The Tides Go Out

by Regiss

Four months later, the war between Maleficent's Heartless and Braig's Nobodies threatens to consume all worlds. In the middle of the conflict, Sora, Xion, and their friends continue the search for Riku while also dealing with Vanitas, who will stop at nothing to get Ven's heart. Sequel to Remember the Tides.

43. Open the Door

Chapter 43: Open the Door

They had stopped at WildKat again after that, but it had only been for a few minutes. Xion had picked up her bag of clothes, and then they had said goodbye before the others could get a word in. Xion certainly didn't feel good about it, not even remotely, but they had to tell Mickey and the others that he was right about Vanitas. With that revelation, they were running on borrowed time. Xion hadn't dared to look back at Shiki, Rhyme, and the others as she and Sora left the shop—but when Shiki called after her that they'd meet again, she had to look back and force a smile.

Both she and Sora made a promise. They would do everything in their power to bring their friends and Shibuya back from the darkness. And so, with a quick stop at the Gummi hangar to drop off her shopping back onto the Highwind, Sora and Xion returned to the Second District and made their way to the hotel where Mickey was sure to be.

It was as they walked down the road that they practically ran into another friendly face exiting a small shop nearby. Or well, Xion practically ran into him—Sora actually did. As the brunet stumbled back and rubbed his nose, Xion laughed and held a hand out to help the other boy up.

"You okay, Riku?"

"Fine, thanks." Riku brushed aside a few strands of hair from in front of his eyes, which made Xion realize he no longer had a bunch of it hanging there. In fact, his hair was shorter all around. Riku had gotten that haircut after all—it was even shorter than his hairstyle from Destiny Islands.

When Sora noticed, he grinned slyly at Xion. "Hey Riku, why'd you have to go and cut your hair? Xion said—"

"Shut up, Sora!" Xion wrapped her arm around Sora's neck and slapped her other hand over his mouth. She glanced back up at the confused Riku and chuckled nervously, feeling her ears heat up. "I-It's nothing!"

Riku chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, if you say so. So what are you guys doing here?"

Xion released Sora and he let out a loud gasp. After several deep breaths, he glared at Xion and then stood up straight. "We're here to see the King," he said.

"Mickey?" Riku glanced back at the hotel. Only one window a few floors up was lit, the only tenant who hadn't left to go get lunch. "He's barely been out of there while trying to find a way into the Realm of Darkness. I think Donald, Goofy, and Lea are talking to him now. You sure you should bother them?"

"Yes. This is urgent. In fact it's probably better that the others hear it too."

"Well, if you say so. Hey, I'll come with you!"

"Great!" Sora grinned, and then looked at Xion out of the corner of his eye. "Say Riku—" Xion kicked him in the shin and walked past as if nothing had happened as he tumbled forward. "…Never mind."

Xion opened the door to the hotel then looked back at the two of them as Riku helped Sora up. "Hey, come on. We really need to tell the King about this."

Sora sighed and nodded. "Right, we're right behind you."

The trip upstairs and toward Mickey's room—the green room—was uneventful. As they walked down the hall and approached the door, Xion did indeed hear the voices of Lea, Donald, and Goofy on the other side.

"Sorry, but I can't open corridors anymore."

"Gawrsh, what are we gonna do then?"

"Your Majesty…"

"…Sorry, fellas. I…don't have any ideas."

Riku moved past Xion and opened the door, turning the attention of the four of them to him, Xion, and Sora. Lea grinned and greeted the trio with a wave, then stood up and picked up a plate from the table he had been sitting at. "Thanks for lunch, Your Majesty. And sorry I couldn't help you out more."

King Mickey smiled sadly. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. In the long run it's probably better that you can't."

"Heh, I guess so." Lea scratched the back of his head, then moved to the door and tried to squeeze his way between Sora and Xion. "'scuse me, kids."

Xion grabbed the back of his jacket. "Wait. Lea, you need to hear this."

"Huh?"

Back at the table, Donald raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

Riku shrugged and shut the door as Sora and Xion entered the little room, Lea trailing behind them. "Not sure, but they said it was urgent."

Mickey frowned and turned so that the two of them had his full attention. "Sora, Xion…what happened?"

The Keybearers exchanged nervous glances. Sora looked over to Donald and Goofy, then back at Xion. His mouth opened and closed, but he frowned. He wasn't sure how to start, so Xion decided that she would do it instead. She breathed in through her clenched teeth and then let out a sigh.

"You were right, Your Majesty."

"Huh?"

"About Vanitas—you were right. He really is going around unlocking Keyholes."

"What?!" Mickey shouted, slamming his open palms on the table. Donald and Goofy fell back in their seats, and even Lea looked put off.

Riku brought a hand to his chin and his eyes became far away while a frown grew on his face. "So that really was what he was going to do back at Wasteland… Where did you two hear about this?"

The King nodded. "Yeah! Guys, we have to be absolutely certain about this. If we're wrong—"

"We are certain," Sora said. "Today, Xion and I went to the Fourth District. We met our old friends from a city called Shibuya. One of them, Joshua, told us that a boy in a black mask used his Keyblade to unlock Shibuya's Keyhole so the Heartless could devour their world's heart. And I know for a fact that Keyhole was locked, because we locked it ourselves!"

Xion nodded. "Your Majesty, it makes sense. And that has to be how Xehanort was able to take the Heartless away from Maleficent."

"Right, I gotcha." Xion looked over her shoulder at Lea as he spoke. "By giving the Heartless access to worlds that used to be locked, in addition to ones that were already wide open, the Heartless could devour so much more. They couldn't resist an open buffet."

A nervous Donald and Goofy looked around the room in silence as King Mickey's look of desperation deepened. "Then, if that's the case…"

"Then we're running out of time," Riku finished. "We can't afford to waste any more. We need to find a way into the Realm of Darkness and save Aqua."

Xion nodded. "Right. Now you get why this was so urgent."

Goofy scratched his head. "But uh, how are we even gonna do that? Nobody here can open a corridor of darkness anymore, right?"

Riku grunted and crossed his arms. "I never imagined I'd miss that."

Mickey shook his head. "You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku. It's for the best, just like I was telling Lea."

Riku looked over to the redhead, who grinned. "Welcome to the club, I guess."

Xion gnawed on her lower lip and looked out the window, at the sky where only a few stars still twinkled. "What are we going to do, then? We can't get in with corridors of darkness, and the Door to Darkness—"

"We can't open that!" Donald shouted. "No way, now how!"

"That's what I was going to say!" Xion snapped back at him. But as soon as the angry words left her lips, she recoiled and rubbed the back of her neck. "…Sorry. I guess we're all on edge."

Mickey drummed his fingers on the table as his tail twitched nervously. "Even if openin' the Door to Darkness was a good idea—which it definitely isn't—we'd need the seven Princesses of Heart to do it. We don't have the time to gather them up."

"And even if we did have that time, we can't get to Kairi without beating Xehanort anyway," Lea added.

"But without corridors or the Door to Darkness, what other ways are there to get in?" Sora asked. He turned to Riku beside him, who glanced over at his friend with an eyebrow raised. "How did you end up in it? Back when we closed the door, I mean."

"It was when Ansem kicked me out of my body, which we can't exactly replicate." Riku let out an irritated tsk and stared at his feet, but then something flashed across his face. He looked up at the table, at the King. "Mickey, when we first met, you were in the Realm of Darkness. How did you get there?"

All eyes were on the King. It was a thought that had honestly never occurred to Xion before, and she realized from the expressions on their faces that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had never considered it either. Lea, meanwhile, just looked confused.

But the King shook his head. "Pure chance. I found Ansem—Xehanort's Heartless, not DiZ—once when he was still just wearing that brown robe. I followed him through a corridor as he escaped, and that led into the dark realm. We can't rely on luck like that if we're going to save Aqua."

"Back to square one then…" Xion muttered.

Goofy tapped the side of his head. "Hmm…"

Donald looked beside him. "Oh don't tell me you have an idea, ya big palooka."

But Goofy's response was a grin. "Well, we don't know a way into the Realm of Darkness, right?"

"Right…"

"Then the way I see it, the only way to get there is to go out into the worlds and find one!"

Lea raised an eyebrow. "But didn't you just hear your King? He said—"

"No, Goofy may have a point. Yup, it's a good idea!" King Mickey nodded to himself and then hopped off of his chair. He walked over to the window and gestured to the eternally-night sky. "It may not look like a lot compared to the amount of stars there used to be, but there's still dozens of worlds out there in the universe. Gosh, somewhere among them there's just gotta be a way into the dark realm! I know that there is!"

"And if there isn't?" Lea asked.

Riku shook his head. "We can't think like that. We need to find Aqua, so that we can find Ven and save Terra. And the only way to do that is to get into the Realm of Darkness."

Lea sighed and rubbed his neck. "Well, if you know what you're getting into…"

Wait, Lea was talking as if he wasn't going to jump into there too. Xion whipped around in surprise. "Are…you not coming with us?" She hadn't intended on the hurt tone in her voice, but there it was.

Lea noticed it too. He frowned, avoiding Xion's gaze…then looked at her face out of the corner of his eye and sighed. He knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, but don't think I'm just going to be lazing around here either; we don't get a lot of days off, remember? While you guys look for a way into the Realm of Darkness, I'll head back to Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

"Why Castle Oblivion?" Sora asked.

Lea straightened up again and rolled his shoulders. "I should probably double-check for the Chamber of Waking, just in case you can't find Aqua. Though I doubt I'll get any results… But it wouldn't hurt, right?"

King Mickey smiled and nodded. "It's a plan then, Lea. I'll make sure to drop ya off at Castle Oblivion when I head out."

Lea waved a hand. "Hey, no rush."

Xion frowned, not at all happy that she was getting split up with Lea again so soon. Still, he did have a point. The Realm of Darkness had to be huge, and there was no telling if they'd find Aqua—if she was even in there at all! They were still going on a possibly false interpretation of what Vanitas had said back at Hollow Bastion, after all. Maybe it would be a good idea to try and find Ven themselves, just in case.

There was another concern she had, though. "Speaking of heading out, how are we going to do this? It'd be easier if we split up, to cover more grounds, but Sora and I can't be apart."

The King nodded. "It's certainly a good idea to look in as many worlds as we can. How do two groups sound? We'll look for ways into the darkness separately."

"Sounds good!" Donald said with a fist raised into the air. "I'll go get the Highwind started!"

"Wait." Donald stopped halfway through the door and turned around to face Mickey. "Donald, I want you and Goofy to come with me. We'll stop by home on the way. Riku can go with Sora and Xion."

There was a pregnant silence in the air at Mickey's words. Donald and Goofy exchanged glances at each other, then at the King, and then at Sora and Xion. Xion glanced nervously at Sora, who looked like he was about to collapse. First Kairi, and now he was about to lose Donald and Goofy too? He had gotten so much better, but without his constant companions beside him would he regress again?

But they would never have to find out. Goofy stood up straight, arms at his side, and spoke in as official a tone as he could muster. "Your Majesty, I ask that ya take back those orders."

"Huh?" Mickey stumbled, turning to Goofy with surprise. "What do ya mean, Goofy?"

Goofy relaxed, and as he did a sad smile crept onto his face. "Gawrsh, Your Majesty, it's not like we don't like ya or anythin'…but Sora and Xion are our friends, too. And well…"

Donald butted in, running up beside Goofy. "We started this adventure with Sora, and we wanna see it through with him to the end! Xion too!"

"Can ya ever forgive us…?"

Mickey crossed his arms. The two shrank back—and then Mickey's shoulders relaxed. He shut his eyes and shook his head with a smile. "Gosh, I can't say no to you guys. Especially not when it's so ya can help your friends. You go with Sora and Xion, I'll be fine alone."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Goofy ran forward and picked Mickey up in a big ol' bear hug, squeezing him tightly.

"H-Hey! Goofy, c'mon, let me go!" But even as he struggled, Mickey still laughed. When Goofy did finally put him down, he was immediately squeezed tight by Donald. After the two of them had said their thanks, they hurried over beside Sora and Xion.

But among the celebrating Riku shook his head. "Only one problem with that."

"What's that?" Sora asked nervously.

"Mickey shouldn't have to go it alone. I'll go with him."

"Huh?!" Sora jumped back, and he looked like Xion had felt when she realized Lea wasn't coming along. His face fell, his eyes widened…but he sighed and nodded. "You're right. And you can more than take care of yourself."

"Are ya sure?" the King asked as Riku walked over to him. "I know you wanna be with your friends, Riku."

Riku smiled and shook his head. "Hey, you're my friend too, Mickey. What kind of guy would I be if I could come with you but didn't?"

"Well, when ya put it that way…"

Beside Xion, Sora reached for his belt—more specifically, something hanging from his belt. He unclipped Kairi's lucky charm and held it by the chain, dandling it in front of his face, watching it ever so slightly swing back and forth. "Sora…?"

He didn't answer Xion right away. Holding out his other hand, Sora called on his Keyblade. He flipped it around and gripped the Kingdom Key by its blade, holding the hilt up toward him. With the chain of Kairi's charm momentarily held by his lips, he used his now free hands to clip off the silver keychain that hung from the hand guard. Then taking the charm, he hooked it there in the keychain's place.

In a flash, his Keyblade transformed. It was the Kingdom Key no longer. With a silver blade, a hand guard resembling angel wings, and spiked teeth colored white, yellow, blue, and purple, it had become something more.

Sora examined Oathkeeper with a solemn look on his face. When it vanished in a flash of light, he brought a hand to his chest. "I'm going to get her home safe. That's my promise to keep."

So this was it then? Xion looked around at the assembled groups. She, Sora, Donald, and Goofy would be together again as they looked for a way into the Realm of Darkness. Riku and King Mickey were going to be searching for it separate from them. And Lea was headed to Castle Oblivion all on his own… That did make her nervous, but unlike them Lea wasn't actively seeking out the darkness. It was just a scouting mission.

"Well, we'd better get going," Xion said. She turned around and opened the door, only for the King to stop this meeting from disbanding once again.

"Sorry, one last thing." He approached the four of them and motioned for Sora to step forward. While confused, the boy did so and stood before Mickey. Mickey took in a deep breath. "Sora, you are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting, and you're the only one who can end their sadness. They need you.

"It's possible that all your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known there were no coincidences—only links in a much larger chain of events.

"And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened."

x-x-x

"So what now?"

Within what remained of the Castle That Never Was, Maleficent looked down on the remnants of her forces from atop her throne. It was the only throne still standing in this chamber that had once been called Where Nothing Gathers; or more simply, the Round Room. The rest of the tall chairs had crumbled during the chaos of the battle against Xemnas last year, as had most of the castle—the world itself was just a void now, after all. The bright light that had once illuminated the Round Room was significantly dimmer, painting the whiteness a dull grey instead. Massive thorny vines snaked their way around the room, wrapping around what remained of the twelve thrones.

"What do you mean?" Maleficent asked Diablo, who sat now on a piece of rubble in his human form. This was his first time taking on that form since they had left Hollow Bastion; in the interim he had stayed a raven.

Creases formed on Diablo's brow. "What I mean is, what do we do now that Xehanort has the Heartless? We can't fight them with just the three of us—"

"Four of us," came a booming voice. Garland stood near another toppled throne, his armor nice and shiny after he was finally able to clean off the grime on it. Beside him, his massive, segmented broadsword was pierced into the ground.

"Pardon?" Diablo asked.

"There are four: you, me, the sorceress, and the large one."

Diablo stared at him for a moment and then scoffed. "Pete hardly counts. Anything he can do you can do better, Garland."

"Hm… Never underestimate numbers in a battle."

Diablo shot the knight a glare. "If anyone's underestimating numbers, it's you. You don't seem to grasp just how many Heartless there are, not to mention the Nobodies and Unversed."

"I am fully aware," Garland spat back at him.

"Then show some concern. Unlike you, the rest of us aren't immortal!"

"If you think my immortality blinds me from fulfilling my oath to the sorceress, then you—"

"Silence!" Green fire erupted between the two of them at Maleficent's command, stopping the brawl before it began. "There will be no infighting among us. That is exactly what tore apart my first group of imbeciles."

Stopping his shouts immediately, Garland placed his hand over his heart and bowed his head. "My apologies, sorceress. This one will not let you down again."

Diablo shot Garland another glare before gracefully bowing to Maleficent himself. "I am sorry as well, my lady."

"I know you are, my pet." In response to Maleficent's words, Diablo shifted back to his natural form and flew up, landing on her arm. She stroked his feathers as she glanced down at Garland. "Has Pete reported back?"

Garland still stood with his hand over his chest as he spoke. "His mission to locate the door is well underway, and his infiltration of Silver's crew is complete."

"Excellent. Now then…" Maleficent raised her arm and looked Diablo in the eye. He cocked his head and blinked once. "Diablo, the Heartless have begun acting strangely in a world called Voodoo Bayou. Someone besides Xehanort and his lackeys has managed to control them. Go there, meet the man who would steal my power, and learn how he does it. Return with results." Diablo bowed as best a bird could and flew off, leaving only Garland alone with Maleficent.

"And me, sorceress?" he asked.

"I am still unsure," she commented dryly. "There are a number of worlds I am looking at that could use your brute force to help conquer, Garland. For now, remain here."

She could almost hear a growl behind Garland's helmet, but he bowed his head and uttered a simple "By your leave." As he walked off into the void, Maleficent watched him go with a wary gaze. Garland seemed to revel in combat…she would need to keep an eye on him.

x-x-x

In Hollow Bastion, darkness reigned. The streets were shrouded in a hazy purple-black fog, and the sky high above was covered in a thick barrier of clouds of the same color, lit only by the occasional flash of lightning. Nobodies on rooftops silently watched the roaming Heartless that skittered across the abandoned pavement, searching for hearts. They hungered, but there would be no reprieve. On Braig's orders, the heart of the world was not to be taken. They still had a use for Hollow Bastion yet. And so the Heartless made do with whatever pests they could find. A Sniper on patrol turned away as a pair of Shadows fought over a rat.

In one of the Bastion's tallest towers, in the old bedroom of Ansem the Wise, Braig watched Xehanort sleep. He was almost as restless as the Heartless outside, shifting and turning in his bed. His face glistened with sweat, his hair was matted to his forehead, and he muttered two names under his breath: Aqua and Ven.

Braig's frown deepened as Xehanort's nightmares continued. The man coming back without his memory, still thinking he was Ansem the Wise, was completely unexpected. What was even more bizarre was that even though he thought he was Ansem, he still remembered Xemnas who very clearly knew he had been Ansem's apprentice. Of course Braig knew that Xehanort's Heartless had been insane, but he had hoped Xemnas's sanity would have countered that when the two merged. Apparently not.

What to do with an insane, amnesiac master? Braig did what he had done for the last decade: improvised. On his orders Vanitas had the Unversed kidnap Kairi, the one person who could help them—technically speaking, anyway. Xehanort had thought capturing her was a waste of time. He thought Braig intended to gather the Princesses of Heart, and said that there was no need. He couldn't be further from the truth.

A sharp, quick shout halted Braig's musings for the time being. Xehanort sat up in his bed quickly, then leaned over and rested his face in his hands. "Another dream about him…" he muttered.

He didn't need to say anything more. Braig watched as Xehanort's erratic breathing slowed to a healthier rate and then shut his eye. Ever since Xehanort's revival, Terra's heart inside of him had been fighting back. He hadn't yet won, which was a good sign, but it put Xehanort out of commission. His health was declining and he slept for most of the day, caught in those dreams of his; dreams, Braig knew, that were Terra's attempts to take control again. He could only imagine the battle raging inside Xehanort's heart right now. Hopefully the old coot could handle it, wherever he was in there.

"Master Ansem." Xehanort turned and eyed Braig warily as Braig spoke. Xehanort wasn't dumb, and Braig knew that Xehanort had caught on to the subtle tone in Braig's voice whenever he called him Ansem. Xehanort knew Braig thought he was insane.

"What is it?" Xehanort asked as he slid out of bed and moved over to his clothes. Braig grimaced; would it kill the guy to sleep in a shirt?

"I really think you should see Kairi." The girl had been taken care of in the last week. Rather than keep her in the dungeons, she had been locked in a room almost as fancy as Xehanort's. Nobodies brought her three full meals a day. Braig needed her healthy so she could withstand the strain on her heart that was about to occur. However, her conditions didn't make her any less of a prisoner.

Xehanort scoffed as he slid on his armbands. "The Princess? I have no interest in using the Princesses, Xigba—Braig." He was still getting used to that. "My Heartless already tried and failed."

"I told you, this isn't about them. It's just about the girl downstairs. C'mon, just go talk to her."

"What would I gain from it?"

"She could help you with your nightmares."

Xehanort paused for a moment in the middle of putting on his boots. He frowned and looked to his bed even as a pair of Dusks pulled the sheets back nicely. "…Very well, Braig. I still think this is a waste of time, but let's see what you have in mind."

"Yessir." Braig opened a corridor of darkness beside him and then stepped aside, allowing Xehanort to enter first. On the other side was a room slightly smaller than the one they had just exited, with a window giving a perfect view of the ruined city. An untouched plate of food sat on a hand-carved mahogany table. And a red-haired girl sat in the corner of the room, on a bed, with her eyes low and her knees pulled up to her chest.

"You haven't eaten, Kairi. That's no good."

Kairi glared daggers at Braig's words, and he chuckled back at her. "What do you want with me?" she asked.

"Can't I be concerned about a growing young woman's health?

"Braig, cut to the chase or I'm leaving." Oh, so Xehanort wasn't going to play either. Fine, fine.

"Alright…" In a flash of purple, one of Braig's Arrowguns materialized in his hand. Kairi backed into the wall and held her hand out, conjuring a fireball, but before the spell was finished Braig grabbed her by the wrist and pinned it behind her back. As Kairi was forced onto her knees, the Arrowgun was pressed against her neck with Braig's finger on the trigger. "Get out here, girl."

"What are you talking about?" Kairi hissed through clenched teeth as she struggled. Xehanort, too, seemed confused.

"I know you can hear me. If you don't come out here, then who knows what will happen to Kairi?"

"I am Kairi!"

"Shut up." Braig pressed the blades of the Arrowgun close enough to her neck so it pricked Kairi's skin, drawing blood. Kairi closed her eyes and whimpered. "If she dies, you die. I know that and you know that. So hurry it up."

Kairi had continued to struggle as Braig spoke, but suddenly she stopped. Her body went limp, and Braig grinned. He removed his hand from her wrist and pulled back the Arrowgun, though still kept it focused on Kairi just in case. But he didn't need it, because the girl spoke up a moment later.

"Lower your weapon." Her voice was soft—nothing like Kairi's attitude. "I did what you said. I'm here. Don't hurt Kairi." Her blue eyes opened slowly, in time with Braig's lowering arm. She sat up straight on the edge of the bed, pulled her legs out from under her, and examined Xehanort for a moment before focusing on Braig. She gulped, but her face was determined—and maybe a bit angry.

Braig grinned and his Arrowgun vanished. It had gone as he had hoped; threatening Kairi had gotten him the results he wanted. This was his ticket to get Master Xehanort's plans back on track.

"Long time no see, Naminé."