Ch.15

Roxas stared at his laptop, scanning everything carefully. He read over the paragraph several times, hoping to have noticed something he missed before. But what he had to read was very little, and very encrypted.

All morning long Roxas and his friends had been hard at work. Since their talk they spend as much time as they could look into what they could find about Ansem and the mansion. They did not have the highest of hopes when they began their search. There was very little information than they had to go on. But they were not ready to give up easily. They were going to try as hard as they could.

And even though the information they found was small, they managed to find something. It also helped that Pence did his best to dig through most of the heavy encrypted stuff. With his help, they were able to gain access to hidden files with rather interesting information.

"We've found plenty of information on Ansem now," Kairi said as she kept reading through what she had on her laptop. "It looks like he was always a mysterious man, even when he created the mansion. Back before the mansion closed, he always kept to himself and for sometimes days straight he would go to the basement of the mansion. None of the workers would see him at all for those days, so no one knew what he was doing."

"We can assume though he may have been working with dark magic stuff," Roxas added, thinking back to what Namine told him. "He must have been working on whatever made him immortal or what turned him into that monster."

"Speaking of that, I was looking up about dark magic and possible anything about the creature you described that Ansem was," Riku started to say. "It looks like even back in Ansem's time dark magic, or actually magic overall, was already a dying thing. People were forgetting about it and moving on with the times. Seems Ansem wasn't wanting to let that go."

"But why was he using dark magic? For what purpose?" Roxas asked.

"I don't think we are going to find anything about that on here. If none of the workers at the mansion knew what he was up to, I doubt there is much we can find," Sora answered.

"But," he continued a second later. "The creature that Ansem made himself into… it looks like it is based on an actual mythical monster or something…"

Sora turned his laptop around for the other three to see. "I found this online version of an old book that is filled with information about ancient and mythical creatures from way back when."

On the screen showed an old sketchy drawing of a dark demonic creature. The more Roxas looked, the more he could see that it did resemble what Ansem looked like. He then started to read the passage that went with the picture aloud.

"This monster of darkness was one of the most dangerous of all creatures. Old folk tales told of this terrifying creature and how it snuck around at night through unsuspecting villages. It was looking for the hearts of people to steal, more specifically the heart of a person's emotions. For that heart of a person was what the monster needed to sustain its strength and powers."

Roxas gasped. He leaned back in his chair as he placed a hand against his face. "That's how he must have lived this long. Not just because of the dark magic, but also because of the creature he transformed himself into. And that's why he needs hearts… to keep his powers strong so he can keep living."

"But there has to be a way to stop him right? This old folk tales always have these monsters, but there is usually a way to defeat them. Like a silver bullet for a werewolf, or cross for a vampire," Kairi suggested.

"There is, it's just a little farther down in the article," Sora said as he turned his laptop back towards himself. "I think I need to do a bit more looking, but what it says is that to destroy this monster, a weapon made from the light."

"Made from the light?" Riku asked.

"That's what it says," Sora replied. "So I'm guessing since this creature was from a time when magic was relevant, I assume it means a weapon with light magic or something."

"You keep doing that then, there's gotta be something we could find. Magic may have been forgotten pretty much by the people, but it's still gotta be out there," Roxas said. "Namine is around our age and she can use magic. So it still has to exist."

Everyone nodded before going back to look for more information. After a few minutes Roxas's cell phone rang. He checked the caller I.D. and saw that it was Pence. He picked it up and put it into speaker mode, so the others could hear what Pence had to say.

"Hey Pence, you're on speaker, what's up," Roxas said.

"Hi guys. So I was doing more digging, and I came across one article that was majorly encrypted and I think possible corrupted. It's another old article that was uploaded, but the data has been messed with. But I managed to pull some of it together… and it's really interesting. I'm sending you a link to your email now."

Roxas turned around and pulled open the tab to his email and clicked on the new one from Pence. When he clicked the link he was brought to an old looking website with a small article being displayed. Most of the words though were unreadable and missing.

"I know most of it you won't be able to read. I tried my hardest to restore it, but this one gave me the most trouble. But there is one picture there and the caption beneath it gives enough in my opinion," Pence said.

Roxas looked through the article to find it, while Kairi, Riku, and Sora looked over his shoulder. Soon a picture came up onto the screen. It was an old, black and white, grainy photograph, but the four could tell that it was outside of the mansion. Two young, adult men stood in front of the mansion, tall and serious with the tiniest of smiles on their faces.

The four looked to the caption below the photograph.

New Twilight Town residents; Ansem (left) and his older brother Xemnas (right) stand outside their newly constructed building called The Twilight Manor.

"That's what Ansem looks like? Or I guess… looked like?" Sora asked.

"And he had a brother too?" Riku added.

"And what does it mean 'New Twilight Town residents'?" Kairi also asked.

Roxas didn't ask a question though, but he listened carefully to each thing asked. He couldn't take his eyes off the photograph through. Seeing what Ansem looked like surprised him. The man in the photograph looked serious, but also looked like he did have a friendly side.

"How could a young man like that turn out to be evil and use dark magic? What motive could he have had to do what he has done… Even though it's just a picture… he looked like he could have been a nice man," Roxas muttered, loud enough for the rest to hear.

"I don't know," Riku answered first. "I know though we can't judge his personality on one picture. Just because he smiles there, doesn't mean he was always a good man. But this does give us some more info, though along with even more questions."

Roxas nodded. "I guess you're right about that."

"So Ansem… and his brother, they weren't even from TwilIght Town to begin with?" Sora asked. "Does the article say where they came from?"

"Not that I can see," Pence answered. "There is still a lot of it that is heavily encrypted. It's going to take me more time if I want to clean up the piece completely."

"Take your time Pence. But this is helpful, so thanks for finding it," Roxas said. "Also if you can, see what you can find about old magical weapons with light magic. Sora found something that could possibly be the way to defeat Ansem."

"Sure thing, I'll get right on that. Talk to you guys later."

Everyone thanked Pence and said their goodbyes before he hung up. They sat there for the moment, letting the new information sink in. Roxas kept looking over the article, hoping to see if there was anything else. But as Pence had said, a lot of it was unreadable. Other a few words here and there, but it wasn't enough to give him any more answers.

Roxas leaned back in his chair and stretched. "So Ansem has a brother…"

"Or had," Kairi replied. "I wanna guess something must have happened to his brother, which is why we didn't see anything about him in the other articles. And why there doesn't seem to be two demonic monsters roaming the mansion."

"What could have happened though?" Roxas ran a hand through his hair had he tried to think of a good answer, but he couldn't find anything.

"Maybe some sickness," Sora suggested. "They did live over two hundred years ago, so there could have been a sickness that was incurable back then that is cured today. Oh! And maybe if that is the case, that's what drove Ansem to use dark magics. You know, if his brother died and he wanted to bring him back. Maybe it was like that."

Kairi tilted her head slightly. "But isn't that necromancy? Magic relating to the dead, I think? If he wanted to bring back his brother from the dead, why would he use magic to turn into that monster and curse the mansion?"

"Oh… that's a good point. Forget what I said then," Sora replied as he sighed.

"We don't have to forget it entirely. Part of it could be true," Riku said, speaking up. "While the necromancy magic part may not fit into this, it is possible that Xemnas could have died before Ansem started to use dark magic. Or maybe they both were working with dark magic and something they did killed Xemnas."

Roxas groaned. "Still so many questions… Ugh…" Roxas sat up straight in his chair. "I think we have enough info on Ansem for now. What I think we need to do next is look into breaking that curse. Looking into magic and that weapon of light or that use light magic."

"Sure, but how about we get some food first, we've been working all morning," Kairi said as her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall.

The time was a quarter past one. Roxas didn't even realize how much time had gone by. He had been so intent on searching that he didn't even consider taking a break for food. But as much as he wanted to keep going, he knew that his friends would tell him to take a break.

He stood up and stretched again. "All right. Let's get some food. Then we can get back to researching right?"

Everyone nodded before standing up to head out of the room. Roxas smiled slightly. He was glad he wasn't alone on this task. At first he was afraid that his friends wouldn't want to help him. After all he caused so much trouble at the start of their vacation visiting him. But he was relieved that they still cared and wanted to help. He only hoped that they could figure out how to do it before the week was up and his friends would have to go home.

Over at the mansion, Namine was walking down the halls. Vanitas and Ventus had been spending the entire morning and afternoon together. She knew they had 14 years between each other to catch up on, and she didn't want to intrude on them.

Namine rounded the corner when she felt the temperature drop. She stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes shifted around the hallway, looking carefully. Ansem was close by… and most likely going to show up soon.

Namine pushed herself to keep moving. She made it all the way back through the hallway until she got to her room. Though she knew she could have used her magic to teleport, she didn't trust that she would be able to do it when Ansem was trying to find her. He was still far more powerful than her and could easily cancel out any magic she attempted to do.

Namine stepped inside her door and closed the door behind her. Moments later she heard a knock on her door, as she expected.

"Namine. Come out now. There is a matter I wish to speak with you."

"You can tell me through the door," Namine replied quietly.

She knew that speaking against Ansem was a huge risk. He did not take people disobeying or refusing to listen to him lightly. Though she also knew that he would not harm her. She was still useful to him and he needed as much cooperation as he could get. But while he wouldn't hurt her directly… there were other ways he could get her to listen. She only hoped that it wouldn't have to lead to that.

"You shall come out. That is an order. We're… going to take a short walk through the mansion. It will not take long."

Namine bit her lip. "Does he know? Did he figure out I let Roxas escape? What else could it be?"

Namine breathed out before she turned to face the door. She wouldn't be able to argue with Ansem. But what she was worried about was facing the man directly. Though she felt no emotions, her body would sometimes react as it was natural. And seeing Ansem, whether in his human or monster form, caused a huge reflex in her.

Her body and mind knew that she was supposed to be terrified of Ansem. He stole her from her home. He brought her here and cursed her like all the rest. Her mind never forgot that. And neither did her heart… which longered to actually express the fear that she should have had.

Namine slowly opened the door and stepped out into the hall. At first there was no one there, but the temperature still remained cooler than normal. Then wisps of darkness formed and Ansem in ins monstrous form appeared. Namine stared unphased, but her body instinctively tensed up.

Ansem floated closer to her face. "Good. Are you ready then for our walk?"

Namine nodded slowly, but no words left her mouth.

Ansem let out a dark and eerie laugh. "It still amazes me how you can pretend to be so afraid of this form. After all of these years, I would think you would forget the little emotion you had. But you still surprise me, and that is why you are the most valuable."

"Is that… what you wanted to talk about? How I appear to look afraid… when around you?" Namine asked in a quiet voice.

Ansem laughed again. "No. It is far from that. It is only interesting to note. But to help you, I shall change forms."

Ansem shifted back into his human form and his feet touched the ground. He smiled coldly at Namine. Though his monstrous form was terrifying with its sharp teeth and glowing eyes, Ansem in his human form was still just as bad.

"Now," Ansem said. "Let us begin out walk."

"Okay," Namine replied.

The two of them walked down the hall. Ansem did not speak at first and Namine watched him carefully. She kept wondering how much he knew. He was the all-powerful monster of the mansion. There was little that he didn't know about that went on within the walls of his building.

"Namine," Ansem began to say, his deep voice serious and cold. "You know how I feel to see that we have a new member in my mansion, correct?"

Namine nodded slowly. "Yes. You're very happy about that, right?"

"Correct. Ever since those cowardly mortals blocked off the entrance to my mansion, we haven't had any new guests. And that saddens me deeply. But now we have a new guest, but…" Ansem trailed off, leaving Namine uncertain where he would go next.

She didn't speak up. She waited quietly for Ansem to continue. She knew he would, he only wanted to wait to make the moment more tension filled. And that left Namine wondered more and more if he really knew what she had done.

Soon Ansem started to speak again. "But… I feel that we are missing something. Or really someone," Ansem stopped walking as he leaned closer to Namine's face. "Wouldn't you agree, Namine?"

"I don't know what you mean," Namine replied softly.

Thankfully without emotions, it made it easier to lie without having the expression that one is lying. But Ansem was still smart. Even without an emotion on someone's face to read, he still could tell what they were thinking. He had been around long enough to pick up skills such as that.

Ansem narrowed his eyes. "Do not lie, Namine. I know everything that happens here. And I know exactly what you did."

Without waiting for Namine's response, Ansem reached around and grabbed her wrists. He did not squeeze them, but the grip was tight enough that she would not be able to pull away. Ansem's amber-orange eyes glared right into Namine's gentle blue.

There was no fear that Namine could feel. But her body was still reacting. She could at least feel that her hands were trembling. And now a debate began to form in her head. She started to become unsure of what she was going to do. She did not want to get Roxas dragged back here. That was the last thing she wanted to happen. She still had her hope that Roxas could find a way to break the curse.

But if she kept quiet and lied to Ansem… things could get much worse. Not to her though… as Ansem still wouldn't harm her, but he would find a way to make her wish she hadn't lied. Most likely if she kept quiet and lied, Ansem would bring harm to Vanitas as punishment. Namine didn't want that either.

"Namine," Ansem growled. "You know better than to try and hide things from me."

"What exactly did I do wrong?" Namine asked as she lowered her head. She thought it was better to see what Ansem had to say. If by some chance he didn't actually know about Roxas, she wanted to keep it that way. But the more it was dragging on, the more she felt he did know.

"You let someone escape from the mansion."

Namine bit her lip. He did know. And from the tone of his voice he was clearly upset.

"Not just once… but twice. Do you think I do not know when someone enters my mansion? It is my mansion, my curse. I know when someone comes even when I am away. And for me to return to find the one I sensed entering… gone…. I am far from pleased."

"I'm sorry…" Namine whispered.

"I don't think you are. Not only did you let this person escape twice, but before the second time I sensed you brought the person back to your… safe haven room. I would assume that you have given away vital information to whomever this is. Is this correct?"

Namien remained quiet at first. Disappointed that she had not gotten away with what she had planned. Given in, she nodded her head again.

"You know we can't have something like that. This is very irresponsible of you Namine. I thought I taught you better not step out of line. But you do not have to worry."

Ansem released Namine from his grasp. Slowly she looked up to meet his cold gaze once more.

"You can make it up to me by fixing this. Bring the one you let escape back here tonight. Use whatever magic you prefer, but this is the task that I give to you. Understand?"

Namien did not move. She did not even make a sound. She only could keep thinking how she messed up. She hoped she could have saved Roxas from such a fate, but now he was going to be stuck like the rest of them. And it was her fault.

"Namine," Ansem said, raising his voice. "If you do not comprehend and do not do as I ask, I will have no choice but to give a punishment instead. And I am sure you do not want that."

Ansem slowly sneered. He chuckled sinisterly. "If you do not bring the person here tonight, your punishment will be grave. I am sure you would much rather bring a new guest here to join us rather than… having me strip away everything from Vantias, leaving him an empty husk."

Ansem paused, letting the weight of what he was about to say sink in. He watched as Namine's eyes grew wide. "No! Don't… Please don't do that."

"Then you will do as I ask?"

Namine lowered her head once more. She hated that she was struck in this predicament. While she did not want to bring Roxas here to join the other cursed… she didn't want anything to happen to Vanitas. If she were to lose Vanitas… she wasn't sure if she would be able to manage it. Even without emotions she knew that she cared for him. And having him be hurt because of something she did wasn't what she wanted.

"Yes Ansem. I'll do it tonight," Namine responded weakly.

"Good. I shall be waiting for his arrival. You are free to resume whatever you were doing before," Ansem said before disappearing into the darkness.

Namine stood perfectly still. The weight of what just happened still sinking deep into her skin. "I should have known… Ansem always knows what happens… I'm sorry Roxas… I was a fool to think this was going to work. Though… I can only hope you find out a way before you're brought here. Maybe… just maybe then we still may have a chance."

Oh boy oh boy, I finally did it! I returned yet again to this story. I had a bit of a block on how to go about the next chapter for a while, but it finally came to me. So sorry for the wait, but here we are again with more information building up in this story!