The Road to Dawn
By Ariana Aislinn
Chapter 19: The Lost Library

Chapters may not come as often as I'd like, but at least this one didn't take too terribly long, despite the insane amount of time I'm devoting to my job. Many, many thanks to Koorino Megumi for beta reading this chapter!

Standard disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix and Disney, not me.

Kairi scowled, folding her arms across her chest and sighing heavily. Although she couldn't see much through the misty windows, the white light from outside appeared to have dimmed, and she suspected it was growing dark. It had been midmorning when Axel had dumped her off here and vanished without so much as an explanation. Slumped on the floor with her back to the wall, she stared around the room - it was coldly white and empty, with only a single table and chair for furniture and tall windows that let in only a featureless white light from outside.

The basket Axel had given her sat on the table, barely touched. She'd nibbled at some bread earlier, but her restlessness and irritation had dulled her appetite to almost nothing. Besides which, although there was probably enough food there to tide her over for the day or so Axel had said she'd be here, Kairi had no way of knowing if his words were true. She certainly had no cause to trust the infuriating man.

She'd tried exploring earlier, but a trip downstairs had shown her two completely empty floors exactly like this one, but lacking even the meager furniture of the top floor. The stairs seemed to spiral down endlessly, and she soon gave up her search. Still, if something didn't happen soon, she was of a mind to try again - anything to keep from sitting here and going crazy.

Kairi sighed again, then slapped her hands down on the floor next to her, pushing herself up off the ground. "That's it," she muttered. "I'm going to give it another try. There has to be something else here." Walking over to the room's single door, she pushed it open and crossed the empty white hall to where the great staircase spiraled downward. Kairi began walking, her hand resting on the banister and sliding along it as she went.

"Why did Axel drop me here, anyway?" she mused aloud. "Not like there's anything here at all. He said it was safe, but…all it seems is empty, to me." She shivered, hugging herself with her free arm. "I just wish I had some way of…I don't know, protecting myself. A weapon, or something. Better yet, a way to use this magic I'm supposed to have." She scowled down into the dim light below her. "Why am I talking to myself? I guess it's just so empty that I have to fill it up with words…"

She'd reached the next floor down. An empty hall stretched before her, filled only with occasional white porcelain vases and wall sconces that emitted soft light. At the far end was another door, which she knew from before led to another set of stairs. She sighed. "Guess I might as well check this room again though, just in case." She began to circle the long hallway, strolling slowly with her hands clasped behind her back, examining the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Axel had said something about the Organization being on its way. Who was this Organization, and what could they want with her? The obvious answer slid into her mind, but she was inclined to dismiss it. The princesses of heart, if that was really what she was, had the ability to create, and conversely to seal, the Keyhole to darkness, and also to hold back darkness. It seemed of rather limited usefulness to Kairi, and she couldn't imagine how this Organization could possibly want to use that.

So what else? Nothing came to mind, except possibly her connection with Sora and Riku. Could they want her as a hostage, perhaps - leverage to use against her friends? That thought seemed a bit more disturbing, and a bit more likely as well. She raised her chin stubbornly. "I won't let them do that," she told the emptiness. "No one's going to use me to hurt Sora, or Riku."

Still, there was no way to know. Kairi walked on, her soft footsteps echoing in the empty room…and then she stopped. Her hand, tracing along the wall, had felt something strange. A groove? She took a step back and peered more closely. There, hidden in the whiteness of the wall, was a faint indentation. She traced a finger around it - a crown, with a shooting star falling through its center.

Kairi's eyes scanned the wall, and a few inches below the first symbol she caught sight of another. This time it was a keyhole and a key. Somewhat intrigued now, she reached out to trace it as she had the other symbol. As soon as her forefinger touched the white indentation, it glowed softly, then moved inward with a faint grinding sound. Kairi took her hand away and stepped backward, eyes widening slightly as grooves appeared in the previously seamless white walls. The grinding sound increased, and then a door creaked open in front of her, revealing a darkened spiral staircase.

Kairi stood there for several long minutes, staring into the darkness. After a while she swallowed nervously, then shrugged. "I might as well see where this goes, I guess…" Forcing a wavering smile onto her face, she headed downward.

As she walked, faint lights sputtered to life next to her - dim blue and red glows from some unknown source, settled into wall sconces. The stairs continued downward for some distance, but not quite as much as the previous spiral staircase. This one was also much narrower, the ceiling lower down. Finally Kairi stepped out onto some ancient, cracked tile, heavily covered in a layer of dust. Lights flickered on in the room around her, spreading a dim glow outward to show her surroundings.

This room was a bit smaller than the room upstairs where Axel had left her. It was much darker, with no outside windows and the only light coming from the dying light sources on the walls. Most of the length of these walls was lined with shelves, which appeared to contain primarily books and scrolls. Kairi walked over to one of them, touched the spine of a book gingerly, then gently blew some of the dust off of it. She could just make out some cracked gold lettering on the front cover, but it was difficult to read in the faint light.

Under the title, whatever it was, there was a golden symbol, also cracked and flaking. It appeared to be a star, formed from five lines that overlapped each other, but drawn in such a way that it was possible to trace a single path all around it. Kairi traced her finger gently along the star, beginning at the top point and moving around until she had come back to where she had started. Frowning in the dim light, she stared at the title again, leaning down so her nose was almost touching the ancient leather cover. She could barely make out a word - it looked like Paosurala, but she couldn't be sure. It certainly wasn't in any language she knew.

Kairi shuffled carefully through the books on the shelf until she found another whose paint was still somewhat readable. The gilt here was a bit brighter, and she read the title aloud softly - "The Four Worlds. Hmm." She moved on to the next book, entitled The Rise of Darkness. Most of the rest on that shelf were entirely unreadable, however. She was still carefully rifling through the shelf's contents when a faint sound made her freeze. There were footsteps coming from the stairwell.

She looked around for a place to hide, but there was only an old, wooden table in the center of the room, which would offer no cover to speak of. Before she could make a move toward it, a figure appeared in the doorway, lit faintly by the dying lamps in the room. He was relatively short, with spiky hair, baggy pants, and hands stuffed casually into his pockets - not Axel, then. He didn't have the same build, and he carried himself differently. In fact…Kairi's eyes widened. "You're not…"

"Oh, there you are, Kairi." The figure stepped closer, coming a little bit more into focus. The dim light illuminated him enough to show that his hair was yellow-blond, and his clothes were primarily white and black. The boy grinned at her in a strangely familiar way, and his eyes were an intense shade of blue that Kairi knew all too well. "Nope, I'm not Sora. That is what you were going to ask, isn't it?"

Kairi drooped, feeling deflated. Her heart, which had begun to flutter slightly, slowed in disappointment. "…Yes. But…that would be stupid, I guess. I mean, what would he be doing here?"

The boy shrugged, walking over to the table and leaning against it. "Dunno. But he was here, about a week ago. Couldn't say why, though…I mean, good luck ever trying to understand the workings of the Organization's plans in the first place, and Castle Oblivion was under the control of a rebel faction at the time, anyway. I have no idea what they really wanted with him."

Kairi's heart leapt, and she put out a hand to steady herself against a bookshelf. "Wait, he was? But he was…a prisoner of the Organization?"

"Well…kind of, but kinda not, too."

She frowned. "You're not making any sense."

He grinned at her, almost cockily. It reminded her of Riku's sardonic smiles. "Yeah, I'm not, am I? Guess I should introduce myself. Roxas. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand.

Kairi eyed it for a moment, then reached out slowly and shook it. He withdrew his hand and stuck it in his pocket again, regarding her amiably as she looked him over appraisingly. "So…what are you doing here, then?"

"Oh, I came to get you, of course."

"Then did Axel send you?"

The boy's eyes flashed. "Hardly. Nah, he had someone else find a messenger for him. I don't have any direct contact with Axel…which reminds me, we ought to get out of here before he comes back. You don't want him to find you still here."

"But…" Kairi put a hand to her forehead. "I'm totally lost. He's the one who brought me here. I don't trust him, but he didn't act as if he meant me any immediate harm." She eyed Roxas, obviously none too sure about his intentions, either. Still, it was hard not to place at least a little faith in this kid, with his disarming, self-assured smile and his deep blue eyes that were so like Sora's.

"He didn't. No, it's Darkside you need to worry about - you and me both, really. Much as I'd love to stick around and chat, we need to get going." Roxas looked around the room. "How'd you find this place, anyway? Looks like quite a treasure trove…anything you want to bring with us? I know a guy who'd probably love to get his hands on some of these books."

"We've got time?"

"Sure, if you don't take all day about it."

Kairi scanned the shelves again quickly, then settled on the three titles she'd been able to decipher. Piling them into her arms, she nodded. "I'm ready. So, where are we going?"

Roxas grinned. "Gonna trust me, then?"

She sighed. "I don't have much of a choice, do I? Besides, there's certainly nothing else for me here."

"Okay, come on then." He nodded. "I know a back way out of here." Heading up the stairway, he beckoned to Kairi, and she followed with her armful of books.

Back in the main hallway, the wall slid black into place with another grinding noise as soon as Kairi emerged from the stairwell. The doorway sealed itself again, invisible once more except for the camouflaged symbols she had discovered by chance. Roxas continued on across the hallway, headed for another door Kairi hadn't seen - though this one had an odd shape to it, the upper lintel cut into a jagged series of dags. "This way," he called over his shoulder.

Roxas waited for Kairi to follow him into the room, then he turned to face the door and held out his hand. The door dissolved into plain, white wall, and a small object shot into his hand.

"What…?"

Roxas grinned, flipping the object around and displaying it for her. "A card," he said. "Nifty, huh?" Another flash of his fingers, and the card vanished.

"What is this place?" Kairi asked, looking around the new room.

"You mean this room, or the whole building?"

"Both."

"Ah. Well, the building is Castle Oblivion. An abandoned stronghold, taken over some years back by the Organization. And this is the pod room."

It was just like all the other rooms she'd seen of the castle, but this one contained a strange, crystalline structure, like a furled flower bud, that appeared almost to be growing out of the center of the room. Kairi shook her head. "This is a really weird place."

He grinned. "You have no idea. Come on, this way."

Kairi could now see a swirling vortex behind the crystal pod. Black streaked with blue swirls and white shimmers of light, it was like a whirlpool set into the white wall of the room. "You're kidding, right?"

Roxas nodded. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. Although…" He eyed her for a moment. "Going to take a bit of work to take you into the twilight world. Here, do you mind? Hold still a minute."

Kairi had no chance to object before he reached out and settled gentle fingertips on her forehead. He closed his eyes, as if listening, or scanning the inside of his eyelids. "Hmm…" he muttered. "I think we can do it, but I'll have to wrap you in a duskcloak."

"A what?"

He grinned. "Don't worry about it. Just a simple procedure. Sort of like magic, though not quite…but it's the best way to describe it so you'll understand. You'll see." He stuffed his hands in his pockets again, frowning slightly. "Funny, though. Someone's already rearranged the links."

Kairi furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"Someone's been at your memories. Looks like it was a long time ago, but something's been erased. I can't tell what - that would take a lot of work, and a lot of time we don't have." He sighed. "I wonder who did it." Strange; he looked almost…sad. The boy quickly snapped himself out of it, however, and grinned. "Right, let's go." He reached out again, waving a hand in Kairi's direction and then touching her forehead gently once more. Something fell over her eyes, almost like a dark, misty curtain, dimming the room's white to a pearly gray. Roxas took her hand. "Okay, follow me."

"Into that?"

"I told you, it's fine! Besides, you've got me with you." He gave her a grin that was hauntingly familiar.

Kairi had seen that very same grin many times before. Her heart turned a somersault, and she found herself nodding. "All right…I trust you."

"Okay then! Hang on, this'll only take a moment…and then we're off to Twilight Town!"

He tugged gently on Kairi's arm, pulling her through the portal after him. A moment later, the swirling vortex closed in on itself, leaving the crystalline pod room as empty as it had been before.

Three figures walked across the eastern shore of Star Island, their boots crunching softly in the sand. All three were swathed in the heavy black leather of the Organization, though only the tall man in the lead had his hood up to conceal his face. Just behind him walked Demyx, frowning thoughtfully, his blond hair disheveled. Next to him strode a man with long, blue hair and an X-shaped scar between his golden eyes. Saïx was calm and unruffled, as always.

"Do you think the old woman will tell us anything?" asked Demyx.

Saïx quirked a smile that did not touch his eyes. "Of course. Need you ask?"

"Let me rephrase that. You think she knows anything worth telling?"

The hooded figure sighed in exasperation. "You'd think that by now you'd know better than to question me." His voice was soft and raspy, but although his appearance suggested a deep rumble might be more appropriate, the grating sound actually masked a tenor voice. "She's one of the last left alive who know the secrets of the Seekers of Wisdom. She isn't a Seeker herself, but she knows things that we can use. Now, bite your tongue before I cut it out."

Demyx's eyes flashed at the other man's back, and he clenched a black-gloved fist. He opened his mouth to speak, but apparently thought better of it. Still, he growled wordlessly and filed away a retort for some future date.

The house grew closer, and the hooded man strode forward, stopping a couple feet away from the door. He gestured to it with his own gloved hand. ". "Saïx, you do the talking."

"Of course, Darkside." Saïx walked up to the door and rapped on it sharply.

"Who is it?" called a wavery female voice. "Kairi, is that you?"

Saïx grinned, showing his teeth as the old woman opened the door. She stepped back with a gasp, her hand flying to cover his mouth. The tall man flashed his golden eyes at her. "I'm afraid we haven't seen her, but we would be delighted to learn where she is. Why don't you let us in to have a little chat?"

Saïx caught the door as the woman tried to slam it, then flung it open for Darkside to enter. He looked back. "Demyx, are you going to join us or not?"

Demyx tore himself away from eyeing the tree in the front yard, its branches bowed with a ripe, star-shaped fruit. "Sure, it's just…"

"All in good time. The paopu can wait until we know more of its secrets."

Demyx grinned at the yellow rind of the fruit in front of him. "Once we get some answers out of the old lady, yes. And once I get a chance to do a bit of experimentation." He let his eyelids droop shut momentarily, almost feeling the flow of the nearby ocean surf, then opened his eyes again and hurried to follow his colleagues into the house.

"Now," Darkside was saying, "tell us about the Seekers, and we might just be able to reunite you with your beloved family."

"You have Kairi?" Her eyes flashed. "I thought you said you didn't know where she was."

Teeth were bared from the depths of the dark leather hood. "Not yet, we don't, but I'm sure that will change shortly…and then we'll see about a nice little reunion. Who knows? We might even be able to get an invitation to your dear son."

Kairi's grandmother covered her mouth. "Ansem's dead."

Saïx shrugged. "Perhaps. We have reason to believe that part of his heart lives on. And that's where you come in…we need the Seekers' research."

She shook her head decisively. "And just who do you think you are?"

Demyx grinned, leaning against the kitchen cabinets. "Organization Thirteen, at your service. And we want to know what you know about the Seekers, and their research into the nature, manipulation, and…restoration of hearts."

Darkside leaned forward so she could almost see inside of his hood. The elderly woman frowned uneasily.

"Ha - memory stirs! But try as you might, you won't be able to bring it to the surface. Come on…why don't we go for a walk?" Darkside gestured to Demyx, then stalked outside, followed by Saïx.

Demyx hauled Kairi's grandmother up by one arm. "Sorry, lady." He grinned. "But we need whatever knowledge you got." With that, he marched her out of the peaceful little house and out into the fading afternoon light.

As they passed the old paopu tree in the front yard, the woman reached out and snatched one of the ripe fruits hanging from a low branch. With a gentle snap of the stem, she quickly concealed it in her apron and hurried along next to her captor.

I can't really say when the next chapter will be up, especially since I'm trying to make sure things get beta read before posting, but I'll try to get to work on it soon and not let the story languish for months again. Huge thanks to all my readers - a large part of the reason I do this is for you! I try not to be too hung up on reviews, but I can't deny that getting that little review alert in my inbox tends to brighten my day by just that much more. Thanks again, and keep reading...more mysteries are starting to come to light!