Hello everyone, how are you, here's the second chapter for you.

This chapter has some more imformation for you on the story, but in my opinion could have been better. Unfortunately it just seemed that no matter how hard I tried it just wouldn't do what I wanted. But it'll surfice.

Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix does.

Truths

Kairi clenched her hands tight at her sides, then walked on. She left her thoughts of Riku behind her. He was a strange one she'd give him that. He'd always known more than others, but with a grandma who seemed obsessed with the topic of light and darkness, who'd blame him. She could act all she could, and never fool him. He saw right through her, had right from the start. But that was all.

As she mounted the steps that lay at edge of the square, a voice in her head told her to stop. Following its call, Kairi found that before she even turned around, she knew what was behind her.

"Wasn't your mother was against you coming here Hanabi." She said to the person behind her. It was a statement not a question.

Facing backwards, her eyes landed on a figure of a girl who looked to be about ten years old. She wore a black dress that was encircled with purple around her bust and ended neatly at her knees with an edge of lace. On her head was a beaded beret which covered her boy's length spikey brown hair and on her legs, a pair of black knee high boots that were loose around her ankles. Lastly, around her middle circled a black belt with a metallic buckle.

Knowing she was caught out, Hanabi scuffed a foot against the ground. "I know," she answered quietly. Her shyness didn't last long however, as with a shake of her head she gathered her courage and lifted her startling amber eyes to look Kairi in the face and gave her a much stronger response, "but that doesn't stop me from coming."

Her reaction made Kairi laugh, for a second there she'd thought she'd lost her. Turning on her heel, Kairi returned to her previous task of heading out of the district, as she had been doing before Hanabi's appearance disrupted her, knowing the girl would follow. "That's better, thought I'd lost you for a second there."

"You'll have to do better than that to get rid of me; you just caught me unprepared was all." Hanabi complained as she followed along behind her, but her tone was light so Kairi knew she wasn't truly annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled back. "But I'm still serious about your mother, I've heard some pretty bad things about Minnie's temper and I certainly don't want to know what it's like to be on that woman's bad side."

"Wise words Kairi, but I'll be alright."

Kairi wasn't so sure, but she wasn't going to question Hanabi's confidence on the matter. No matter the argument, Hanabi was impossible to win against, that was something she had learned from experience.

Cresting the top of another set of steps together, the two girls walked a little further before coming to a stop in front of a large pair of double doors. The tall wooden structures rose many metres above them. The sight of them made Hanabi sigh grumpily.

"I hate this part."

"Well you're not the only one, so don't complain."

"Yeeeah….that's not going to stop me complaining."

Holding back the urge to frown at her friend, Kairi ignored her and pushed the doors inwards. For all Hanabi's complaints, she knew when it got down to it; Hanabi would do what she must. Despite her age the girl was very capable, the two iron knuckles that dangled from her belt were most certainly not for show.

The doors swung outwards to reveal a vast area expanding outward from the doorway. Like the area before it, this one too was a concrete dominated scene, though vastly larger. A walkway spread out before them, diverging left and right, before it turned northwards and continued on. The walkway ended at the middle of the expanse on the right side, to where some stairs led down to a large square that took up most of the region below them. While on the left side it went all the way to the end, leading up to the doorway of a huge white building that stood out from the many others that decorated the scene, a building that had beautiful stained glass window illuminating its visible side. In the square below there were two pathways, one in the middle and one at the end, but where both led was blocked from view.

Stepping forward, Kairi walked to the edge of the walkway to where it dropped down to the square. There was a built up rim that encircled the entire span of it to stop anyone from accidentally falling over it. Placing her hands on that rim, Kairi looked over everything around her.

"There're out there, aren't they?" Hanabi asked from behind.

"Yeah," She responded with a small nod "but they're quiet, they shouldn't bother us for now."

She needn't have asked what Hanabi was referring to, for the answer was obvious. She was talking about the monsters that lurked about. Embodiments of darkness that haunted the worlds. They were a danger that kept many people up at night.

From the moment they had passed through the two wooden doors behind them, those monsters had become a threat to their safety. It was why Hanabi hated leaving the first district.

Of course, it wasn't like the small fry that hanged around this place posed much of a danger to them, though there was no denying that they were an annoyance. That was why Hanabi had asked her if they were near. She couldn't explain why, but she'd always had a knack for sensing their presence, and Hanabi was someone who would avoid meeting them by any means necessary.

Taking her hands off from the concrete surface they were resting on, Kairi turned around and walked back to Hanabi.

"Come on, we shouldn't let them wait on us so long."

"That'd be you that shouldn't leave them waiting, if you recall, I wasn't invited here." Hanabi called as she took Kairi's lead and followed as the other girl began to walk down the path to the left.

...:...

A couple minutes later and both girls emerged into a dark, sparsely furnished room of a small hotel. In the middle of the room currently occupying its main attraction, a king-sized bed, was a brown haired woman with mystifying green eyes.

Hearing them enter, she looked up from where her hands rested in her lap. Upon seeing Kairi a smile lit up her face and she got up to meet the girl by the door.

"Kairi, it's great to see you. About time too, Mr 'grumpy pants' has been getting impatient." She greeted warmly.

"It's good to see you too Aerith." Kairi replied taking her hands in her own.

Giving Kairi an energetic smile, Aerith made to lead her away to a door on the right side of the room, when her eyes caught sight of Hanabi.

Jumping in surprise, Aerith let go of Kairi's hand and looked straight at Hanabi.

"Hanabi, sorry I didn't see you." She hastily tried to apologise. But her words had scarcely left her month when her expression changed considerably, she seemed to remember something. "Wasn't Minnie against you coming here?" she paused "Actually, didn't she outright ban you from coming here?"

The look on Hanabi's face went a touch panicked for a moment, though it was swiftly wiped from her countenance "Maaaybe."

Letting out a sigh, Aerith shook her head and mumbled more to Kairi than anyone else "This is why I feel sorry for Minnie sometimes."

"I know what you mean."

Grumbling loudly, Hanabi complained "I can hear both you perfectly you know, I'm kinda standing right here!"

Looking back at Hanabi, Aerith apologised weakly and said to Kairi "Come on, we should go or the other two will get annoyed waiting."

"They probably already are." Kairi responded quietly as Aerith led her to the door on the other side of the room.

Opening it, Aerith walked through first. Kairi following her through, but she'd nary walked three steps into the room when there was a resounded-

"Redhead!"

Stepping artfully to the side, Kairi neatly avoided Yuffie and sent the girl rocketing into Hanabi, who just happened to be unlucky enough to be standing behind her.

Landing hard, Yuffie fell over and took Hanabi with her. Hitting the floor as a mess of limbs Yuffie struggled to get up, failing till Hanabi took hold of her and threw her from her. And never to be defeated, the moment she sprang back up to her feet, her retort was on her lips within seconds.

"Hey what was that about!"

"That was called learning from the past. What was that? The 156th time you've done that?" Kairi counted dryly.

"Wasn't that much." Yuffie muttered weakly.

"Close though."

A frown twisted Yuffie's face for a split moment, but it was soon erased and she opened her mouth to yell another retort.

"Enough." A voice spoke into the room. Not overly loud, but weighted with an authority that made it clear that the speaker was to be obeyed.

Glad that her scrabble with Yuffie was ended, Kairi turned to face the man who had spoken. She gave him a little smile which wasn't returned "Good to see you again Leon."

Leon greeted her with a nod of his head, and then got right down to business.

"You've been long overdue a visit, though I can't say overly much has happened since you haven't been here, so there isn't too much to fill you in on. But, no matter how small the number, the events that have taken place since you were last here are troubling."

Listening, Kairi took a seat on a chair close to her and saw the three girls behind her do the same. She read knowing looks on Aerith and Yuffie's faces, but Hanabi's portrayed ignorance. No different from her own she thought. Leon's words made her curious. Not much had happened to be concerned about for a long time. Nothing worth mentioning at least.

She noticed that before Leon went on, he cast a glance in Hanabi's direction. Though unlike her and Aerith, he didn't say anything about her presence here.

Never the one for stalling, Leon got right down to it.

"The dark seekers have began to move again. Their more active now then they have been in years. And plainly stated, chaos reigns in many more worlds than one."

Purging her lips, Kairi took in that knowledge. Something made her think that even without being told this she could have guessed as much regardless. Something had seemed off for a long while, and a resurgence of the Dark seekers would explain it perfectly. The Dark seekers were an organisation of people who worked on the side of darkness. They were practically a symbol of chaos. The only certainty of them, was that they'd always be a woman. No man existed within their vast ranks. Kairi guessed it was good sort of strategy, because face it, woman would always be seen as the weaker gender and the Dark seekers were the masters of deception. They'd never been caught.

Focusing her attention back on Leon, she asked, "What did you mean by others, who else have been stirring up trouble lately. Cuz I have to say seeing if the Dark seekers are back in the game, we really don't need anything else to add to our plates. Because you sure don't get worse than them."

"That unfortunately is something out of our control." Leon responded with a note in his vote that said he had thoughts much the same, "but by others I meant those affiliated with that 'Witch'. While in the long run they may not pose the same danger that the Dark seekers do, they are a much more immediate threat. I suggest you don't think lightly of them."

"Hmm" Kairi hummed. She hoped there wasn't much more in ways of troubles. News of the Dark seekers was always enough of a pain as it was. "Anything more?"

"Not much on a big level, but there are specifics."

"Like what?"

Leon threw her a look momentarily then averted his gaze in favour of the wall opposite. The look threw her off some; there was something in it that she couldn't quite put a name to. Though strangely, she thought she saw hesitation in that glance.

"Esper." He spoke this name with distaste, "she's at the head of their ranks leading them. In just the two months since you last visited here, many worlds have fallen at her hands."

"How many?" Kairi asked, now generally intrigued. Concerned too, by no small amount. Esper was a name known to them, one that was being spoken many years before her birth. Before any of their births in fact, but this kind of damage was unheard of.

"Couldn't say, though it wouldn't be of much use to you if I could anyway."

Kairi nodded, understanding she'd hear no more of that exact topic. "What else?"

Leon opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. The same hesitancy that had affected his glance before seeped into his eyes, and he shot a glance up to the three girls at the back of the room that had stayed quiet throughout the conversation.

"This is something I need to tell Kairi alone."

The girls looked a little surprised at this request, but under Leon's serious gaze, the question of complying to his wish was absolute. Yuffie looked as if she was going to argue against it for a second there, but at a glance from Aerith she was silenced. So without a word they all filed out of the room.

Watching as Aerith left last and closed the door behind them, Kairi looked back to Leon. "What is it you need to tell me?"

Now this had her confused. What could he possibly have to say to her that he couldn't say in front of the others. It wasn't like she was anyone special to the outside world in the ways Leon and his gang were. She wasn't a fighter, just someone different from others. A difference that made her worthy of protection. Her coming here was more a matter of them assuring her safety than anything else.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, an action that did nothing to ease the flow of confusion going through Kairi's body, Leon said.

"You're not going to like this."

...:...

A couple minutes past in the quiet of the small dark room in which the girls sat. Conversation was attempted, but it didn't work out very well. So the attempt was abandoned and Aerith and Hanabi took to laying on the bed in waiting for Leon to finish his conversation to Kairi. Yuffie on the other hand had decided that she wasn't going to do that and was currently pressing herself up against the door to see how much she could make out of what was being said on the other side. But from the disgruntled look on her face, it was obvious her efforts were failing.

Glancing over at the door, Hanabi asked the silent women beside her. "What'd ya think he's telling her?

Humming softly, Aerith shrugged, "It's anyone's guess. I haven't heard of anything that relates to her lately. I think."

Sucking in a breath, Hanabi exhaled it loudly and sat up on the bed and leaned forward. "This is boring!" She complained.

Giving Hanabi a small smile from where she sat, Aerith took up position next to her, "Yeah, but there's nothing we can do about that can we?"

"We could throw pillows at Yuffie." Hanabi interjected.

Failing to hold back a small laugh at the girl suggestion Aerith replied. "But that's mean."

"Yes, buuuut" Hanabi drawled, slowly turning her face to Aerith, the most evil expression plastered on her features, "you laughed."

So before Aerith could do anything to stop her, Hanabi grabbed a pillow and sent it flying straight at Yuffie. It hit dead on target and the girl screamed in protest "Hey what was that a-"

The door slammed open without warning however before she could finish her sentence, mowing her aside, as a distressed looking Kairi ploughed past them without giving them a moment's notice and headed straight for the door with not a look back.

Opening it, the girl was out of it before anyone could think to say anything.

Looking at the door dumbfounded, long moments ticked by as Hanabi and Aerith tried to make sense of what just happened.

"Wha?" Hanabi said at last, her eyes locked to the door.

Shaking her head to snap herself out of it, Aerith got off the bed and went over to Yuffie to help the poor girl off the ground. As she did so, she sent a confused look in Leon's direction from where he stood silhouetted in the doorway.

"What did you say to her?"

He hesitated in speaking for a moment, then shrugged and said one word.

"Rhapsody."

Hanabi threw him a puzzled look. That was the name of a one of the lead Dark seekers wasn't it? How did it explain Kairi's actions? Unsatisfied by his answer she shook her head and leapt off the bed.

"I'm going after her."

She'd heard all she had come to hear; there was no more use in her staying.

"I doubt you'll get anything out of her." She heard Leon say, but she was out the door before anyone could brook more arguments. Perhaps if she'd bothered to notice, she would have seen the looks of recognition on Aerith and Yuffie's faces at the name of Rhapsody.

...:...

It took time, but eventually Hanabi's wonderings led her back to the first district. Where she found Kairi was standing, a lone figure in the concrete expanse devoid of any human activity. Standing at the top of the stair case, Hanabi watched her for a time, before gathering her nerves and descending the stairs and walking towards her.

Drawing to a stop a couple paces behind Kairi, Hanabi said tentatively.

"Kairi."

She didn't get a response, so she swallowed over a lump in her throat and walked around to Kairi's front, to see if that'd get a rise out of her. But the girl kept her eyes cast downwards, so Hanabi took hold of her chin and gently lifted it upwards so that she could look her in the eyes.

"Kairi." She said again, "what was that about?"

Shrugging Hanabi's hand off her chin, Kairi walked past her. It was clear to Hanabi that she had every intention of walking away and leaving this world in its entirety. So on instinct she reached out and took a hold of her shoulder. She knew of course that if Kairi truly wanted to, she could leave still leave anyway. In was completely within her power.

"Tell me." Hanabi told her flatly. One way or another she was going to get this out of her.

She felt Kairi tense under her grip, but eventually as the seconds passed by, the girl answered her.

"Rhapsody, nothing else."

Scowling at her answer, Hanabi bit back a harsher reply and said. "Leon already told me that, I came for a more precise answer, and I'll have it if you so please."

Was it her, or did Kairi snort at that. Whatever Leon had told her had definitely upset her something horrid, this wasn't like her friend at all.

"If you want a clue, I'll tell you this. Rhapsody, the horrible person she is, was my mother. Not that she ever did her job, but related we are. You'll find that whatever she does has a habit a relating back to me."

Hanabi froze.

'What did she say?'

Shocked, she drew back and brought her hands to her chest.

'Her mother?' Did she say? 'Rhapsody-her mother?'

This had been the least expected of answers.

"How come you've never told me that?" She asked in the sheer disbelief of it all.

Considerably less spirited now Kairi answered, "That you're related to one of the top dogs of Dark seekers is but anything to brag about, I preferred to keep it to myself."

"Who knows about it?"

"Hardly anyone. Your parents, Leon's group, but it was your dad who told them." This she said almost sadly.

"No one else?" Hanabi asked, wanting to know all that she could get out of her.

Kairi frowned, then crossed her arms as if contemplating telling her something, then said. "There was one other, but I never told her a word of my parentage, she just knew."

"Who?"

"A women who called herself Absinth."

That made Hanabi pause. Now that was a name she knew, not that she'd say so, but recognition of it rang through her mind clear as a bell.

After that, Hanabi didn't question her anymore, and it wasn't long before Kairi begun to walk off again.

"You going?" Was the last thing she said to her?

"Yes, there's nothing more for me to be told here."

Kairi disappeared in a flash of brightness as she summoned a portal of light to whisk her away. They didn't say goodbye.

...:...

Reappearing in the alleyway swathed in light, Kairi landed clumsily on the ground. She swayed slightly but didn't fall. Casting her eyes around her, she checked if anyone had been around to see her appear and breathed out a sigh of relief when she didn't spot anyone. The lateness of night made the chance of anyone being out small, but the paranoia was always there.

Leaving the dark alleyway behind her, Kairi made her way back to her house. In a matter of seconds the structure came into view out of the darkness, but something in her peripheral vision made her halt.

Turning her head to the side, her eyes settled upon a single figure sitting on a shed in someone's backyard. That wasn't why she stopped though, not exactly anyway. Sure someone in a backyard this time of night was a little strange, but she'd seen worse. No. It was who this person happened to be.

Riku.

Curious as to why he was out here now, she walked towards him

"Riku?" She asked tentatively when she approached him.

He didn't respond to her of course, but it wasn't like she thought he would. He didn't talk, hadn't in a long time. She remembered a time when he did, but that was years ago. He'd long stopped socialising too, now he just distanced himself from every one. It hurt the people close to him a lot. It was why Sora cringed at the very mention of his name.

Seeing that he wasn't going to acknowledge her, Kairi watched Riku just a little longer before turning around and walking in the direction of her house. As she walked she felt his eyes on her, but she ignored his look and went on her way.

Of course had she looked back she would have seen the hatred in that gaze, the anger too. As well as another emotion too far off to reach. Vaguely, she heard him slip off the shed roof and disappear into the night.

Reaching her home, Kairi climbed in through her bedroom window. She took off her white dress and exchanged it for a nightie and got into her bed. She brought her covers around her and slipped into a sleep that was unhindered by the dark truths she was blind to see. And dreamt. Dreamt of a woman with flowing black hair and glowing amber eyes. A woman who called herself Absinth.

And done, hope it was good.

Also I'm know Absinth is alchohol, but my brother loves the name and it got stuck in my head as I was creating this story and it found it's way in there and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it out.

As always please review, I'll love you for it.

Sayonara.