Authors Note: I had really meant to have this chapter up a bit sooner. But unfortunately I was delayed. Anyhow, as always, please read and review. Thanks!

Chapter Twenty: Islands from the Past

I plopped down in a chair beside Lea. Why Ienzo thought that we should get up while it was still dark I had no clue. But he insisted that the earlier the better. If Seymour wasn't awake yet I was seriously going to be upset. Beside me I heard Lea start to snore softly, he was slumped over with his face pressed against the cool surface of the table. I looked behind me as I heard someone walk up. It was Isa; he looked at Lea and shook his head irritably, he glanced at me, amusement written all over his face.

"Honestly, you'd think that he'd never woken up this early before," Isa said, rolling his eyes. He pulled out a chair on the other side of me and sat down, his eyes scanning all of the fancy decorations upon it. It was fancy enough to make me feel uncomfortable near it. Lea didn't seem to think so though; I mean he was already laying his head on it, while I was still afraid to touch it.

Everyone around me was talking, but I couldn't quite concentrate on what they were saying. Especially considering how many conversations were going on then. Across from me Kairi was talking to Aqua and Ven. Isa was now speaking with David and Terra, Marluxia and Larxene had their heads together and were…laughing? That was kind of scary… Braig and Dilan were both speaking to Ienzo by the door; Even was over by a shelf looking through stuff that didn't belong to him, and Demyx, like Lea, was snoring. I glanced over at a clock that hung high up on a wall across from me. We had now been waiting for Seymour to show up inside his dining room for over twenty minutes. If he didn't show up soon I was likely going to fall asleep sitting up in one of his chairs.

Just as I started to nod off the first Guado we had seen upon coming to this world walked up (I recently found out that his name was Tromell) he thrust a cup of something hot into my hand. I quickly turned it to the side so that I was gripping the handle. I looked up at Tromell a tad bit more awake now. He grinned at me.

"The Maester thought you all might enjoy some refreshments, Mr. Sora," Tromell said. "I figured you and your friends might like enjoy hot cocoa on this cold day. I've added plenty of sugar."

"Thanks Tromell," I told him. I gave him my best grin. "Is Maester Seymour almost ready?"

"Yes, he will be out in just a minute," Tromell said. "He had a few things to take care of first."

I nodded, and lifted my cup to take a sip. The minute it was in my mouth I really wanted to spit it out. It tasted awful. I'd always thought that hot cocoa was a universal thing, but it tasted disgusting. I could hardly even taste the chocolate at all, and it wasn't sweet. There were quite a few extra flavors in it that I couldn't place, besides as bitter. I felt my eyes water, and it took all of my willpower not to spit it out. I looked up at Tromell and he beamed at me.

"Do you like it?" Tromell asked.

I nodded and forced myself to swallow it. Tromell seemed pretty nice and I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Yeah! It's umm—really tasty," I told him. "The best hot cocoa I've ever had."

Tromell walked away with the tray of cocoa looking very pleased. He handed one to each person in the room then he left.

Lea had woken up when Tromell put a cup of coffee in front of him. Both Isa and Lea took a sip around the same time, there reactions were different but they both had the same look of horror on their faces. However Isa swallowed his mouthful whereas Lea spat it back out, spraying Marluxia (who was across the table from him) and me with the yucky cocoa. Ugh, I grabbed a napkin from across the table and saw the look on Marluxia's face. His expression was somewhere between enraged and horrified. I laughed, and Marluxia gave me a death glare, then he pushed his chair back from the table and stormed out of the room. He came back only a moment later though, followed by an amused Seymour.

"Lea that was utterly disgusting," Isa told his friend, grumpily.

Seymour walked over to the table; he scanned it then chuckled. "I see Tromell has made you his famous hot cocoa. It is interesting, is it not?"

Well, interesting was one way of putting it. I was glad that Seymour had come though; hopefully we would all be leaving soon. I didn't like being in Guadosalam very much. I liked being able to see the sun.

"If you are all quite finished, shall we be leaving then?" Seymour asked, addressing the room at large.

Ienzo pushed his chair back from the table and stood. "I believe so. Are you ready Aqua?"

"Yes," Aqua replied, she got to her feet as well. Aqua walked around the table and held out her hand, a determined expression on her face. A moment later a time portal appeared and she lowered her hand and turned back to look at all of us.

"Okay, it's ready," Aqua said. "This should take us to the right place."

I got up and walked over to her. The sooner we put a stop to Xehanort the better. Especially now that I was wide awake. That cocoa had really woken me up.

Aqua left first with Terra, and the rest of us followed a minute later. I fell out of the portal and into sand. I sat back and wiped the sand from my face. At least I didn't feel that dizzy this time, or at least not as much as I normally did. I looked up as Ventus held out a hand to help me up. I grabbed it and hopped to my feet. Kairi ran over to where I was, a wide grin on her face.

"Sora! We're on Destiny Island!" Kairi exclaimed, her eyes shining.

Terra looked back at us. "This is your home world?"

"Yes, it definitely is," Kairi told him.

I looked around. She was right; we were on Destiny Islands. Only it looked completely different. I knew that we had gone to the past but what was strange was that it looked more modern then my time period. All of the buildings were much larger; they resembled the ones in Twilight Town. But, even though it was completely different, it was still nice to be home.

"Ugh, it's so hot here," Demyx whined from somewhere to my right. I looked over at him; he had his arm slung over his Sitar and a deep scowl on his face. "I'm gonna get all sweaty."

Seymour glanced over at him then looked up at the sun rising. "What is it that we're supposed to be finding?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Aqua replied. "All Master Eraqus told me was that it's something that can help us stop Xehanort."

I looked around when I heard some trees behind me rustle, it hadn't sounded like it was the wind that rustled them. Someone behind me gasped, it sounded like Braig. I quickly turned around; someone was holding a spear to Braig's neck. Actually there was someone holding a spear in front of almost everyone in our group, apart from me, Kairi, Aqua, Terra and Ventus. It seemed like there was some connection between all of us but I couldn't think of what. I pulled out my Keyblade and stood ready to help. What was going on?

"Hey, hey!" Braig exclaimed, taking a step backwards. "There's nothing to get all excited over!"

Ienzo calmly held up his hands. "We aren't here to fight. Could we discuss this, please?"

Another person strode forward, he was dressed differently then the other people pointing weapons at us, higher class. He walked up to me; his gaze lingered on my Keyblade before turning to my face. He opened his mouth and a long stream of words flew out. I frowned, tightening my hands on my Keyblade; I couldn't understand what he had said. He'd spoken in another language, one I'd never heard spoken before.

"Umm—what did you say?" Kairi asked from beside me.

The man looked at her, and scowled. He looked around the clearing at all of the people pointing their weapons at us. He spoke again, and they all nodded in assent. They then began leading my companions away, towards the town.

Even paused in his walking and glared at the person pointing a spear at him. "I will not have you pointing that stick thing at me!"

"We're not causing any trouble," Lea told them, even though they couldn't understand him.

"Yeah people," Demyx said, pulling out his Sitar. "Don't be mad."

The person who was leading Demyx stared at the Sitar momentarily before saying a loud stream of words and poking Demyx with his spear. Demyx leaped back, rubbing his cheek where they had hit him.

"Hey! Why'd you do that?! That hurt!" Demyx complained while his Sitar faded away. He looked down at where it had been. "What happened to my Sitar?!"

Ienzo frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. "As I had thought. They're weapons contain magic, allowing them to seal away our weapons." Ienzo looked around at all of us. "I suggest you don't try to fight them, unless you want to lose your weapons."

Even scowled and crossed his arms, but he allowed them to continue leading him forward. "Then what do you suggest we do, Ienzo? Allow them to do whatever they want with us?"

Isa looked over at me curiously. "I wonder why they're not pointing their weapons at the Keyblade wielders."

So that was what the connection was! They weren't pointing weapons at any of us Keyblade wielders. I wondered why… Did they know about Keyblade wielders? And how had they known before I had even pulled out my Keyblade? I didn't understand what was going on at all.

After several more minutes they had led everyone (except for me, Terra, Aqua, Ventus and Kairi) away through the trees. Only the one person who looked like the leader remained behind. He smiled politely at me.

"Greeting my young Keyblade wielder," he spoke. I stared at him, surprised that he was speaking English. He had a very strange accent though. I could barely understand him. "Is there something I can do for you and your friends?"

Terra and Aqua slowly made their way over to me. Ventus was already beside me, as was Kairi.

"Umm…could you release my other friends?" I asked after a moment.

The man frowned, his large eyebrows creeping together. "Your other friends? You mean the ones my men led off? I'm afraid I can't do that young friend, at least, not until they are properly interrogated. I know it may seem harsh to you, but we have had trouble with outsiders as of late, I am sorry. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

I hesitated, thinking. Maybe he could help us find the thing that could stop Xehanort?

"I know, why don't you and your fellow Keyblade wielders come with me to my castle? We can discuss matters there." the man asked.

"Are you a king?" Terra asked, looking the man up and down. I frowned; he certainly looked like it, with his fancy clothes and all.

The man smiled kindly at him. "Ah, some people do call me that yes. However, I am simply the leader of Destiny Islands. Now, would you all like to come?"

Aqua took a step forward, her gaze hard. "Do we have a choice?"

The mans' scowl only deepened. "I should be very pleased if you decide to come with me, however, I will not force you. The wielders of the Keyblade are always welcome on my islands. However it has been quite sometime since I have been visited by one."

"Could you give us one moment to decide?" Terra asked. The man nodded.

I frowned, though I did lower my Keyblade slightly. Terra grabbed me by the arm and pulled me a few feet away; Kairi, Aqua and Ventus followed us. I put my Keyblade away, and crossed my arms. I wondered what the man was going to do with the members of Organization XIII; I was surprised that I actually considered some of them my friends now. Not all of them, but a few. I looked up at Terra, curious what he thought we should do.

"I don't trust him," Terra muttered under his breath. "There's something strange about him."

Aqua frowned and raised her eyebrows. "Really? Because I actually thought he was telling the truth Terra."

Terra looked at me, his expression uneasy. "What do you think we should do Sora?"

I hesitated. I was kinda with Terra about not trusting the man, but that was just because he locked everyone else up. Other than that I thought he sounded like he was telling the truth.

"Well, maybe we should go with him, maybe he knows about the thing that can help us defeat Xehanort," I said, glancing at Aqua as I spoke.

Ventus put his arms behind his head (in the same way that I always did) and watched us, his expression thoughtful.

"I'm with Sora, at least it's a place to start," Ven said. "Not to mention we might be able to help the rest of our friends out."

I nodded, agreeing with him and glanced at Kairi. She also looked thoughtful.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," she said.

Terra sighed and looked at Aqua. "Do you think so too?"

Aqua smiled at him and nodded. "Yes Terra. That man's the leader of this world, I think he really might know something."

Terra shook his head and walked back over to the man, who watched him approach with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Okay, we'll come with you," Terra informed him. "Which way are we headed?"

The man beamed. "Wonderful! Follow me dear friends, I shall lead you to my humble home."

…

I paced in circles around the prison cell, trying to think of a way to escape. So far, nothing had occurred to me. The others had given up, and instead sat around the dim cell, conversing with one another. Or most people were, apart from Even whom insisted on spending his time annoying me with his mutterings. He had not stopped complaining since we had reached the cell. What I could not understand was why he was directing his griping at me. If he were smart, he would speak to his brother instead. Though I thought of the scientist as a sort of uncle figure, his grumblings had put my teeth on edge. I was trying quite hard to ignore him, though with his loud incessant talking, it was rather hard to do. However, I had managed to bite my tongue against asking him to quit it, I knew from experience that asking him to stop would only make his stream of words worse. I scowled and began another round of the cell, pausing on the far end away from Even.

The only thing I hoped for at this point was that Sora and the other Keyblade wielders would get us out of this damp cell. However, I was slightly worried that they might decide to leave all of us in the cell, partly because several people there were spies for Xemnas. I frowned, eyeing Dilan and the Braig. Perhaps it was better that we were stuck in this awful cell, if Sora and the other Keyblade wielders found the object that could stop Xehanort, then it was better that the spies did not know the details. Tired of pacing, I sat down as far from Even as I could manage, which happened to be beside Isa and Lea, whom were speaking in low voices. They both looked at me when I sat.

"Any ideas Ienzo?" Isa asked curiously. "Or are we trapped?"

I scowled and crossed my arms. "It would seem that we're trapped for the time being. Though perhaps the others will come back for us."

Isa nodded and went back to speaking with Lea. I looked up at the ceiling, I didn't hear Even any longer so perhaps he had finally given up complaining to me. I was rather glad, if I had had to listen for much longer I was worried that I might go crazy, something I really didn't want to have happen.

"Hey Ienzo!" Braig whisper-yelled from a short distance away. I slowly dragged my gaze from the ceiling and looked over at him. He waved me over. I scowled, but got to my feet anyway. I made my way over to him and sat down. Dilan was on his other side, watching me with a frown on his face. When I had been younger I got along fairly well with all of Ansem the Wise's apprentices, except for Dilan. I wouldn't say that we didn't get along, just that we had never really spoken. When I had been younger, Ansem had seemed sort of like a father figure, while Even was like my uncle, whom while he was annoying always seemed to be watching out for me. Braig also seemed like an uncle, one that you never listened to, since he never had good advice. Lexaeus was almost like a much older brother or uncle as well, he always had patience for me and out of everyone else he would actually play with me. Now Dilan was always just there, he was constantly grumpy so I tended to avoid him. It was funny to think back on how I had labeled them all when I was younger, as members of my family.

I looked at Braig. "Yes Braig? What can I do for you?"

"I just think you're making the wrong choice," Braig told me. As I had thought, he was once again, going to try to get me to join Xehanort; he was just taking a different route this time. It was times like that when I wished people would learn to take 'no' for an answer. I was not going to change my mind. And I was beginning to think that I should just announce that Braig and Dilan were spies to everyone in the room. I sighed, looking down at my gloved hands.

"You know my answer Braig, I wish you would reconsider," I told him irritably.

"Xehanort's gonna win you know," Braig said, as if that fact would change my mind.

"Since when has Xehanort beaten Sora, Braig?" I asked.

Braig scowled and crossed his arms grumpily. "He's got a better plan this time. You know that. With backup plans as well."

I glanced over, somewhat surprised as Even sat down beside me. He glared at Braig with resentment; they didn't get along very well.

"Are you seriously still trying to brainwash Ienzo?" Even asked, his tone still agitated. "He's quite stubborn you know."

Braig rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "Yeah, I've noticed. As if you aren't as well."

Even scowled and crossed his arms. "I don't like him, he thinks he can just waltz in here and tell everyone what to do! Oh the nerve!"

I raised my eyebrows. At least Even was smart enough not to just blindly follow Xehanort. He had downright refused to join Xehanort, though he had agreed not to tell Sora what the Keyblade Master was planning. I leaned my head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. I wished to pull out my book, but I was afraid that someone would block me from being able to pull it out if I needed to fight. Demyx still could not use his Sitar, something he was moping about in the far corner of the dank cell. Oh I really hoped someone would let us out soon.

…

"This is your home," I asked, turning in a slow circle just inside his house. Only it wasn't a house exactly, it was more like a castle. Or mansion. It was bigger then Disney Castle! I couldn't think of any other word for it besides, wow. It was so big! And fancy! I carefully stepped further into the elaborate, wide entryway, my eyes as wide as sand dollars. I'd seriously never seen anything quite this nice before. The floor was some kind of marble, I was slightly worried that I might slip and fall down on it. The walls were also extremely shiny with silver marking on it. The hall was also wider then seven of my bedrooms!

"Not very humble is it?" Terra asked, eyeing a chandelier overhead. "Honestly sir, I can see why some people like to call you a king."

The man chuckled softly. "Do you like it?"

"Oh yes," Kairi said, smiling brightly. "It's a beautiful place."

The man beamed again, and then turned to me. "So, is there something I might help you with, my dear Key-wielding friends?"

I tore my gaze away from the chandelier and focused on the king-like man before me. I stepped forward, eager to see if he could help us.

"Well you see, we're looking for something to stop this really evil Keyblade wielder, we know it's somewhere in this world," I informed him everything flying out of my mouth. "And we really need to find it."

Terra looked over at me, a slight frown on his face. Apparently he still didn't trust the man. I knew it wasn't a good idea to just trust strangers, but we really needed help finding the thing that could stop Xehanort.

The man appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, I see…do you know what it is?"

"Nope," Terra said, shaking his head.

"But you're sure it's here? Well, at least that's a start," the man said.

"My master had said that it was something old," Aqua said, stepping forward. "Something made a long time ago by a Keyblade master. Do you have any ideas?"

The man put a hand to his chin and frowned thoughtfully. He then began pacing in a circle by his large double doors. I watched him, as did Ventus beside me. I wondered what Ven was thinking, he'd been awfully silent on our way to the man's house, and he still hadn't said a word. His serious gaze followed the man as he continued walking in circles.

"There is one place, a place that contains many old artifacts and such," the man told us. "It's not far from here… Would you like me to take you there?"

Terra nodded. "That would be nice, thanks."

"Marvelous!" the man exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

Ven frowned, his eyebrows creeping together. He hesitated before walking up to the man, his indigo blue eyes hard.

"One thing first," Ven began, still watching the man suspiciously. "I want you to promise that you won't hurt our other friends."

The man's smile faded slowly, before coming back. "Of course not, dear boy. Just so long as they aren't with the dark side. As I said before, once I am sure that they are not here to spy on me, or cause other mayhem I will let them go with a full apology."

I headed back to the double doors again, Terra following me, but Ventus didn't move, he was still glaring at the king like man, his fists clinched together. I turned away from the door. I wondered why Ven wasn't following us yet.

"You didn't promise, sir," Ven grumbled. "I won't leave till you do."

The man laughed, and placed both hands on Ventus's shoulders. "You are a funny one. All right, I swear. I will not harm your friends."

Ven took a step back, and nodded hesitantly. "Okay. Thanks."

…

Like the man had said, it didn't take very long to reach our destination. It was a small cave, hidden away from prying eyes. The opening was pretty small, and I didn't think that the man or Terra could get through. Come to think of it, I wasn't entirely sure that I could fit in there either. Ven bent down on his hands and knees and peered inside. He scooted backwards after a moment and stood, wiping the sand off of his hands.

"I can't see in there very well," Ventus told Terra. "It's too dark."

Terra crouched down next to the opening. "Sorry guys, it doesn't look like I can fit in there." He looked back at the man. "It doesn't look like you can either. Have you been down there before?"

The man shook his head. "No, I'm afraid that I haven't. I have only been able to send younger and smaller people into that cave."

"I guess you have to wait up here then Terra," Aqua said. She patted his shoulder, a grim smile on her face. "We'll be right back." She glanced over her shoulder at the man, and then leaned forward, and I could barely here her whisper in Terra's ear to be careful.

Terra nodded. "You as well." He then looked at Kairi, Ven and me. "All of you."

With that the all of us (apart from Terra and the man) went into the cave. We walked down a narrow tunnel that we had to crawl through; upon reaching the end of it we came to a large circular room. It didn't look anything like you would expect a cave to. The entire area was crystal, and I had thought that the man's castle was pretty! This was amazing! Behind me, I heard Kairi draw in a breath when she first entered from the tunnel.

"This is so, beautiful!" Kairi exclaimed, looking around in awe. I could actually make out her expression since there was something lit up in the center of the room. I frowned and looked closer. A sort of pedestal resided in the center of the room, lighting it up, and there was something on top of it that I couldn't make out. I slowly approached the center of the room, the others following after me.

I stopped about two feet from the pedestal and looked at what was on top of it. It was a book. It looked like a very dull book, it was a light brown color, with a...symbol of Kingdom Hearts on it? What kind of book was it? I walked the rest of the way forward and put my hand on top of it. Nothing happened so I closed both of my hands around it started to lift it. But…it was too heavy. I literally couldn't lift it! I looked at Aqua.

"I can't lift it. Could you help me Aqua?" I asked.

Aqua walked up to the pedestal and attempted to help me lift the book. After a moment she frowned and stepped back.

"Strange, it has some kind of magic barrier on it," Aqua told me. "It must be something important. I wonder if there's any kind of magic that I can use to break the barrier placed on it."

Ven frowned and stepped forward. "Do you think it's the thing we were looking for? I mean, it has the Kingdom Hearts symbol on it."

"I was wondering that," Aqua muttered.

We all stared at the book for a moment, unsure on what to do next. Ventus put his hands on the book and looked up at us.

"Want me to try one more time?" Ven asked. I nodded, as did Aqua, so he pulled on it. We all stared as Ven fell to the floor, the large, almost ordinary looking book, clutched in his hands.

"Ven! Are you okay?" Aqua asked. She walked over to him and helped him back to his feet.

Ven nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey! I got the book!"

"Good job Ven!" I said, happily. I wondered why he had been able to get the book off of the pedestal, but hey, at least someone had.

"I wonder why—" Aqua began, her expression troubled, she then pulled out her Keyblade, looking into the shadows of the room. "Oh no, I was wrong."

"Indeed you were, miss Aqua," the leader of Destiny Islands said, stepping out from the corner of the room. "Were you wondering why your dear little friend was the only one that could lift the book?" He watched Aqua's expression for a moment, before nodding to himself. "I thought so. You see 'Xehanort' and I just recently found this, but only someone with a pure heart can lift the book. Someone without even a speck of Darkness clouding there heart. Just like your dear little friend, Ventus I believe? Now, I really must thank you all for getting this for me. But I'm afraid our little friendship ends here."

Aqua pointed her Keyblade at the man. "What did you do with Terra?"

"Oh don't worry, I haven't hurt any of dear little Ventus's friends," the man said, smirking at Ven.

Aqua growled under her breath and sprung at the man with her Keyblade. He brought up his spear and blocked her, and she fell to the ground, her Keyblade vanishing into thin air.

"Aqua!" Ven yelled, running towards his friend. The man threw him back with his spear before he could reach her though. Ven got flung backwards into the wall. I glared at the man.

"Why are you doing this?!" I yelled at him. "Xehanort's evil!"

The man chuckled softly; he bent down and picked up the book from where Ventus had dropped it. "Do you really think so? Then I suppose you will think that I am as well. This book tells of ways to seal Kingdom Hearts, which would have put a stop to Master Xehanort's plans."

I pulled out my Keyblade and charged the man. But it probably wasn't a good idea to go at him with my Keyblade. He blocked me, and I was shot back by some magical force that sent me spiraling down to the floor. The last thing I remembered hearing before I passed out was Kairi yelling my name.