Sassy's Note: Talk talk talk… that's pretty much all this is. Still some questions are answered. OH!! And I changed the review preferences. For those reading who don't have an account, you can now leave reviews. Sorry I didn't notice that you couldn't earlier.

The World's Heart

"Oh my god…" That was the general response that ran around the room. Riku angled his head downward so his eyes were hidden by his bangs. He slowly moved forward toward Kairi and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. He couldn't help it; a tear rolled down his cheek.

"What… what happened?" she asked, voice surprisingly steady.

So, Riku explained how Sora had been acting strange, how he had gone missing, and how today they had finally found him. The others listened too, mulling over the information just to make sure they hadn't missed anything. It took a while, but finally all eyes were dried, even Ileana's. Now, they all calmly sat down, hoping they could make any sort sense of the situation.

"So Sora was worried about that door," said Leon, rubbing his temples. "That in itself doesn't make sense."

Riku nodded. "Something had to set that off, for one." Kairi's head was resting on his shoulder, and his arm was around her.

"Sora doesn't worry for nothing," she added, voice hoarse from crying.

"What could it have been?" asked Ileana quietly. "He never left home for very long, and this all started after his birthday."

"He… he's eighteen now, right?" Reno asked, flinching somewhat. Riku understood. The redhead didn't want to say "was eighteen."

Riku, Kairi, and Ileana all nodded.

"I think we can all agree that Sora… is not a normal boy," said Rude. "And I think his birthday definitely has something to do with… this."

"I'm sure we all can agree on that," said Leon. "We just need to find out what it was that did this to him."

"A curse, maybe?" Riku was thoughtful. "I don't know what else it could be."

"So… we've basically ruled out the possibility that this could be a natural… death?" Reno asked softly, eyes trained on the floor.

"It's can't be," Leon said, shaking his head. "Trust me. It can't. In that tomb… it was like…"

"Like something had suddenly drained the life out of him," Cloud provided. Leon inclined his head toward the blond in agreement.

"You can imagine what… what that looked like." Riku noticed the scarred man shudder.

"Then how did you know it was Sora?" Kairi questioned. At this, Riku spoke up.

"He was wearing his old clothes. You know, the black ones he hasn't worn in awhile."

"What?" Tidus asked from behind Riku, making him jump a bit. He had forgotten Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were here.

"The ones he hasn't worn since we sealed Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh…"

"Wait, why was he wearing…" Yuffie started, but then trailed off.

"Good question." Riku fidgeted around a bit. "I'm not sure. He always kept them as sort of a memento, but never wore them again. He shouldn't have been able to fit into them anymore." Riku didn't add that he really didn't stick around to examine the corpse too see if the clothes had fit.

"There has to be something we've missed," said King Mickey. He looked thoughtful then glanced at Riku. "Have you noticed anything else?"

Riku swallowed and fidgeted some more. Throughout all of this, he hadn't mentioned the voice. "I… I think that the 'prince' that the ruins kept mentioning… is Sora."

"Hmm, that would make sense," said the King. "I've never really given thought to Sora being a prince, but if he was the intended target of the curse, then it's entirely plausible."

"How could Sora be a prince?" asked Ileana. She looked rather bewildered at hearing her son could have been prince of anything.

"The same way Kai is a princess of heart," said Riku. "It depends on the strength of their heart."

"Sora had plenty of that," said Rude with a slight smile.

"Okay, so the kid's a prince. Just one question." Cid leaned back folded his arms. "Prince 'a what?"

"Another good question," Riku muttered. "And we haven't got any answers."

"Whelp, we'll just have to go to someone who would know," said Mickey. "Donald, set the gummi on a straight course to Yen Sid's tower. We'll leave within the hour."

---

Riku had been fighting with himself for the past twenty minutes. Everyone else was preparing to leave. Kairi insisted that she was coming with them, and Riku didn't argue with her. He didn't have the heart to.

Finally, though, Riku approached the King. "Your Majesty?"

"How are you doing, Riku?"

"Better. But… there's something I didn't want to say in front of the others, especially Kairi and Ileana."

The mouse looked at him inquisitively. "What is it?"

"Not long before Sora went missing… I started hearing… things."

The King looked genuinely surprised at this. "What kind of things?"

Riku swallowed; his mouth had gone dry. "Like… strange things. It's like there's a voice in my head, and it's saying things that hardly make sense, and it won't go away, and…" He took a deep breath, feeling a bit hysterical.

"What does it say?"

"It… said some things about Sora. Like, 'he sealed his fate,' and 'the prince is sleeping.' That's why I think… that Sora is a prince."

Mickey started pacing, and that was never a good sign. Riku waited patiently. "Whose voice did it sound like?"

"I thought it was Sora's at first, but it was too deep."

"Have you ever heard it before?"

"No."

"Hmm." King Mickey stopped pacing and looked at Riku. "It was wise of you not to mention this in front of the others. Now listen, Riku. Hearing a voice in your head is not normal, but nothing of the past week has been normal. Under conditions – had they been normal – I would have taken immediate action to have you removed from Destiny Islands and secured in the power of Light. If a power is strong enough to plant its voice in another's mind, it is not to be trifled with."

The King sighed in a resignation that Riku could tell he regretted. "I want you to listen to it, Riku. No matter what happens or what it says, I want to know what it says. Will you do that?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Riku said with a nod.

"Good." Mickey smiled at him. "Everything is going to work out, Riku. You'll see."

Riku smiled too, strained as it was. He wanted to believe the King; he had never been wrong before. The teen was sure things would work out; he just wasn't sure if they would work out the way he wanted them too.

---

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Leon was asking Ileana. The woman shook her head and gave him a watery smile.

"No, I trust you all. I'd be getting in the way, anyway. Just promise me you'll find a way to bring my boy back."

Riku could tell Leon did not want to make that promise, for it was a promise no one knew if they would be able to keep. But Leon nodded anyway and bade Sora's mother farewell as he boarded the gummi. Riku fixed a smile on his face as he hugged Ileana tightly. No words passed between them, but that was okay because none were needed.

Kairi too hugged the older woman, and then the two teens boarded the gummi ship together. Kairi clutched tightly at Riku's arm, and even after Ileana waved them off and they had shot off and away from Destiny Islands, she didn't let go.

---

"Pardon me when I say that this place is fuckin' creepy," Reno huffed, eyeing his surroundings, and Donald gave him a dirty look. The redhead seemed unwilling to even leave gummi. Riku actually chuckled a bit. He agreed with Reno whole-heartedly; this place was fucking creepy. He'd been here once before and hadn't liked it at all then either. The feeling of floating randomly in space was not one he was particularly fond of.

Cloud smirked and shoved Reno forward. "Get moving, Turk."

"Don't be pushy, Strife. I'll get off this gummi when I'm damn good and ready."

Rude cleared his throat, and Reno froze. "Partner," the bald man said with a bit of a growl.

"I'm goin', yo!" The redhead left the gummi at a sprint. Riku stayed behind him, and as they approached the tower he heard the Turk mutter, "Baldy needs to get laid." The silver-haired teen chuckled again.

The good thing about the tower was the lack of Heartless and Nobodies. The party kept on their guard, but saw nothing all the way up. Riku couldn't help but begin to feel nervous. He'd never personally spoken to Master Yen Sid. Sora had always described the man as rather eerie-looking, but nice enough. Then there was the nervousness he felt about actually talking to him about Sora. Would he even know anything? Was he as all-knowing as everyone said he was?

Kairi's arm locked with his again, and he could tell she was just as nervous as he was.

"Your Majesty," Leon spoke up suddenly. Reno jumped a good foot in the air at the sudden sound, and Rude shook with silent laughter. Leon spared the Turks a raised eyebrow, then continued. "I don't think we should all barge in there at once. Take Riku and Kairi, and you three go."

"Hmm, good idea," said King Mickey. "So long as the rest of you don't mind." Cloud, Leon, Rude and Reno all shook their heads.

"But we're going too!" Donald squawked indignantly, indicating himself and Goofy. Mickey smiled slightly and nodded.

As they approached the door, Riku and Kairi stepped forward, followed by Donald and Goofy. Mickey pushed the large door open and ushered them inside.

The room inside wasn't nearly as creepy as the rest of the place… but the man sitting at the desk was. Riku stared at him openly, feeling the urge to run from the room. He felt Kairi tense at his side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her mouth open slightly. "Freak" was the word that immediately popped into Riku's head upon seeing the old man. With a slight pang, he noticed that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had all bowed respectfully at him. Biting his tongue, Riku did the same, and Kairi did so too.

"Master Yen Sid," said Mickey, slowly up-righting. "I'm sure you already know of what has happened on Destiny Islands recently, and that's why we've come to you."

The old man nodded, but did not say anything.

"We've come to see if you can give us some answers," said the King.

"We want Sora back!" Kairi spoke up, her eyes were welling up with tears again. Yen Sid inclined his head.

"Understand this," he said. Even his voice had that creepy quality to it, Riku noticed. "What has happened on Destiny Islands is no one's fault and it could not have been prevented."

"What… what do you mean?" Riku asked warily. His heart was pounding in his ears. "He was cursed, right?"

"This is no curse," said Yen Sid. "Even I have no full understanding of the magic behind it, but I can say that under the right conditions, it is completely reversible."

"So… Sora's not really dead?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"Sora is not dead. He never was."

"Then what's happened to him?" Riku's voice was defiant. The man was avoiding the main issue. "Was that not Sora in that tomb?"

"It was." Yen Sid nodded. "But it is not his final resting place. I can tell you only this for it is all I know: In the end, it was Sora's own choice to allow what has happened."

The room was deadly still and silent. Riku stared hard at the man and knew he wasn't lying. But why, why would Sora do this to himself? Why would he do this to his friends?

"If Sora chose this as his fate, then he must have had a good reason," King Mickey said. He looked more confused than shocked. Riku had a nagging feeling that the mouse had suspected this all along. Still, the silver-haired teen could hardly believe that Sora allow this to happen to himself.

"The Prince had his reasons, I'm sure," said the old man with a nod.

"Prince?" Riku asked softly. "So it's true? Sora really is a prince?"

Yen Sid smiled, and it was the most un-creepy thing Riku had yet to see him do.

"Yes. Sora is the Prince of Destiny."

To be continued…

Sassy: WOO! We're finally getting somewhere! In other news, Yen Sid haunted my nightmares for weeks after I played through that part. Creepy fucker…

More questions or are some of you beginning to get it? The next chapter should answer some, in case you're wondering. More flashbacks! Squee!

Reviews make me write lots faster, by the way.