Chapter Two
The Realm overflowed with light. Two men sat at a table, a sheaf of neatly written reports out before them. One was a man with flowing white hair and dark skin, and the other was a man with light blonde hair, beard, and mustache. The older, bearded man was wearing ice blues and whites where he'd once worn red and black. He observed the reports with interest.
"I'm suprised I was able to adapt to the light so quickly after dwelling in darkness for so long..." he said, pondering the reports laid before him before returning his gaze toward his companion.
"I understand your confusion, but light is easy to embrace when one does not fear it," his companion replied. Ansem chuckled.
"As I'm sure you know quite well. But, for such a realm as this to exist... a realm split into three, where those who are incomplete go when they die... It's a lot to take in. And the fact that I arrived here... I knew that anything was possible, but I never could have imagined it would allow me to see you again… Xehanort." At the mention of his name, Xehanort's orange eyes glowed in amusement at his master's confusion. Ansem's eyes, having adjusted better to the light, could see his student more clearly now. Xehanort was wearing rather simple, baggy white robes. He had one large shoulder pad on one arm, and a smaller one on the other. The golden bronze shoulder pads, despite their mismatched size, both had a distinct yellow swirling pattern upon them, glittering in the light. He also wore two bronze wire-like gauntlets of some sort, as well as armored shin guards sporting same pattern as his shoulder pads. One of his gauntlets, as well as both shin guards, were obscured by his large robes. Around his neck, an armored collar was also worn, with a golden yellow crown etched into the extension that rose up to his chin. Xehanort now looked far more like a philosopher or mage than a scientist, his nose and chin now more pronounced, yet his eyes yielding kindness. He cocked his head to the side briefly, suddenly feeling curiosity from his master's presence.
"How exactly did you come to be here, Master? What has happened since I've come to this place?" Ansem's face grew serious again.
"Much, my student... Many things have transpired since you were human..." He shook his head. "The actions of your Nobody and my own short-sightedness led to me being blasted from the realm I knew into this place... I attempted to digitize Kingdom Hearts itself... The reaction was catastrophic, but I believe your Nobody and the rest of Organization XIII were defeated, thanks to the Keybearers." Xehanort's eyes widened, looking rather unsettled by this news.
"HUMAN Keybearers?" He asked in a shocked voice. The concept seemed to alarm him for some reason. "Yes. Sora, his friends Riku and Kairi, and King Mickey as well. You remember him..."
"... Yes... So, they were the ones that stopped the Heartless and Nobodies... That is good. I am… merely surprised..."
"You may also want to know that your Heartless is still around, to the best of my knowledge..." Ansem added, looking evenly at his student. Xehanort stood bolt upright.
"WHAT?" He shouted, horrified.
"He has been forced into submission under Riku, a boy he tried to possess... Riku…. He can wield both light and darkness, and even nothingness together like no one I have ever seen… He is quite powerful. Though, Sora is stronger still." Xehanort looked thoroughly unnerved by what he'd heard. His eyes bore a distinct dread that puzzled Ansem.
"I am glad that there wasn't chaos and strife on the worlds because of my foolishness with my experiments... but you must understand that this is quite a bit to take in…" Xehanort said shakily. He wiped his forehead, flustered.
"I understand perfectly." Ansem responded, although his student's reaction to the Keybearers had suprised him. Xehanort sighed, and stood for a moment, his hand over his forehead, clearly in deep thought. "Is there anything else I might want to know?" Xehanort asked, sitting back down.
"Sora has sealed the Keyholes of the worlds against the Heartless and the villains that were able to manipulate them due to your Heartless's machinations. Even Kingdom Hearts has been protected by his Keyblade."
"I thought you said you tried to digitize Kingdom Hearts?" Xehanort said, his expression confused.
"Not the original, I assure you… The one I attacked was a Kingdom Hearts created by your Nobody from fallen Heartless…"
"How was the original reached?" Xehanort said with interest. "Even when I opened the pathway to the Door to Darkness, I was drowned in the Darkness and lost my heart."
"Your Heartless manipulated Malificent and other greedy fools like her to capture the Princesses of Heart. Using their hearts, devoid of all darkness, he was able to open the path and proceed to Kingdom Hearts."
"But our world would have been consumed by darkness if that had happened! Even if there had been a passage to Kingdom Hearts…"
"You can thank Sora for our world still being safe. He was able to rescue the hearts of the seven princesses, and they used their powers to hold back the darkness long enough for Sora to seal both the Door to Darkness and Kingdom Hearts." Xehanort looked shocked by this. Glad, yes… yet shocked.
"You were telling the truth when you said much has transpired…" he sighed as he wearily slumped down in his chair. Ansem gathered the reports on the desk back together, keeping them neatly organized.
"Xehanort, would it be all right to borrow these notes you've compiled until I'm done reading them?"
"Yes… That would be fine." Xehanort responded, still looking overwhelmed. He noticed Ansem walking away. "Where are you going?"
"If I am to learn of this realm I'm in, what better way than to explore it?" Xehanort cringed.
"It would be… ill-advised… for you to do so, Master Ansem." Ansem looked at him, confused.
"And why is that, Xehanort?"
"Most of my kind in the After-Light don't... take kindly… to what they consider as an anomaly. Your presence here, a human within the After-Light, is the very definition of an anomaly, Master Ansem. But… I suppose it'll be all right if you stay near my lab. I have a lot of influence here, and I have requested to be left alone for my experiments for the most part. So as long as you stay near my lab, you should be fine."
Ansem looked at his student oddly.
"Thank you for the warning, Xehanort. I'll stay within the boundaries for now, then, but I'll be expecting further details on what you mean by your kind not liking anomalies when I return."
"… As you wish, Master Ansem." The sage of Radiant Gardens then turned and walked out of the Laboratory. Xehanort looked out the window.
"Odd… I have a feeling of ill omen… but not from Master Ansem…" His eyes narrowed. "Whatever this feeling is, it's far worse than what I felt when Rale-Lieu said he was going to check on that disturbance on the other side of the realm…."
The After-NaughtXemnas walked through the abandoned city. He noticed there weren't just Organization members in this place… He had spotted large groups of noticeably more muscular Dusks, the emblems on their foreheads now jet black, milling about throughout the ruined buildings. Xemnas found their peculiarities rather curious, but paid them no mind. After all, there were far more… interesting things to focus his attention on. Xemnas stopped walking. The massive shadow beneath him moved into the nearby shadows, as though it was trying to hide.
"You can come out now, you know. They won't see you now that we're this far away." Xemnas said. Laughter rang out suddenly from seemingly nowhere.
"I should have known it wouldn't have been so easy to sneak up on you. After all…" The shadow suddenly condensed and rose into the form of a person, a person quite well known.
"…You're me." Xemnas stared into the familiar dark smirk of his counterpart… the Heartless that still referred to itself as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Xemnas scowled.
"How are you here? I thought you'd been forced into submission by that Riku boy."
"He resisted my influence, even as he finally embraced the darkness… It irritated me. When I felt a familiar presence in the Realm of Nothingness… I made a little switch."
Xemnas observed his smirking Heartless with distaste. His remaining instincts screamed for him to kill the creature now; he couldn't reclaim his heart unless it was rejoined to something accessible, like Kingdom Hearts. The Heartless before him was absolutely useless.
Or is he? Xemnas suddenly realized. No, there might yet be a use for his counterpart. He'd keep him alive… for now.
"If I cannot be rid of you, then at least follow me in your natural shape… It'll let me keep an eye on you." His heartless scoffed quietly, but did as he was asked.
A few buildings back, Axel was beginning to turn the corner when a hand shot out and pulled him back.
"GAH!" He turned and saw Larxene. "What was that for?"
"Which of us has stealth training? Why, I believe it's me." Larxene whispered back while gesturing to herself in a coy manner. "They would've seen you. I'LL go first, if you don't mind." Axel sighed, and followed Larxene as she stealthily moved from building to building.
Axel didn't know much about the Superior's companion, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that was his Heartless following him… Axel wondered why Xemnas was putting up with the thing…
Finally, Xemnas could go no further. An opaque shimmering wall cut off the city from whatever was outside of it. It stretched as high and wide as Xemnas could see. His Heartless crossed his arms.
"Pfft. So, this is the Barrier? I'm not impressed."
"You don't seem to be impressed by anything that's not related to darkness, do you? This barrier is probably mightier than it appears… kind of like YOU."
"Look who's talking. Don't forget that you have my face as well."
Across the street, Axel sighed.
"Well, there's at least one thing those two have in common." Larxene looked curiously at him.
"What?"
"We've seen these two for less than half an hour, and I can already tell they're both madly in love with the sound of their own voices." Axel said sardonically. Larxene suppressed a small laugh.
Xemnas sized up the barrier before him.
"You don't seriously believe you can succeed where twelve of your minions have failed?" His heartless asked, incredulous.
Xemnas glared at his Heartless before re-directing his attention to the barrier before him. "Let's just see how it fares now, against the true power of all the Nobodies…. the Power of the Realm of Nothingness!" Xemnas said, firing a titanic cluster of Nothingness bolts at the barrier. The black and white thorns on the bolts struck the barrier, but the barrier merely pulsed once as they began to smash against it in increasing numbers.
When the blast finished, the barrier was completely unharmed. The Heartless scoffed.
"It seems the Power of Nothing is aptly named." He stated airily. Xemnas smoldered.
"I suppose that using the Power of Darkness would easily break the barrier, then?"
"Easily. Let me show you!" the Seeker of Darkness said arrogantly, raising his hands. While Axel and Larxene again had to look away from the massive display of power, Xemnas now watched the barrier intently. Ansem's attack still left not even a scratch, but this fact meant nothing to the Heartless as he used his fury to further power the blast. Xemnas noticed that the pulsing area of the barrier was now black, but it had been grey when his bolts had struck it…
After over half an hour of the Heartless pouring his energy into beams of darkness, the barrier was still untouched. He finally broke it off, swearing uncontrollably in his fury. Xemnas eyed the barrier, an idea flashing in his mind as its color returning to its original opaqueness.
"Attack the barrier again, and this time, keep at it." His heartless glared at him, reluctant to obey. Xemnas glared back.
"Just do it. This barrier might not be as indestructible as we thought."
Sighing, the Heartless again poured forth a torrent of dark power. Xemnas watched for a moment, and suddenly replicated his first attack on the barrier. It remained black, and the Seeker of Darkness's blasts continued to do nothing. But now… Xemnas's attack was breaking the blackened barrier. It slowly cracked… and abruptly shattered under the onslaught of Nothing Bolts. Xemnas and the Seeker of Darkness had to protect their eyes from the light on the other side. Xemnas smiled.
"As I thought… these barriers are invincible to light, darkness, or nothing…but not more than one." The Heartless looked surprised, but finally scowled for not having figured it out himself. Xemnas gestured into the radiant world ahead.
"Come… I want to see this new realm." He said, walking into the light. His Heartless gingerly followed, his displeasure evident at the place he was entering.
Axel and Larxene exchanged a look.
"I have a baaaad feeling about this, Axel." Larxene said nervously. Axel gulped.
"Me too. But… we came this far. I'm not letting some feeling stop me." He replied, striding towards the light. Larxene stood for a minute, and then sighed.
"I am definitely out of my mind…" She groaned, walking after Axel.