The Road to Dawn
By Ariana Aislinn
Chapter 33: The Third Keyblade Master

Happy New Year; I'm back! Just finished playing Re: Chain of Memories, and since the original CoM was what inspired me to begin this story, I think I'm ready for another round. I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted, over a year - 2008 was really, really busy for me. I managed to dig up an almost-finished chapter to post, but it'll be a bit before I have something new written. Don't worry though, it's on its way!

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

The kitchen tried to veto the cinnamon roll idea, the head cook claiming that rich food was not good for the girls, but Riku loomed intimidatingly and managed to get his way. Not much later, the three of them sat together in Naminé's room, munching happily. Kairi stayed wrapped up in her blankets, as she was still too unsteady to get out of bed, but she already seemed to be feeling much better. Now that they'd passed on the most urgent news about their trip to Twilight Town, they were telling Riku of some of the other details of their visit.

"So, there's a third Keyblade?" Riku gave a low whistle. "Just how many of these things are there, anyway? Is there a factory somewhere that makes them?"

Kairi covered a smile. "Well, DiZ says there's four of them, total – one for each world."

"There's a lot more than four worlds, though, Kairi."

She shook her head, waving her half-eaten cinnamon roll for emphasis. "No, I mean…universes, collections of worlds. Twilight Town is the central world of all those in the twilight universe. Then there's also our world, I mean our universe, and then the realms of Light and Darkness, too."

Riku nodded slowly. "Okay, I think I get it. So – Mickey found his Keyblade in the Word of Darkness, so that makes it the Keyblade of Darkness, right?"

"Yes. I don't think it uses dark powers, though…I'm not sure I understand how it works."

"I bet we can ask him – he might know some things." Riku shrugged. "So does that mean Sora has the Keyblade of Light?"

Kairi shook her head. "No. DiZ says he has the Keyblade from our world."

"Oh." Riku scratched his head. "I sort of thought, what with him being the hero chosen by the light and all – but I guess that makes sense, since he got it in our world."

Naminé frowned. "I'm not sure that actually has anything to do with it."

"It seems to make sense, though. Didn't you say the Keyblade of Twilight came to Roxas in Twilight Town?"

"Yes, but…it didn't seem to fit, somehow." Naminé shook her head. "Roxas kind of said that he wasn't a true Keyblade master. I guess he's just supposed to carry it for a while."

"Hmm." Riku frowned, remembering how Sora's Keyblade had come to him briefly, but it had not remained his. "I guess that does make sense." He took another bite of his cinnamon roll. "So who's supposed to wield the other two Keyblades, then?"

"I guess we'll find out eventually. In the meantime, we – " Kairi stopped.

Riku looked up mid-bite, swallowing quickly. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Kairi nodded. She'd felt a sudden warmth in her chest. Her hand went to her pocket again, feeling for the reassuring touch of the star-shaped object that was hers and Sora's lucky charm. She pulled it out, turning it over in her hand with a sad smile. She blinked, however, realizing that there was something attached to the opposite side.

"What's that?" Naminé gestured curiously with her half-eaten cinnamon roll.

"I'm not sure." Kairi frowned thoughtfully, tugging gently at the black disc. It came away easily. She held it up to the light and peered at it, then shook her head. "There's nothing on it, just plain black. It glints a little in the light, but that's it."

"Here, let me look." Riku took the disc and held it up, peering at it through his blindfold. As he touched it, a soft tingle ran through his fingers. "Odd," he muttered. "It feels almost like the twilight."

"What do you mean?" asked Kairi.

"DiZ has been teaching me a little about using twilight powers. This…kinda has the same feel. Wait – hold on. Let me try something." He furrowed his brow, concentrating. A faint aura of twilight surrounded the disc, a weaker version of the magic he had used to cloak himself from the Nobodies' sight. As Riku looked at the small, black object, the light reacted strangely with the twilight magic, and he thought he could make out words. "Wait a second…there's something written here. It says – 'Door to Light.' Hey! I think you've really found something, Kairi!"

The warm feeling surged in Kairi's heart. There'd been no time, back in Twilight Town, and there had obviously been more that Sora needed to tell her – but somehow he'd managed to pass on his message in another way. Thank you, Sora, she thought to herself. Aloud she said, "So what do we do with it?"

"We take it to DiZ." Riku held the disc up. "Do you mind if I keep it for now? I promise I'll bring it back when we find something out."

Kairi nodded. "Go ahead."

Riku stood, tucking the disc into his pocket. "All right then, I'm going to go speak to DiZ and the king. Mickey found something in the library he wanted to show me, anyway. It might be another clue we need. Will you two be all right?"

Naminé smiled, licking the last of the cinnamon off her fingers. "I think so. I have some drawings I'd like to finish, anyway."

Kairi nodded, covering a yawn. "I still feel jittery, but tired, too."

"Okay. Why don't you stay here and take a nap, Kairi?" Riku smiled softly. "I'll let you know as soon as we find anything."

"I'll stay with her," Naminé told him. Riku nodded his thanks and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Now alone together, the girls exchanged glances. Naminé sighed. "Has he always been like this?"

"What, trying to take charge and do everything himself?" Kairi smiled. "Pretty much." When Naminé grinned back, she plucked up the courage to ask, "Um…Naminé, have your memories returned yet? Roxas said they might come back a little on their own, so…"

"Oh." Naminé's voice was soft, and she stared at her hands, fingers interlaced in her lap. "Well…yes. I did get a lot of it back in Twilight Town, but I think the rest of the memories are mostly there now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The other girl was silent for a moment, but then she shrugged, meeting Kairi's gaze. "I suppose there's no reason not to. Some of it's a little hazy – as memories usually are from when you're small. I guess the only reason I remember as much as I do is because the memories were only recently restored, you know? Anyway…I remember waking up at home several days after the attack. There was a lot of confusion, and I remember lots of people were there – our neighbors, I think. The adults were all upset, and everyone was talking. Everyone was worried about me, but…I remember feeling fine. I don't think I was able to remember much at first, about what had happened." She sighed. "I guess it was a couple of weeks later when Darkside came for me."

Kairi shivered. "He came back?"

Naminé nodded. "My mother had taken Roxas out shopping, and a neighbor was at the house keeping an eye on me. Darkside appeared through a portal into my bedroom. I'm not sure how he was able to do so, but I think Ansem must have made the portal out of darkness."

"Darkside was working with Ansem?"

"For him, I think, at least at first. I…don't know all the details of Darkside's plans, but I do know he still greatly reveres Ansem and his work. Most of the Organization believe they can restore their hearts using Ansem's research."

"But they're also looking for Seekers of Wisdom research."

Naminé nodded. "Right. They're leaving nothing to chance, and all of Organization Thirteen is fully aware that for all Ansem's power, he ultimately failed. Not all of them believe his research can help them. Darkside's faith in Ansem appears to be unswerving, however."

"So…Ansem sent Darkside to get you?"

"Well…so I assume. I don't know how else he could have made the portal." Naminé shrugged. "He dragged me away to an unfamiliar castle. There were people living there, but it seemed strangely empty, and there was a heavy storm raging outside. Darkside took me to a room filled with machines, and that's where I met Ansem. I remember that he – he scared me. A lot of it is fuzzy, but I think he did experiments and managed to discover my powers over memory." She looked at the floor. "I think…he got me to tell him about Roxas, and how he could affect memories, too."

Kairi remained silent, worry and sympathy in her expression.

"I don't remember much else until the night of the attack. I suppose you must have been in the castle, too, but I was never allowed to see you. But then…" She swallowed. "Storms came more and more often, and I could hear them outside, even though I wasn't allowed out of the wing where Ansem did his experiments. The Exes sometimes visited – I think they'd formed their own base by then, but some of the members would come to speak with Ansem from time to time. One of them was meeting with Darkside in the Great Hall, I think, and Ansem was working on something big, something important. The storm started getting worse, and then Axel came to get me." She swallowed. "He'd joined the Exes at some point after they arrived in Hollow Bastion – remember, he wasn't one of them in the original memory Roxas showed us. That was about when the Exes started wearing black leather coats and calling themselves Organization Thirteen. Anyway, Axel came running in, all dressed in black, and he just kind of grabbed my arm and hurried me out of the little room they kept me in. We went outside, and the storm scared me so badly I tried to hide in the folds of his coat. He mostly ignored me. He seemed really badly upset about something." Naminé's hands clenched. "He just kept marching me up the steps on the outside of the castle until we came to a balcony, and there – I saw the sky opening up into a huge portal of purple and black, and the Heartless started to pop up all around us. You were there too, Kairi, huddled against the wall with an old woman."

"My grandmother," Kairi said softly, her eyes wide as she listened.

"Yes." Naminé's voice caught. "Axel, he – he told me to erase your memory. Yours and your grandmother's." She closed her eyes tightly. "But it was strange. He wanted me to erase mostly just your memories of the castle, of Ansem's insane experiments, and of him."

"Him?"

"Axel. Axel wanted you and your grandmother to forget him."

Kairi frowned. That was certainly…strange. Did that mean she'd known Axel at some point in her past?

Naminé swallowed. "I'm not sure what happened when I erased your memory, but it knocked you both unconscious. Then Darkside showed up out of nowhere, and Axel just – stopped. He froze as soon as Darkside spoke, and then Darkside grabbed my arm and dragged me away – I remember shouting. A couple of teenagers who lived in the castle came running out and attacked the Heartless, but Darkside pulled me into the shadows before they saw him. Then…the storm was gone, and Darkside was pulling me through a portal of darkness." She shivered. "I remember that it hurt. The darkness wasn't pleasant, and I get the feeling it doesn't work very well to go through it to reach the Twilight Realm. That's probably why Darkside didn't come back for so long. It seemed to take a lot out of him."

"So he returned you to Twilight Town?"

"Just for a moment." Naminé's voice was tight. "Just long enough to…to force Roxas to take my memories."

"…Oh." Kairi looked uncomfortable.

"As soon as he'd taken control of Roxas and wiped my memory, he made another portal of darkness and took me away again. I think he would have taken Roxas too, but then DiZ showed up and drove him off…I think. I don't remember much after that; it gets really fuzzy. Later I remember another place, an Organization stronghold where I lived for maybe a couple years." She shrugged with a bitter smile. "You'd think I'd remember more, but I was only four. I think it was when I was six or so that they moved me to Castle Oblivion."

Kairi stared at her. "You lived alone in Castle Oblivion since you were six?"

Naminé nodded. "Yes. Members of the Organization would visit, making sure I was fed, and at least one was there at all times. The master of the castle changed from time to time. When Sora came to Castle Oblivion, Marluxia was in charge, and he'd lured Sora there as part of a plot to take control of Organization Thirteen."

Kairi shook her head. "No wonder you were so lonely," she said quietly. "No wonder you were willing to do what they said and alter Sora's memories."

Naminé merely nodded. They were both silent for a long while, the moments stretching out between them. Finally Naminé looked up. "So…now that I have my memories back, would you like me to try to restore yours? I think I could puzzle out how to do it, but it might take some time. I wouldn't want to rush something like this, because if I messed up – well, you wouldn't want me to do that." She sighed. "It would be a little easier if we had the pod room in Castle Oblivion, but I'm worried that the Organization may not have completely abandoned it, and using the pod would take time we don't have."

"No…no, it's okay." Kairi shook her head. "I'm not really sure I want my memories back just yet." She shivered. "Not after the kinds of things you had to remember. I don't know if I'm ready to face that myself."

"I know – it's very difficult. It's just, Roxas said you'd need them…"

Kairi sighed. "Maybe I will, though I can't think why. Just…not yet, okay?"

Naminé smiled sadly. "I understand. Very well, I'll wait until till you're ready – but when you are, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you." Kairi smiled in return.

An hour later, Naminé sat quietly at the table, finishing her latest sketch, the one of the young swordsman training in the orchards. Kairi had dozed off, so the only sounds in the room were those of her soft breathing and the scratch of Naminé's colored pencils. Occasional birdsong filtered in through the open window, along with the soft rush of the breeze. An urgent knock eventually broke the peaceful quiet, however, and Naminé quickly closed her sketchbook and got up to open the door.

Kairi sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily as Riku burst in. "What…?"

"We figured out what the disc is, Kairi," he panted. "I think I know why Sora wanted to give it to you."

"What is it?" Naminé asked, her voice intense with curiosity.

Riku sank into a chair. He seemed to have run all the way here. "It's a sort of book. DiZ was able to figure out how to read it, using twilight magic and a combination of elements. We don't have a machine to play it back, but it uses some basic Seeker techniques and DiZ was able to cobble together a method to decipher it." He shook his head. "I didn't understand half of it, but Mickey and DiZ got all excited. It's a book about the Door to Light – but it also tells about the World of Light and the Keyblade of Light."

"We need to find that, don't we?" Kairi was fully awake now, and she swung her legs over the edge of the cot and leaned forward eagerly. "Let me guess – all four Keyblades are needed to open the Door to Light."

Riku nodded. "You got it. We've got three already – or at least we know where they are." He frowned. "We're going to have to get Sora's body back and find Roxas to get their Keyblades."

They were all silent for a moment, none of them looking at each other. Finally Naminé broke the silence. "So where is the Keyblade of Light?" she asked, her voice carefully controlled. "How do we find it?"

Riku shrugged. "Well, it's not gonna be easy…and it's not all we need, either. Just as the princesses of heart were needed to open the Door to Darkness, we need them to open the Door to Light, too. See, the Keyblade masters have to use Keyblades to focus the power of light on the Door. To do that, they need people with especially pure hearts to help them harness and direct that power." He sighed. "They also need the one Keyblade master who is destined to open the door once it's unlocked, or it'll stay sealed. But first things first. The people with especially pure hearts have got to be the princesses."

"So we go looking for them," said Kairi, her expression determined.

"Yeah…but not yet." Riku grinned. "We've already got one of them right here, and she needs to stay in bed for another day or two."

Kairi scowled and stuck her tongue out at him, but Riku only laughed.

"Having the princesses won't do us much good if we don't have the Keyblade of Light, though," pressed Naminé.

"Maybe not…but we also need them to find the Keyblade of Light. It's not like the other Keyblades. It won't just come to its bearer, and the Keyblade master will need the help of the princesses to find it."

"Then…that means we need to find the bearer of the Keyblade of Light," said Naminé thoughtfully.

Riku grinned. "No need. The disc didn't exactly say, but…well, the Keyblade of Light has to be used by one of those with a pure heart. I've got a feeling Sora knew exactly what he was doing when he gave that disc to you, Kairi."

Kairi started to open her mouth to ask what he was talking about, but she stopped. The warmth in her chest grew, and suddenly she knew. "…I'm the Keyblade master. The Keyblade of Light is for me to find, isn't it?"

Riku nodded. "That's what DiZ and Mickey think. I'm sure that's what Sora thought, too."

"Then…as soon as Kairi's better, she has her own journey to go on." Naminé gave a determined nod. "I'm going with her."

"Not yet, you aren't." Riku shook his head. "You're both staying here until you're well enough to travel, and then Mickey will help you on your way."

Kairi blinked. "Wait – you're not coming with us?"

"No," Riku told them grimly. "I'm going to find Roxas. He has the Keyblade of Twilight, after all, and we still need to find its true master. Besides, where we find Roxas…you can bet that's where Sora will be, too. I'm going to go out there and find him, and then we're going to bring him back – no matter what it takes."

I don't want to ramble on too much about the remake of CoM, but it was really quite good. If you liked the original CoM, you'll probably love this one. It wasn't as good as KH1 or KH2, of course, but it definitely had plenty of "squee" moments for me. There were a few new tidbits that may or may not make it into my fic, if I can find a way - especially stuff from Reverse/Rebirth mode. We'll see! If you get the chance, be sure to pick up the remake.