Chapter 47
"Where are we?" asked Riku.
The group reached an island. What was weird was that the island was covered in light, something that was not possible inside the realm of darkness.
"This is an abnormality," explained Aqua. King Mickey, Isshin, and Ansem's nobody looked at the place in awe. "When I was trapped in here, I explored as much of the world as I can. This was one area that is like a safe zone...I think."
"So, I guess we should talk about the problem," said Isshin.
"Yes, this must be discussed," said Ansem's nobody. "Mysteriously enough, I regained my memories, and I have no memory of these neithermen. We also have the nobodies and these lightlings on the loose."
"What happened to my master?" asked Aqua.
"Maybe he was under someone's control," said King Mickey. "I mean, some of our friends were under the control of the enemy before we came back here."
"You guys were here before?" asked Isshin.
"Long story short, we were here because of Xheanort." Riku looked at Isshin. "How did you end up here?"
"My friend kicked me down." Isshin sighed. "You know Ishida, right? Well, his dad is similar to him."
"Smart?" said Riku.
"I guess so. I was going to say calculating. He kicked me down into a void, knowing that I would find Aqua."
"Then, after we met, we went to the beach," said Aqua. "Then, we saw you."
"So, how do we get out of here?" said King Mickey. "We need to go and make sure that Master Eraquis doesn't rampage in the worlds!"
"That may be too late to stop," said Aqua, "but we have to try!"
"There is one way out of here that I know of," said Riku. "I know this seems weird, but I keep seeing portals open up."
"Careful, Riku," said a worried King Mickey. "Messing with darkness can only cause trouble."
"Not necessarily," said Ansem's nobody. "If we are to get out of here alive, we will need Riku's darkness to get out. Let's try this out..."
Riku stretched his arms in front of him. He closed his eyes, focusing on building up energy. Suddenly, Riku could hear another voice inside of him.
Be wary of where you end up, Riku...
"Huh?" Riku opened his eyes.
"What is it?" asked King Mickey.
"I heard someone...calling out to me..."
"It was probably just your imagination," said Isshin. "Either that, or something like a spirit, I guess."
"Well, you were right! Look!" Aqua pointed at the void. "You were able to open up a void."
"To where, though?" asked King Mickey.
"I would guess that we will find out once we get through the portal," said Ansem. They all jumped into the portal.
The place they landed on was definitely close to the realm of light. Riku thought at first that they were in the mansion at Twilight Town. However, they were in the room where the machinery was suppose to be at. The room looked all messed up, with damaged equipment and broken screens on one side, and cracks on the ground on the other side.
"Where are we?" asked Aqua.
"We are in Twilight Town," answered Ansem. "Specifically, we are in a clone version of it."
"What?!" asked Isshin.
"You mean...this is the place where you did things to Sora." Aqua looked at Ansem, noticing his guilt in his posture. He faced the ground, not looking up at the other people.
"This is a place where I did things to his nobody, Roxas. I let myself be clouded by darkness when I did this-"
"Hey, don't be hard on yourself," said Riku. "That was long ago, and Roxas...I'm sure that he forgave you."
"Who is this Roxas?" said Aqua.
"He sort of looks like this." Riku pulled out a picture of him that he took with his friends.
Aqua immediately let out a gasp. "Ven!"
"Who?" asked Riku.
"He is...my friend."
"This is not Ventus," said Ansem. "His body is still in Castle Oblivion. This brings up another point, now that we are close to the realm of light, but...I wish to bring Sora to Castle Oblivion."
"What?!" Riku looked at Ansem with shock. "Why?"
"The boy has Ventus's heart. By taking him to the real body, I believe that we can rescue Ventus."
"So that is why this Roxas looks like Ventus..." Aqua slumped her shoulders in sadness.
"Don't worry, Aqua!" said Isshin. "This friend of yours will be fine! I mean, I don't get what is going on, but-"
"We will find Ventus!" said King Mickey. "All we need to do is to focus on getting back to Yen Sid!"
"That's right!" Riku remembered the train. "Well, let's go!"
The group traveled the basement, reaching a room with a void in it. "So we just need to go through here, and we can get back to the real twilight town!" said King Mickey.
"So you wish to go into the realm of light?"
A man wearing a blue coat stepped out of the void. The group took attack positions, wary of this mysterious figure.
"I cannot let you go into the light," said the blue figure. "As it is, you are all liabilities that we do not need."
"When were we assets to you?" mumbled Isshin.
"Good point." The figure snapped his fingers, and figures rose up. They radiated evilness, and they were slightly humanoid.
"Neithermen!" shouted Riku.
"Yes, young keyblade master. You and your kind shall be gone from this existence when we destroy you!"
The neithermen attacked. Isshin slashed through several of them, while Ansem extended his arms, creating a force field around him that disintegrated the neithermen. Aqua and Riku combined their attacks to form a lightning vortex, which destroyed the rest of the neithermen, except for the man in the blue coat.
"Impressive." He stepped forward. "I guess you need to be wiped out by their powers."
"And who are you suppose to be?" said Aqua.
"I am a neitherman unlike any other. But you can think of me as a necromancer. Call me...Reviver."
Then, extending his hand up, Reviver charged up energy. Four figures rose up from the ground. To the horror of Aqua and Isshin, two of the people in the group were people that they knew. There was a boy with a sword similar to Cloud's, dark hair, and blue eyes. There was a woman with orange hair and an bow. There was a man with a large sword, who had another man on his shoulders.
"Let me introduce you to your deaths. This is Zach, Masaki, and the Toguro brothers." Reviver grinned. "Now, then...die!"