Kingdom Hearts: System X

By Christine Lennoire

Beta: (Beta pending...)

Summery: "Nobodies that heartless.." and no, I didn't make a grammar error. Hearts are corrupted. Heartless nobodies? Who in the hell is System X? It's from the King... But Ansem... Roxas... Sora... But he's my friend! Kingdom Hearts... Keyblade. They're... smart! They came after me... It's him... They're working together... We have to do something...

a new journey has begun

Chapter Two: The Door to the Twilight

Boy did Sora hate it when he was right. As soon as they reached Disney Castle, they knew something was wrong. Pluto was barking loudly from inside the castle and they could hear small crashes and other destructive sounds coming from inside. "Already? What's up with these guys! We've gotta go help the king!" Sora shouted, running across the neat lawn of the courtyard towards the castle gate. Riku caught up almost immediately and pulled him back.

"Sora! You have no idea what you're fighting! How can you possibly just run in there and hope for the best? You don't have a clue!" Riku shouted angrily. Really, he was just worried, but how could his friend be so careless? There was a look of determination in his eyes that was a lot like one Riku had seen before.

He pulled himself free and forced a smile. "My friends are in trouble, Riku. Sure, I may not know anything about what I'm up against, but I have to try because... because my friends are counting on me, and so is the King. I'll be fine. Maybe you and Kairi should just wait for me here." Kairi finally caught up to the two, way too busy being in awe at her surroundings to notice the full situation. But now that she was aware, her serious look returned.

"No way! We have a better chance of surviving as long as we stick together. Besides! The King told us that it was important for us to stay by each other at all times! We can't let him down! It's nothing we can't handle... right, Riku?" Riku looked back and forth between his two best friends and smiled.

"That's right. Okay, all together then?" The three of them nodded at the same time and stormed to the front door. What they saw was purely terrifying. They were the size of dusks and they were black and silver. But they were... different. From their head to their toes they were black, but on their arms, legs, torso, and forehead, were different markings blazing in silver. From the moment Sora looked at these creatures, he knew it wouldn't be like fighting the heartless or the nobodies. These guys were different...

"They're... smart!" Sora pouted. It was clear from their fighting stances that they had the semblance of a thought process. Each move was evaluated: not like the Heartless that just attacked blindly, attracted by the hearts of their victims. And not like the nobodies which were hardly more than a shell: or at least the dusks weren't. Sora wasn't about to say that about Roxas... He wasn't so sure that Roxas wouldn't just jump out of him and kick his butt...

Riku pulled out his keyblade, but none of the odd strangers started attacking him. No... they all swarmed Sora. "SORA!" Riku shouted, started when they he saw them all jump Sora at once. Kairi ran forward but was just flung aside by one of them on the outside. After she got up, she tried again, but in vain. "Kairi! Let's attack together!" Riku shouted. She nodded, and they moved in for an attack.

"Wait!" It was a girl's voice. Two blurred objects came flying at the monsters, tearing them apart and killing them. Quickly, the girl ran to pull Sora out of the heap. "Protect... Roxas." Was all she managed to say, before she pushed him away and started attacking again. Sora recognized her as the girl from the dreams, but this time, she was real – and she was fighting. Not too bad... Not bad at all, actually. Sora admired her as she finished off the last of the seven monsters.

She bent over to catch her breath for a second as the three stared at her in awe. That girl had totally wasted them away. "W-who...?" Riku asked, coming closer to get a look at her face. Quickly she jumped up and smiled, stopping him in mid-sentence.

"I'm Lae. Don't worry you two, I'm on your side... unlike those guys. Sorry I didn't really give you a warning. We didn't think they'd get here so fast. The door only opened three years ago. Usually it takes such a long time for them to start swarming, but... well, there's a lot I have to tell you, so let's go see the King. He's been waiting to see you for a while now. When the... well, when they appeared, he had been worried that maybe they would get to you first. But it seems you got here in one piece." she smiled. "Come on... it's just a little bit further this way. We're going to the Secret Room."

Sora scrambled to walk next to her. "Hey... Lae?" She cocked her head to the side and looked over at Sora. "Why did you tell me to protect Roxas? Is someone after him? Because lately he's been falling... unconscious sometimes. Like... I can't hear or feel him anymore. Is that bad? I mean, is that part of their plan or something?" Lae giggled and shook her head.

"No, that was me. Actually, the last two times we met, I wanted to protect Roxas. To do that, I made sure that those guys couldn't follow me to him. To make sure they wouldn't sense him, I put him to sleep. But... Roxas isn't safe. No, he's a big part of their plan, and that's why we have to do all we can to keep him safe. That's why they all tackled you. Pretty smart, aren't they? Not like the heartless or the nobodies... at least, the nobodies outside of Organization XIII."

That made sense... a little. "Yeah. I could see the difference." Riku said. "Where did these guys come from? And what is it that they want Roxas for?" he asked. Lae smiled and winked.

"Come on in... we'll tell you everything we know once we're all safe inside." Lae said, motioning for them to enter the Secret Room. The entire room was dark, so it may as well have been decorated all in black. But actually, all the decorations were green, even though it was very hard to notice. "Sit down... I'll go get the King from the Secret Chamber." she said, stepping into a different door and closing it behind her.

Kairi giggled. "Secret Room, Secret Chamber... it's all so very secretive. It's kinda cool that they're trusting us with it. Or at least I think it is. Are you alright, Sora? Those... those things didn't hurt you, right?" Sora felt all over his body. There were no bruises. No wounds at all. They hadn't even tried to hurt him. All he could remember was how lightheaded he got when they all got close to him.

He shook his head. "Not really, although, I wouldn't say they came bringing gifts. I got this weird nauseous feeling whenever they would get too close. You think it could have something to do with Roxas?" he asked curiously, pulling his knees tight to his chest and rocking back and forth slightly. He didn't look worried... just curious and confused.

"It has a lot to do with Roxas, Sora." They all spun around in their seats and scrambled to get up to greet the King. He certainly hadn't gotten any taller. Actually, he hadn't changed much at all. "Well, hello everyone! I see you got quite a welcoming party. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you fight them off. You're lucky Lae was there. They can be quite ruthless and intelligent. So... where to start. Lae, maybe you should start. You know the most right now..."

What a shock. Sora studied the girl closely. She had to be involved pretty deeply to know more about it than the King himself! Lae leaned against the wall and smiled. Lighting the fire, she stepped in front of it and grinned. "Sorry... I have an odd affinity for fire." She said, grinning and giggling. "So... those things... they're creatures not of the darkness or the light. They're from the Door to the Twilight. They're called Twilight Demons or Eternals. The name suits them, because... beyond the door of the Twilight... you can see some... things."

For a moment, none of them were sure she would continue. Then, she turned away from the fire and looked at them. "The Organization you learned to grow and hate were only their tools. The whole time they were manipulated by these creatures and their leaders. You see, they wanted the Organization to help them open the Door to Darkness and the Door to the Light. Why you may ask? Let me tell you."

"You see, the Twilight Demons live in the Twilight Realm. From there, they can see images of what they only guessed to be the future. What they saw was death and destruction. I... I don't know if that is what is to become of the world, but... what they're doing is wrong. I don't know what they hope to accomplish. But they've opened three of the four doors. If they open the fourth one... who knows what could happen. Already, they've unleashed the nobodies and the heartless into the world when the opened the first two doors. And now the Twilight Demons.. the Eternals, are running free too!"

King Mickey finally stepped in. "So you're not fighting just one, but three enemies. But your main priority... is the group of Eternals. They are the ones that pulled the strings of the Organization. They're not only ruthless and blood-thirsty for something, but they're smarter. So you're going to need a lot of help. But I think if you can protect Roxas and close the door to the Twilight, you can attack them head on and beat the Organization of Twilight Demons."

"So that's our goal..." Sora said. "You want us to close up the three doors while keep them from opening the other door, protect Roxas, AND defeat this unknown Organization? Sounds like a lot to do at once." He said with a deep sigh. "But if anyone can do it, we can!" he shouted. "When can we get started? When do we leave?" Sora shouted, jumping up. Mickey laughed heartily and smiled, holding out a hand to stop Sora from going on and saying anything else.

Lae smiled. "I'm going with you, you know... There's something I'm... looking for." She said, softly. "Besides! I know a lot more about the Eternals than you, so let me come with you!" she almost begged. "Besides, you said yourself that that's a lot, even for the five of you. I could help... please?" NOW she was begging.

Riku laughed. "What about it, you two? Should we let her come with us?" Sora nodded. He wanted to know more about her. Besides... he still hadn't cracked the riddle. Kairi nodded too. Really, she just didn't want to be the only girl with four crazy guys, even if two of them were her best friends. She'd feel better if she had a female she could talk to once and a while, too! Wasn't that what this was all about? Saving the world... and making new friends!

"That's great! I knew you wouldn't mind. Your Majesty, I'll find them, I just know I will!" she smiled, looking towards the fire. Picking up her weapon: the throwing weapon that looked a lot like a ninja star, just bigger. She called it the Rising Sun. That's because the way it was held, the upper half of the circle looked like a sun and the lower half was designed like a moon. Actually, the weapon fascinated Sora. He wanted to try it...

I can only imagine the terror and destruction that might cause... Sora grinned. Roxas was always saying those kinds of things.

'Hey, since I'm the one protecting you, you should be a little more nice to me!" Sora grinned. Roxas didn't seem to think that way. He just chuckled to himself

Hey, I didn't ask for any special treatment. I don't know what's going on out there. I can only hear you...

'Really? You should come out then... you have a right to know what's going on...' Roxas hesitated. It had been a while since he had been outside of Sora's body. But he really wanted to. Slowly, he walked right through the barrier of Sora's body and into the room. Lae was the only one who seemed to show any real surprise at his appearance. She blushed and looked away in a way that made Sora curious. "Hey, Lae... this is Roxas! He really wanted to know what was going on so..."

"It only makes sense." She smiled. "It has so much to do with him, so it's only right that he should know the truth. So how about I tell him on the way...? The first place we should visit is Hallow Bastion... I mean, Radiant Garden... you have so many friends there. Not to mention that Kairi's their princess." Sora nodded. He couldn't wait to introduce them all to his friends from Radiant Garden. There was Leon and Aerith... Cid and Yuffie... not to mention Merlin, Pooh and all his friends, Tron, and even Tifa and Cloud.

So they waved goodbye to King Mickey and launched off on the Gummi Ship. Lae hadn't settled down yet. Every time she looked at Roxas she seemed to get so nervous. But she still managed to update him. "And so, that means that they're after you and Sora. I'm here to make sure nothing bad happens to either of you, okay? Besides... other than that, I have a mission of my own. I'm connected too... somehow." She grinned. "But for now, you and Sora should stick together. We don't know what to expect from the Twilight Demons... or the System."

"The System?" Roxas asked curiously. Lae giggled.

"Oh, I suppose in my big rush, I forgot to mention all about the System. It's the big bad organization you're up against. System X was the group of nasty Twilight Demons that were using Organization XIII three years ago. It seems you were always their target, Roxas, but then you left the Organization and went out of their grasp. So instead, they used their time and energy to get the Organization to help them open the doors to darkness and light."

"Not to mention the fact that they got the Door to the Twilight opened all by themselves." Riku said, but it was more of a – thinking out loud statement. Lae nodded.

"But not exactly... you see... opening and closing the doors is a difficult business. They are opened and closed by the four people with the strongest hearts. That's why their after Roxas – he's the nobody of one of those four people. Because of just how strong Sora's heart is – he is a key to one of the doors. So, that means they've captured the other three. If we can free them, they can close the doors!" she said. "But who knows how difficult that could be..."

Riku grinned. "That explained how Sora was able to open the door to the light when we were stranded after our final fight with Xemnas." Sora nodded. He had been thinking the exact same thing. But then...

Sora sighed. "Then why do we have to go around locking all the doors in all the worlds if I could just shut the door?" he asked. It was quite a painful and tedious task.

"Well, you see... It's hard to explain, but let me try putting it this way... the worlds are disconnected. Opening the doors connects them. The King wants them to stay disconnected. Just consider yourself like an ambassador between worlds. Keeping them separate but equal. Okay? It's like... you're putting things back to the way they were before the door opened and restoring the peace? How's that for an explanation? Did it make any sense or did I just confuse you more?"

"No, I get it." Sora said. "We'll just have to take a trip to all of them, then!" he grinned. "Besides, we had wanted to show Kairi around for a long time. We'll reach Ho... I mean, Radiant Garden, soon." Sora grinned. "Be prepared for landing... this may get ugly." he grinned. Suddenly, the Gummi Ship started shaking and vibrating and wheeling out of control and they plummeted towards the surface of Radiant Garden with a bunch of loud screams from inside...

We can only hope the people down below could hear them coming...

Okay, now I'm finally building the TRUE plot. I see some of you are starting to come to some conclusions. The first door that needs to be closed is the Door to the Twilight. And then you'll meet #4 of the four strongest hearts... and Sora gains a new ally. It's all to be revealed... next time! Please keep reviewing! Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers... all like 7 or 8 of you. I love you guys so much and I hope you continue to like my story...

Keep sending the reviews so I keep writing (Is review crazy...)

Christine Lennoire