Chapter 5: Tell Me the Truth

"Tron… why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you jump in front of me back there?" Sora slid down with his back against the blue wall of the System Sector, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. Sitting on the ground and dismissing his Keyblade, Sora placed a hand on Tron's shoulder and cast Cure. The green light flowed from his hand into the man next to him, who was clutching at his side as pixels flew out of an open wound.

Reflega had held off Vanitas's attack for a few seconds, but it shattered liked glass soon enough. In their brief instant of safety, Tron had opened up a Backdoor and shoved Sora inside, taking the full assault of the darkness. Frantic, Sora had pulled the nearly unconscious man inside and closed the Backdoor as quickly as he could. Vanitas, charging at them through the smoke, was mere inches away when the crack in reality shut tight.

"I suppose one answer is that you're a User." Tron watched as Sora's healing magic pulled the bits making up his being back into their proper place. "But the real reason is beyond just that. You're a good kid, Sora—you're true to your friends. I can see that with just the few interactions we've had." He stood up and offered a gloved hand to Sora. The boy took it and climbed up to his feet.

"You're sure that he can't follow us in here, right?" It didn't look any different than the System Sector he used to get back to Disney Castle. There was even that same hollow echo when he stepped on the blue floor.

"One hundred percent certain. This System Sector is for secure use only. Without a password they can never break in."

"But if Braig is at Ansem's computer, won't he figure out the password eventually?"

"Unlikely. Ansem hid it behind a cipher, and if this Braig person was any good with computers he would have rewritten my source code to be loyal to him a long time ago." Tron called up a screen and began typing quickly. A few moments later, a second one appeared to his side and he moved his left hand to it.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked, walking behind Tron and looking over his shoulder.

Tron replied with a question of his own. "Have you heard the rumors about you?"

"Huh?" Sora blinked and looked away with embarrassment. "Um… Some of them, yeah." How could he have not heard with all the creeping around town he had done? Apparently people had trouble remembering his appearance or something, which was just bizarre. Sora couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing he was inadvertently creeping out the people of the town. But it would be worth it in the end, because it was for Xion. "Why?"

Tron smiled sadly. "The people of this Twilight Town refuse to acknowledge you because of a sense of 'wrongness' you gave off. The reason for this feeling is because you hacked your way inside the system instead of coming in the normal way like that Vanitas person did. And so the system rejected you, which in turn meant the people of the system rejected you on a subconscious level."

"Uh… huh…" Sora was lost, and his utter confusion seemed to be obvious to Tron because the man chuckled.

"To put it simply, what I'm doing is putting your data inside of the database. What this means is that you'll be able to interact with people normally, without them subconsciously trying to ignore your existence." He looked up at Sora and smiled. "The next time you talk to Xion, she'll see you clearly. But so will everyone else."

Sora's face lit up. "Really? That's great, thank you!" The he frowned and crossed his arms. "But… What happened to not wanting me near the people you're protecting?"

Tron shook his head and sighed. "I'm still not sure what's going on. I had thought Xion was another program living here, but I'm starting to suspect she's actually a User." He merged the two screens together and started scrolling down, sliding his hand along a section and breaking a corner of the screen off into its own window. "This will take some time, so why don't you explain everything? I'll answer any questions you have, too."

"Okay, sounds good. So… where do I start?" Sora moved his hands behind his head and took in a deep breath as he leaned against the wall. "Four months ago, my friend Xion suddenly went missing from the island where we live. She had only been living there a few weeks before it happened. We looked all over the islands but couldn't find her, so the next thing I did was get in touch with the King." Sora kicked at the floor as he spoke. "Eventually he was able to figure out that this guy, Braig, had kidnapped her—and we know exactly why."

"Why?" Tron asked, looking up from his work with curiosity.

"Xion's heart… isn't really her heart. She got it from my Nobody, who himself got it from somebody named Ventus who was the King's friend a long time ago." Sora gripped at his chest and looked down. "I didn't know at first why Braig was after Ven's heart, but after the King learned that Xion has it inside of her, he told me. Vanitas and Ventus, they're two halves of the same person. If Vanitas merges with the heart's light, then he can create a weapon called the χ-blade."

"You mean like those swords you and Mickey carry?"

"No. At least, I don't think so." Sora called on his Keyblade and held it out in front of him. "It's called the 'χ-blade', not 'Keyblade'. Mickey wrote it down to show me; it looks like 'X-blade'." The Keyblade vanished in a flash of light as quickly as it had come. "The χ-blade has the power to summon and open Kingdom Hearts."

"Now that I am aware of." Tron opened a new window and passed it to Sora. Sora found that he was intimidated at all of the words; it looked longer than some of his textbooks from school. "That is part of Ansem the Wise's research data that he charged me to protect. Legends say that Kingdom Hearts was the source of all light in the World. When warriors fought over that precious light, Kingdom Hearts disappeared into the Realm of Darkness and the World was swallowed by shadow."

Sora nodded. He had heard this story before, from Kairi's grandmother. He remembered that vision clearly. "The light in the hearts of children restored the World, but in the form of the hundreds of smaller, separate worlds we have today," he said softly. "I've seen Kingdom Hearts before—twice if the Organization's fake one counts. It's way too powerful for anyone to use. That's why I can't let Braig and Vanitas get the χ-blade."

"Is that the only reason?"

"What? Of course not!" Sora held his hands out defiantly. "Honestly, it's the last thing on my mind right now! The main reason I'm here is to save Xion and bring her back home. It wouldn't matter if she was part of the χ-blade or not; if a friend needs me to be there, I'll be there!"

Tron grinned widely. "That's what I wanted to hear." He closed the windows in front of him and crossed his arms in thought. "So, they must have planned on keeping Xion here until the time was right to forge the χ-blade. And the reason I thought Xion was another part of this digital town must have been because they created a false identity for her in the system—basically the same thing I just did for you, only they went one step beyond and gave her false memories along with it."

"Okay, I think I get it. So, why does this town exist anyway?"

Tron rested his hands on his hips as he spoke. "Ansem told me he had originally intended to use it to hold someone called Roxas, but that plan went awry." Sora felt a frown tug at his lips. Roxas… "Now it's holding very important research data—data that I will keep safe, no matter what." Tron held his hand out and the screen in Sora's grip with the information about Kingdom Hearts vanished.

Sora grasped his fingers around the empty air where the screen had been just a moment ago. "Do you think they want that research?"

"Vanitas said he didn't care about Ansem… I don't think they're even aware of the data, which is good news for me." Tron gave Sora a thumbs-up. "That means that I can help you without worrying about them taking it while my guard's down."

Sora grinned for the first time in a while. "That's great. Let's start right away!"

x-x-x

The sunlight gently came in from the window and rubbed at her face. She rolled over and muttered some words not fit for a girl her age, burying her face in the pillow and waving away the sun. But the light wasn't having any of that, and she could swear that it doubled its intensity in reply.

"Fine, I'm up…" Xion grumbled, sitting up. She brought a hand between her and the window to keep the sunlight from piercing her eyes, but it still flooded her room with orange. And of course the light came from the orange sky, and made the buildings outside even more orange than they were already.

Xion was starting to get really tired of that color.

Images of the last three or four days poured into Xion's head as she stared down at her blue sheets. The assault from the masked boy, the stranger with blue eyes outside her apartment and at the mall, everyone forgetting about Vivi, the building exploding, the man with an eyepatch… Xion kept telling herself they were all bad dreams, but inside she knew that wasn't true. This was all really happening. But why? What was going on?

Xion looked up at the framed picture of her and Roxas at the beach that sat on the nightstand by her phone. She picked it up and smiled softly, sadly. "I wonder if I can talk to him about this… I need someone to talk to, at least." She put the picture back down and reached for her phone, but before she could call Roxas there was a knock at her bedroom door.

Xion glanced down at her loose grey shirt and black sweats. She wasn't really dressed for a visitor, but she also wasn't about to keep whoever it was waiting while she got ready. "Come in," she said while running a hand through her hair to alleviate the bed head she was sure she had.

The door creaked open and Roxas stepped inside. "Hey."

"Roxas?" Xion blushed slightly at him seeing her like this, even if he had already dozens of times before.

"I hope you don't mind if I invited myself in," he said while rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, and I filled up Dodger's food for the morning."

"Thanks." Xion shook her head and smiled. "And it's fine; we gave you the key for a reason. So…" She leaned over and rested her head on her arms, which were crossed over her knees. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Olette sent me to check if you're still up for going to the ski lodge."

Xion's eyes widened and she sat up straight so quickly she almost fell back. "That's today?! Roxas, I'm so sorry! Oh no, the train leaves soon doesn't it? I'm holding everyone up!"

"Xion, calm down. We still have a little while." Roxas walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Anyway, that's only part of why I'm here. Xion… are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine…"

Roxas leaned in close and looked Xion in the eyes. She felt her blush deepen. "Xion, tell me the truth."

Well, she had wanted to talk to him anyway. Xion motioned for Roxas to sit down and he planted himself on the edge of her bed. Inhaling deeply, she began. "I've been having these weird thoughts lately…"

Roxas inched closer, curious. "Weird thoughts?"

"Roxas…is any of this for real, or not?" Ugh, she sounded so stupid. Why did he have to come visit her this morning? "I mean… There's just been a lot of stuff happening, like no one remembering Vivi."

"Oh yeah. That's why you left yesterday, isn't it?"

Xion looked up at Roxas and fought back tears. "Roxas, when we were going to Kronk's the first day of vacation, we stopped by the Sandlot and saw Seifer and his gang."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I remember."

"You stopped because you said you were worried about Vivi, didn't you?"

Roxas looked like he was about to say no, he never said anything like that, but he stopped and looked down at his hands resting in his lap. "I… did say that, didn't I? But… I really don't know anyone named Vivi, Xion."

Xion let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan and fell back on her pillow. "Vivi's just the tip of the iceberg. There's the guy in black, the door at the mansion that doesn't exist, the boy who knows my name, you-"

"Me?"

Xion pursed her lips and glared at the ceiling. "Yes, you. You've been acting so weird lately." Roxas sighed and looked down at his hands again. When he didn't say anything, Xion continued. "I know I'm one to talk about acting weird, but still. What is it you were going to ask me that day we went to the mansion? Roxas, I want to know." She sat up again looked to Roxas, who it seemed was trying to hide his face from her. His cheeks looked red, but maybe that was just the light of the sunrise.

"Xion, you… and me, um…" Roxas shook his head and stood up, walking toward the middle of the room. "It's really not important."

Xion shot him a glare. "Tell me the truth, Roxas."

"You still have this?" Roxas asked quietly, avoiding her inquisition. He picked up the thalassa shell necklace that Xion kept such good care of, rubbing his fingers over the polished blue and yellow. A nostalgic smile was tugging at his lips.

"So Xion, where are you from?" Doctor Sweet asked in a deep but friendly voice. A twelve year old Xion tried to answer, but the thermometer in her mouth just made her words come out as gibberish. Sweet gave a good-natured laugh. "Really? I have family up that way. Beautiful view from the train station up there! We don't get that down at Sunset Terrace." He brought a stethoscope to her chest and listened to her heartbeat. "You do any fishin'? Me, I hate fishin'—I hate fish. Hate the taste, hate the smell, hate all of them little bones."

Sweet took the stethoscope and thermometer away and sat down on the nearby table. He was suddenly serious. "Now then, Xion. You just woke up from a nasty blackout. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was in Gym class. We were running laps." Xion looked around at the sterile white walls, the small white blanket covering her, the silver door—anywhere she could to avoid Sweet. It wasn't that she distrusted him, she knew she could trust doctors, but still she had only just met him. "Next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Doctor Sweet nodded and wrote something down on his clipboard. He gave a smile and stood up to shake her hand. Xion took it with some hesitation. "I'm gonna go talk to your folks. You just get some rest for now, okay? We'll figure out what happened." He turned to the door, but before he could wrap his large hand around the doorknob it swung open from the outside. Wide, horrified blue eyes looked right past him—at Xion.

"Roxas?"

"Xion! You're okay!" Roxas ran forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. His school uniform was soaked with sweat. Had he ran all the way to the hospital? "You… are okay, right?"

"Y-Yeah. I think so."

Doctor Sweet laughed, causing both of the twelve year olds' heads to turn to him. "She'll be good with some rest. You her friend?"

Roxas pulled away from Xion and turned completely to face Doctor Sweet. "Yes sir. My name's Roxas."

"Take good care of her, kid. It's a man's job to protect their friends, isn't it?"

"Right…"

"Now Xion, like I said I'll be right outside. I'll leave you two alone." The door shut with a soft click, and Xion could see the silhouette of Doctor Sweet talking to her parents behind the curtains covering the window.

"Xion, I have something for you." Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out a white box. Xion stared at it for a few seconds before reaching out and taking it from his hand.

"A present? Roxas, you didn't need to get me anything."

"I wanted to." He shifted uncomfortably. "G-Go on, open it."

Nodding, Xion complied. Blue and yellow greeted her and Xion picked the gift up, holding it by the string. "A thalassa shell…"

"I-I know it's not much." Roxas looked away, his cheeks turning red. "But I wanted to get you something, and thalassa shells used to be made into charms to bring people home safe, so…"

"I love it."

Fondly remembering that day, Xion stood up from her bed and walked over to Roxas. "Roxas, I wear it every day."

"W-Well, I never really noticed. But you're right." He handed the necklace to her and she put it on. "It looks good on you, Xion."

"Thanks… So, um, we're going up to the mountains, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I got a call from Olette before I came here. They're waiting for us at the train station."

"What, already? Roxas, why didn't you wake me up earlier?!"

"Sorry…"

"No, it's fine. I just need to get ready quickly…"

"I-I'll leave you alone to get dressed, then." Roxas turned around and opened the door, but he stopped in the doorway. "Oh. Are you packed? We're spending the night up there, remember."

Right. She needed to pack, too. Where was her bag? Xion frowned—there it was, sitting at the foot of her bed and full already. She didn't remember packing it… but then again, she didn't even remember coming home last night. "I guess I am."

"Okay. Oh, and one last thing. It snowed over night, so dress warm." Roxas shut the door behind him and Xion looked out the window where the roads were carpeted by white. Huh, so it had. She thought she'd be more excited for that. Pulling her pajamas off, Xion quickly got dressed and picked up her backpack. She pocketed her phone and wrapped her fingers around the thalassa shell. Her coat was sitting on the back of the chair by her desk, so Xion zipped that up and stepped outside.

Roxas was scratching Dodger's neck when Xion emerged from her room. "All set?"

"Yup." She ran a hand down Dodger's back. "Be good until Mom and Dad get home tonight, okay boy?"

"Dodger's a good dog," Roxas said with a laugh. "He won't get into any trouble." Dodger barked in affirmation, wagging his tail. "Why should you worry, Xion?"

"I guess I shouldn't. Come on Roxas, we don't want to keep them waiting."

"I'm right behind you." Roxas stood up and picked up his own brown coat from the arm of the couch while Xion put on some boots fit for snowy weather. "Quickest way is up Market Street, right?"

Xion froze. Market Street meant passing through that dark alley. She put on a brave face and smiled over her shoulder at Roxas. "Yeah, it is."

As they left the apartment and then the building, the cold winter wind assaulted Xion's face. She pulled up her hood and smiled at Roxas, who didn't have anything to cover his own head. Twilight Town in the winter time was always really pretty to Xion, but right now she couldn't focus on it—she was too busy thinking about the alleyway. Last time she had been there had not been an enjoyable experience. But as they approached it, both she and Roxas stopped. Yellow police tape blocked off the entrance, and a familiar white-haired man stood in front of it.

"Cecil?"

Officer Cecil Harvey looked over his shoulder. "Well, if it isn't Roxas and Xion. What are you two doing here?"

"We're going to the train station to ride up into the mountains," Xion said. "…What happened here?"

Cecil shook his head. "No one knows. The day before yesterday an incident was reported here, of a little boy being murdered—at least, that's what our records say. No one at the station actually remembers hearing people call in to report it. I was dispatched here and found out someone put up this police tape, but no one remembers doing that either."

"So, what did the report say the boy's name was?" Xion had a horrible feeling in her gut.

"I guess I can tell you since this all seems to be a big prank… The kid's name was apparently Vivi Ornitier. But we have no record of anyone in Twilight Town by that name."

Xion's breath caught in her throat and she was sure she visibly paled. Vivi… Not only did no one remember him, but now there was no record he existed? What kind of murderer was that, and how was it that she still remembered Vivi?

Roxas's voice called Xion back out of her thoughts. "You okay, Xion? Vivi is the name of that kid you were talking about, wasn't it?"

"You know Vivi?" Cecil asked.

"Y-No, no I don't think so." Xion shook her head and grabbed Roxas's hand. "Come on, we need to go to the train station. We'll take another route; Cecil can handle this."

"Uh, sure… Nice seeing you, Cecil."

"You too. Have fun in the mountains."

Xion was silent as they walked up to the train station, with the only sound being the crunching of snow beneath her feet. She knew Roxas was watching her, but she didn't look back at him. What the hell was happening? It had all started that day they went to Kronk's, and everything was just spiraling downwards more and more.

However, those thoughts were shoved into the back of Xion's mind when they finally came to the Station Plaza and saw the smiling faces of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Olette waved them over and her excitement admittedly rubbed off on Xion, who found herself smiling alongside them. Xion thought she saw Roxas look relieved, but when she turned to face him he quickly switched to that toothy grin of his.

"Sorry, are we late?" Xion asked.

Pence shook his head. "Nope, you're just in time. The train's leaving in a few minutes."

"Then we are late. I'm sorry, it's my fault."

Hayner crossed his arms. "Really, it's okay. We already bought all the tickets." He handed Roxas and Xion two slips of paper. Xion frowned and then immediately reached for her wallet. "You don't need to pay us." She looked up at Hayner, who motioned to Roxas. "Roxas supplied all the munny for the tickets."

"Roxas did?" Xion turned to her friend, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "How did you get the munny for all of us?"

"Summer jobs. I've been holding on to my pay from delivering mail and putting up posters for months, just to make sure there was enough for all of us."

"Wow, you've been planning this a long time, haven't you?"

"I have, but… Well, to be honest I forgot until Olette had us start thinking of things to do a few days ago." Roxas flashed a smile at the brunette girl. "Thanks, Olette."

"Sure, no problem." The train whistled behind them, signaling it was almost time to leave. "We'd better get moving."

Hayner nodded. "Right. Wouldn't want to miss it after buying those tickets. Come on!"

With her problems pushed to the side for the time being, Xion followed her friends inside the station and boarded the train. The ride would be two hours and the cars were heated, so Xion pulled off her coat and sat down on one of the seats with her phone in one hand. They wouldn't have coverage when they got there, so it was bets to make sure nothing was wrong while she could. Roxas silently sat next to her and stared out the window as the train began moving.

She hoped they could always be together like this.

x-x-x

Braig was such a party pooper, Vanitas thought as he stood on the wall overlooking the Tram Common. The building that he had destroyed with Dark Link had been repaired like nothing had ever happened. And as far as the people of this town were concerned, nothing had happened. When there was nothing showing data that something exists, there was nothing for data to remember that something with. Computers were stupid.

Vanitas stepped through a corridor and emerged in the Sandlot. He was growing restless without anyone to fight. Sora was still hiding like a coward, and he wanted – needed – to bloody his hands. The all-encompassing fury of an Unversed was overtaking Vanitas. He had to sate the bloodlust, and he was all too happy to do it. He spotted a trio standing on the other end of the lot. They would do.

Vanitas recognized them as he walked forward and his mouth twisted into a sadistic smile beneath his mask. The leader of the trio, a blond guy in a beanie, turned to Vanitas and crossed his arms.

"What do you want? This is our turf, buddy."

"You're looking for your little pal, aren't you? 'Vivi', right?" Vanitas really did love little kids—they didn't leave much of a mess.

The boy shrugged. "What, again with this? It's like I told Xion, pal: I've never heard of this 'Vivi' guy." Just like the building. Nothing left to remember it, so you don't remember it. Vanitas burst into laughter. "Something funny?"

"I always find something to laugh about. Don't you?" Vanitas felt the magic crackling at his finger tips as he summoned his Keyblade, Void Gear. "Maybe you can help me out?"

"How?" The girl in their group asked, taking a defensive stance.

"Well, I'm getting a little stir-crazy waiting for those cowards to leave their hiding spot. Vivi wasn't enough for me." He raised his Keyblade up and watched as darkness began to coat it. "Why don't I take you to him… and you help me relieve some stress?"

Vanitas's vision went red. Oh, how he reveled in the screams.