Authors Note: I will be changing between some people's point of views within this fic, I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Please read and review, thanks!

Twilight's Shadow: My first review ever! Thanks so much :)

Kari Suttle: Thanks for the review :) I'm glad you liked it thus far.

Thanks so much for beta'ing Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Two: Vanitas

"I'll give you a little hint," Lea said with a grin that stretched a mile wide. "We're all in a time long before your great, great, great, great-"

"Grandfather," Isa finished for him. "Honestly, Lea, if you go back any farther we will be in their time period."

Lea looked a little crestfallen, glancing back towards the people that had walked up along with him.

"Well… Anyhow, we found some more folks that were sent back in time the same as us," Lea told Even, waving a hand back at the newcomers.

The girl I had noticed earlier with the silvery-blue hair suddenly jumped up and ran over to the two teenagers that had appeared behind Lea and Isa.

"Terra!" she exclaimed in surprise, smiling radiantly at the tall brunette teen that was approaching.

The teen she was referring to as Terra looked over, his face breaking into a wide grin as he walked over to her. Another teen trailed after him, who also was grinning broadly.

I did a double-take when I saw him; the second teen was Roxas, my Nobody! But that didn't make any sense... How could Roxas be walking around? He was supposed to be inside of me, not walking around as a second person. But...I guess it made enough sense, considering that Riku and me had previously gotten rid of the members of Organization XIII and they were walking around, Roxas might as well be walking around, too.

"Oi! Roxas!" I yelled, waving in his direction, but he didn't seem to notice me as he continued talking with Terra and the girl.

"Yeah, this is pretty weird. Apparently we're like in the fourteenth century or something," I overheard Terra telling the girl with silvery-blue hair.

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY! I caught Riku's eye and grinned.

"Riku! We're in the fourteenth century!" I informed him excitedly.

"Yeah, I heard," Riku said nodding towards Lea, who was speaking enthusiastically with Even and Ienzo. "They were just talking about it."

Then, noticing the look of excitement in my eye, he added, "It's nothing to get excited over, the fourteenth century isn't that great."

"I know. But we're in a different time period! That's really cool, don't you think?" I asked, turning towards Riku and Kairi.

Kairi's crystal-blue eyes held concern, but she only smiled at me and replied, "Yeah…a little."

I glanced back at Riku again, only he didn't look convinced. I sighed; was I the only one who found this exciting? I had only been in the past once before, but that was different, and it was only in Mickey Mouse's retro world. This was way cooler!

I looked over towards Roxas, Terra and the girl. They had sat down a ways away from us, and were still deep in conversation. Lea and Isa were standing over by Even and Ienzo, and, partly out of boredom, I started listening in on what was being said.

"Well, we found an inn," Isa was telling Even with a funny expression on his face.

"That's good to hear," spoke up Xaldin for the first time since we'd arrived, his face finally leaving his usual scowl. I was pretty sure that that was Xaldin now; he looked and sounded just like him.

Lea was grinning again. "Good luck getting them to take your munny!" he told Xaldin. "The munny here looks pretty different!"

Ienzo's blue eyes looked upon the two thoughtfully.

"Then… I do not really know what we are going to do," Ienzo said, turning towards Even. "Any thoughts?"

"The fourteenth century…how intriguing... I need to get some samples!" Even said, his emerald-green eyes glittering with excitement. I got the impression that he hadn't been paying attention to what anyone had said after Lea mentioned the time period that we were in.

Ienzo chuckled, shaking his head. "Typical."

"Really? Some samples, Even?" asked Braig sarcastically, raising his eyebrows. "I bet those are really going to help us right now."

Even, seeming to snap out of it, turned a glare towards Braig.

"Do you have any idea just how pleased the people in our time era will be with samples from the fourteenth century?" Even asked Braig irritably, as if Braig had no common sense whatsoever.

Braig shrugged, looking as if he really couldn't care less, while Ienzo still seemed to be lost in thought. The eyes of the steel haired teen lit up as he turned towards Even.

"I have an idea…except it might not work," Ienzo informed Even.

But when Even failed to even look up, Ienzo glanced towards Xaldin, who remained standing by the elder blonde.

"I think I might be able to negotiate a few rooms for us all," he told Xaldin. "If they will not listen to reason, then we must resort to plan B."

Now just what 'plan B' was, I didn't know...and I was partly afraid to find out.

…

I was sitting on the top of the clock-tower, eating a bar of sea-salt ice cream as I watched the sun set below the horizon. I glanced towards my right to find my two best friends sitting beside me, also enjoying their ice cream. I felt extremely happy, for at this moment everything was perfect. I wished that it could stay this way forever with just the three of us sitting up here, watching the sunset and eating our ice cream.

Yet, things could never stay perfect forever. Something almost always seemed to go wrong, and sometimes it was in the worst way possible. Take me, Roxas and Axel for instance: Roxas had been taken by DiZ and Riku, and was now reunited with Sora, who didn't even remember Axel or me. Axel, last I had heard, was still playing his role as assassin within Organization XIII. Then there was me… I was gone; the last of me had been sealed within Sora forever. No one remembered me anymore, not Roxas and not Axel. But, I still thought I'd made the right choice; Sora did have more of a right to live then Roxas and me did. He especially had more of a right than me, as I was just a puppet meant to steal Roxas's powers and take his place within the organization.

I sighed and looked down at my now-melting ice cream. All of those events seemed like they had taken place so long ago now. How long had it really been? Had Sora won the fight against Xemnas? Or was Xemnas now ruling the world with the power of Kingdom Hearts? There were so many questions that I wanted answered, yet I had finally come to terms with the fact that I would likely never get to know the answer to any of them.

I glanced back over to where Roxas and Axel were sitting, only to find that they both were gone! I looked around frantically, but they were nowhere in sight. Had they left through a portal? But we would always RTC together! They wouldn't just leave me here without saying goodbye, would they? I looked around one more time, and my eyes widened in surprise at what I saw: Roxas was back! He grinned at me and extended a hand.

I smiled back and quickly jumped up. I started to take a step forward towards him, until suddenly I froze mid-step. There was nothing to step on! Roxas appeared to be standing in midair, directly in front of the clock tower and far above the town.

"Don't be afraid," Roxas told me encouragingly, as he took a step in my direction.

I glanced nervously at the ground far below; I couldn't see how he was standing up there supported by nothing. I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut and stepped off of the edge of the platform.

I opened my eyes to find myself standing on something solid. I hadn't fallen through after all! It was almost as if there was some kind of invisible platform beneath us. I looked up and grinned at Roxas, who was watching me with an outstretched hand. I rushed towards him almost at a run, the wind roaring in my ears as I picked up speed. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he seemed to be getting farther away with every couple steps I took. I was still gaining on him, though, and I was almost there when I caught a glimpse of the ground below us. Only it was no longer the town that was beneath us, but water instead. It looked like an ocean, for only water stretched as far as the eye could see.

I sped up, hurrying towards Roxas again. My heart was pounding heavily as I started to get extremely nervous by this point. I held out my hand towards Roxas, I could almost reach him…

Then I began falling - falling down into the ocean below. I tried desperately to grab onto something, but there was nothing to grab on to. I squeezed my eyes shut again; I didn't like the look of the water coming towards me at this alarming speed.

I had been falling for what seemed like an eternity when I felt something cold and wet touch my forehead. Wait a minute, that couldn't be right - this thing that was wet felt like a solid object, and no other part of me was getting wet at all.

I decided to take a risk and opened my eyes, my eyelids feeling very heavy as I forced them open a crack. I was in a dimly-lit room, and someone was wiping a damp cloth across my forehead. It was a man who looked to be about in his early fifties, wearing a look of deep concern as he continued to dab at my face with the cloth.

I forced myself to sit up, watching the man confusedly. He sat back and removed the cloth from my head, the wrinkles surrounding his eyes becoming more obvious as he smiled at me.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

"Where am I?" I asked him urgently. Why was I here? I had thought I was going to be landing in an ocean, not in a room of some sort. Where exactly had Roxas gone?

"Well, you're in my house," he told me. "I found you lying on the shoreline not far from here."

"He found me by the shoreline," I thought to myself. Did that mean I had fallen into that ocean after all? But what about Roxas, was he here as well?

I glanced around the room in search for some sign of Roxas. After a more thorough observation than I'd done previously, I discovered this wasn't only a room, but instead it appeared to be an entire house instead - a very small one. I could see a small kitchen area from where I sat, which only consisted of a stove, one cabinet, a small table and a rather tiny refrigerator. To the right of the kitchen I could see a large shelf containing an odd assortment of bottles in all different shapes and sizes.

But there was no sign of Roxas.

"Was there another person with me?" I asked the man, who shook his head in response.

"No, you were alone when I found you. Had someone else been with you?" he asked me.

"Yes...I think so."

I thought back to the previous events of that day, and couldn't help but wonder if Roxas had really been there? Or was all of that just a dream?

The man was watching me curiously.

"Are you from another world?" he asked me, curiosity filling his tone.

I was surprised by this, since most people didn't know other worlds even existed. I wondered where the man had learnt this, or perhaps he was from a world other then this one himself.

"I - I'm not sure," I answered, feeling as though I wasn't making any sense at all. " Umm, yes, I think so."

The man's bright, emerald-green eyes lit up in delight as he asked me excitedly, "Really? What's your world called?"

"Well…I guess my home world would be Castle Oblivion," I told him thoughtfully. "But the world I had lived in was known as The World That Never Was."

I watched the expression on the man's face carefully, waiting to see how he would take my response, yet he still looked overjoyed.

"Hmm, I haven't heard of either of those," he told me, his expression looking thoughtful. "But I'm also from another world; mine was called Radiant Garden."

I had heard of that world before… I think one of the members in the Organization was from there, if not more then one.

"It sounds nice," I told the man. "Are there many gardens there?"

"Oh yes! There are tons of them. That whole world is almost filled with gardens," he told me, relishing in the memory. "There was this one area not far from the castle that belonged to the Sage King, my older brother's teacher. That whole area was simply beautiful; there were many fountains there that seemed to give off an almost pink aura. I can't quite put into words just how lovely it was there."

He then turned towards me. "I'm sorry, I went a bit off topic didn't I?" he murmured, smiling apologetically towards me.

"Oh, its okay. It sounds really nice," I assured him, returning the smile. "You sound like you really miss it there."

He nodded, looking lost in thought.

"I do, very much," he replied sadly. "How did you get here, by the way? Perhaps we could leave the same way?" He looked hopefully at me.

"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure how I got here," I replied.

How had I gotten here exactly? And what world was I in? I decided to ask the man.

"What's this world called?" I asked, curiously tilting my head to one side.

"I don't know of any name for this world, though I suppose it had a name once…not many people live here, I'm afraid," he told me, sadness creeping into his eyes once more. "Only myself and five others."

I had never heard of any such world, and I was a bit surprised that there could only be a few people alone living in a single world.

We both sat in silence for some time, the man appearing to be lost in thought. I sat on the bed, not quite sure what was going on. Where had Roxas gone? Was I really myself again? I considered all these things while I fiddled with the quilt that lay on top of me. It was a very nice quilt, though worn down a bit. After we'd both been sitting lost in thought for about ten minutes, the man smiled at me and stood up.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked me, already straying towards his small kitchen.

"Umm, okay, thank you," I replied, still feeling a bit scatterbrained.

"Okay then, it'll be ready in just a sec," he told me, as he picked up a tea kettle from the cabinet. "By the way, what's your name?"

I watched him fill the kettle with water and then work his way over to the stove.

"Oh sorry, my na-"

I was cut off by a strange sound coming from just behind the man. I recognized that sound! It was someone opening up a portal! I squinted, trying to make out who was there.

It was… But no, that couldn't be right. A boy was standing at the entrance to the kitchen. His familiar, spiky hair was quite dark, or perhaps it was just the lighting that made it appear so.

"Sora!" I gasped in surprise. What was he doing here? And how had he opened the portal?

Sora, with a Keyblade in hand, had just appeared through the portal. He twirled his weapon in the air so that he was holding it by the end, and that's when I suddenly realized what he was about to do.

"Watch out!" I yelled to the man as I quickly swung my feet out of the bed.

But I was too late - the man lay unconscious on the floor, having been hit on the top of the head by the handle of the Keyblade. I turned to Sora, my lips parting slightly. He glanced up at me, and my eyes met his gold ones. I let out a gasp moments before he spoke.

"Sora?" he asked sarcastically, his gold eyes sparkling with rage and hatred. "Oh, I suppose I do look a bit like him. But no, I'm not Sora."

I had already realized this once I had gotten a closer look at his eyes. Sora's eyes were blue, while this boy's were definitely not. I stood up unsteadily and took a step towards him.

"Then - who are you?" I asked timidly.

He strode across the house towards me, kicking aside the teakettle (which had previously fallen onto the floor) as he went.

"Vanitas," he told me dismally, now standing directly in front of me.

He looked so much like Sora. Perhaps he was a relative? He looked almost exactly like the boy, except Vanitas had ebony-black hair, pallid skin and gold, fearsome eyes.

"You have to come with me," he said, as though he were discussing the weather.

"Why?" I asked, backing up until I hit the wall; he didn't look like a person that I should trust willingly.

"My master would like a word with you. And if you don't come quietly, I'll just have to make you," he told me as a grin crept over his face, only it wasn't a nice sort of grin.

I thought this over for a moment; maybe I should trust him? Though he looked as if he might be in league with Xemnas, and I certainly didn't want to go back there again.

"Where is your master?" I asked while the ebony-haired boy stood there watching me.

"I don't like questions," he told me irritably, grabbing hold of my arm. "You're coming with me and that's that."

I tried to tug my arm from his grasp, but he was a bit stronger then I was.

As I struggled to break away, the man stirred from where he lay sprawled across the ground and let out a soft groan. Vanitas glanced swiftly towards him, and then opened another portal, engulfing us and taking us to the Lanes Between and out of the previous world entirely.

...

Vanitas started to walk briskly down the dark corridor that he had taken us through. When I failed to follow he turned around and glared at me.

"Are you coming?" he asked, looking irritated as he made his way back over to me. Upon reaching me he once again grabbed a hold of my arm, only this time he gave it a squeeze, and these odd throbbing pains filled my arm as he let go. I gasped and clutched my arm where the throbbing sensation was still making its way through my arm from where he had grabbed it, and all the way down to my fingertips.

"Wha - what did you do?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"Heh, that was just a taste of what I'll do to you - if you still won't follow me," he told me threateningly, looking as though he were enjoying the horrified expression upon my face.

I decided to follow him after that, since there was no I could fight him. He was way stronger then I was.

We trekked through the dark corridors for some time, Vanitas glancing over his shoulder at me every few minutes to check that I was still there, until at last we rounded a corner where there was an opening in the wall of the corridor. Vanitas shoved me through and then followed himself.

We were in what looked like a cave now. Up ahead there was another portal, this one a bit different, looking to be an odd gray color. I had never seen a portal like it before; it was nothing like the one we had just come from.

"Step into it," Vanitas instructed, waiting behind me as he prompted me to go into the strange portal first. I glanced back at him one last time before reluctantly stepping into it, Vanitas quickly following suit. Once we were both inside the portal, he waved a hand and the way back out of the dark hole vanished. I closed my eyes as everything started spinning around me.

I landed on solid ground a few moments later, and then slowly opened my eyes. I was a little dizzy, and felt as though I had been spinning for a very long time.

"We're there," Vanitas told me, gesturing towards a large castle that we stood just outside of. "I'll take you to where you'll be staying."

I closed my eyes briefly in an attempt to stop feeling so dizzy. Vanitas had already started to walk away, and I didn't want him to catch me staying behind again so I followed quickly. We walked around to the side of the castle, and he opened a side door, gesturing for me to go through it. I obeyed begrudgingly and slipped into the castle. Vanitas followed me, shutting and locking the door behind him as he went. He then led me through an odd series of dark corridors where there were many steps. It was so dark that it was hard to make out anything, but I could tell that we were going very far down.

Finally, Vanitas came to an abrupt halt. I bumped into him, not noticing that he had come to a pause in front of a door till it was too late. He turned and looked at me curiously as he swung open the door. I stepped back quickly in response. I then peered inside the place he had taken me. He was holding the door open for me to walk through, and I hesitantly took a few steps inside, not wanting to disobey him in fear of what he might do to me. It was no easier to see in here then it had been in those corridors.

Vanitas led me to another door, and swung it open.

"In here," he told me. "This is where you'll be staying for now."

I stepped in rather reluctantly while looking around apprehensively. Vanitas turned the doorknob.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously as he started to pull the door shut.

"Xion."