A new year and with it a new chapter of Cracks of the Past. Huh, I was expect hoverboards and a holographic Jaws to magically appear in front of my eyes... oh well. Hope you're looking forward to this year as much as I am. On with the show.


Chapter 17

Enter Neuge –Light Living in the Shadows-

Welcome to the Radiant Garden Operating System. Please follow the procedural steps as shown on screen.

Retinal Scan Required

Retinal Pattern Confirmed

For further verification, a password is needed in order for you to fully access this system's functions

Sora.

Donald.

Goofy.

Checking Password…

Access Approved

Welcome, User Even

Even scowled and shook his head in disapproval. "Must I be forever burdened to remember the name of that infernal Keybearer and his annoying companions?"

"Face it Even, you're a remnant of the past now. It's only natural the new generation steps up to take the place of the old." Even gave an incoherent grumble as yet another person he would rather have not remembered entered the room with a childish grin on his face.

"Ah Axel, as ignorant as always I see. Why don't you make yourself useful and help me in my research." Even ordered rather than requested. He kept his eyes trained on the computer screen as he typed a few commands onto the keyboard.

"It's Lea… but you're not gonna get it memorized, are you?" Lea asked.

"Would you respect the man responsible for killing you? I think not." Even replied.

"Your Nobody? Oh come on, you wouldn't be here if I hadn't. Don't you think it's time to let bygones be bygones? I truly do respect my elders, it's just I had to do what I had to do." Lea reasoned.

"Oh I believe me when I say I understand all too well. Survival of the fittest after all. When you strip down all the complexities defining one individual from another, we are left with one of our most primal needs: survival. Even Heartless possess this proverbial instinct." Even explained.

"Are you comparing me to a Heartless? Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. Anyway I thought that was kind of obvious, no? When we were Nobodies we each sought a heart because we believed it was necessary for survival. A Nobody is eventually fated to fade away because the body can't live without the heart for long."

Rubbing his chin, Vexen faced and acknowledged Lea for the first time since the fiery red head had walked into the room. "Indeed, or in some cases the body may just cease to function and succumb to a vegetative state. But that is of no consequence to me. Right now, my primary interest lies in those Chimera Heartless. Now if only I could run some tests on that girl…" he began but Lea cut him off.

"Don't even think about it. As if that Keybearer you can't stand and his friends will even let a creepy old fart like you near Luna. Oh, and one of those friends include me, got it memorized?" Lea gestured by wagging his finger up and down.

"Duly noted, though I thought I recalled you saying that you truly respected your elders. That's a contradiction." Vexen pointed out.

"Well, allow me to amend that. What I mean to say is that I truly respect my elders who have the common curtesy to remember my name." Lea shot back.

"Fair enough," Even let out a chuckle before returning his attention to the monitor. After a few more keystrokes, the metallic door to the right of the room opened with a quick hiss. He scurried past Lea and soon returned from the main room with a transportable whiteboard and a marker. "Now, what is the difference between normal Heartless and these Chimeras?"

Lea hadn't recalled saying he was going to assist him but if it would help in curing the remaining Chimera then he was willing to put up with anyone let alone Even. "Let's see… Heartless are created from the darkness in people's hearts and consist of a heart and mind. Chimera are artificially merged humans and Heartless so… they have a heart, mind and body? Then that means a Nobody couldn't be created, right?"

"It's possible, which means I wouldn't classify them as Heartless. If they have all three then I would think that they are closer to a complete being," Even said noting a few words down on the board. "What else?"

Lea sighed and rubbed his temples before uttering out the next thing that came to mind. "It seems like they have a conscience and emotions. I imagine the human is able to control both in the early stages until… well, maybe the Heartless corrupts the mind gradually?"

Vexen nodded and summarized it into brief words on the board before turning to Lea. "That's a good enough foundation to start on I would think. Ah yes, but we must not forget the most important thing." he twirled the pen around in his hand for a second before adding something else on the board:

Heartless instinct: To Survive/Chimera instinct: To die

"I…see. So that's why you were talking about survival of the fittest then? And to think… the pain they must be going through… But Luna somehow maintained her form so does that make her different somehow?" Lea attempted to speculate.

"Well at least you're thinking. That's more than I've ever seen you use that organ of yours before," Even said, a creepy smile crawling onto his face. "Yes, the mystery of that girl… she may be the key or a false lead. Either way, until she wakes up we won't know for sure. Still, I haven't been this excited since the start of the Replica project."

"And we all know how that turned out for you, right?" Lea said.

"Please, I'm a scientist. It's only natural to expect some failures along the way," Even said. He was about to leave for the room he had just opened up using the computer when he was stopped by yet another person entering the room. "What a pleasant surprise. I didn't know I would be expecting so many unexpected guests. Is it my birthday?"

"If it is I forgot to bring you your gift. No, I'm the sourpuss they dragged out here to help some kid. The name's Neuge," she introduced before placing a piece of paper on the workstation. "And if you're as wise as I am told, you'll probably find this easy to accomplish. Maybe it is your birthday after all."

Even grabbed the paper and bored holes into it, his eyes gauging and taking in every word as the more he read. By the time he had finished digesting everything, a huge grin appeared on Even's face that would continue throughout the day.


Five Days after the Rescue

Sora listened to the unfriendly, violent sounds of heavy rain pounding against Merlin's roof while he held onto Luna's hand. Would there be a moment when the rain would cease and allow for the sun to take its place, he wondered? Luna deserved nothing less when she awoke. What he was sure about was that there were more dark days ahead.

Sora formed an invisible checklist in his head counting the number of mysteries that were yet to be solved. Yen Sid had asked them to gather the Princess of Hearts to which they had all except for Belle who Sora, Riku and Kairi had yet to visit. This had been in response to Alice's mysterious disappearance. Then they had Moira's Crescent to deal with who wanted him dead for some strange inexplicable reason. After that there was the background radiation or fog affecting the worlds which had some connection to the Realm of Darkness, the solution to curing the Chimeras, and finally the mysterious puzzle box, currently in Even and Ienzo's possession, which couldn't be opened. Yeah, he definitely had his work cut out for him for the foreseeable future.

Feeling someone's presence staring at the back of his head, Sora's eyes left Luna and set their sights upon the unexpected David Xanatos. Aside from talking to him at the dinner party the Radiant Garden Honorary Committee had held, Sora realized that he had never been alone with the man until now.

"May I come in?" Xanatos asked. Not knowing how to reply, Sora gave a brief nod and watched as Xanatos approached the bed with a sad smile. Riku had been untrusting of him going as far as to avoiding eye contact whenever he met him. As for Sora… well, he wasn't sure what he thought of Xanatos. While he trusted Riku, he felt making premature assumptions about someone they barely even knew wasn't the right way to approach things.

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I would have come sooner had I known beforehand that you'd succeeded in rescuing her," Xanatos continued. Sora remained silent and went back to looking at Luna. "It probably doesn't feel like you've done that but if it's any consolation I believe there are some instances when a person can hear the voices of those talking to them even when they're in a coma."

"Really?" Sora piped up upon hearing this.

"Really. Her body may not be responsive but that doesn't mean her heart isn't listening. Now I don't claim to generalize and say that always happens but the best thing you can do for your friend now is comfort her and express your belief in her." Xanatos replied. His words reflected that of Aqua's. She had seen others in much the same position as Luna: Snow White, Princess Aurora, and Ven. There was no reason not to believe that Luna wouldn't be able to wake up, and yet he still couldn't keep himself from worry, possibly because he knew Luna more so than the other three. Though Ven's heart had been in his own for a long time, he had never personally known Ven to be worried in such a way that he would have if it were Luna, Riku or Kairi.

"How do you know so much about hearts?" Sora asked.

"Psychology," Xanatos answered with toothy grin. "I studied it back in my own world. I don't think you can ever truly understand the heart but that shouldn't stop us from trying to learn as much as we can. The psychology of the heart… it's a fascinating subject."

"How'd that make you into a guy owning a large corporation though? That, I don't understand." Sora said.

"You'd be surprised how much things can be connected. That said, it was not originally my intention to create the company you see here. I took psychology because I was interested in the evolution, not of our physical selves, but of our characters, the things that make us who we are and cause us to develop into the people we want to be. Other things that got me into it were interesting facts such as the idea that we have six basic emotions: anger, happiness… well, why don't you guess the rest." Xanatos said chuckling.

"Oh you're enjoying this aren't you?" Sora laughed heartily before putting his hands behind his head. "Let's see… happiness, anger… sadness, surprise… er-"

"Fear and disgust. Of course there are much more than these when you get down to the nitty gritty, there are plenty more but anything else is simply a deviation of those six." Xanatos explained.

Sora nodded. "Fair enough, but I still don't get how that leads into you doing business." Xanatos' gaze darted away from Sora to the window where rain pelted against the glass inconsistently. He soon turned back to Sora and began what was to inevitably stick in Sora's mind.

"Economically, my world was suffering through bad times while I was a teenager. When I walked down the street I could see people suffering and when I asked them how they had ended up where they were they simply told me their true feelings: 'I need the world but it looks as if the world doesn't need me'.

"You're considered to have charisma if you express uniqueness and diligence and that is how people will take you on. But here's the catch. How can you show off these talents or even know you have them if the world doesn't give you a chance to prove yourself? I saw injustice in the world and so I started my own company. I wanted people to know that no matter what, they were unique and individual in every single way and that the system shouldn't have a place in advantaging one person over another.

"The idea of having different sectors for different things came from my psychological studies. If people are surrounded by positive activities and attributes, not sitting at a boring office job for example but instead… gardening let's say, then they have more of a chance to show off their own talents.

"Coming here, I saw very much the same thing. People unable to do much because of Maleficent's reign of terror having much of a negative effect on the world. The building blocks of Radiant Garden had stagnated, and much like my own world I took it upon myself to seek Leon and help him show the people that the world had not turned its back on them and that they weren't alone. I think most of all though, the person that has helped the most has been you."

By the time Xanatos had finished with his long speech, Sora had been left completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words. Were he to be told these were the words of a man not to be trusted, he wouldn't have believed it for a second. But if Sora had wanted to find some form of a lie behind these words, he couldn't. He slowly opened his mouth to respond.

"Me?" was the only word able to come from his mouth.

"The people look to your charisma in their time of need. It's given them hope and the strength to keep moving. Colette certainly thought so when I talked to her about you," Xanatos said. "That's why I believe it will also help Luna."

"Thank you." Sora said beaming.

Xanatos stood up and held out his hand. Sora took it and reciprocated the firm handshake. "I think I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you. Oh and… when she wakes up, she'll need as much support as she can get after all she's been through. Stand by her." he said before leaving the room.

Sora stared at the space between the bed and the door for some time before letting out a dignified "huh". Never in a million years would have expected the likes of David Xanatos to be the one to cheer him up.


"I can't believe I'm doing this." Cloud buried his hand through his spiky hair and closed his eyes. If he could have, he would have even closed his ears to drown out the chatter produced by the two females in front of him. How he had been dragged into a shopping spree was a complete mystery to him. He didn't think he had even agreed to it, only that Aerith had wanted to drag away from his 'solitary confinement' as she had described it.

Personally he thought he was doing much better now that he had accepted the darkness in his heart and had gotten rid of Sephiroth but every now and then he could still see the concern in both Aerith's and Tifa's eyes. On many occasions he had tried to quell their fears but he supposed it would take some time for him to get over what had happened.

"You're not the only one they dragged along. Don't you go abandoning me now." Riku said hearing Cloud mutter. Cloud opened his eyes and gave him a smug smile. Riku… the other person who, like Cloud, had once struggled to battle the darkness in his heart, had been a source of inspiration for Cloud in terms of dealing with his own darkness. When he had first met the Keyblade wielder, Cloud had felt a strange connection to him. Riku had been quick to relate Cloud's problems with his own and had told Cloud that the darkness goes hand in hand with light. Cloud was not going to let some 17 year old show him off. It was that challenged which had encouraged Cloud's 'rehabilitation'.

"At least I'll be entertained," Cloud said. He pulled out his PHS and flipped it open, pressing the buttons to move down the list before finally arriving at an app. "Up for a game of Tetris?"

"You two are unbelievable. You do know why we're here don't you?" Kairi asked.

"Some more gel for Cloud's hair?" Riku asked feigning innocence.

"I have enough of that actually. If you and Sora ever are in need of some, feel free to ask." Cloud said.

"Does the word wedding mean nothing to you?" Kairi was about to throw a fit when Aerith intervened.

"Kairi, allow me to handle this. Cloud, put away your phone and help us this instant… or else," Aerith's death glare was enough to make both boys back down. At her victory, she turned to Kairi with a sweet smile. "See Kairi? You just have to know how to talk to them. They're like pets."

"Well that was a scary comparison but if it works I'll try it." Kairi said slowly.

"Please… for our sakes… don't." Riku monotoned with a sweat drop.

Reluctantly, Cloud put away his phone and folded his arms. "I'm counting on you to make this memorable." he said in his usual cool tone to Riku. For the next hour, Cloud and Riku suffered from the excruciating torture of what was window shopping. While Kairi and Aerith happily discussed among themselves the list of decorations, food ingredients, and presents, Riku and Cloud were put in charge of carrying pretty much whatever they picked up for the soon-to-be-newlyweds Leon and Rinoa.

"You ever thought as a Keyblade Master you'd be subjected to being a carrier boy?" Cloud asked watching Riku mess around with his shopping bags.

Riku set them down and started stretching. "To tell you the truth… no," he answered before adding, "But I have learned that you have to take the good with the bad. So many unexpected things have happened where I've had no control, or at least have felt like I've had no control. In reality, I was only holding myself back from taking control because I was afraid of what would happen if I did. I suppose the best thing I've learned from having a Keyblade is that if an end goal is within your reach that is worth fighting for, then it's also worth bearing all that pain to get to it."

"The thrill of being a Keyblade wielder huh." Cloud said.

"I wouldn't call it anything as exciting as that but we've certainly had our fun… and it's brought me, Sora and Kairi closer than we've ever been before. I'm thankful for that," Riku answered. "That said I'd designate that label to Sora. He's had to clean up more messes than most." He grasped the handles of the bags again and hurried on along with Cloud to catch up to Kairi and Aerith.

"I can see that. He's sure helped me more than enough times," Cloud agreed. "But he's going through a rough patch right now."

Riku nodded though he didn't feel like saying much else to Cloud. He had noticed Sora slowly distancing himself from both him and Kairi even though they had spent a lot more time together over the past three months than usual. On the surface, Sora seemed his usual chirpy self and Riku had no doubt that he was trying to forget about his worries, but he was also aware that Sora was trying to conceal things from them as well—him talking in his sleep made that much clear.

The idea that they had to shop in the pouring rain was ridiculous to begin with but they had insisted that they wanted to make sure the wedding was ready as soon as Luna was awake. It wasn't just a special occasion for Leon and Rinoa, but a celebration for Luna as well.

As they continued shopping, the pelting rain slowly began to subside until only puddles were left underneath a cloudy sky. By the time Kairi and Aerith had declared that they had bought enough, Cloud and Riku were at the point where they had been competing with each other to see how many bags they could each carry. Riku was under gruelling pressure and looked on the verge of collapsing but Cloud maintained his cool composure and carried on like it was nothing.

"What- how are you doing that?" Riku clenched his teeth admiring the lack of any effort from his competitor.

"Squats. You should probably try them." Cloud smirked. Riku was about to make a retort when someone passing by the window of the shop caught his eye. He prided himself on remembering faces well, but even if he were bad at it, he doubted he could forget this one. Though her hair was a different color from the last time he'd seen her, the aura that exuberated was both familiar and powerful unlike most in Radiant Garden. Her style of fighting was so irregular, so foreign, so deceptive like that of a trickster. She wielded a blade of uncertainty—no, it wasn't the weapon itself but its owner, for she was like no other Keyblade wielder Riku had ever seen.

Before Cloud could even say anything, Riku dropped the shopping bags and raced out of the shop.


Sora waited impatiently in Merlin's living room for the 'strange individual' he was to be meeting with. That's what Yen Sid had described them as, and Sora had to stiffen his entire body to prevent himself from laughing then and there.

There were a lot of things he considered strange. His meeting with David Xanatos a few hours ago had certainly been strange and unexpected. That said, if Yen Sid of all people considered this person to be strange then they were probably worth the wait.

He stood up and started walking backwards and forwards across the lonely room taking in whatever his eyes saw. A recently installed bookshelf on the wall with thick spines supporting one another. Among them was the book that Luna had borrowed from the wizard, The Sword in the Stone. As much as he had promised Luna that he would finish it, he had never gotten past the first few chapters and had completely forgotten about the book after losing Luna. He also promised himself he would go back to it, but there was only so much that could entertain him in a book as opposed to already living an adventure in real life.

As one might expect in a wizard's home, things were usually never in the same place. Sora supposed that was the advantage to being a bored wizard, though back on the islands Sora didn't have to even have to try and use fancy magic to misplace things around his room. After a while, Sora's eyes became glued to Pooh's storybook. Now if there was any adventure inside a book he didn't mind, it was that one. He felt ashamed of generalizing all books as boring in the first place, because this one certainly wasn't.

He picked the book up and brought it to his chest and started cooing, "Oh I'm sorry guys. You know you're the best. Oh yes you are, oh yes you are-"

"Sora, we're ba… what are you doing?"

Sora jumped and set the book down on the table quickly, his eyes darting towards the suddenly open door where Riku and Kairi were standing. He could only offer them a trademark smile to get them to forget what had just happened but the woman behind both of them seemed determined to make that impossible.

"So this is the powerful Sora who defeated Xehanort, prevented a war from breaking out and rescued his sleeping friends… my, it looks like Yen Sid hates me more than I thought," she said. "I just want a bar where I can get drunk and call it a day. Is that too much to ask?"

"This is… Neuge. She's a Keyblade wielder-"

"Ex-Keyblade wielder," Neuge corrected Riku. "Do you intend to invite me in or am I just supposed to stand here while you two block the way. Because th- that's totally fine, really!"

Against her wishes however, Riku and Kairi entered the house leaving her no choice but to enter as well… or she could have just left anyway, Sora had no idea what she wanted at the moment. Strange certainly fit her, that was for sure. She had beige skin and somewhat fairly visible freckles from her nose spread out to her cheeks. Her ebony hair with blonde streaks was tied in a neat bun with two strands of hair being left out to fall on either temple. Sora offered her a seat but she declined and instead stood in the middle of the room.

"So you're a- I mean, you were a Keyblade Master?" Sora asked.

"Correct and yes, the past tense is pretty important there. As soon as I thought I was out of reach, I realize that I'm living in an ever expansive sphere. It seems I can't get rid of the Keyblade that easily." Neuge answered.

"I'm sorry if I don't understand but, why would you want to get rid of it?" Kairi asked.

"Because I've already done all I can with him, I reckon." Neuge said although Sora had the feeling she wasn't telling the entire truth if any at all. What was with the "already done all I can with him" bit supposed to mean anyway?

It was Riku who was the most daring enough to challenge her assertion. "Let me get this straight. You relinquish your position of Keyblade Master and retire to Snow White's world where you live out your days as the town drunk. Then you get called over here by Yen Sid even though you had the choice to decline his offer, and then you tell us that you think you've done all you can with it. I'm sorry but I can't believe that. I think you very well came here on your own free will. Plus you talk as if the Keyblade has some personal benefit to you, like it's meant to serve you or something."

"And why would I come here out of my own free will?" Neuge questioned with a strict unemotional face.

Riku shrugged. "Who knows but you? Maybe you're bored, or maybe you're curious about something. I hear that gets the best of all of us."

For an incredibly awkward period of time, Neuge gave a blank expression in return. It was like she was boring holes into Riku's soul and trying to figure something out. Sora was about add on something in defence of his friend when-

"Snrk, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Laughter burst out seeming to descend from the heavens and managed to fill the entire room with ease. It was laughter so incredible that Sora, Riku and Kairi began to wonder if they could get out of the room in time before she noticed. "Very good, you're a smart cookie Riku. Curiosity is the keyword. And no, my Keyblade doesn't owe me anything exactly…" she put her hand to her forehead and sighed. "Why am I explaining this to you? It's best not to lose track."

"Hold on, one more thing. What did you meant by "him"? You referred to the Keyblade as a he, right?" Riku asked.

"I did… wait, you don't know?" Neuge asked almost on the verge of uncontrollable laughter again.

"Know what?" Kairi asked.

"You mean to tell me you've been living under the assumption that Keyblades are merely objects of magical power that just decide to pass themselves on to a successor for absolutely no reason whatsoever? That's like the old bat to hide things. Look, this may be hard to believe but your Keyblades are their own individual existence. We know so little about them but I can for sure tell you that they have genders. They probably even have memories of all their previous wielders for all I know."

Sora, Riku and Kairi all exchanged looks with each other before gawking in unison, "WHAT?"

It was Kairi this time who spoke for all of them. "Wait a minute. You talk as if Keyblades-"

"Have hearts? You'll find it's not exactly hard for something to grow a heart if it shares a bond with another thing. Don't tell me you've never felt it. That tingling feeling that wraps around your fingertips as you call out your Keyblade, your partner in crime. How it just seems to comfort you and give you a feeling of warmth when you let it. No?" Neuge said before winking. "Don't worry. I was just as ignorant as you when I was your age. But let's just say I was forced for a good while to think about life."

Sora avoided Neuge's piercing gaze and focused on the door behind her. He knew all the things she mentioned to be true, and in a way, Sora had had his assumptions for a while but it had not hit home until Neuge had finally confirmed it.

"So why are you here?" Kairi asked breaking the silence.

"Yen Sid believes that I can be of some use to your friend. He's told me of this problem of yours you're facing, Moira's Crescent, was it? I'm supposed to instruct you in the art of wielding the Keyblade." Neuge said looking at Sora.

"Really, that's it? Well thanks for the offer but I can handle whatever comes my way just fine." Sora said hopping off his seat and starting for Luna's room where Astra had taken his place after a while. He wasn't going to let these people scare him and control his life. That was what he had decided when he had first woken up in the hospital and he was sticking with it.

"May I remind you not half a minute ago you were surprised to learn that there was more to your Keyblade than you first thought? I shouldn't have to tell you that those wielders are probably more experienced than you in using the Keyblade." Neuge said.

"So was Xehanort and look where he ended up," Sora answered with a tight-lipped smile. "I've got my friends beside me. That's all I'll ever need and if they or whoever thinks they can take us down, they've got another thing coming."

"Interesting. Well it is your choice, that's the important thing. A bunch of kids like you shouldn't have to put up with so much stress on a daily basis. It really is best you just let your worries gloss over. Take a vacation if you have to. Be who you're meant to be, kids." Neuge said. She was about to leave when Astra came almost flying out of the hallway. The grin on Astra's face told him what she was going to say before she said.

"It's Luna. She's awake!"


That didn't take long now did it? Unfortunately, things get a bit more complicated from here on out. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Kingdom Hearts.