Chapter 156: Strength of the Heart

26 let out a long breath. It'd only taken him another two hours, but he'd gotten Roxas's memories restored to Xemnas's liking. It would've gone quicker if he hadn't needed to go through each file, peg which moments had Xion in them, and then manually remove the Code relating to those moments from Roxas's file. Then again, there wasn't any other way to remove memories from a Replica, so it would have taken him two hours regardless.

"Everything is functional, sir," he reported, as he sent Roxas through Processing again. "As soon as he is finished Processing, he will be ready to go."

"Good," Xemnas said.

26 swallowed. There was something else he needed to say.

"However, sir, I must warn you-" He swallowed again, trying not to meet Xemnas's eye. He hated talking to Xemnas so much. It was too nerve-wracking. Why couldn't he have gotten 37's cool confidence and ability to backtalk to any authority figure? Not that 26 would backtalk. But the confidence would be nice…

"Yes?" Xemnas asked. His tone suggested that he didn't feel he had time for this.

"Well, even if I haven't returned all of Roxas's memories to him, there is a chance he may still get some back," 26 said, quickly. He swallowed yet again, still nervous.

"Oh?"

He'd gotten Xemnas's attention.

"Yes, I'm afraid," 26 said. It was best to just keep all emotion out of his voice. "The heart—even that of a Replica—can be powerful. The memories are… still in his data, technically, though suppressed. It will be hard for him to reach them, but it is not impossible."

Yes, I have removed the Code for those memories from his Data… but there are still pathways to follow that could lead him to the removed memories. And, even then… the heart is such an incomprehensible thing. You can't confine it with Coding. It can overcome most Programming.

If Roxas really wants those memories—and if he puts his heart into it—he will certainly be able to reach them again.

"Is there any way we can prevent this?"

26 shook his head. "Not entirely, no. You can't Program restrictions on the heart. I have… done my best to Program him so that, if he were to remember any undesirable things, to simply disregard them. As dreams. I'm not sure how well it will hold up, though."

However…

He frowned, getting an idea.

"However," he said.

If I were to-

It could work.

Yes.

It could work rather well.

"I… I suppose, I might be able to install a fail-safe," he continued. "Make it so that, if he remember, something in his Data will trigger and… redirect his heart to… I'm not sure…" He trailed off, muttering, as he ran the idea over a bit more thoroughly. "If he remembers Xion… I do not know. If he remembers what happened to her, he will undoubtedly be angry. If we redirect his heart and channel that anger… but… what to do with it? Hmm… Tell him that the only way to bring her back is to complete Kingdom Hearts?"

It wasn't a bad suggestion. Xemnas wanted Kingdom Hearts complete. Roxas—the Keyblade—was necessary to complete Kingdom Hearts. If they were to channel Roxas's anger into completing Kingdom Hearts by feeding him false promises… It could work. It really could.

"Blame her death on Riku," Xemnas said, simply.

26 glanced up, a bit shocked. That idea, however… That had holes. Or, larger holes.

"But, sir—" he began.

"He'd kill Riku, and with her death avenged, he'd be… more reasonable, would he not?"

"I- I suppose," 26 admitted. But- "But wouldn't Riku just kill him?"

"Make him stronger than Riku. Then there won't be a problem."

26 pursed his lips.

"That- that will take a lot of time, sir. I need more data. And there's no telling how long—"

"Then install the fail-safe and get him running," Xemnas interrupted. "We can make him stronger than Riku later."

26 nodded. There was no arguing with Xemnas, no matter how much he wanted to. He hesitated, but turned back to the computer and got to work.

xxx

Sora sat on the bed he'd been provided; his bed, he supposed he could call it, though the idea of anything here belonging to him didn't comfort him at all. He was studying the star-shaped charm he'd bought in Agrabah. The charm the merchant had been so eager to sell him. It was supposed to bring him good luck, apparently.

Fat load of good it's done, though, he thought, bitterly.

My luck's been worse since I got this thing, if anything.

While it was probably only coincidence, but Maleficent had found him not moments after getting it. And ever since Maleficent found him… He didn't even know what he was doing here. Why did she need him? Not that it mattered much; he couldn't exactly get away. His star shard was shot, and getting away from Maleficent while they were on another world wouldn't exactly be easy. Possible, maybe, if he just gave Pete the slip, but where would he go then?

And how do I know she won't find me again?

I bet she's tracking the charm! She probably set me up; talked that merchant into giving it to me. And the lousy swindler decided just to get munny off of it, too.

His eyes narrowed.

"Piece of junk," he muttered, raising it to throw—

"Wait!"

Sora froze.

That was right. The charm spoke. He recognized the voice. It was the same voice that the charm used last time it had spoken to him. Except… the voice was more of a mental nudge, this time. Something he could only hear in his heart.

The voice was also… he had a feeling that the voice belonged to a good friend, though he wasn't quite certain where that feeling was coming from.

He shook his head, then held the charm out in front of him, turning it over a few times as he examined it.

"Can you hear me?"

The charm had a funny way of speaking, actually. It was like each word was spliced together—taken from a recording and then strung together to form a sentence. Borrowed words to start a new conversation.

"Y- yes," Sora said, quietly. He didn't want to speak too loud, for fear of being heard. He was silently grateful that the charm's voice was mental, and not vocal.

"Good. I need to tell you something."

"Okay."

"They're wrong, you know. About the darkness. It isn't a path you have to take. It isn't your only option."

Sora swallowed, silently relieved to hear those words.

"It- it isn't?"

He wasn't sure if he doubted it or not. Even if he didn't have to take it, he didn't see any way of doing anything else, either.

"No."

"But- but how do I fight it? How do I get away from it?" Sora shook his head, hands unknowingly tightening around the charm. "I- I can't. I can't fight it and I can't break free."

The charm—or whoever was speaking to him—seemed to be expecting that. If its voice didn't consist of stitched together words with different inflections, then he thought it might've had a touch of humor to its voice.

"I know. It's hard. I've struggled too. And I can't tell you I won… But I can tell you that you won't get anywhere if you don't fight."

"Hmph," Sora chuckled, a bit dryly. "That's encouraging…" He hoped the charm could hear the sarcasm in his voice. "It's not like I can really fight, though," he told it. "I'm sort of stuck here. And even then, it's not like I've been much good at fighting the darkness before."

So far, he'd only scraped by through pure luck, or because someone—his Shadow—just didn't want to kill him yet, because it would "ruin the fun".

"Lighten up, alright? You can't keep doubting yourself like that. You have to try and be strong."

"I don't think I can do that."

If there was anything Sora wasn't, it was strong. Riku was stronger than him. Maleficent was stronger than him. Even his own Shadow was stronger than him.

"You have to try. Darkness can always find its way into a wounded heart. Doubting yourself is only inviting it in."

"But I can't-"

"If you give up on yourself now, then the battle is already lost."

Sora hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

Then maybe there's no hope for me, he thought. I feel lost. I feel defeated. This doesn't feel like a battle, it feels like fate. Punishment, maybe.

"I just…" he began. "I think I have already lost."

There was a long pause; long enough that Sora wasn't sure if the charm was going to respond.

"Don't you have something to fight for?"

Sora took a moment.

"…No," he answered, finally. He didn't have Kairi. He didn't have anyone else.

"What about your friends?"

"Kairi wouldn't forgive me."

And it really didn't matter to him what anyone else thought. Kairi's was the only opinion that mattered. And she wouldn't forgive him. No one else—nothing else—mattered.

"You sure about that?"

Sora shrugged. "Pretty sure. I've been awful to her."

"She might be more forgiving than you think."

The thought was accompanied with a feeling of patience, and a bit of uncertainty.

A few flashes of what Sora assume to be memory flickered through his mind.

It was the woman again, with blue hair. She seemed disappointed, but understanding. And maybe she was a bit… sad?

But she was relieved to see he was alright.

She was urging him to keep fighting.

"Now return my friend's heart, or pay the price!"

And she was fighting for him, when all else failed.

Sora's eyes widened.

A gap was forming in the hold the darkness had on his heart.

Would Kairi…

Would she… do that for me?

He didn't know. Maybe he didn't want to find out. Maybe he didn't want to find out that Kairi wouldn't actually do that for him—because that would hurt more than anything else. And the darkness slowly tightened its grip on his heart, closing the gap.

Anger flooded Sora. He screamed and chucked the charm across the room. It hit the opposite wall before clattering to the ground. Sora took a few breaths, feeling a bit strained after the outburst. The rage left him.

Slightly surprised at himself, and feeling bad, Sora quickly bent down to pick up the charm. It was cold to the touch, and any buzz of life was gone from it. Whoever had been speaking through it had gone silent.

Probably annoyed because I threw them across the room. Ha.

Sora slowly cradled his head in his hands, feeling worse than he had before.