Authors Note: I'm planning on writing a fanfic with the two young Keyblade wielders that appear in this chapter being two of the main characters, after I finish this story. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please read and review. :)

Chapter Nineteen: Keyblade Wielders of the Past

"So now that we've successfully escaped, where are we off to now?" Axel inquired, eyeing the storm clouds overhead.

I could tell just by a single glance that we wouldn't want to be caught in the storm that was brewing overhead.

Axel, I wasn't sure what to think of him. He was a bit obnoxious that was for sure, granted nowhere near as much as Riku…but he was still annoying. Why exactly was I helping them again? I glanced over to where Xion was sitting, answering my question. Honestly, I couldn't understand what she saw in those two.

Traveling through time could be quite confusing sometimes. Xehanort had told me that often times when you leave a time you'd end up in the same exact world you left from only in a different time period. At least that's what happened if you didn't know what you were doing. He had said that if you focused hard enough on the image of the world you wanted to get to, the time portal would take you to that world in whatever time period you were going to. I'd practiced enough that I could usually end up where I wanted, but not always.

I walked over to Xion and sat down beside her. I glanced up at Axel, realizing that he still hadn't gotten an answer.

"I have no idea," I told him. I looked at Xion. "What do you think Xion?"

Xion continued to stare up at the sky, a slight frown on her face.

She had been lost in thought ever since we left The World that Never Was. I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with me. I really wasn't sure what I had been thinking yesterday. I guess just recently I had begun to see everything in a different light. And I had finally realized why I felt almost—what was the word, jealous maybe? Yeah, that was right. I had realized why I'd felt 'jealous' when Xion decided to go with Riku. I liked her, and not only just as a friend either. I knew that it didn't make much sense, but I couldn't help but feel as though she had chosen him over me. I looked down at my gloved hands and sighed. I had been hopeful that she felt the same way for me, but I wasn't so sure anymore. I mean why would she? I wasn't generally liked. I had thought about trying to bring it up with her again, but I had no idea on how. Not to mention the Unversed would probably just ruin everything again, like they always did.

I shook my head to clear it. Ugh, and I had been saying how Xion was lost in thought?

I reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Xion? What do you think we should do next?" I re-asked.

Xion looked over. "Umm, maybe we should go find Sora?" she suggested. Then her eyes lit up, as though she had just gotten an idea. "Or maybe we should track down the book that Xehanort had wanted and then take it to Sora."

"What book?" Riku asked at the same time that I dropped my hand from Xion's shoulder and muttered: "Oh please no."

Xion glanced at me and then at Riku.

"All I know is that it has something to do with Kingdom Hearts," Xion told him. "And that both Xemnas and Xehanort wanted it pretty badly."

Riku began pacing, looking lost in his thoughts, while Axel stopped his own pacing.

"Well, I guess we should see what it is at least," Riku said after a moment.

I put my head in my hands and groaned.

"We have absolutely no idea where to find it, none whatsoever," I grumbled. "Xion and I had been looking for it before you came along. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Everyone was silent after that, including Axel. Though I wasn't sure on how much he understood. And even though Xion thought he could be trusted, I still thought he was a spy. Amazingly, Riku had agreed with me on that.

"Vanitas? Remember when we went to The Land of Departure and you were pretty sure that it would be there?" Xion asked.

Reluctantly, I brought my hands away from my face, and looked at her. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Maybe we should go to The Land of Departure in a time period before that," Xion suggested.

Riku stopped pacing and crossed his arms. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

I frowned. "Me as well. We should probably go to a time period before my own. Preferably before Xehanort was even around, or at least when he was still young."

Riku nodded, agreeing with me. Even though we seriously didn't get along, for some reason we kept agreeing about things. I really had no legit reason for disliking Riku, even though I felt like I did.

Axel clapped his gloved hands together.

"So we're traveling through time again? Great!" Axel exclaimed.

I was curious why was he so excited about going through time. I mean he'd landed on his face after going through the last time portal. And with the effects the time portals had on people, I was a bit surprised he'd be so anxious to repeat it again so soon.

I looked up as a raindrop hit my face. Almost as soon as the first drop fell it had begun pouring down in sheets, thoroughly soaking Riku and I. Xion and Axel remained dry since they had their Organization XIII coats on. It was too bad that I'd lost my backpack, or else I could have pulled out my own coat. But then again even if I had had my coat with me it probably would have been to late. My hair was already entirely saturated, as were my clothes. It looked like I was just going to have to deal with being wet for the time being.

I got to my feet and looked over at Riku.

"How about we leave now?" I suggested, hoping he'd agree since he was also getting wet. "Do we really want to stand here catching colds?"

Xion got up right behind me, her booted feet squeaking loudly on the wet ground.

"Sure, we can leave now," Xion said. "Vanitas could you open the time portal? I'm not the best at operating them, and you seem to have a better idea of what time period we need to get to."

I nodded, and walked a few paces away from them. "Alright."

It took me a moment to decide on where to go back to. Once I had made up my mind I focused and opened the time portal.

This time Riku offered to go through first. I don't think he trusted me enough to let me go first, worried that I would either abandon them or call Xehanort. He had tried to take away the device that would allow me to speak with Xehanort; I hadn't let him though. Xion had convinced him to let me hold on to it, saying that she trusted me.

Axel left next then Xion stepped up to it. She paused and glanced back over shoulder at the barren wasteland that we had resided in almost the whole day.

"What is it Xion?" I asked.

"What world do you think this is?" Xion asked, her indigo blue eyes now resting on my face.

I crossed my arms and looked around, thinking. I had a pretty good idea which world it was. For some reason when I had opened up the time portal in The World that Never Was, I hadn't been able to get the image of Xion and I eating ice cream on top of the clock-tower in Twilight Town out of my head.

"I can't be sure," I began, frowning slightly. "But I think this is actually Twilight Town. It's hard to tell with all of the storm clouds, but I'm quite sure it's been twilight a bit too long."

Xion nodded. "You're right." She then went through the portal.

I looked up, the raindrops hitting my face. Was I doing the right thing?

…

I stumbled out of the portal and into Axel. He grabbed my shoulders, steadying me.

"You okay there, Xion?" Axel asked. "Those portals are really something else. I'm still feeling dizzy."

I smiled up at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Axel let go of my shoulders and I stepped forward, eyeing the world we now were in. Unlike in the past Twilight Town and The World that Never Was, the sun was shining in The Land of Departure. It was setting. I blinked and looked down; the sun and blue eyes didn't mix.

For some reason I had been expecting The Land of Departure to look really different from when I had seen it. But it looked very much the same. Except for one major thing, it wasn't crumbling in this time period. And I could make out a faint light coming from one of the windows towards the top of the castle, meaning it was inhabited.

Riku stood a short way ahead of me also staring up at the one lit window, curiosity filling his gaze.

I was pretty curious as well. What Keyblade wielder(s) would we find in this time period? I really hoped Xehanort wasn't there.

I heard footfalls behind me and a moment later I heard the sound of the time portal being closed, meaning that Vanitas had come through the portal.

Vanitas walked up and stood beside me. He looked around, surveying the way The Land of Departure looked in this past time period. He then also glanced up at the bright window.

"Let's go," Riku said, walking up the stone steps.

I followed him, Vanitas to my right and Axel right behind me.

Riku raised his hand as if to knock and then hesitated. He then brought his hand down upon the door twice.

We waited in silence for nearly five minutes. Vanitas let out a sigh and walked over to where Riku was standing beside the door.

Vanitas knocked four times, much louder then Riku had. Then we waited while another few minutes passed.

"Maybe know one's home?" Axel suggested.

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," Riku agreed. He lifted his hand to open the door just as I heard a chain sliding across it. Riku immediately lowered his hand.

Finally the door opened and a young teenage boy poked his head out. He looked to be between the ages twelve and fourteen. With ebony colored hair and brown eyes that widened upon seeing all of us.

"Eraqus?" A voice asked, coming from behind the dark haired teen. "Who's there?"

So the ebony haired teen was Eraqus. I wouldn't have recognized him. But I guess that wasn't surprising considering that he was a lot younger and I'd only seen him once.

Eraqus swung the door further open. Behind him stood another teenager, he had gray hair, tanned skin and his eyes were almost the precise shade that Vanitas's were. He had a pleasant air about him, yet something about him set me on edge. Maybe because he reminded me of Xemnas.

The gray haired teen smiled at all of us politely.

"Hello," he said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, I think so." Riku looked over his shoulder at me. "We're looking for a book."

The gray haired teen raised an eyebrow.

"A book?" he repeated, looking slightly surprised.

Eraqus reached up and cupped his hand around the other teens' ear, whispering something to him that I couldn't make out. The gray haired teen frowned for a moment and then nodded.

The gray haired teen swung both of the large doors open, and then stood to the side. Eraqus also stepped back.

"Would you care to come inside?" the gray haired teen asked.

"Thanks," Riku said, offering him a smile before stepping into the castle.

Vanitas followed Riku, eyeing the gray haired teen as he passed. Once we were all inside Eraqus swung the doors shut.

I looked around the large entryway we stood in. It also looked much the same as when I had last seen it, except it was completely intact.

"My name's Eraqus," Eraqus informed us, holding his hand out to Riku. "What's your name?"

Riku shook his hand. "Riku."

Eraqus turned to Vanitas, holding his hand out once more. "What's your name?" he asked.

While Vanitas introduced himself, the gray haired teen walked up to me.

"My name is Xehanort. I'm an apprentice here, as is Eraqus," the gray haired teen told me. "What's your name?"

So he was Xehanort. That must have been why he reminded me of Xemnas. I had really been hoping that he wouldn't be in this world.

"Xion," I said, reluctantly shaking his hand.

"You mean… You guys can wield Keyblades too?!" Eraqus exclaimed from behind me. He had been speaking with Riku and Vanitas, one of them probably told him that we could.

Xehanort looked at me surprise and delight lighting up his face.

"Can you?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"That's so cool!" Eraqus exclaimed excitedly. "Our Master didn't think there were any other Keyblade wielders left, well besides us and one other Keyblade Master and his apprentices. He's going to be so surprised!"

"Is your Keyblade Master here?" Vanitas asked.

"No he isn't," Xehanort responded. "He had some errands to run. He probably won't be back for a few more days."

"Hey are you guys hungry?" Eraqus asked. "We were just about to make dinner."

"Yeah, or at least I am," Axel said, speaking for the first time. He looked like he felt sort of out of place.

"Okay, I hope you guys like enchiladas," Eraqus said grinning.

…

Axel and Eraqus went with Eraqus into their enormous kitchen, while Riku and Vanitas spoke with Xehanort. I had offered to help Eraqus cook. I didn't trust Xehanort even though he did seem decent in this time period.

Eraqus had given me cheese and a grater, so I was currently grating cheese, while Eraqus made the sauce. Axel stood next to the counter watching us.

"How old are you, Eraqus?" I asked.

"Fourteen, but I'll be fifteen next month," Eraqus told me. "How about you?"

I frowned, thinking. I was guessing that it had been about a year since I had left the Organization.

"Sixteen," I said.

Eraqus looked up at Axel, now stirring all of the ingredients in the sauce together.

"How old are you, Axel?" Eraqus asked, his tone curious.

"Oh come on!" Axel grumbled. "That's not a polite question to ask an adult." He shook his finger at Eraqus.

I giggled and then looked over at Eraqus again.

"How old is Xehanort?" I asked.

"He's eighteen," Eraqus responded, grabbing some corn tortillas. "But most of the time I don't think he acts like it."

Vanitas appeared in the entrance of the kitchen; he glanced briefly at the food before walking over to me.

"We're going to go look through their library," Vanitas told me. "Want to come Xion?"

"Umm, maybe in a minute," I said. "I'm helping Eraqus."

"Okay," Vanitas said. He then headed back towards the entrance to the kitchen. He paused in the entryway and turned around, looking at Axel. "Axel, you don't seem to be helping very much, how about you go help them look for the book and I'll help cook."

Axel chuckled. "You know how to cook Vanitas?"

Vanitas glared at him. "I doubt you do."

"Fine, whatever," Axel said, heading out of the kitchen. "See you later, Xion."

"Bye," I said, smiling after him. Since I was finished with grating the cheese I began making a salad to go with it.

Vanitas came over and stood beside me, he watched me for a moment before turning to Eraqus.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Vanitas asked him.

Eraqus frowned, his expression thoughtful.

"Well, I was going to make a milkshake…" Eraqus replied. "Would you like to make that?"

Vanitas shrugged. "Sure. What flavor?"

"Chocolate of course!" Eraqus grinned. "…Unless you don't like it, then you can choose whatever flavor you like."

"Chocolate's fine," Vanitas muttered.

We all worked in silence until Eraqus had the enchiladas in the oven, Vanitas had the milkshake done, and I had finished the salad.

"It's going to take a little while to cook," Eraqus informed us. "Should we go see what the others are doing?"

"Sure," I replied.

Eraqus led the way through the castle, I was really surprised at how big it was; there were so many more areas in it that Vanitas and I hadn't looked through.

Vanitas fell into step beside me. He caught my eye and smiled.

"What do you think of this place?" Vanitas asked, gesturing around the castle. "Very different from the last time we saw it, eh?"

"Yeah, it sure is," I agreed, wholeheartedly. "It looks really cool."

Eraqus glanced back over his shoulder at us and grinned.

"I'm glad you like it," he told me. "I know when I first saw it I thought it was pretty cool too."

Eraqus had reached a large door; the door-handle on it was golden. He swung it open and smiled back at me.

"Here's the library," he announced, stepping inside.

I followed him in, my eyes widening in surprise upon seeing it. The library was enormous, it was far larger then the one in The Castle that Never Was. There was even a sort of second floor to it! I sighed; it would take forever to look through.

I scanned the library looking for the Riku, Xehanort, and Axel. I spotted Riku on the second floor; he was looking through a bookshelf. Xehanort was also up there, helping him. I frowned, where was Axel?

"Hey Xion!"

I looked around the bottom floor of the library. Axel was sitting at a table, with probably fifty ancient looking books spread before him. He waved at me and grinned.

"Wanna help?" he asked, sounding rather hopeful.

"Sure!" I responded. I walked over to him and sat down at the table he was at.

"Dig in," Axel told me, gesturing at the mess of books piled in front of him.

I picked up a book and read the front cover before setting it aside. For some reason I didn't think a book about animals could have anything to do with Kingdom Hearts.

Vanitas pulled a chair out beside me and sat down. He began looking through the books as well.

Vanitas let out a sigh after tossing the tenth book he'd looked at aside.

"For some reason I don't think we're going to find it here either," Vanitas told me.

I couldn't help but agree.

"What is this book about?" Eraqus asked, sitting in a chair beside Axel. He glanced at the piles of old books in front of us. "I'm guessing it's an old book."

Vanitas leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"It's supposed to be," Vanitas told him. "I've heard that it has something to do with Kingdom Hearts. Have you heard of that?"

Eraqus nodded. "Yeah." His eyes lit up. "Wait! I think I know which book you're talking about!"

I looked at him, surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah," Eraqus told me excitedly. "My master told me about it. It's a book that has all of Kingdom Hearts's secrets."

Vanitas nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds about right."

I looked up as I heard Riku and Xehanort coming down from the second level in the library. Upon reaching the bottom floor Riku came over and stood beside me while Xehanort walked over to his fellow apprentice, his expression surprised.

Were we finally going to find the book? I really hoped so.

"Are you sure?" Xehanort asked. "I don't remember hearing of any such book."

"You probably weren't paying any attention. You never do when it comes to history," Eraqus told him, a teasing glint in his eye, and then his face fell. "The book's gone though."

Vanitas scowled and crossed his arms. "It's gone? Figures."

"What happened to it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. I had been so hopeful that we would find it.

"Our Keyblade master said it was stolen, long ago. He'd never seen it," Eraqus told me. "Sorry."

Eraqus got to his feet and headed towards the door of the library, Xehanort following him.

"The food should be about done," Eraqus told us. "Let's go eat."

Riku and Vanitas followed the other two out of the library. Axel got to his feet and stretched, staring after them as he went.

"You like him don't you?" Axel inquired, looking back at me curiously, a knowing look in his eye.

"Wh—who? What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused, though I had a pretty good idea on whom he was referring to. I felt my cheeks redden, and looked away quickly.

Axel chuckled softly. "Vanitas. I can tell by the expression on your face when you look at him." Axel was grinning now. "He certainly likes you. Just…be careful 'kay? There's something strange about him. Not to mention he's the spitting image of Sora."

With that Axel walked away, most likely heading to the kitchen where everyone else was.

I looked down at the ground, wondering what had given him that impression. I wasn't sure myself on how I felt about Vanitas. Though I was really glad that we weren't enemies anymore. I felt oddly attached to him, though I wasn't quite sure on why.

Drawing in a breath to calm down, I left the library and made my way back to the kitchen.

…

Vanitas grinned at me as I once I had reached the kitchen. "Hey Xion, the food's done."

I smiled back and took a seat beside him at the long table. I looked around the kitchen; Axel, Riku, Xehanort and Eraqus were all talking on the other side of it.

"Riku thinks we should leave first thing tomorrow and try to find Sora," Vanitas told me quietly. "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "That's fine with me." I looked up at him, something worrying me. "Vanitas…are you going to keep helping us?"

Vanitas got a strange look in his eye and looked down, not meeting my eye.

"…For now," Vanitas muttered under his breath.

I continued to watch him. "I'd really like if you would stay. You're one of my best friends Vanitas…maybe my best friend nowadays."

Vanitas finally met my eyes, surprise glistening in his yellow ones. "Really? You still consider me your friend? I thought…"

I smiled at him and opened my mouth to speak just as Axel put the enchiladas down on the table.

"All done!" he announced, grinning at me. "Want some on your plate?"

"Umm, thanks Axel," I said, I held up a glass plate that was in front of me and Axel spooned some out on top of it.

"How 'bout you Vanitas?" Axel asked.

Without answering Vanitas held up his plate while Riku, Xehanort and Eraqus took places at the table. Xehanort sat directly across from me.

We all ate in silence, until Eraqus decided to break it. "So, who's your guys' Keyblade Master?"

I took a sip of my milkshake. And looked over at Riku, he was looking at Eraqus.

"Yen Sid," Riku told him.

Xehanort scowled. "That name sounds so familiar…"

"Maybe our Keyblade Master mentioned him at some point in time." Eraqus shrugged.

Once everyone was done eating and had cleaned up, Xehanort and Eraqus led us back through the castle to some rooms that were for guests, even though they said that they had never gotten any.

They led us up several flights of stairs and down a hall; they paused towards the end of it.

"Okay there's five rooms in this hall, choose whichever ones you like," Eraqus told us. Eraqus headed back down the hallway, waving back at us as he went. "I'll see you guys later."

Xehanort smiled and began back down the hall as well. "Good night."

I watched him go, I couldn't help but wonder if he was up to something. He was Xehanort.

"'Night," Axel said, walking through the door that was closest to him.

Vanitas placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me, happiness showing in his eyes. "Good night Xion. I'll see you tomorrow."

I smiled back at him. "Good night Vanitas."

Vanitas headed to another door, Riku waved and went into a different one.

I entered into a door right behind me, and looked around. It was a very nice room, yet simple. I liked it a lot more then the one I had had inside The World that Never Was.

I went over and sat down on the bed. What was going to happen after we finished whatever our mission was? Would I just…disappear again? I felt scared. I really hadn't given it much thought until then. But I supposed that I probably would. I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes, waiting to fall asleep.