A/N: So I'm interested to know how you guys read this story. Desktop? Laptop? Mobile? Do feel free to share. Anyway, time for another chapter that sets things up but don't worry. From here on out, there's going to be a lot of action. Also, I suppose you can think of this chapter as a part 2 to the Journalistic Revolution chapter along with The Songstress' Secret. With that said, hope you enjoy and be sure to favorite and review and all that good jazz.


Chapter 83

Eleftheria Hollenbeck

For the past two years, the sound of photocopiers squawking and beeping had become a daily part of Eleftheria Hollenbeck's life. She found herself, more often than she felt necessary, staying in the printing room after lights out, to work on her articles. Strict deadlines made her job quite stressful and didn't allow her to have as much time to herself as she usually did. That, and her boss for the newspaper was usually pretty demanding when it came to the content he wanted from her.

Eleftheria began playing with her pen, rolling it from side to side as she tried to think of what she wanted to convey next. She had, of course, thought of going freelance. That had the advantage of doing the articles that she wanted and without the gaze of a higher authority constantly looking over her. The only problem was that she didn't have much money, and she felt like she needed to gain experience in an actual work atmosphere so as to know how to engage with clients and the like. She only had to work at the newspaper to the point where she could get her name out and attract work for herself. The problem was that with the articles the boss was having her write, she would never get anywhere with them.

"Maybe I should just give up and go home. Marty's probably hungry," Eleftheria said, thinking of her Scottish Fold. She had named him after the main character of one of her favorite sci-fi movies. It had occurred to her that she hadn't fed him since the morning and she was probably incredibly undeserving of his love. She groaned and buried her head into her arms that were rested on the table. "Ugh, I quit. Just dump me in a lake already."

After another hour, satisfied with what she had accomplished, Eleftheria left the building with a smile on her face. She had finished the article off but hadn't bothered to re-read over it for any errors. That was the thing she loved about leaving school—she now had an editor to correct her work for her, not that she didn't look over her work. She was incredibly fussy about stuff like that. She was usually fine with editing her own work… when they were about things she cared about. The local hockey game at the high school was not one of them.

She reached her apartment around midnight. She didn't usually like coming home at this time of night but the fear of her red-faced boss possibly going even redder as he shouted down at her was probably more frightening on her scale.

"I'm home!" Eleftheria groaned tiredly, announcing to no one in particular. Other than her cat, she lived by herself. She kicked her shoes off and lined them up carefully, for she could not rest until they were aligned with her other shoes, and walked into the living room.

She found Marty pawing away at the couch. She scooped him up into her arms and held him up to the light.

"Are you hungry? I bet you are. I certainly am," Eleftheria said, before nuzzling him with the bridge of her nose. "You will not believe my day. I'm so glad I got that article out of the way and done with for the morning edition tomorrow… and you don't care, do you?"

"Mew!" Marty purred, looking elsewhere.

Eleftheria nodded with a tight-lipped smile. "Then I'm just talking to myself. The first step towards insanity, or so they say."

"Nyaa~" Marty leapt out of her arms and landed on the couch seat.

Eleftheria sighed. "Great. Even the cat agrees. Eleftheria, what are you doing with your life?"

She went over to the fridge and took out a bottle of milk, unscrewing the cap and pouring some of the milk into Marty's bowl. She drank the rest and wiped her mouth, wholly satisfied. As she set the empty bottle down on the counter, her eyes caught sight of a photo framed on her fridge. It had been over twenty-five years ago when that photograph had been taken, and by her mother no less. There had been a large protest outside of the royal palace where the protesters had been campaigning for more proportional pay in exchange for the hours they worked. Her excellent coverage of the protests throughout that year had earned her the Gold Award, a rare but not the rarest award that a journalist could be given for their excellent work. Eleftheria could only dream of earning that same award one day. Competition in the market had increased enormously since those days.

Eleftheria watched for a moment as Marty lapped away at his milk. "I take it you're not interested in helping me pay the rent."

"Meow." The cat looked up from his bowl at her for a second before returning to its supper.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Eleftheria said. She walked into the living room and turned the television on with the remote. The news came on immediately, and Eleftheria sat down on the couch and watched as the scenes unfolded in front of her.

There was really only one story that anyone who was anyone had been talking about for the last two days and it didn't involve a hockey game. "MURDER AT THE TURM DES HIMMELS- 18 PRONOUNCED DEAD" scanned the headline from right to left on the bottom of the screen. It seemed that the police were not yet ready to announce something significant, but they did have a suspect in custody and were ready to make an announcement at any given time.

The screen soon showed the pictures of the deceased, along with their names. Eleftheria shook her head as the newscaster went down the list of names. In all her lifetime and even the generation before, such a case was truly unprecedented.

"What is happening to this place? This is crazy," she remarked in a mixture of horror and fascination. She turned the television off and clambered to her bedroom, falling into the silky smooth duvet below.

The next time she moved was the moment her alarm rang out about five hours later. Eleftheria grumpily stood up and walked off to her bathroom with the occasional yawn every now and then. After a refreshing shower and breakfast, Eleftheria made sure to leave some food in the bowl for Marty before setting off again.

It seemed not three minutes of walking had passed before she had come across a familiar sight. Though she could not see the front of him, the spiky brown of the back of his head rang bells for her.

"That's… yeah, that kid with the giant key," Eleftheria said. It was hard to forget the person who had saved her life some months back. She had hoped these last months that she might see him again but it was almost like he had disappeared, like he hadn't even been real in the first place. And now when she had just about convinced herself she had been dreaming that entire day, he appeared again in front of her, teasing her curiosities. She raised her hand up slowly and called out to him. "HEEEEEEEYYYYY!"


Sora tensed up at the sudden scream and turned around to meet her. "Could you, like, not do that so close, please?"

"I have a bone to pick with you, walking out of my life and making me think I was crazy. You've gotta lot of nerve!" The girl yelled at her.

"You might just very well still be," Sora muttered. His eyes narrowed and he raised a brow. "Hey, you're that girl I rescued last time, aren't you?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you! And the name's Eleftheria Hollenbeck, by the way," the girl said.

"Oh, yeah… ace journalist who isn't really an ace journalist. Now I remember," Sora said.

"Why'd you have to remember that part? Anyway, I've been looking for you for a while now, Sora."

"You remember my name? I'm impressed," Sora said.

"I have a really good memory, you'll find. So what are you doing here by yourself?" Eleftheria asked.

Sora glanced at her with a blank expression for a second before looking away. "I'm waiting for someone."

"Aren't we all?" Eleftheria put both her index fingers on her temples and began rubbing them. "Okay, I'm going to take a free guess for why you're really here. You have to tell me everything if I get it right, deal?"

"Huh? Wait, I didn't agree to that-"

"Too late! Let's see… hmm. Judging from the fact that you just happened to appear when the biggest event in the history of Alexander is taking place, I guess I can't chalk that up as a coincidence?" Eleftheria asked.

"Eleftheria, stop. You don't want to know why I'm here," Sora said.

"Ooh, now I'm really excited. Come on, I was right, wasn't I?" Eleftheria said, smugly adjusting her glasses.

"Sorry for taking so long. I got held up filing some of the papers and-"

Sora and Eleftheria turned to see Celes walking up to them. She stopped and threw an enquiring glance at Sora.

"Hey, Celes, this is Eleftheria Hollenbeck. Eleftheria, this-" Sora turned abruptly at the sound of a thud next to him to see that Eleftheria had fainted. "I guess you already know."

Sora and Celes didn't have to wait long before Eleftheria opened her eyes again.

"Hi again, it's me," Sora said with a satisfied smirk. "Yeah, do you usually do that often?"

"Oh yeah, I just love to do it every time I get invited to parties… if I ever were invited to parties," Eleftheria said.

"Probably a good thing you're not then," Celes joked. Eleftheria looked at Celes again and her eyes grew big. This time, she was about to let out a scream when Celes pushed Eleftheria's jaw back up with her hand. "Please don't scream. I'd rather not attract any unnecessary attention."

"Holy moly, you are… you-" Eleftheria said, chewing on her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming. She looked to Sora. "You REALLY get around, don't you?"

"What's that even mean? We just found each other by coincidence-"

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to believe that some guy who just up and disappears has now reappeared and is friends with an opera singer… you are just friend, right?"

"Of course. Look, it's a long story but it's not one you need to get yourself involved in. It was nice meeting you again and all but now isn't really the best time for you to be here," Sora told her.

"Because of the Turm des Himmels incident?" Eleftheria asked.

"You told her?" Celes asked him.

"No, no I didn't tell her. She pretty much figured it out on her own," Sora said, letting out a stifled laughed.

"Ah, so you do admit it!" Eleftheria exclaimed in an excited tone. A massive grin exploded on her face, revealing her pearly white teeth.

"I don't know why you're grinning like you've just discovered the Hand of Midas or something, and boy is that a tale for another time, but it really isn't anything that big," Sora said. His look of confusion soon faded and became a more thoughtful one. "Say, Eleftheria… are you still looking for that big scoop these days?"

"Considering they've been putting me on the columns people don't actually read, I'd have to say so, yes," Eleftheria replied.

"Alright. You have to promise you won't tell anyone else what I'm about to say. No yapping to friends or anything like that. This is just between us," Sora said.

Celes flashed a warning glare. "Sora, what are you doing?"

"Improvising," Sora said simply. "Do you understand, Eleftheria?"

Eleftheria seemed to want to smile but it came out more as a twitch. "Friends… hah, that's a good one. Anyway, I understand."

"Okay. Let's say we need a way into the Turm des Himmels because we think the investigation is being orchestrated," Sora said.

"What do you mean?" Eleftheria asked.

"The person being implicated for the murder, a friend of mine, you've met her before, is being set up. I need to get in and confirm my suspicions," Sora said.

"Wait a moment, slow down. Your friend? Your friend killed those people?"

"NO! Please listen to what I'm saying. She didn't kill them, she was framed. Frankly, the entire thing stinks and I want to get to the bottom of it, though I have a pretty good idea who's behind it anyway," Sora said.

"So this entire thing is some conspiracy to get rid of your friend? What's she done that was that bad?" Eleftheria asked.

"Well they may have wanted to lure me here as well. You wouldn't happen to know any way into the tower, would you?"

Eleftheria scratched her head and looked away uneasily. "Oh. I don't really know if I want to be a part of this now. Um-"

"Please, if you have anything, it would be of great help. I know it's not easy-" Celes began but Eleftheria cut her off.

"Not easy? I never would have guessed. You're only asking me to break the law, to help two people break into a highly secure, closed off from the public, building. Do you know what could happen to me if they found out I was helping you? Goodbye my career. Hello job as a sanitation worker," Eleftheria said, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"You're right. It was silly of me to ask in the first place. Just forget about everything I've said here. Anyway, Celes, we should be heading off," Sora said.

"Wait- wait- wait." Eleftheria stopped them with an open palm. "I know you're gonna have me staying up late at night wondering 'what if?' if I don't do this now. I hate myself sometimes. Okay, I do know of a way in but I've never personally used it and no matter how much I may speak to myself, I'm not so insane that I'd ever try it."

"Thank you so much, Eleftheria. I know I'm asking a lot of you considering we've only just met again a few minutes ago," Sora said.

"Yeah, well don't think it comes cheap. Anyway, the Alexandrian Library's archive room has a lot of schematics on different buildings, even ones that never went past planning stage. The Turm des Himmels is one of them—there's a sewer that runs right underneath it. Said sewer also is a secret passageway from which you can gain access to the basement level of the Turm des Himmels. Funnily enough, in the official floor plan for the building, no such basement exists. While the inconsistency was a bit fishy, I never thought much of it. They may never have finished the basement past the initial planning or for whatever reason it's just not accessible anymore."

"No, it definitely exists. I've been down there before," Sora said.

"You have? Then why do you need my help?" Eleftheria shouted.

"Different circumstances. Hey, how would we access this sewer anyway?"

"Um, there should be a gate that goes underground. I'll have to show it to you since there's no particular landmark near it. Anyway, it's unlikely you'd be able to get in anyway. It's usually locked and requires a key to get in."

Sora grinned and exchanged a knowing look with Celes. "I think we'll be just fine. Alright, lead the way."

As Eleftheria guided Sora and Celes through the streets of Alexander, Celes handed the tantō knife she had gotten out of the evidence room of the precinct to Sora. Apparently, one of Celes' jobs more recently, conveniently starting around the time KRONOS had appeared, had involved delivering packages from the precinct to the Turm des Himmels and back. Sometimes, it was just random evidence for forensic purposes but she was sure some of the packages she received were more than just evidence. Either way, they trusted her with evidence enough for them not to question when she asked for it, making it easy for her to obtain the knife without raising suspicion.

"Well, it's definitely Luna's knife, but that doesn't mean she was the one who used it," Sora said.

"See, I asked one of the detectives about it. The only fingerprints on it are Luna's. They were found all over the knife," Celes said.

"Seems pretty conclusive to me," Eleftheria mentioned in passing.

"Actually, I'd say it's the opposite," Sora said with a hopeful smile dawning on his face. "It's weird that there are only her prints on it. I've touched that knife a few times and so has the knife's original owner. There should be at least three prints on there."

"What if your prints just became faded over time?" Celes suggested.

"Well for the first one, that would depend on the surface area. The reason prints are created are because of the oils that are secreted from the pores of your fingers. They last a pretty long time. Take it from someone who went through a criminology phase," Eleftheria interjected. "If anything, it's even more suspicious that your friend's prints are all over the knife as opposed to just the handle."

Sora looked on in surprise at first before sporting a victorious grin. "Well, I'm not gonna say I understood most of that but you believe me at least?"

"Not really belief. I'm just looking at facts and coming to my own conclusion," Eleftheria explained.

"Then does that mean someone probably wiped it clean before?" asked Celes.

"That's my guess. Its old owner has never used that blade for anything but self-defense. If I know Luna, then she would never use it for anything but that either," Sora said.

The three turned down an empty path and soon arrived at a dead end, a gate barring the way and stairs descending past it. Sora summoned his Keyblade and Eleftheria jumped in surprise.

"What? What did I do now?" Sora asked in a baffled tone.

"Don't just do something like that. You gave me a scare," Eleftheria shouted.

"You've already seen me do it before, remember? Besides, how else am I supposed to do it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe announce it first!"

"Hey, you two, we don't have all day so if you could hurry it up, please," Celes interrupted in an annoyed fashion.

"Right, sorry," Sora apologized. He held up the Kingdom Key and shot out a beam of light. There was a clicking sound followed by the padlock falling off the gate.

"Wowsers! Don't suppose you know where I can get one of those, do you? Would be nice not to have to worry about finding my keys every now and then," marvelled an impressed Eleftheria.

"How many times was that?" Sora asked while pulling the gate open.

"What, in a week? Hmm, well last Tuesday they somehow found their way under my couch and then the day after that I left them at work by accident and I had to go back and-"

"Okay, that- that's enough," Sora assured her quickly. "Okay, so this will take us straight under the tower, right?"

"It should if the schematics are anything to go by. The sewers are like a network of tunnels but as long as you keep going north and ignoring the other paths, you should find yourself there," Eleftheria answered. "And in exchange for this, I expect to be the first one you contact to cover whatever you find in there. Agreed?"

"If there's anything juicy to find in the first place," Sora said. He looked at Celes with worry. "Celes, last chance, you don't have to do this. I don't want you to get roped up in something you're going to regret later on," Sora said.

"I've been doing things I've regretted for seven years now. What's one more to add on to the pile?" Celes said, flashing him a smile.

"Alright, let's do this. Uh, where should we meet up once we're done?" Sora asked.

"Probably where we last met, right outside the park," Eleftheria suggested.

"Gotcha, okay, see in a while then," Sora said. Celes also bid her farewells before following him down into the dark passage.


After clearing enough distance from Twilight Town, Kairi set the ship on autopilot and rose from the chair, looking around. To her left was Riku's statue, his eyes frozen with fear and his arms outstretched. To the right of her was Max who had chosen not to say anything more after Kairi had returned with Xion.

Kairi left the cockpit and walked down the hallway, made only calming by the humming of the engines and the shaking of the floor beneath her feet. In the first room on her left, she faintly saw Xion sobbing into her pillow while being comforted by Lea. When she had told him what had happened, he had a good shout at Kairi for being foolish and prideful as to go into the mansion alone. Kairi hadn't even felt like correcting him on some of the things he had said. She just stood there, letting his verbal attacks hit her. His bitter words had stung, probably more than anything Kairi had ever experienced before. Whether choosing to bring Lea and Max would have made any difference, better, worse or same, she would never know but it didn't matter now.

Unable to look at them, Kairi moved on to the next room. The two Chimera that she had treated were here—Anna and Penny. Along with them was one other, the apparent sister of Anna and the woman they had encountered alongside Gantu back at the factory, Elsa.

"How are you all doing?" Kairi asked.

"Great, thank you. I'm just glad I get to see my sister again after so long," Anna said.

"Well, I don't deserve to see you, Anna. I hurt you, physically and emotionally. What kind of sister am I?" Elsa asked. She looked down at her hands and waved them slightly, letting little snowflakes drift down from them. "I was just so frustrated, all the time. When I froze you, I knew what I had done could never be taken back. I was a monster. I am a monster. That's why I left Arendelle. A witch named Maleficent told me that I shouldn't try to suppress my powers but embrace them instead. She made a pretty convincing argument about how it was important to have a purpose in life. How I could leave a legacy that would last outside of time itself with what we were trying to accomplish."

"You've had to face your powers by yourself?" Kairi asked.

Elsa nodded. "I don't know how I came by these powers, but my parents didn't want me telling anyone about them. When we were kids, Anna and I were playing in the castle and I accidentally hit Anna while it happened."

"You did?" Anna asked, furrowing her brow as if trying to remember. "I think I recall something like that happening, but it always felt more like a dream until you just mentioned it. I guess I can't pass it off as that anymore."

"In order to save you, our parents had your memory erased. Your hair had this blonde streak similar to my own. I don't see it anymore though," Elsa said, while checking. Anna quickly grabbed at her braided hair and brought it in front of her to look.

"Huh, that's weird… I wonder why it's gone," Anna said.

"According to the guy who made the Chimera drug, he was trying to create the perfect race of humans, regenerative healing and all. I'm guessing the Chimera fixed the things that were wrong with you. Now that I think about it, I remember my friend, Luna, telling me that she jumped out of a van once. She's a Chimera like you. She broke her ankle doing so but it didn't take long for her to heal at all," Kairi theorized.

"Hmm, I wonder if I still have that regenerative healing. Alright, Elsa, freeze me again!" Anna exclaimed, throwing her arms out.

Elsa looked at her as if she were crazy. "Seriously? Don't say things like that, Anna. Even if you are joking."

"Elsa, you don't have to be so distant anymore. I don't care what you have to say. You're my sister and always will be," Anna said. She looked to Kairi. "So, what's going to happen to my sister now?"

"Nothing. If I were harsher, I probably wouldn't let you get away with what you've done. You did assist a criminal organization, but I can see why you did it, and I think Anna's been through enough suffering for one lifetime. I suppose your punishment can be… that you have to listen to your sister from now on," Kairi said.

"Alright. I can do that. We've got a lot of catching up to do," Elsa said, smiling at Anna.

Kairi checked down the hallway quickly before looking back. "In the meantime, I need to know everything you have on KRONOS. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I can do that, but… what will you do with Kefka?" Elsa asked.

"He left a clue for his next location. I found it at the front gate when I was leaving the mansion with Xion. I don't doubt that it was put there intentionally though so it might be a trap," Kairi said. She pulled a piece of necklace out of her pocket and showed it to them. She pointed to the symbols on the necklace as she explained them. "I know where this comes from. It's actually a map, see? Here's the cathedral in Notre Dame and this is the Court of Miracles."

"So Kefka's gone back there?" Elsa asked.

"Right, you were there too, weren't you? You made that ice pillar. I remember being pretty speechless when I saw it."

"Let me come with you then. Please," Elsa postulated, standing up tall with the bearing of a queen.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"I won't get in your way. I just… I need to make it up to you for everything I've done. I may not agree with KRONOS' plan but I did agree with what Maleficent said. Everyone needs a purpose, a goal in life. Let this be mine."

Kairi looked past her to Anna for a moment before finally deciding. "Okay. But remember, you have a sister to return to."

"I know," Elsa said, her eyes not leaving Kairi's.

Kairi soon submitted in their unannounced stare contest. "Well, I've already managed to contact a friend of mine so hopefully they'll also be able to make it in time." She then looked at Penny and affectionately ruffled her hair. "You okay there?"

"I'm fine. Anna and Elsa are so nice. They said I could take a long around their castle when we get there," Penny said.

"Er, I don't recall saying that," Elsa said with a raised brow.

"Ha-ha-ha, oh, that was me. I kind of promised her she could wear that nice diadem of yours. She'd look great in it, don't you think?" Anna explained with awkward laugh.

Kairi chuckled before speaking out. "I'll just leave you three to each other for now. I need as much rest as possible if I'm going to see this through to the end."

"Have a good nap, Kairi," Penny said cheerfully. Kairi waved at her before setting off once more down the corridor. She had no idea what was in store for her back at the cathedral but Kefka had thrown out an invitation, in other words, he had something up his sleeve. With that thought in mind, Kairi fell onto her bed and closed her eyes. With all that had happened in just a day, she doubted she would be getting much sleep anyway.