Authors Note: Okay, here's chapter three. I hope you enjoy it! And thanks so much for beta'ing it Mystics Apprentice :) Please read and review.

Chapter Three: Ventus, Aqua and Xehanort

"All right then, if you think it'll work," spoke Xaldin, "lets head over right now. It's already dark out."

I looked up at the sky. He was right; it really was nighttime. I hadn't noticed somehow. Maybe it was because of some street lamps lining the pavement that we stood on.

Ienzo was now speaking with Even, who had just started paying attention to everyone again.

"Alright, so…we're heading there now?" Even was asking him.

Ienzo nodded and took a step forward. "Yes," he told Even, while turning to face Lea. "Could you and Isa show us where this inn is, please?"

Lea nodded, and stuck his thumbs in his pockets as he started walking away in the direction he had originally come from when he and Isa had gone to explore the town. Then, Ienzo turned to look at me.

"We are going to head over to the inn," he informed me and my two friends. "You may want to come as well."

Riku and Kairi both stood up from where they had been sitting along side me.

"Right, I guess we're coming then," Riku replied, though he didn't look very happy about it.

Riku shot a glance back over at me, and held out a hand to help me up, which I gratefully accepted. I stretched; I had been sitting there for what had felt like ages.

Everyone began to make their way around the side of the building that stood in front of us. Lea and Isa took the lead, both speaking in low voices. Even, Braig and Ienzo went along next, followed by Roxas, Terra and the girl with silvery-blue hair. Marluxia had gotten up by this point, and was following close behind Roxas.

I looked around; Riku and Kairi had started to follow everyone else already, leaving me having to run to catch up with them. Kairi glanced back at me and smiled, slowing up until the three of us were walking side by side. As we were leaving the alleyway I heard a soft swishing sound just behind me. It was Demyx, who had just walked up. There were some small flickers of light by his left hand, as though he had just put a weapon away, probably his sitar.

Our rather sizable group had just left the alleyway as we came upon a much larger open area, which was still surrounded by tall buildings all around. I turned to Riku excitedly.

"Riku! I know where we are!" I exclaimed.

Riku had also been looking around curiously. His expression was thoughtful, until a look of dawning crept across his face.

"Oh I see," Riku said with a nod. "We're in a fourteenth century version of Traverse Town."

I nodded excitedly; at least we were in a world that I had been to before. But, oh boy did it look different! The buildings were all very shabby, and didn't look any better off then the ones we'd seen in the alleyway. They still made me want to duck and cover my head in case they should crumble! The accessory shop was gone, and so was the mailbox. The pavement on the ground also looked more worn-down, as it was chipped in several places and quite dirty. There weren't many people outside like I'd remembered, either. Every time I'd been to the town there had at least been like four or five people outside, though often times more. But now there was only one man, who was sitting in a chair writing something and didn't even look up as we walked past him.

We all followed Lea and Isa up some steps that should have gone past the accessory shop, only now nothing was there—no building of any kind.

Wait, the alleyway we had just been in couldn't have been the same one from before. Hmm...I guess they must have built on it at some point in time.

I was walking along with my friends and examining my surroundings enthusiastically, when Kairi grabbed my hand and pulled me back a few steps.

"Huh? Kairi, what is it?" I asked her, frowning slightly as her and Riku dragged me off towards the others. They stopped a short ways ahead of me and turned around.

"Sora, you ding-a-ling, you just about ran into that man back there!" Riku told me, shaking his head and wearing an expression of alarm.

"What guy?" I asked, as I turned in the direction Riku had nodded towards. There indeed was a man there, and was at least double my size! He definitely didn't look like someone I'd like to cross. After that, I definitely decided to pay closer attention to where I was going.

Kairi let go of my hand, and the three of us rushed to catch up to the others. They weren't very far ahead of us, and were standing outside of a building. Ienzo had just begun to push open a door leading inside as the three of us came up. The steel-haired teen went through, followed closely by the other former members of the Organization. The door had already shut behind them before Terra swung it open again, holding it as he allowed his two friends through first. He then looked back at us, and nodded towards the door.

"Go on and get in," he said with a wide grin. He appeared to be having a fight with the door, since it was seeming to think that it belonged shut.

"Thanks," I told him, offering him a smile in return as we passed through.

"Not a problem," the brunette man replied, gratefully letting the door slam shut behind him.

We stepped inside a small building, which looked to be quite old. Lanterns hung upon the walls in place of lamps, shedding some light on the room we were in, though it still took some time for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

I stood on tiptoe and tried to peer around the line of people that were in front of me. Ienzo was speaking with the owner of the inn (which was the place we were in now), who stood behind a counter.

"We would like—" Ienzo paused and looked around at us in turn, apparently counting heads. He then turned back to the inn owner. "How many rooms do you have available?"

"We have nine left," the man told him, drumming his fingers on the countertop.

Even, Xaldin and Ienzo muttered to one another in low voices, before Ienzo nodded and turned back towards the innkeeper.

"Very well, we would like seven of them," Ienzo told the man.

The man looked overjoyed at this and told Ienzo the pricing, though I couldn't make out what it was from where I stood. Ienzo then turned towards Marluxia and asked him something. In response, Marluxia reached a gloved hand inside his cloak and handed something to him. Even did the same, before Ienzo reached inside his own cloak. I caught sight of what he had; it was munny. He added it to the rest of what was in his hand and passed it to the innkeeper.

The man counted it, and then placed it in a drawer that he locked shut. Ienzo turned, and from what I could see gave Lea a funny look. Lea scratched his head in confusedly, and it took me a moment to figure out why they were acting so strange. It was the munny! Lea had said that the munny here had been different from the kind used in future eras, but Ienzo had handed the man the munny and he'd accepted it with ease!

"All right then, if you'll follow me I'll take you to your rooms," the man told us while unhooking two lanterns from a wall nearby. He led us up a flight of stairs and down a short hallway. It wasn't until we rounded a corner that the man came to a halt.

"Okay here are your rooms," he told Ienzo, handing one of the lanterns to him. "I'll leave you all to sort them out. I'll be downstairs, so feel free to let me know if you need anything." With that, the man turned around and headed down the hall.

Once we had heard a door shut from somewhere downstairs, Ienzo turned sharply towards Lea.

"I thought you had said that their munny here was different from ours," he muttered towards the redhead with a frown.

"Yeah, the munny here did look different from ours," Lea told Ienzo, looking a bit confused himself. "I mean, I saw this old man with some, and his looked different...didn't it, Isa?"

"Yes, it was," Isa assured him, he too seeming a bit perplexed.

"Well, whatever the case," Demyx said with a yawn, speaking up for the first time in a good while, "we got some rooms, so lets hit the sack!"

Ienzo shot a glance over at the enthusiastic blond, while Xaldin nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good to me," he said, placing his hand on a doorknob that was right behind him.

"We have seven rooms; I guess me and Kairi share one?" asked the girl with silvery-blue hair.

"Yes, you two can go on to bed," Ienzo replied with a fond smile.

Kairi maneuvered between Riku and I, and went over to a door with Aqua. She rested a hand upon the door handle before turning back to wave at us.

"Goodnight!" Kairi called over to us. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight Kairi!" I replied, raising a hand to wave.

"Night, Kairi," Riku said.

Even looked at the three us with an annoyed expression, doing that weird thing with his eyes that I hated.

"I want my own room," Even stated flatly, glaring at all of us as if anyone who opposed him would be his next victim upon the examination table.

Ienzo sighed, shaking his head and turning to face Even.

"We only have seven rooms. It has not been determined whom is going to get their own room yet," Ienzo told Even irritably.

"Yeah, and we're not going to be making any exceptions for Mister High Scientist here," Braig told Even, and then chuckled at the expression on Even's face that had followed.

...

I sat up and yawned, wondering why my alarm clock wasn't bleeping at me like it always did. Then I remembered we were in the fourteenth century, and my alarm clock wasn't with me. In fact, they probably hadn't even invented alarm clocks yet!

In the end, we all had decided that whoever got along would be sharing a room. And, despite what Braig had said, we ended up making an exception for Even. Because after all, no one had wanted to share a room with the 'mad' scientist.

I glanced at the floor where Riku had been sleeping. He too was just waking up.

"Morning, Sora," Riku mumbled with a yawn.

"Good morning!" I replied cheerfully, as I sprung out of bed and walked around Riku to the door (the bathroom was out in the hallway, you see).

"Hey, Sora?" Riku asked me as I reached for the handle of the door.

"Yeah?" I asked turning around slightly to face him.

"Maybe we should go into town and get you some different clothes. You would look a little funny walking around in your pajamas," Riku told me, examining my clothes carefully.

I looked at my pajamas as well. He was right; I probably should get some different clothes. I would look a little funny walking around in this.

"Okay," I told him. "I'm just going to use the restroom real quick before we go."

"Alright," Riku replied, as he started folding up the blanket that had been over top of him. "You do that."

...

I walked back towards the room Riku and I were sharing, just as Kairi was leaving her room.

"Hi Kairi!" I told her, grinning slightly as I paused in front of our door.

"Good morning, Sora!" Kairi replied, taking a few steps over to join me.

"Hey, would you like to go into town with Riku and me?" I asked.

"Sure!" she replied, sounding rather happy to be going somewhere. "What are we going to go do?"

"Well…besides me getting a new outfit," I told her, as I scratched the back of my head thoughtfully, "I'm not sure what else we'll be doing."

"Okay, well, I'm ready any time," Kairi told me.

"I am, too," I said as I turned the door's handle to get back into my room. "Lets see if Riku is—then we can go."

I opened the door to find Riku sitting right about where I had left him, except now he was looking through his cell phone instead of fighting with the blanket. He looked up when I entered the room.

"Hey Sora, this stupid thing won't work," Riku told me as he stuffed the phone back into the pocket of his jeans. "It's not that surprising though, I mean, considering that we're in the fourteenth century and they hadn't even thought of landlines yet."

Kairi had just appeared in the doorway, shooting a glance over in Riku's direction.

"Hi Riku!" she said, as she walked around us and sat down on my bed.

"Oh, hi Kairi," Riku replied, smiling up at her. "Are you going to come and help Sora pick out some clothes too?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully.

Riku stood up and stretched, and then bent back down to pick up the blanket he'd folded neatly on the floor. Making his way over to the bed, he threw it haphazardly and it landed next to Kairi in jumbled heap. I wasn't sure on exactly why he even bothered folding it, just to throw it on the bed for it to get all messed up again.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Riku asked us, looking first at Kairi and then at me.

Kairi nodded, and I walked over to my fuzzy slippers that I had left by my bed. I had Mickey Mouse slippers to go with my pajamas, and they matched pretty well.

"Yeah, I'm ready too," I told Riku as I slipped them on my feet.

They weren't as good as shoes, especially since they weren't enclosed, but they were better then nothing.

The three of us left the room, and then made our way back down the hallway. I had just set my foot on the first step when Roxas and the girl with blue hair came up to me.

"Hi!" the girl greeted cheerfully when she was a couple of feet away from us. "Are you guys off to go eat breakfast?"

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed, turning towards Riku. "We should go and get something to eat first before we go shopping!"

"I don't know, maybe we should get you some different clothes first…" Kairi muttered, looking thoughtful as she carefully observed my appearance. "And we really should wait for the others to get up before we go eat."

I sighed in defeat. Food sounded pretty good to me right now, 'cause in an odd sort of way, it was almost like I hadn't eaten for an entire twenty-four hours. Except I wasn't quite hungry enough for it to have been that long; I felt more as if I had just skipped dinner. Oh well, I would just hurry and pick out some clothes, and then hopefully we could go and eat!

"Hey, do you three mind if we come along?" Roxas asked, looking between Riku, Kairi and me, as though unsure of who to ask.

Both Riku and Kairi looked at me.

"Umm…" I glanced questioningly at Riku, who shrugged as if to say that it was up to me. "Sure! You can come."

"Hey!" my Nobody said, as his eyes lit up. "You're Sora, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," I told him, frowning slightly. Didn't he know that? I mean, he was my Nobody, after all.

Suddenly—and I mean nobody saw this coming—Roxas grabbed his head and began groaning. The girl put a hand on his shoulder, lookingvery concerned.

"Ven! Are you okay?" she asked him. Her back was turned to us, as she moved so that she stood directly in front of him. Her hands gripped both of his shoulders tightly.

Wait a sec…had she just called him Ven? Why would she do that? His name was Roxas. And why did the name 'Ven' sound so familiar? It was almost as if I had met a person with that same name before…once a long time ago, in an odd place…

I shook my head to try to clear it, though I couldn't quite stop myself from thinking about it. I had been standing on a strange platform, like the one just before I had started all my adventures. And…something had been floating down towards me… A heart?

"Sora!" Kairi was watching me worriedly. "Are you all right?"

"Uh…yeah… Yeah, I'm fine!" I replied, letting go of the railing and lacing my fingers behind my head and giving her one of my best, signature grins.

Both Riku and Kari weren't looking very convinced.

"No really! I'm okay!" I further insisted.

The girl looked over at us, and took a step back from the fair-haired teen. He was no longer holding his head, though he still looked rather pale.

I moved my foot off the top stair, observing the teen more carefully. Was it just my imagination…or did Roxas's hair look different then I remembered it being?

"Hey—" I said, taking a tentative a step towards him. "Are you okay, Roxas?"

Roxas looked up from the floor and over at me. His expression was one of deep confusion.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Roxas told me, and then he cocked his head slightly to the side. "But, my name isn't Roxas. It's Ventus…but, you can call me Ven."

"Ventus…" I muttered quietly. His name sounded so familiar.

I looked up at everyone else to find that they were all watching me now. I grinned again.

"Oh, are we still going into town?" I asked anyone who would listen.

Riku and Kairi exchanged a look, and then Riku nodded slowly.

"Alright then!" I said, still grinning, as I turned back around and descended the flight of stairs.

I headed for the front door of the inn upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. I struggled for a bit at trying to pull the door open, though; Terra hadn't been kidding! This door really didn't want to open! I adjusted my grip so that I was holding the door handle with both of my hands, and then I pulled as hard as I could. The door swung open unexpectedly, sending me crashing to the floor.

"Oww," I muttered to myself, as I rubbed my head where I had hit it against a wall.

"What happened?" Riku asked upon reaching the bottom step.

I scowled at him and crossed my arms, still sitting on the floor. Instead of answering Riku, I turned to the owner of the inn (who had just walked up) and glared at him as well.

"You know, you really need to fix that door of yours!" I informed him, irritably. That had really hurt my head!

...

It was about ten minutes later by the time we had entered a clothing shop. To be honest, I didn't think we'd get there until the next day at the rate we were going!

Riku swung the door open and waved us inside, which was kind of nice considering my luck and front doors these days. Once we'd all stepped inside, he came in and shut the door behind us.

The difference between our clothing shops on Destiny Islands and this one were huge! Actually, this shop didn't look like any shop I had ever been in before.

"Okay, lets see," Kairi murmured as she walked around to the opposite side of the store, which I could see from where I stood. "Here's the men's section."

I wasn't sure if that would work… On Destiny Islands I still wore a junior size.

"This one doesn't look too bad, Sora," Riku said, holding up an outfit for me to see. Though before I could get a proper look at it, Riku had already put it back.

I walked over to a rack, and started picking up outfits at random. I honestly didn't like any of the clothes here, and would've much preferred to go around in my pajamas for as long as it took to find a proper clothing store. One that wasn't so...proper, if you know what I mean.

Riku seemed to be thinking the same thing, since every time he'd pick up an outfit off the rack he'd put it back down pretty fast.

"Hey, guys?" I asked, holding out a ridiculous pair of pants for them to see. "Lets just leave, 'cause I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to wear any of the clothes here."

Kairi giggled; apparently I wasn't the only one that thought that they looked silly.

"Maybe everyone else is up now. And…we can get something to eat?" I suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, lets go and see," Riku agreed, heading for the door.

We all filed out, leaving a very upset looking owner of that store behind.

We were walking back down the completely barren street on our way back to the inn, until I heard Kairi let out a gasp from a little ways behind me. I turned around quickly to see what was wrong, and I too, couldn't help but gasp.

"Kairi!" I yelled as I made my Keyblade, the Oblivion,appear. An old man had a hold of Kairi's upper arm and was restraining her from coming over to us.

"Let her go!" I yelled pointing my Keyblade at him.

Riku had just run up beside me, he was also holding his Keyblade. Ventus and the girl came rushing back over to us as well.

"Its alright!" the girl told us reassuringly. "Its my Master's friend, Master Xehanort!"

"Yes, Aqua, very good!" the man told her, his gold eyes glinting. "There is nothing to fear."

Master Xehanort… Could this be Xemnas? Before he became a Nobody? I wasn't sure why the girl thought that he was okay. I mean, maybe he was? But something told me that I shouldn't trust him. Maybe that was because of the mad glint in his eyes that I had only seen two other people with: one was Xemnas, and the other was Ansem, the seeker of darkness.

"Let Kairi go…now," I muttered through gritted teeth.

Master Xehanort simply looked at me, wearing the same twisted smile that he'd always wear. And, instead of giving Kairi back, he opened one of those strange portals that I had been thrown into the day before and took a step back towards it.

That was it; he had to be up to trouble, and I wasn't just going to stand around and let him take Kairi!

I charged at him with my Keyblade. He was only about ten feet away from where I stood. Then I was three feet away; just a couple more steps and I could reach Kairi.

Then before I knew what was happening, I found myself lying facedown on the hard stone floor. I had been hit by what felt like a brick wall, though it couldn't have been such. I was a bit dizzy, but I still forced myself into a sitting position.

I wasn't the only one who had been hit by that strange force, though. Riku was on his hands and knees beside me, apparently having had the same idea that this 'Xehanort' person was up to no good, and decided to charge him as well.

"Well, I'm afraid that I can't give her to you…yet. You see…" the man broke off dramatically as he backed into the portal. "...I need you and Riku to come and find her. If you can do that, then you can have her back."

I pushed myself into a standing position, but it was too late—the portal had already started to disappear. Riku got up from alongside me and ran towards the portal, but it was already almost completely gone. Once he had reached it, there wasn't even the slightest trace that it had ever been there. My silver-haired friend threw his Keyblade into the ground, with such force that it actually sunk in a short ways. He then rounded on the girl with blue hair (Aqua) and glared at her, his fists tightly clenched.

"Why did you tell us that there was nothing to worry about?" Riku demanded, his turquoise eyes glinting with anger. "If you hadn't…then we could have reached her in time."

It had been awhile since I had seen him this upset; I had always found it difficult to make him upset, usually.

Aqua's gaze turned onto him, clearly a bit shocked by what had happened as well. I knew right away by the look on her face that she had no idea he was going to take Kairi. I think Riku knew that too, only he was too upset to admit it.

"I—I'm sorry. I had no idea that he was going to take your friend," Aqua told him, looking between Riku and me. "I mean, my Master...he trusts him, and I can't see why he'd take Kairi like that."

Riku glared at her for a moment longer, and then dropped his gaze to the ground, his fists still tightly clenched.

I reluctantly made my Keyblade vanish. Xehanort was gone now, and there was no reason to leave it out.

"Hey, don't worry," Ventus told me, sympathy filling his bright-blue eyes. "We'll find her, and, Terra, Aqua and me will help you!"

I considered him thoughtfully for a moment. He was right: Xehanort had taken Kairi…but I was going to find and get her back, no matter what!