his whitened hair, and his golden eyes. His new clothes are ripped away from him, the x-shaped scar on his chest flashing with unbridled darkness as something settles over his skin: none other than the pitch black coat belonging to every other member of Organization XIII.

When his vision clears, he finds himself among them, standing on the central podium of their round meeting hall. Each of them sit on thrones far above him, all staring down at him with golden eyes and leering smiles. And, presiding over the entire twisted assembly, is Master Xehanort himself.

"At long last, our Organization is complete," he proudly hails the group, fixing his focus upon Sora alone. "Welcome, Number Thirteen: Sora. You're finally home…"

Before Sora can even take in a breath to protest this horrid proclamation, the scene around him suddenly shifts again. He's still among the Organization, standing at the back of their number on the desolate grounds of an ancient graveyard he's only been to once before. And, standing afar in the distance, are the guardians of light. Riku bravely leads the charge into battle, and Kairi brazenly follows suit while Mickey, Axel, Aqua, and Ventus do the same. Donald and Goofy join them in their efforts, but Sora sees that they're short a Keyblade wielder. They're short because they lost him. And the Organization, now fully staffed and far outnumbering them, is fully poised to end them all in an instant.

And… he can do nothing but watch as exactly that happens. As he helps them destroy everyone he holds dear.

But even then, it isn't over. Because suddenly, he stands high above the graveyard, alone by his master's side. All thirteen Keys to the Kingdom circle in the darkness-stained sky before them, the clouds parting to give way to the power they're purposed to unlock. He sees Xehanort smile in sadistic satisfaction as Kingdom Hearts emerges from its spot above the heavens and the Keys each rise to join it. But what happens next, he doesn't get to see as a sudden, unspeakable pain pierces his heart and the world goes completely black around him.

And yet, even as everything else ceases to exist, his master's voice still remains, echoing through the void, through his mind, even through his very heart.

"Don't forget, my thirteenth. You are the one who will open the door."

Sora bolts upright immediately after that, his breathing sharp and shallow, his heart racing with blind, unshakable terror. It takes him several minutes to realize he's back in the calm forest he'd fallen asleep in, the darkness of night still well underway. Tears stream down his cheeks as he pulls his knees in close to his chest, noticing the dying embers of his fire sitting next to him. He doesn't dare think about that awful nightmare, doesn't even want to ponder on what any of it could mean. He's just glad that he's finally out of it, finally free from one horrible reality… only to find himself right back in another.

A reality he can't escape, not in dreams, or in waking.


The tenth night is when the hood goes up.

He stopped sleeping on the eighth night. Another nightmare had befallen him, every bit as unbearable as the first, in which he'd been forced to tear apart the Destiny Islands, unable to stop himself as he unleashed his devastating powers to obliterate his own home. It'd been more than enough to scare him out of sleeping for the rest of the night, and on the next, he hadn't even bothered trying at all, not when he knew the only thing that would await him would be another nightmare. But by now, the lack of sleep has started to weigh on him just as much as his lasting hunger continues to on top of it. Dark bags hang under his eyes, drowsiness hovers over him like a shroud, and his thoughts are largely unfocused and foggy. But he keeps going to another world anyway, not knowing what else to really do at this point. Mostly because there's not much he really can do anymore but keep on running, keep on hiding, and keep on hoping that he'll somehow find a way to survive.

Even if he knows exactly what grim fate will ultimately await him if he does.

He ends up inside of an actual city for a change, instead of the open wilderness far away from one. This city is quite massive at that, a modern metropolis made up of towering skyscrapers and winding, traffic-filled streets. Even just a few minutes after emerging from the alley his dark corridor had landed him in, Sora finds himself absolutely overwhelmed by how busy it all is, with crowds of people passing by in both directions of the sidewalk, even as evening begins to set in. He manages to slip into the midst of that crowd easily enough, going largely unnoticed as he walks quietly in the same quick pace as everyone else around him.

It isn't long before he's diverted off his initial path, however, by the scent of something appetizing, as any food would be for someone who's been forced to go without it as long as he has. The source of the tantalizing smell is from a nearby pizzeria, or more specifically, from its outdoor dining area. The restaurant is in the middle of a busy dinner service, with plenty of customers happily enjoying their meals. As he approaches the outdoor tables, Sora notices one couple leave theirs upon finishing their dinner, neglecting two still somewhat full plates in their wake. He stops just shy of the short fence separating him from that table, putting him within arm's reach of the half-eaten slice of pizza sitting on one of those plates. It'd take less than a second for him to snatch it, with the restaurant's servers and busboys all too busy to notice. And while he still doesn't like the idea of stealing, the leftover food is bound to merely be discarded anyway. So isn't it better that he takes it and eats it rather than merely letting it go to waste?

Of course, it's just his luck that as soon as he reaches out to do exactly that, he's caught in the act almost immediately.

"Hey, kid! What do you think you're doing?!" one of the waiters shouts, catching the attention of several surrounding patrons in the process.

Sora tenses up, his hand nearly skimming the plate as he desperately tries to come up with some way to properly explain himself. Only to find none at all. "I-I… uh…" he stammers, anxiety rushing in as several sets of eyes stare at him curiously. In the end, he gives up on searching for an excuse, and instead, takes the small window of opportunity that's starting to swiftly slip away from him. In one quick flick of the wrist, he takes the leftover pizza and bolts from the restaurant as fast as he possibly can.

"Whoa! Kid! Wait!" another server calls after him, but Sora rounds a corner before he can hear anything else they have to say. He keeps on running, plowing his way through the packed streets as he clings onto his half-eaten prize, as if it's the most precious treasure in the entire world. And, for as hungry as he is, it might as well be.

He finally stops, tucking into a small, shadowy alley several blocks away from the pizzeria. He struggles to catch his breath, his head spinning as he slides down to sit against the brick wall behind him. But he still has the pizza, plain cheese with no toppings, already cold with only a few small bites left to spare. Even though he knows he should probably pace his first meal in days a bit better, Sora devours it in seconds, savoring every last bite like it's the best thing he's ever eaten. But it's over far too briefly, gone before it's even really begun. And instead of satisfying the hollow void filling his stomach, it has the exact opposite effect; it only leaves him longing for so much more.

He sighs, leaning further back into the alley, out of sight of anyone passing by it. Night's finally fallen over the city, though it hardly seems to be going asleep yet. A messy mix of honking cars, buzzing engines, and chatting pedestrians continues to fill the air, and yet, as he settles in to listen to it, Sora can't help but find it strangely soothing. In some ways, this city reminds him of San Fransokyo, and as such, makes him nostalgic for the early days of his most recent mission, before everything had started to go so horribly wrong. But in many other ways, this city is far colder, far less welcoming, far more lonely, even with so many people filling its streets.

Or maybe it isn't the city that's lonely. Maybe it's just him.

He can't help but wonder what his friends might be doing right now, somewhere so many worlds away from him. He imagines all of them, together at the tower, turning in for a peaceful night's rest after a hearty meal, filled with good food and good company. When he closes his eyes, he can practically see them, sitting around a table, cheerfully talking over each other as they share laughter and stories, as they revel in the time they get to spend together. As they get to enjoy food, shelter, friendship, all of the simple pleasures he's started getting all too used to going without.

"...Maybe I should just go back…" he mutters to himself tiredly. "Even if they do lock me up, at least they might still be nice enough to give me some food and an actual place to sleep…" He absently reaches into his pocket, pulling out one of the few possessions he still has on him: a star-shaped charm composed of fragile shells that somehow still haven't been broken. "And if I went back," he whispers, running a gentle thumb over one of the smooth shells. "At least I'd get to see both of you again… even if neither of you want to see me…"

"You're right; they don't."

Sora gasps, shoving the charm out of sight as he instantly darts to his feet the moment he so much as hears this coldly-spoken statement. He turns to find Young Xehanort standing just shy of the entrance to the alley, blocking his only possible escape out of it. Not that he can even really think of escaping as completely caught off guard as he is.

"Even after everything you've heard and seen, you still wish to return to them?" Young Xehanort asks him, raising a critical, condescending eyebrow. "You want to go back, knowing full well what they want to do to you?"

Sora shudders, unsure of what to say. "I-I… I just-"

"Perhaps you need another reminder of what awaits you if you decide to surrender yourself over to them," Young Xehanort says, suddenly disappearing as the surrounding alley does the same. In an instant, Sora finds himself plunged into darkness, only to feel something heavy and cold latch around both of his wrists, around both of his legs, around even his neck. He can hear the rattling of chains somewhere behind him as he pulls against these restraints, and his mind is thrown into an instant panic, a frightened cry echoing through the nothingness he's now standing in. But that panic barely has time to even set in before everything about this startling situation turns even more terrifying.

"After all that time running and hiding like the coward you are… we finally found you."

"And if you won't let him go, then we're not letting you go either…"

"W-what?" he dares to ask, confusion mingling into his fear as he sees them both step into the space before him. They wear a set of matching scowls, the disdain and disgust in their eyes clear as they settle on him squarely.

"You can drop the act," Riku sneers unsympathetically. "You might have gotten away with lying to us before, but you can't fool us anymore, Xehanort."

Sora takes in a sharp breath at this, scarcely able to believe what Riku just called him. "N-no, I… I'm not-" he stops himself, tears already brimming in his golden eyes as he looks between the pair, distraught. "Riku, Kairi, please listen. It's me! It's Sora-"

"No, you're not," Kairi counters coldly. "The Sora we knew is long gone. And it's all because of you."

"You're nothing more than a pathetic imposter trying to wear his face," Riku concludes, the hatred in his tone just as clear as it is on his face. "But it looks like you can't even do that right anymore."

"What are you talking abo-" he quickly cuts himself off when his voice suddenly shifts as he speaks, to the point that he no longer sounds like himself in the slightest. If anything, who he does sound like now sends a frightened chill down his spine, that fear only growing as Kairi disdainfully addresses him once more.

"You can't hide what you really are, Xehanort," she hisses, as if any sort of affection she might have once shown for him never even existed. "And what you are, what you've always been, is a monster, inside and out!"

At this, both Riku and Kairi step aside, revealing some sort of reflective surface behind them. At first, Sora doesn't know it's a mirror as he stares at Young Xehanort, caught off guard by the strangely distressed look on his usually collected face. It's only as he spots the silver chains keeping the young master bound, notices the way he moves in perfect preciseness along with him, hears him draw in a horrified gasp that only comes out of his own mouth that Sora realizes exactly what's going on here.

He realizes that he's no longer Sora at all, not anymore. Because now, he's become what he's always feared he'd be. He's become Xehanort himself.

"No!" he screams, his voice still sounding exactly like the young master's as it echoes through the darkness. He collapses to his knees, his hands pressed against his face as he breaks into sobs that slowly start to come out in his own voice again. That's hardly any comfort though, even as the chains disappear, even as the alley rematerializes around him, even as he suddenly looks like himself again instead of his master.

Even as that master has returned to torment him even more.

"You must understand, my thirteenth," he hears Young Xehanort say as he stands over him. If Sora didn't know any better, he'd almost believe the fake pity in his tone. "That for whatever struggles you endure out here on your own, the guardians of light will put you through something so much worse. No matter how much you might want to, you can never return to them; you know that, don't you, Sora?"

He sits up, loosely wrapping his arms around himself and hanging his head as he mutters his tearful, resigned answer, one that isn't forced out of him at all. Mostly because it's nothing less than the truth. "Yes…" he whispers miserably. "I do…"

He doesn't see Young Xehanort's cold, satisfied smile as he says this. What he does see, however, is the sizable roll of bread that suddenly lands on the ground mere inches before him. Sora gasps, staring at the food with wide eyes before offering a questioning glance up at the young master before him.

"A gift, from your Organization," he explains simply, smiling cordially all the while. "If you serve us well, then there's more for you where that came from. What do you say in return for our kind generosity, my thirteenth?"

This time, he is forced to speak against his will, a burst of pain splitting at his heart as his head falls even lower in false respect for the wicked man in front of him. "T-thank you… master…"

"You're very welcome, Sora," Young Xehanort says as a dark corridor appears in the space behind him. "Please try to take better care of yourself. The last thing we'd want is for our most essential member to burn out before your role has even begun."

With that, the young master leaves. And within seconds of his departure, Sora immediately begins tearing into the bread he'd left behind, eating it as swiftly and savagely as he'd downed the pizza earlier. It's stale to the point of nearly being rock-solid, and by all accounts completely flavorless, but it's something, even if it did come from the hands of one of his greatest foes. And yet, even after he finishes it, he still feels sick to his stomach. Though this time, it has nothing to do with hunger.

His hand shakes when he holds it out, letting the Kingdom Key flash into his open grip. Its surface is ridden with deep, dark cracks that stretch across nearly every inch of its surface, a perfect reflection of his very own damaged heart in so many ways. But there's another reflection in the small spaces between those cracks, a reflection he stares at in saddened silence for what seems like ages. Sure enough, his face is his own again, though thin and gaunt from hunger, marred with lasting cuts and caked filth and long shadows under his eyes showing a clear sign of just how long he's gone without sleep. His eyes gleam gold in the darkness, only allowing sparse bits of blue to peek out from beyond the unwanted amber, and his hair is much of the same case, a dirty mess of untamed white, with only a few small, fading streaks of brown left between. As a result, he only barely recognizes the boy staring back at him from his Keyblade, a boy he can hardly stand the sight of anymore, a boy who doesn't deserve to be seen by anyone else either.

He can't disappear, at least not in the way he really wants to. He can't mask his monstrosity behind a spell, can't conceal it under any kind of magic now. But he can still hide in one small way, if only to stop himself from seeing someone who looks so much like everything he's ever wanted to be. His fingers skim the sides of his jacket's hood, something he's never really had much use for until now. It isn't much, but it's enough to cover most of his hair, to pull shadows down over his eyes, to help him forget what's happening to him every time he happens to catch a small glimpse of his reflection. To help him hide who he doesn't want to be, who he's already become, without any way of changing anything about it at all.

And so the hood goes up. And it doesn't come down for a long time.


From the moment the truth came out, the air filling almost every inch of the Mysterious Tower has been tense, to say the least. After Riku had left in such a hurry, the other lights largely hung back, unsure of how to proceed without any additional directions from their appointed leader. In his absence, however, Yen Sid had spent the past few days devising a plan, one that he calls a meeting to discuss with the guardians. Mickey shows up just a few minutes shy of that meeting however, intent on discussing his mounting concerns with his wizened master. Only to be met with that master voicing those exact same concerns to him first.

"I have quite a few reservations about the idea of Riku venturing out on his own to search for Sora," Yen Sid begins simply as the king approaches his desk. "The Organization is certainly following Sora's every move, and I have no doubts that Xehanort will not hesitate to cut down any obstacle that might try to keep him from converting his coveted final vessel. Traveling alone against such opposition is unwise, even disregarding the intense emotional connection Riku has to this situation, which could only prove to cloud his judgement even further."

"I'm worried too," Mickey agrees fretfully. "That's why I asked Donald and Goofy to follow him right after he left. That way someone's out there to look out for him, even if it's from a distance. And better yet, it means we've got two more sets of eyes out there looking for Sora!"

"Very good," Yen Sid nods his approval of such a plan. "Following this meeting, we will have plenty more."

As if on the sorcerer's cue, the study doors creak open, and the others slowly start to trickle in. Aqua and Terra enter first, Kairi following not too far behind with her Gummiphone in hand and Jiminy perched on her shoulder. He's the one to speak up first before the meeting even properly begins, hopping onto Yen Sid's desk to report the unfortunate news he has to offer the group.

"Well, we just finished talkin' to Chip and Dale," he explains, frowning. "They thought they'd be able to track Sora through his Gummiphone, but… they couldn't find a signal for it anywhere. They said the only way that could've happened is if it'd been broken. On purpose."

"The Organization must've taken it from him then," Mickey theorizes with disdain for the wicked group. "To keep him from getting in touch with us and calling for help."

"Or Sora broke it himself…" Kairi mutters so quietly that none of the others can hear her. Because if he'd gone to such great lengths to hide his grave secret from them, then wouldn't he also go to similar lengths to keep on hiding now that his secret is out?

"The effort, though unsuccessful, is still appreciated all the same," Yen Sid says, offering Jiminy a grateful nod. "Regardless, this means that we must rely on other avenues when it comes to searching for Sora. That is precisely what we have gathered here to discuss." The sorcerer pauses briefly, taking brief stock over the group standing before him before noticing one is unexpectedly missing. "Where is Ventus?"

"He's not coming," Terra says, shaking his head. "He said something about trying to see if his heart is still connected to Sora's, and if we can use that connection to help find him."

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Mickey exclaims, hopeful. "If that works, then we could be bringing Sora home way sooner than we thought!"

"I don't think it'll work," Kairi speaks up, her tone soft and sad as she looks away from the others. "I've been trying to do the exact same thing ever since he first went missing. I used to be able to sense his heart so easily before, but… now I can't feel any trace of it at all. It's like… whatever connection used to exist between us before is just… gone…"

Kairi lets out a small sigh, her lingering dread only slightly eased as Aqua places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's ok," she says with a small smile. "We'll find him and bring him home safely. And we'll all do it together."

"Except we won't be together," Kairi mutters, her sights still set downward as she wraps her arms around herself. "Not without Riku here…"

"...Oh, Kairi…" Aqua trails off, immensely sympathetic to the younger girl's plight. Because in the span of just a few short days, she's managed to lose not just one, but both of her best friends, torn apart from both of them after hoping that they'd finally get to be together again. Aqua knows that she can certainly relate to just how agonizing that kind of separation, that kind of loneliness can truly be. Loneliness that someone as young and as kind as Kairi doesn't deserve to go through in the slightest. Loneliness that neither Sora or Riku deserve to go through either.

Which of course, only makes her hate the twisted man who's created such a rift between the three of them even more. The same man who'd so cruelly ripped open the same sort of rift between herself, Ven, and Terra before.

"If we cannot find an absolute way to discern Sora's whereabouts," Yen Sid says, picking the meeting back up. "Then we must spread our search out from here. For now, the best course of action is to begin that search by following whatever clues we have to see where they might lead us."

"Well, if clues are what you're looking for, then I know just who to ask." The others turn to find Axel striding into the room, his expression set into a stern scowl as he stops just inside of the doorway. His manner turns a bit harsher as he glances back out into the hall, impatiently beckoning whoever's still outside. "Well, get in here, you two. It's high time you both finally come clean."

At this urging, Roxas and Xion hesitantly enter, both of them downcast and silent in the aftermath of the tense trip they just had. The entire time Axel had interrogated them with questions their hearts had been too heavy to answer, and when those questions had been quelled, he'd stewed in clearly angry silence, refusing to so much as even acknowledge them any time they tried to apologize. They can hardly blame him; after how they'd so blatantly lied to him so soon after their long-awaited reunion, he has every right to be even more upset with them than he already is.

In light of the circumstances, they know that none of the others gathered here are bound to receive them that warmly either. Yet before either of them can get a single word out, someone else among the group speaks up first. "Ven?" Aqua starts, both her and Terra equally confused as they set their sights on Roxas. "What are you doing wearing one of those coats?"

"Huh? Ven?" Roxas raises an eyebrow, exchanging an unknowing glance with Xion. "I don't know who you're talking about. My name is Roxas, not Ven."

"...Roxas?" Aqua and Terra repeat in unison, even more baffled than they'd been before.

"Ohhhh boy," Axel remarks to Kairi, aside. "This is just about as awkward as I expected it to be…" He's quick to step forward at this juncture, intent on properly explaining everything to everyone. "Ok, let's sort this out nice and quick. This," he motions over to Roxas. "Isn't Ven. This is Roxas. And yes, he does look exactly like Ven because…." He trails off, rubbing the back of his neck as he shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine. If I had to take a shot in the dark, it probably has something to do with Sora, I'm sure. Most weird things around here do."

Though they're both still awash in wonder by this boy who looks so much like Ven, but isn't Ven, Aqua and Terra still step forward to properly greet him all the same. "Well, as… strange as this is," Terra begins with a small, diffident smile. "It's nice to meet you, Roxas."

Roxas offers the pair as much of a genuine grin as he can manage, while Aqua turns her attention to their other new addition. "You too… Xion, was it?" she asks the younger girl kindly.

"Yes, ma'am," Xion nods just as politely.

"Roxas, Xion," Yen Sid addresses the pair. "We are all pleased to see that you are here. Lea tells us that you were the last ones to see Sora prior to his disappearance. Is there anything either of you can tell us about where he might have gone?"

Despite this important inquiry, Roxas and Xion can't help but be mutually confused about one small part of it. "Lea?" Roxas asks, glancing back at Axel.

"That's another long explanation we don't have time to get into right now," Axel huffs, crossing his arms. "Just answer the question."

Xion is ultimately the one to do so, though her tone is soft and remorseful as she begins to explain the last fateful seconds that Sora had still been within their reach. "We're sorry, but… no. He was with us when we were in Agrabah, and while we were there, we tried convincing him to come back and get help from all of you, but…"

"But he wouldn't listen," Roxas scowls. The bitterness slipping into his tone is spared both for Sora's frustrating stubbornness… and their own inability to push past that stubbornness to do what needed to be done. "He said… t-there's no way to stop what's happening to him; it was like he didn't even want to try to look for one anymore…"

The room falls into a solemn silence upon hearing this, none of them wanting to believe that Sora would just give up on himself so easily. Kairi in particular does everything she can to fight back tears, her heart aching once again as she tries to imagine just how much anguish he must be going through to think such a thing. To think that this is where it all ends for him, that he's already way past saving, no matter what anyone does.

Because if that's what he thinks, then isn't there a chance, however small, that it might just be true?

"We were going to bring him back ourselves until Xehanort and Maleficent both showed up and started fighting over him," Xion continues the grim tale. "Sora was terrified; we tried to help him, but… that's when he summoned a dark corridor and ran off… all on his own."

"Sora can use dark corridors now?" Mickey asks, aptly alarmed.

"That is… concerning news," Yen Sid concurs, closing his eyes in thought. "With the access those dark portals provide to the in-between, Sora can freely travel to any world he chooses. Which means-"

"There's no telling where he could be…" Kairi finishes gravely.

"We have to find him," Roxas insists before the group can fall even further into despair. "What Xehanort is doing to his heart is only going to get worse. We need to help him, before it's too late."

"Oh, so now you wanna reach out to the rest of us after you already lost him," Axel says, his tone cross and cold. "Not, oh I don't know, when we were all back in Twilight Town and you could have just told us the truth before things got out of hand!" He fixes the pair with a fierce look of betrayal, almost identical to the one they'd gotten from him back in Agrabah. A look that stings every bit as much now as it did then.

"Axel…" Xion begins, the lingering shame in her tone clear. "We really are sorry about lying to you, but Sora begged us to-"

"So what?" Axel shoots back. "If Sora has begged you two to jump off a cliff with him, would you have? I know neither of you have been around for that long, but I at least expected you to be a little smarter than this! What, did you think you could just save him from Xehanort all on your own?"

"That's exactly what we were doing when we were still inside of his heart!" Roxas argues, even though he knows he really shouldn't. Not against Axel, especially not when he knows Axel is absolutely right. "We were trying to stop this way before anyone, even Sora, knew about it!"

"Yeah, and what a great job you did!" Axel deadpans piercingly. "I mean, it's not like you just let Sora run off to who knows where while the old man makes even more ground in turning him into his newest flunky. That wouldn't really be "saving" him, now would it, Roxas?"

"We didn't let him run away!" Roxas protests, his voice rising in distraught anger with each word. "We did everything we could stop him, but we-"

"But you didn't," Axel cuts him off sharply. "Just like you didn't bother telling anyone the truth like you knew you should have. You lied to us—to me—and now look at the mess we have on our hands because of it!"

"Don't tell me this is my fault!" Roxas shouts, tears finally finding a place in his eyes. "Don't tell me that because I already know that, ok?! I couldn't stop him, I can't save him, even after I promised him that I-I… that I'd do a-anything to…"

He breaks off into a pained, mournful sob at this, one that Xion rushes in to comfort by way of a close embrace. Axel eases up when he sees the tears both of them now share, guilt settling in his stomach as he realizes just how harsh and unfair he's being. Just how much of a stressful strain this entire situation is putting on two people who are so very close to its source.

And yet, for as much as he's inclined to apologize to them, instead he says nothing. Mostly because he has no idea what to say to bridge the divide that's suddenly been torn between the three, the same kind of divide he'd been all but powerless to fix once before.

"There is indeed much strife surrounding these uncertain circumstances," Yen Sid says, finally bringing the group back to some semblance of order. "But now is not the time to throw around the blame for what actions could have been taken. Now, we must act in any way we can to recover Sora before he falls too far into the Organization's grasp."

"Um, excuse me," Xion speaks up nervously. By now, Roxas has pulled away from her, forcing his own despair away for the sake of far important matters. Even if he still largely refuses to spare Axel so much as a second glance after everything that's just been said. "But Sora isn't the only one who needs saving from the Organization. I think… they've captured Naminé too."

"Naminé?" Kairi questions, lightly skimming her own heart. "But… that doesn't make any sense. Naminé is still here, inside my heart-"

"Not anymore," Xion counters, frowning. "I saw her; we both woke up in the same place—some kind of castle. She said that when Sora set Roxas and I free from his heart, it somehow brought her back too. But then the Organization showed up and, well… long story short, I think she might still be in trouble."

"Then we have to help her," Kairi says, resolved. Even for as much of a surprise as her Nobody's sudden, unexpected return is, she's quick to put that surprise aside in favor of her newfound, yet deeply determined desire to rescue her. After all, Naminé had saved her from the Organization once before; it's only fair that she finally return the favor. "Her and Sora both. We can't-I won't let the Organization get away with hurting anyone else I care about. Not anymore."

"Well said, Kairi," Yen Sid nods, impressed by her boldness in the face of such adversity. "As Naminé is your Nobody, I shall entrust the task of finding her to you, and to Lea, if he so desires to accompany you."

"Huh?" Axel blinks, largely still lost in his own thoughts. He quickly catches on though, as he meets the steady, expectant glance Kairi's sending his way. "Oh, yeah, um sure. I'm up for it."

"I want to help too," Xion volunteers, her tone earnest as she turns to Kairi. "I wouldn't be standing here now if it weren't for Naminé's quick thinking. She did everything she could to save me from the Organization's plans; now I want to do the same for her."

Kairi nods, offering both Xion and Axel thankful smiles for their aid in this cause. With little leads to go off of, finding Naminé, or even Sora for that matter, won't be easy. But she's glad she won't have to go it alone, like someone else she knows who has already so recklessly decided to.

"Furthermore," Yen Sid continues. "Riku was right before when he said there are still a handful of Keys that remain to be found. Mickey, Aqua, Terra, that is your next mission. As you search the worlds for those final few, I trust you will also keep a close eye out for any signs of Sora, just as I'm sure Kairi, Lea, and Xion will as well."

"Of course," Aqua says with a solid nod.

"We'll report back as soon as we figure anything out," Terra adds intently.

"And as soon as we do find him," Kairi begins, holding more hope in her heart than she has for quite some time. "We'll bring him home. Him and Riku both…" she whispers that last statement, a promise to both of her boys that she'll bring the three of them together again. That when she does, that's exactly how they'll finally, finally stay.

"Um… what about me?" Roxas asks, realizing he hadn't been given a proper assignment.

"Considering your close connection to Sora, Roxas, I would like searching for him to be your primary focus," Yen Sid instructs. He picks up the smallest ghost of a smile with what he says next. "I intend to assign Ventus to join you on your travels. I believe you'll find the two of you have… quite a bit in common."

While Roxas doesn't really understand what the sorcerer means by this, he's even more confused when he hears small snorts of amused laughter from Aqua and Terra. Even Axel joins in with a small, brief grin, though he still remains silent. Even if he can think of about ten different jokes to crack right off the top of his head over such a fitting team up.

"Um… ok," Roxas concedes, still confused. Not that he really cares too much about who he'll be traveling with; just as long as the end of those travels leads him to what he's looking for. As long as it all somehow leads him to Sora.

"Also, before you depart," Yen Sid waves his hand over his desk as two suitcases appear atop it. "Roxas, Xion, these are for you; vestments to wear on your new missions, to reflect and celebrate your recent liberation from Organization XIII."

"Oh, um, thank you?" Xion frowns, accepting one of the cases. Even so, neither her nor Roxas really know what they truly hold, at least not yet.

"With that, this meeting has reached its end," Yen Sid concludes, rising from his desk to see the group off. "On each of your missions, take care to guard yourselves well against the darkness the Organization has at their disposal. And if any of you does indeed find Sora, then I have no doubts that each of you will do the very same for him now, when he truly needs it most."

Despite whatever differences and divisions might exist between them, every last one of the lights readily agrees to this, each of them unified in the exact same goal. Above finding the Keys, above saving the worlds, above even stopping Xehanort himself, they want to, need to find Sora. To bring him home and help him climb his way out of the darkness he's been forced to descend into.

To bring him back to the light, back to his friends where he truly belongs.


As it turns out, the suitcases contained clothing. Roxas had admittedly been caught off guard to open his and find an exact copy of the attire he'd worn during the week he'd spent in the virtual Twilight Town. It's far more casual than the uniform black coat he's grown accustomed to, and if he's being honest with himself, a welcome change. A way to, just as Yen Sid had said, begin to put his role in the Organization behind him at last.

Only pass that role onto the Organization's new thirteenth member instead.

Roxas quickly shakes such unsavory thoughts out of his head as he takes a seat on the steps outside of the tower. He's been told to wait for Ventus-whoever that is-before setting out on his search. The wait largely doesn't bother him; as much as he'd like to get to looking for Sora as soon as possible, he does still want to see Axel and Xion off before they set out with Kairi. And in the process, maybe try to set everything that's so suddenly gone wrong between the three of them right.

He jumps, startled upon hearing the doors creak open behind him. But when he catches sight of who's emerging from them, he's swiftly stunned to the point he can barely speak. Xion offers him something of a weak smile as she descends down the steps to his level, her own coat gone and replaced by her new clothes. It's a simple, yet stylish dress, one that looks quite similar to Kairi's, though Xion's is almost entirely black save for the rim of white fringe around its skirt. She has a pair of black boots to match, and as she walks in them, there almost seems to be a bit of a spring in her step, a sort of masked excitement Roxas can't help but smile over. To the point that he doesn't even realize there's a rush of red filling his cheeks as he stands to greet her.

He fumbles for words he can't seem to find, and what he does manage to get out is nearly enough to make him facepalm over just how foolish he sounds when he says it. "Y-you… you look… different."

Xion chuckles regardless, tucking a stray strand of ebony hair behind her ear. "So do you," she turns a bit to give him a better view of her outfit. "I've never had new clothes before. But I really like them, much more than that boring old coat we all had to wear. What do you think, Roxas?"

"Yes," he answers immediately, his face burning even brighter. He quickly recants, however, when he realizes the answer he just gave doesn't make any sense in the slightest. "I-I mean… I-I like them too." He clears his throat, still at an absolute loss over what to say and for the life of him he doesn't know why. He doesn't know why his face is so hot, why his heart is racing so fast, why his hands keep fidgeting at his sides, why his eyes are unable to look at anything else other than her. He doesn't know why he feels so silly, so stupid… but what he does know is that he doesn't want that feeling to go away any time soon.

"You know," Xion's smile slowly fades as her gaze drifts down to her outfit "This is all so… strange, but… sort of familiar too. All either of us have ever really known before now is the Organization; for almost an entire year, our lives were just… going on whatever missions they sent us off on. But even now that we're out and finally on the right side… here we are, being split up to go on missions all over again. It's weird, isn't it? How no matter how many things change, some stuff always stays the same?"

Roxas turns solemn as he listens to all this, unable to do anything else but wholeheartedly agree with every last word. "Yeah, it is…" he lifts his sights up to the endlessly starry skies above. "But… maybe, once we've saved Sora and stopped the Organization… things will be different."

"What do you mean?" Xion asks, glancing over at him curiously.

He smiles softly, a welcome warmth swelling inside of his chest when he nearly reaches for her hand, only to stop himself at the last second. "We've spent so much time living as Nobodies. Maybe, after all of this is finally over… we can both try being somebody for a change."

Xion brightens into a beaming grin at this, one that gives Roxas all the hope that he needs to know that such a future, that the new lives they'd both like to start, aren't so far out of reach after all. "Yeah," she warmly agrees. "Sora gave us both a second chance; we wouldn't want to waste it, would we?"

Roxas sighs at this, his expression drifting off into a remorseful frown. Xion is quick to pick up on his melancholy, slipping a hand onto his shoulder as she offers him what little comfort she can. "Roxas… what you said in there… What's happening to Sora isn't your fault. You know that it's not."

He shakes his head, his eyes shut if only to hold back tears that are threatening to fall all over again over his other's grim fate. "That's not it," he mutters morosely. "After he brought me back, I… I promised him that I'd find a way to save him, that he wouldn't have to be alone in this anymore. But now… he is alone. And it's all because I didn't do enough to save him…"

"He won't be alone for long," Xion assures, lightly squeezing Roxas' shoulder. "I have a feeling that if any one of us is going to find him, it's you, Roxas."

"Let me guess," Roxas lets out a somewhat bitter laugh. "It's because I am him, right?"

Xion shakes her head. "You're you. But you have a kind of connection to Sora that no one else can have, not even me, and I was literally made from his memories!" she tries to cheer Roxas up with this small bit of levity, but it doesn't go very far. So she opts to go with a more earnest tactic instead. "What I'm saying is… if you follow that connection, you're bound to reach him sooner or later. I'm sure of it."

Roxas finally eases into another smile at this, choosing to adopt the same kind of emerging hope Xion has. Because with so much hanging up in the air right now, hope is really all they have left to hold onto. At least until they really do find a way to bring Sora home.

It isn't long after that when the tower doors open again. Kairi steps out, her jaw set in determination as she practically sprints down the stairs. "We're all ready to go," she tells Xion. "If we leave now, we can spend the rest of the day searching one world, and then be onto the next by morning. Sora's bound to be in one of them, Naminé too. It doesn't matter who we find first, just as long as we find one of them, if not both."

"You wanna maybe slow down on that at least a little, Kairi?" Axel huffs as he hurries out of the tower after her. In a surprise to Roxas and Xion both, he's also discarded his old black coat, finally donning the new clothes he'd received quite some time ago. The outfit consists of a long burgundy shirt printed with red plaid, a sleeveless dark tan overcoat hanging over it as it drapes over sleek brown leggings that lead down to tall leather boots. It's a different look for him than what either of them are used to, but they can't deny it suits him quite well, just as both of their new outfits do the same for them. Far better than the Organization's largely drab and dreary coats ever had.

"Well, I guess that means I better be heading out too," Xion offers Roxas another small smile. "Be careful out there, ok?"

"Yeah, you too," Roxas nods, though his sights soon shift to Axel, even after he's already passed both of them by. "Um… hey, Axel? I…" He trails off, suddenly unsure of himself when Axel stops several feet away. He glances back over his shoulder at him, though not enough that Roxas can clearly see his eyes for the streaks of crimson hair largely concealing them. Under his unknown stare, Roxas finds whatever words he'd wanted to say fall short, whatever apologies he'd hoped to give feeling insufficient now. Especially after every heated word they'd so thoughtlessly exchanged back in the tower. "Uh… n-nevermind…" he mutters, rubbing his arm and glancing away.

Axel says nothing in return, as much as he might want to. Instead, he simply turns and continues on his way, with nothing further broken… but nothing fixed all the same.

Xion sighs, briefly sparing Roxas one final worried glance before she trails off after Axel. Roxas watches them both go, unable to even get out anything even close to a proper goodbye. Instead, as he simply stands by as Kairi summons a light gate for the three of them to leave through, thinking about how wrong it is that they're being separated again, so soon after their miraculous reunion. About how that reunion has so easily been tainted by anger and remorse and lies, all things he knows he could so easily pin on Sora for starting all of this. But in the end, Roxas knows the only one he can really blame for any of it… is himself.

He takes a seat on the tower steps again, letting out a long sigh as he perches his hands under his chin. With Kairi, Axel, and Xion gone, an empty silence falls over the area outside of the tower, silence that's only filled in by his own torrent of fretful thoughts. What if they don't find Sora in time? What if they don't find him at all? What if it's already too late? What if everything they've worked for, every moment of struggling, every ounce of resistance they-he put into trying him, is doomed to mean nothing in the end?

What if Sora had been right before? What if there really is no saving him after all?

He forces all of those mounting worries to the back of his mind, knowing that 'what-if's won't do anyone any good right now. Instead, he chooses to believe, has to believe that there's still time to fix this, still time to stop this. There's still time to save Sora, both from the Organization… and from himself.

This time, Roxas barely even hears the doors open behind him. In fact, he doesn't even turn around until he hears a small, surprised gasp, one that comes out in a voice that sounds almost exactly like his own.

He echoes that gasp, bolting to his feet in shock, when he sees who's standing at the top of the stairs. It's a boy who, in just about every way other than their clothes, looks identical to him. Same hair, same build, same face-save for the other boy's green eyes as opposed to his blue-same everything. Even the same level of bewildered confusion as they both speak over each other, trying to make sense of it all.

"W-what? Who are-"

"What's going on? Why do you look so much like-"

"Me? And you sound exactly like-"

"You sound just like I do, how is-"

"I don't know! Is this some kind of weird trick or something?"

"Wait, no," the other boy holds his hands up to even out their frantic conversation. "This can't be right. Are you… Roxas?"

"Um, yeah?" Roxas replies, raising an eyebrow at his lookalike.

"Oh, wow!" the other boy exclaims, amazed. He breaks out into a fascinated smile as he takes a step closer, looking over Roxas in awe to the point that he doesn't even notice the suspicious glare he's sending his way. "Aqua and Terra told me I'd be in for a surprise when I met you, but I didn't think it'd be this kind of surprise! I guess Master Yen Sid has a pretty good sense of humor after all if he decided to pair the two of us up, huh?"

"...What are you talking about?" Roxas asks flatly, completely lost.

"Oh, sorry!" the other boy rubs the back of his neck, extending his other hand out to Roxas. "We should… probably start over. I'm Ventus. But my friends call me Ven. Nice to finally meet you."

Roxas doesn't return his handshake, instead crossing his arms as he keeps his sights set on the other boy in an almost distrustful frown. "...Roxas. But… I guess you already knew that."

"Yeah, Master Yen Sid already filled me in on everything," Ventus explains, his smile finally faltering. "I… guess we should head out? The sooner we find Sora, the better. I'm really worried about him."

"...Me too," Roxas drops his arms, glancing away in lasting regret. He briefly looks back to Ventus though, noticing almost the exact same look hanging on his lookalike's face. "Um… so how do you know Sora anyway?" he ventures, unable to keep himself from being curious.

Ventus smiles, but it's bittersweet, as he hovers a hand just over his chest. "Years ago, something… bad happened to my heart. I almost didn't make it, but then… another heart welcomed mine into it. It was Sora's; he kept me safe while my body slept. And… when the time came for me to wake up… that's exactly what he did. Even if…" he stops, sighing sadly. "Even if that meant I couldn't slow down what's happening to him anymore…"

"I know the feeling," Roxas mutters, his gaze still downcast and dour.

"I… heard you were inside his heart too?" Ventus asks, his voice a touch softer.

Roxas nods, his tone solemn as he shuts his eyes. "I am-I was his Nobody. I was… never supposed to exist. But Sora, he did everything he could to bring me back as my own person. He even-" He cut himself off, his voice breaking at the awful memory of his blood staining the grass, of the life slowly draining out of his eyes, of his body growing cold and stiff in his arms, of Sora dying, all because of him. "L-let's just say… Sora sacrificed… a lot so I could be here. That's why I have to help him somehow; after everything he's done for me, I owe him nothing less."

Despite his sincerity, Roxas is caught off guard when Ventus suddenly laughs in response. "What's so funny?" he asks, shooting the other boy a stoic look.

Ventus lets out another small, warm chuckle, his tone calm and kind as he looks Roxas' way. "It's just… I think I get it-why the two of us look the same. It's because of Sora; even though you and I have never met before, we're still connected to each other. Because we're both connected to him."

Roxas doesn't share Ventus' smile; if anything, all he can do is frown upon hearing this. Because following that connection, if it even still exists at all, could very well be enough to lead them to Sora. Or could prove to be nothing more than a waste of time he doesn't have left to spare. And with how badly things have been going lately, Roxas can't help but worry that the latter is more likely to be true.

Ventus, on the other hand, seems far more optimistic. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asks, stepping forward to depart. "Let's get going. If Sora really is lost out there somewhere, then he's not just gonna find himself."

"Knowing Sora, he definitely won't," Roxas finally laughs, joining Ven as he ventures onward. Despite how peculiar of a team they might make, there is one thing they have in common even beyond their near-identical appearances. They share the same mission, the same goal, the same determined drive that they intend to carry out, no matter the cost.

To reach the boy who connects the two of them, the boy who never stopped trying to bring them both back from the brink. To save the boy who'd given everything he had to do the same for them. To find Sora and somehow set his heart free, just as he'd done for both of them before, in so many more ways than one.


Ah yeah! Roxas and Ven team up! AKA one of the many things KH3 wouldn't give us because KH3 is LAME :P Anyway this is bound to be interesting, especially if these two really do happen to run into Sora in a place that's... a little west of weird (and very familiar territory for me, at least, if ya know what I mean... ;) Anyway, as always please don't forget to let me know what you think in the REVIEWS please! Until next time!