Authors Note: This chapter may be a little dull, but it was necessary. Anyway please let me know what you think :)

Thanks for beta'ing this Mystics Apprentice!

Chapter Seven: Reunion Between Two Brothers

"No kidding," Braig said, his eyes darting over the dark expanse of land. "For some reason I don't get the impression that there are any bathrooms here…period."

I was a bit lost for words. There was literally nothing in this time period. Or at least, not that I could see. This world was cold, dark and dead-looking. I couldn't see any trees or vegetation anywhere. Literally everything was gray, and when I looked up I couldn't make out the sun; it was completely hidden behind a thick layer of dark clouds.

"What has happened here?" I heard Even ask in wonder. "Everything is—well, ruined."

I folded my arms and shivered. It was really cold there, and my pajamas weren't very warm. At least my pants weren't shorts or capris though, like most of my other pajamas were. However, I kind of wished that I wasn't wearing short-sleeves.

Demyx sighed, propping his sitar on the ground while placing his arm across the top and leaning against it.

"Aww, man," Demyx said disappointedly. "This doesn't look like it's going to be any fun."

Marluxia, who had been glaring around at the devastated world, suddenly rounded on Ienzo.

"What was the point in bringing all of us here?" he demanded.

"I am afraid that we did not yet know how to work the portal," Ienzo told us apologetically. "I'm sorry. But perhaps this is where Xehanort took Kairi?"

"That's a possibility, I guess," Riku said doubtfully, as his turquoise eyes took in all the surrounding area.

"So, uh…" I started, looking around at all of my companions. "What do we do now?"

Ienzo turned to look at me and frowned. "Well—"

He stopped suddenly as a man came running up. He had platinum-blond hair in a long boy cut, with messy bangs on either side of his face. My guess would be that he was anywhere from his late forties to early fifties.

The man appeared quite shocked to see all of us, standing rooted to the spot with his mouth gaping open. He looked a lot like someone else I knew…

Even strode the few paces over to the man, and held out his hand for the man to shake.

"Hello," Even told him, taking charge. "I'm Even, and these are all of my companions. Do you live here?"

The man stared at him silently for a moment, the look on his face suggesting that Even had three heads. Then he too reached out a hand and shook Even's.

"Yes, I do live here," the man informed him. "My name is David, and I must say, I wasn't expecting to get anymore visitors any time soon."

"Did you say anymore visitors?" I asked excitedly. "Have you seen anyone else? Like an old man and a girl?"

The man named David turned to look at me, frowning slightly upon my words. "I didn't see any old man, just a girl."

That had to be Kairi! I grinned over at Riku before turning back to face David once again.

"Was her name Kairi?" I asked. I was trying really hard to stand still, though I was quite close to jumping up and down in joy.

"Well… She never got to tell me her name," David told me, scratching his head thoughtfully. "But if this helps at all, she had short black hair, indigo-blue eyes, and she was wearing a long black coat."

I stared at him, my excitement slowly draining away. That wasn't what Kairi looked like. I mean, sure she had indigo-blue eyes, but her hair was auburn and fell past her shoulders. She was also most likely not wearing a long black coat.

"That sounds like Xion," Demyx said slowly, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "Was she dressed sorta like me?"

David nodded. "Yes, almost exactly like you."

"Xion…" Riku whispered softly, from where he was standing beside me. "Ungh…"

I glanced over at Riku as he made a sudden motion, bringing his hands up to his head. He now stood covering his face, his fingers embedded within his thick locks of hair.

"Riku?" I asked in surprise. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing—" Riku assured me. He then glanced upward and looked at David. "Is she still here?"

"No, I'm afraid that she isn't. Some strange boy came, and I'm guessing he took her. But since he knocked me out…I'm not entirely sure," David told him, before gesturing over at me. "But he looked a great deal like your companion there."

Practically every head turned in my direction, with Even, Dilan and Marluxia all glaring at me.

Wait a sec… They didn't all think that I had been here…did they?

"Umm, look guys," I began, holding out my hands defensively. "That wasn't me. I was stuck in the fourteenth century just like the rest of you…remember?"

Dilan crossed his arms and frowned; he looked as though he didn't really believe me. Ugh! Really, how could they think that I had found a way here without them? It'd been me that had been pestering Ienzo and Even to reopen the portal in the first place, because I couldn't!

"It had to have been someone else," Ienzo said quietly after a moment of silence.

"Oh yes, it definitely wasn't him," David assured him. "This boy had ebony-colored hair and gold eyes. But I only saw him for a couple of seconds, so I could be slightly off."

"How can you even stand to live here?" Marluxia asked in amazement, while continuing to glare at everyone, as if it were our fault that we had ended up in this desolate world.

"Yeah," Lea agreed. "I imagine that it would get pretty depressing living here after awhile."

We all remained silent for quite some time after that. I was wondering if there was any way that we could manage to open a time portal again. I mean if not… Were we going to be stuck here forever?

"You…said that your name was Even?" David asked, breaking up the silence while turning to look at the scientist.

"Yes... Why do you ask?" Even demanded, a slight frown forming upon his face.

David stood staring at the ground for a moment, absentmindedly kicking a pebble around with his foot. After several more moments of this, Even let out an impatient sigh and hopped from foot to foot out of annoyance (or it could've had something to do with it being really cold there). David finally looked up and watched Even's hopping silently for several more moments, until he finally responded.

"Well, I had a brother named Even…or have, I'm not sure," David informed him, his bright-green eyes lost in thought. "You look a lot like him…exactly like him, in fact."

Even's scowl only deepened as he stood gazing at the older man.

You know, now that I thought about it, Even was the one I'd been thinking that David looked like. There eyes were both precisely the same shade of green, and their hair was almost the same kind of blond as well.

"Well… I also have a brother named David," Even told him. "But you're not him. My brother is currently in my home world, in my time period, in my house. Plus he is also 14, whereas you must be like what, 50, 51?"

"Forty-nine actually," the man corrected him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Forgive me, I must've been mistaken."

"Maybe not," Isa said, speaking up for the first time since we had arrived in this time period. He appeared deep in thought.

All eyes turned to Isa now, with Demyx looking just as confused as I felt.

"What do you mean, kid?" asked Braig impatiently at the same time that Ienzo also spoke.

"Yes, there is quite a possibility that you both are related," Ienzo informed them. "Think about it: most of us came here from different time periods, didn't we? David could very well be your brother, Even."

"Yeah," Isa muttered in agreement. "That's what I was thinking."

"That does make sense Even," Terra said thoughtfully. "You both look a lot alike."

Even looked at Ienzo in surprise for a moment, before turning back once more to observe David.

"So you…could be my brother?" Even asked after a moment. "I guess if my brother was your age…then he might look a bit like you."

"You have to be him then," David said, his face breaking into a wide grin. "Because, as I said, you look just like him."

"This is all rather strange," Even said. "Last I saw my younger brother he was—well—a lot younger then me."

Braig groaned as he put a hand across his face.

"This is going to take forever!" he moaned grumpily. "If you all don't mind, I'm going to go and look around. Come and find me if you're going to be heading someplace warm."

"Fine, do what you like," Ienzo told him. However, he wore a suspicious look on his face as he watched Braig walk off.

Hmm, maybe he was just irritated with Braig; he really did have a way of getting on people's nerves.

…

My feet crunched upon the dry ground as I made my way towards a place that I was scheduled to meet someone. There were some things going as planned, and others that really weren't. I wasn't sure on how the old man would take the fact that I hadn't gotten one of the people that he really wanted to join us. He didn't much like it when things didn't go as they were supposed to.

After I walked in several circles and got lost too many times to count, I finally found the man that I was looking for. He was standing behind an old cottage; probably where that man, David, lived.

"Hey, Xehanort!" I called as I rounded the corner.

The old man slowly turned around to face me, wearing an expression that I couldn't read.

"You certainly took your time," Xehanort informed me, a cold edge to his tone.

"Yeah, well," I started, nervously running my fingers through my shoulder-length hair. "I sorta got lost."

Xehanort watched me silently for a minute or so. I finally realized that he seemed to be waiting for me to speak first. So...I decided to humor him.

"So! How are things going on your end?" I asked.

"All's well with me," he said in reply, his expression unchanging. "Vanitas and Xion are both on the mission that I assigned to them. Kairi is being slightly troublesome, but since it appears that Sora and Riku are now both here, I do think that keeping her is worth it."

I nodded in agreement. Pretty much whatever Xehanort said was law, so I didn't find any reason to disagree.

"So tell me," Xehanort began, his bright, gold eyes now examining the devastated world. "How are things going with Sora's group? Do we have the scientist helping us?"

"Eh…well—no," I told him, not meeting his eye. "He has downright refused to help us. But we do still have the other two! And there is one other that I think might help us as well."

"I see…" Xehanort said slowly, now wearing a slight frown upon his face. "However, it would be very good if we could get the scientist, Even, to join us. He would be helpful."

From out in the distance I started being able to make out the sound of voices heading towards the cottage that we were standing behind. While I had been trying to find this place, the others must have finished talking. Which meant that I didn't have much time left before I needed to circle back and meet up with them again.

"Is there anything else that you need to tell me, Braig? Or is that all?" Xehanort asked me, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Since you took your time, we don't have long to speak."

"Well," I began, "one of the people within Sora's group that is helping us isn't sure if he wants to anymore."

"See to it that he stays on our side then," Xehanort told me, as if there was no question about it. "We can't have him running off and telling Sora everything."

"Uh, right!" I answered. That was going to be easier said then done.

With that Xehanort opened one of those time portal thingies, and in the blink of an eye was gone.

I sighed; he had made it all sound so easy.

…

So, Even had a little brother. Hopefully he would be a little less annoying then his older brother. David did seem a bit more normal than Even though, which was definitely a good thing.

At the moment we were all trekking along to wherever it was that David's cottage was located. He had promised that it would be warmer inside there, and that we could all decide our next move with a nice cup of hot tea.

Apart from the occasional large slope or rock, our scenery really didn't change that awful much until a small cottage came into view. Now the surroundings around the cottage were a bit nicer. An ocean stretched out for as far as the eye could see behind the small building. It appeared to start no farther then about 12 feet behind the cottage, its waves occasionally almost touching it. A thick layer of mist sweeping amongst us seemed to be coming from the vast expanse of water. David also had a tree in front of his house! It looked like it was dying though, since there weren't any leaves on the branches and the bark was turning gray… Just like everything else here.

The two brothers were making their way towards the cottage very slowly; so slow, in fact, that it was starting to get on my nerves. So when we were all still some distance from it I sped up to a run, planning to wait for everyone else by the door. From behind me I heard several of the others speed up as well. I stopped near the door and turned around in time to see Riku, Lea, Isa and Demyx come to a halt right behind me.

"Do you think the door's locked?" Demyx inquired, looking first at the door and then at the rest of our companions that were still making their way towards us.

"Hmm… I don't know, maybe," I replied as I crossed my arms and started shifting from foot to foot.

"If no one else lives here…" Riku said, his words slowly trailing off.

"Well," Lea began, striding up to the door and placing his hand on the doorknob. "How about we find out?"

Lea turned the knob and the door easily swung open (much unlike the one at the inn). He then turned back around to look at us, grinning before disappearing into the small house. Isa almost seemed to hesitate, but then followed Lea inside. The other two and I then went in as well.

The cottage was only one room. One large room that seemed to consist of all other rooms you might find in a house. Nearest to us was an area that looked like a rather small kitchen. A countertop was attached to a wall with a cupboard resting underneath it. Right beside the small counter was a stove, with two more cupboards right above it. Not too far from all of this was a table with four chairs around it. At the far side of the room was a bed with a miniature stand beside it, and in the far corner of the room was a small living area with a couch and a chair. Inside the house was also a shelf that consisted of many bottles, along with a bookshelf. Three lanterns were lit around the cottage, all placed in strategic locations so that a reasonable amount of light illuminated the entire cottage. David had been right; it was a lot warmer inside the small building.

"Hey!"

I jumped and glanced back over my shoulder. Braig was standing in the doorway now; it had been him who had spoken. "I thought I saw you three come in here."

"Hi Braig," I greeted, somewhat grumpily. I then walked over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs. Demyx and Riku both came and joined me. Isa was standing next to Braig by the door, and Lea was walking around examining the entire house.

"It would be really dull living here," Lea said after a moment. "There's not even anything fun to do."

"See those books, Lea?" Isa asked, gesturing over to a bookshelf by the wall opposite the stove. "You know…some people enjoy reading."

"Huh? I don't see why," Lea muttered, frowning as he scratched the back of his head. "But okay, even for people who do like to read, wouldn't it be hard to read the same books day after day for a really long time?"

Isa sighed and shook his head, as if he thought Lea was being ridiculous.

"Yeah," Riku interjected into the conversation. "I'd imagine."

After that, we all remained silent until the rest of our companions came trooping in single file.

"Okay!" David said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to go and make us all some tea."

Ienzo strode over to us and sat down in the remaining chair across from me.

"This cottage is a bit nicer then what I had been expecting," he told us as he stole a glance around. "It is quite nice considering."

"I don't know," Lea began slowly. He walked over to stand near us. "I thought that it would be a bit more… Well, I don't know exactly."

Across from Riku, Demyx made his sitar disappear.

"So…it looks as though Even has a younger brother," Ienzo said. "He seems fairly nice."

"Heh, he doesn't quite fit 'younger' right now, does he?" Lea asked, chuckling to himself.

"Well yes, at the moment," Ienzo said. "But in technicality… Anyway, it doesn't appear that Kairi is here. But, I'm sure that we will find her."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, of course we will!"

"So Ienzo," Riku began, turning to look at the steel-haired teen. "Do you have any idea what we should do now?"

Ienzo sat down, studying the ground for a moment. A slight frown creased his forehead.

"Well, I think perhaps we should explore the rest of this world," Ienzo said, raising several gloved fingers to his forehead. "And then we should travel through the dark corridors to search in other worlds… Perhaps we should have done that before we came here."

"No, that wouldn't have helped us find Kairi," I told him. "Xehanort took her to another time period. So…we're probably better off here."

"Yeah, he's got a point there," Terra said as he slowly strode over to us. "And we should probably start looking around this world as soon as possible."

"Hey, I think I'm going to go have a quick look around now before it gets any darker," Riku said. He then stood up from our table.

"I'll come!" I said quickly, also rising from my seat.

"Hmm, yes we might as well go now," Ienzo agreed, pushing back his chair.

…

About five minutes later, I was standing beside David's tree in front of his house. A larger group then we had anticipated had decided to join us in taking a look around. Lea and Isa had been quite eager to come, as well as Ven and Aqua. Terra was also with us; he had said that if we came upon Xehanort again that he wanted to be there to talk to him. Then Ienzo had wanted to come as well. Since Riku had been the one who had suggested that we go in the first place, he, of course, had come.

David had tried to insist that we stay long enough to have tea, but we—or at least Riku and I—had been quite eager to start looking.

"So!" Lea began, looking around in anticipation. "Where do we go first?"

"Umm, lets go…" I spun in a slow circle while trying to decide where to start. "In…uh, that way direction!"

I said this, gesturing randomly to the Northeast. But they all seemed to think that we might as well go that way, and so we headed off.