Chapter 20

His excitement building, Sora began to run along the path of light towards the castle, not slowing until they had reached the large gateway. Sora looked around, seeing nothing but the gray walls all around them. "Kairi! Where are you!" he shouted.

"Shh!" King Mickey said, running up to him. "Remember where we are! This is their stronghold!" He then suddenly dashed off, running towards a stairway leading into the depths of the castle.

"Wait for us! Your majesty!" Donald shouted. He shook his head in frustration; and he was warning Sora to remember where they were? However, at that very moment, the residents of the castle decided to bring on the welcome wagon for the trio.

"Be careful! I think we have company!" Sora said redundantly as he readied his Keyblade, Goofy his shield, and Donald his staff.

At that same moment on the other side of the castle, Kairi, Naminé, and Pluto were running down many flights of stairs. Naminé had freed Kairi from her cell, and now Saïx was not too far behind them with his Nobodies. As they turned a corner, however, Naminé had a strange feeling overcome her, as if she was being pulled to somewhere. She stopped, leaving Kairi to run a few feet before she stopped as well. Kairi gave her a strange look, but then followed her gaze. She tightened her grip on Naminé's hand, because in front of them stood Saïx with two large Nobodies on either side of him, blocking their path.

"Naminé…there you are," he said with his husky voice.

Kairi looked at the girl strangely. "Naminé?" she wondered out loud. Hadn't she been the girl –?

"I'm afraid leaving is not an option, Kairi." Saïx derailed her train of thought, his hand stretched out to hers. "I'll take you to see Sora," he promised. Kairi stepped back, her arms instinctively shielding her from him. "You don't want that?" Saïx said, amused.

"I do," Kairi said earnestly. "More than anything. But not with you around!" she said as she took up an offensive stance. Naminé copied her moves, assuming the same pose. The same pose, the same heart, the same body.

"If I had a heart, this is where I would have died of laughter," Saïx said, pretending to mock them. However, his pretense of glee was cut short when he heard one of his Nobodies fall behind him. A tall individual in black was standing behind it, just as it disappeared. In his hand was a blue and red sword with a curved blade, a circular grip on the pommel. The blade looked sinister, yet the white wings on the handle and tip radiated a sense of hope and safety.

"You…" Saïx said threateningly. "Didn't Roxas take care of you?"

However, Naminé's reaction to the stranger was quite different. She relaxed, putting her arms down. "You can take it from here, Riku."

Kairi was dumbfounded, hardly able to speak. "R-Riku!?" she said dubiously. She looked to Naminé, then toward the person in black. No one spoke, but their next actions spoke the loudest. The mysterious man in black made his sword disappear, and then gathered up a large ball of energy in his hand, which he threw at Saïx. Saïx blocked him, somersaulting backwards to avoid the forefront of the attack. This gave the strange person enough time to run forward and pin him against the wall. Saïx only smiled, as he created a dark portal on the wall behind him and slipped through it. The person was about to step through it when a loud voice stopped him. "Wait!" Kairi cried, running up behind him.

Pluto came running up as well, barking excitedly at the man, as if he knew his smell by heart. The person backed away from the portal, staying far away from the dog. He looked up to see Kairi walking slowly towards him.

"Riku…you're really here?" she asked him. He dared not move or breathe as she came even closer towards him. Suddenly and gingerly, she lifted his hood back, revealing skin as dark as the earth, long silvery-white hair, and fiery orange eyes. He looked away, unable to look into her inquiring eyes.

"Hey Kairi," he said in a deep voice, completely unlike the Riku she knew but a voice that fitted his current form. He turned to face the other girl. "Thank you, Naminé, for bringing her this far."

"Sure," she said. "See you later!" she said casually as she walked off in the other direction. Kairi was about to call after her when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to Riku, who shook his head.

"But what about –?"

"She can take care of herself. Now, let's go find Sora."

"He's here?" Kairi said excitedly. Riku nodded. "Then let's go!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy battled Nobodies throughout the corridors of the castle, eventually ending up in a cavernous room. High above them, someone was waiting. "Sora…you've done quite well." The three looked up to see Saïx standing upon a magnificent dais, adorned with gray wings and the symbol for the Nobodies.

"Where's Kairi?" Sora demanded with a shout.

"Who knows?" Saïx said as he shrugged. "She's probably catching up with her friend from the darkness right now."

"What do you mean?!" Sora cried.

"She doesn't need you anymore," Saïx said, sneering at them.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" However, Sora's heart felt quite the opposite. What does he mean, friend from the darkness? Is Kairi in trouble, or has she already been rescued by someone else, or has she…? His confident attitude completely veiled his fears.

"Well, you don't have to…but you can believe this: Organization XIII has no further use for you. Look." He pointed out through one of the large windows. "Our Kingdom Hearts. Thanks to you, we've collected vast amounts of hearts. Can you hear their euphoria?" At this, Saïx grinned almost maniacally. "Now, all they need is one more helping from the Keybearer!" Raising his hands, dark portals appeared all over the vast hall. Hundreds of Heartless swarmed out of them, covering the walls in a writhing darkness. As they slowly approached them, Sora, Donald, and Goofy grouped closer together in a more defendable formation. Saïx only laughed at them as he disappeared into his own portal.

"We have to fight!" Donald said, raising his staff.

"But – Kingdom Hearts!" Sora stuttered.

"SORA!" Sora froze, hearing that familiar voice he had ached to hear for so long. Searching, he looked up. Opposite Saïx's dais was another platform even higher than his own. To Sora's joy, there stood his red-headed best friend. "Sora! It's really you!"

"Kairi!" Sora said, practically bursting out of his skin. Their eyes locked momentarily, their hearts rejoicing at finding what completed each other. His reunion was short-lived, however, when the Heartless attacked him as the Nobodies had attacked Axel, dog piling on top of him and restricting his movements.

"You leave Sora alone!" Kairi cried, her heart filled with bitter anger towards the Heartless for attacking Sora without warning. Running back a ways, she dashed toward the edge of the platform and jumped off, not thinking of where she would land, only knowing that Sora needed her help. Thank goodness for Kairi, another platform was only fifteen feet below her. She landed with the grace of a gymnast, only to have the Heartless surround her as well. She was about to fight back when they jumped on her, pinning her to the floor. "Sora –" she whispered, her sole thought on helping her friend.

Suddenly, a bright light surrounded Kairi. She found herself being pulled up, Riku having a tight grip on her arm. She fell back a little, her balance still a little off. Riku gave her a gentle shove, then proceeded to hand her a magnificent Keyblade. "Take it," he said. The Keyblade held the colors of the sunset, with flowers etched into the blade at the tip; it was feminine, unlike Riku, Sora, and King Mickey's Keyblades – just by the look of it anyone could tell it was meant for her. She admired it for a moment, before slashing it through the air.

"This time, I'll fight," she said with determination. "You know Sora's completely hopeless without us! Come on Riku!" And with that, she dashed into the crowd of Heartless in front of them. Riku might have smiled slightly at the comment, but more likely it could have been a muscle spasm. Either way, he revealed his Keyblade, The Way to the Dawn, and joined his friends.

Not only were Sora, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Riku, Kairi, and Geni fighting their way through the dark alleyways and the castle, but unbeknownst to them that evil witch Maleficent and her henchman Pete were there as well to claim the castle for their own evil purposes. Knowing how close the in-between world was to the realm of darkness, and how the Heartless might not completely obey their orders there, Maleficent was still focused on obtaining universal domination. Nothing would deter her, not even her incompetent and blundering underling.

King Mickey had his hands full as it was, trying to track down Ansem the Wise. Knowing he was somewhere in the stronghold, he had dashed off to find him at once, thinking he must know something about the final plans of Organization XIII. He had been running up some side stairs on the outside of the castle when he heard fighting above him. Racing up the remaining stairs, he beheld someone in a red cloak surrounded by Dusks. Racing towards them, he slashed at them, destroying them all. King Mickey had assumed the person as being unconscious, but as soon as the Dusks were destroyed he began to unsteadily rise to their feet. Next to him was a large machine, pointed at one end with a large glass globe on the other.

King Mickey waited patiently as the person rose their feet. At once they began to take off dark red bandages that had been covering their head, piling them at their feet. Once finished, darkness could be seen lifting from an elderly man's face, his eyes the same fiery orange as Riku's. "It has been too long, my friend," he said in a deep, but kind sounding, voice.

"Ansem the Wise," King Mickey scolded, "Why didn't you come to me before things got so bad?" He scowled at the man who towered over him.

"Xemnas, the Organization's superior, is the Nobody of Xehanort, my foremost apprentice. This burden was mine to bear."

Kind Mickey gave him a look. "Is that all?" he said, unconvinced.

Ansem the Wise turned away from him. "I won't deny there was more. I was…obsessed with thoughts of revenge. My apprentices had stolen everything that was precious to me: my research…my pride."

"I can't help you with revenge," King Mickey said gently as he walked up behind him.

"I know, I know. Riku has told me that at least a thousand times; he should know more than anyone, I suppose."

"Speaking of which, where is he?"

"He must be with his friends by now. Riku was a great help to me. I found him wandering in the darkness, after you and he lost track of each other at Castle Oblivion."

"Well, we didn't really lose track of each other. Riku left…because Xehanort's Heartless was still inside of his heart troubling him. And he sure must have been suffering because of it. However, there was one person who helped to alleviate some of that pain. Without her, I doubt Riku would have had the inner strength to meet the darkness and win. Considering she had been battling that kind of darkness all of her life, in a sense. But as to why he still looks like that now, even though he is Riku at heart…he hasn't told me yet."

"I am to blame. When I met Riku for the first time, he still looked like a young boy to me. Probably because of his strong heart; in that fact he does rival Sora's own. I asked him to find someone named Roxas from Organization XIII for me, and bring him to me. When I told him it might help awaken Sora from his deep sleep, he left without another word. He fought Roxas, and I can only assume he lost that fight. He must have realized then that to fight in the realm of darkness he would have to immerse himself in that same darkness. When he did, well…you have seen what became of him. When Riku brought Roxas to me, he introduced himself as Ansem. If that was what it took to awaken his friend, he was ready to live in the darkness for it. Riku…was the victim of my revenge. I could only laugh to hide my shame."

"I guess it must have been after that when I first saw Riku again. He said he wanted to help Sora…but he made me promise to never let Sora find out about what happened to him while he was in the darkness. He especially didn't want Sora to know what his relationship to his sister was before she was freed from the darkness."

Ansem the Wise sighed, and looked over to King Mickey. "My friend, the time has come. I must make amends to all of these young people for an old man's mistakes. Especially Geni; it is my fault that she is in her current predicament as it is." With that, he walked over to the machine that was lying on the ground and picked it up. King Mickey smiled and followed his friend, placing his hand on the glass sphere to steady it as they walked into a dark hallway.

"GET OFF!" Sora shouted as he threw off the remaining Heartless. Looking up to where Kairi was, he was shocked to see a member of Organization XIII fighting alongside her. Of course, he couldn't see who it was; all he could see was the easily distinguishable black coat. "What's going on?" he wondered out loud. However, before he could find out, the Heartless and Nobodies around him suddenly vanished in bursts of purple light.

"Have you been a good boy?" he heard someone say. Looking around, he saw a Nobody appear through a dark portal where Saïx had been standing moments before. He had a large scar across his face, as well as an eye patch over his right eye. "Oh. From the looks of things, it seems like you haven't. You know, you've been a pain in the rear for Organization XIII, but I guess that's why the Keyblade chose you. Although, you don't look like half the hero all of the others' were."

"Are you done rambling already?" Sora said, exasperated. He had to get up there and help Kairi!

"Rambling?! As if! All I'm trying to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!" And with that he summoned his dart-throwing guns, the expert sniper readying himself for battle. Needless to say, the battle was short-lived for the Nobody. He faded out of existence, leaving many questions unanswered. However, Sora would have to wait to find out why everyone in the Organization was having memory lapses and calling him Roxas for another time, because just then Donald shouted. Looking up, Sora could see that Kairi needed his help. They began to run for the hallway directly in front of them, which led to several flights of stairs on the outside of the castle. As they ran onto the platform, Kairi and the stranger had just eliminated the last of the Heartless.

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald shouted his support. Kairi turned, flipping her hair nonchalantly as she gave them a large smile. Kairi and Sora walked towards each other, their eyes locked but their mouths mute.

Sora finally broke the ice, saying, "You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here and okay!"

Kairi fumbled for words, not knowing how to reply to Sora's blatant statement of care and concern. "Well, you and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you." She immediately knew she had hit a soft spot in Sora's humorous armor, for at that moment his eyes drooped, and he looked towards the floor in unease.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. However, he was greatly surprised when Kairi threw herself into his arms, gripping him as if to never let him go. She buried her face in his shoulder, trying to hide her tears of relief.

"This is real…" she said quietly, her eyes shut tight to keep this moment lasting forever. Her feelings only intensified when she felt Sora's hands come around and pull her closer to him. They were still for what seemed like hours, an eternity passing in only seconds. The only reason their first moment of the recognition of something more between them was momentarily paused when Sora saw the stranger creating a portal of darkness.

"Wait! Ansem!" he called to him. The stranger paused, turning his head slightly. Sora kept one of his hands on Kairi's shoulder, half turned towards him. "I mean, Xehanort's Heartless…I never thought for a second that I would see you again. Just thinking…about all of the terrible things you did still makes me really angry. But…you saved Kairi, right? I have to be grateful for that. So, thank you."

Riku's heart was crumbling with guilt. Sora thinks I'm a kind monster, how wonderful. He turned and began to walk again towards the portal. It probably is better if he doesn't know after all…

However, Kairi couldn't believe Riku was leaving; even after all they had gone through. She dashed towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling on it gently. "Riku, don't go!" she cried desperately as she met the eyes of her towering friend.

"What? Huh? Kairi, what did you just say?" A flood of questions was released upon the two of them.

Kairi turned to them, still holding tightly onto Riku's arm. "Riku."

"I'm no one, just a castaway from the darkness," Riku said in his deep voice, Ansem's voice.

"Sora, come here," Kairi pleaded with him. "Say something to him." Sora was confused; was this person Ansem or Riku? Trusting Kairi, he walked towards them, confusion evident upon his face. Kairi immediately took his hand, and placed his upon the large, black gloved hand of Ansem. "Here, you'll understand; close your eyes," she said tenderly. Sora looked at her, then up at Ansem. His heart guided him yet again, his eyes closing heavily. In Sora's heart and mind, he felt the presence of two people, two very familiar people. He saw Kairi on his right, and directly across from him, holding onto his hand, was Riku. The real Riku.

Opening his physical eyes, he was surprised to feel tears stinging at them. "Riku…you're here…" he whispered as he feel to his knees. "I looked for you! I've looked everywhere for you! I didn't know if you were alright, or if something…happened…"

"Come on Sora, pull it together," a smoother voice replied. This voice was younger, kinder, and wiser than the deep voice that had just been speaking moments ago. "I didn't want you to find me Sora. Not like this."

Goofy had been scratching his head in thought. "But…it had been Riku that was helping us, wasn't it? The clues we kept on finding; that must have been Riku!" As Goofy was finishing his thought, Riku was helping Sora to his feet.

"I was starting to worry that none of you were ever going to catch on," he said with a sigh. "Sora never did pick the…brightest of friends." Goofy and Donald protested at this slight; however they didn't realize that Riku was really talking about himself.

"But why didn't you let me know that you were okay?" Sora objected.

"I told you that I didn't want to be found, not like this…I couldn't. I fought with Ansem, with Xehanort's Heartless; when it invaded my heart and I won, I found out that to use the power of darkness I had to become Ansem myself."

"Does that mean that you can't change back?" Kairi asked.

"This battle isn't over, and until then I still need the power of darkness."

"Then let's finish it; you're still Riku, no matter what. We need to defeat Xemnas and go home to the Destiny Islands, all four of us!"

Silence. "Um, Sora?" Kairi questioned him.

"Yes?" he replied, his confident smile still radiating from his face.

"Did you…hit your head? There are only three of us…"

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! I have a sister!"

Down in the city, Geni had just found the alleyway that led towards the base of the Organization's stronghold. Countless numbers of Heartless and Nobodies had blocked her way, leaving her quite far behind Sora and the others. From the outside, the stronghold looked peaceful. But underneath its surface, war was raging throughout its gray corridors. Riku, Kairi, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been talking for a while, and King Mickey and Ansem the Wise were higher yet, setting up his machine. Geni had been running but stopped quite suddenly when she reached the edge of the chasm over which floated Organization XIII's stronghold.

She paused, resting her hand on a crate while she caught her breath. She had been running and fighting, the way becoming more familiar with each twist and turn. The only thing that separated her from the castle now was a shimmering walkway that spanned the length of the chasm. "Now I know why they always used the portals," she said with a heave. Shifting her small pack, she double checked everything was secure. Finding everything snug, she began to walk warily across the gap. It was a little unnerving to see the bottom hundreds of feet below her, but what was worse were all of the Heartless and Nobodies down below her as well. They swarmed, trying to crawl their way out of the pit.

When Geni was halfway across the bridge, it began to shudder a little before growing in intensity. Looking back, Geni realized that the bridge was beginning to disappear, and also at an alarming rate. She began to run as fast as she could, the bridge disappearing faster and faster. Come on, come on, she mentally repeated to herself, pushing her body to its limit. Huffing and puffing, she was only fifteen feet away from the edge when the dissipating reached her. Putting all of her strength into her legs, she jumped as far as she could while reaching for the ledge of the castle. Time seemed to slow down; the ledge was just out of the reach of her fingertips. However, Geni stretched herself as far as possible and hit the edge of the stronghold square in her chest. All of the air in her lungs escaped, and she fell a ways, her fingers fumbling for a firm hold.

For a moment, it seemed as if she would fall to the inexistent mercy of the Heartless and Nobodies. Luckily, at the last moment as her fingers slipped off the ledge, a pale hand grabbed one of hers. "Hang on!" a female voice called.

Geni looked up, and saw a young girl with blonde hair and a white dress desperately trying to pull her to safety. She was stronger than she looked, for only moments passed before Geni was scrambling onto the edge of the castle, taking in deep breaths, only shaking a little bit. The other girl sat there as well, breathing deeply. "Thanks," Geni managed to cough out. "I thought I was going to make it, but…"

"No thanks needed," the other girl replied. "I just happened to be passing by when I saw the bridge disappearing with you on it."

"Lucky for me," Geni said with a smile. She felt strange, sitting there with the young girl, who looked to be almost her age. She experienced déjà vu, as if she had met this person somewhere before. "I'm Geni, by the way."

"Naminé," the other girl replied. She stood and brushed off her dress. "You had better hurry if you want to catch up to the others," she said, winking, before she calmly walked toward a corridor to her right. Geni sat there for a few moments, slowing her breathing, before she wobbly stood up.

"How did she –? Never mind. Either way, it sounds like the fun has started without me," she said with another smile. Looking around, she assumed Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey were probably doing one of two things: either making their way towards the top where all of the members of Organization XIII used to live, or down to where the dungeons are and possibly where Kairi is being held.

She followed the main passageway into the castle, noting the obvious signs of battle along the hallways. She entered the first main hall, the ornate dais where Xemnas would usually preach on and on about obtaining hearts. Seeing no one around, she turned and peered up at the other platforms behind her. On one of the middle platforms she could see Sora, Donald, and Goofy talking to a girl with red hair and…Riku! She recognized his black coat and silvery-white hair immediately. Geni's heart began to race, and she couldn't help but let a large smile escape. It was short lived, however, when Geni thought things through. But…why is Riku here? The girl with the red hair must be Kairi, so Sora has already rescued her. Did Riku finally tell Sora everything? As she watched the scene unfold from high above her, Geni was about to shout up to them when she saw Kairi race into Sora's arms and hold him tightly. Sora looked a little surprised, but he gently held his friend in a tight embrace. A lump formed in Geni's throat, constricting the words. Instead, she turned so if anyone saw her they could not see the tears forming in her eyes. Oh, she was happy for Sora alright, but Kairi had just done what she had wanted to do for a long time now; she didn't have the nerve or the courage to tell him. Riku… Turning quickly, she saw a doorway opposite the way she had come in and headed for it, hoping to quickly catch up with the others as she brushed the few tears from her eyes.

High above her, the others had begun to head towards the doorway opposite the way they had come. As they were leaving, Riku felt a familiar presence come into being. Looking around, he didn't see anyone. He leaned over the railing, seeing if anyone was below them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something dark head through a door under the dais across from them. What, or who was that? he wondered. I hope no one else is after us as well, besides the Organization, the Heartless, and the Nobodies.

King Mickey and DiZ, also known as Ansem the Wise, were busy setting up his machine. Its purpose was to reclaim Kingdom Hearts and encode it as data, therefore preventing Organization XIII from opening the gateway to it. Neither was sure it would work, because hearts are never predictable, are they? Starting up the machine, it began to whirr and whiz, a bright stream of light shooting out from the tip towards the heart-shaped moon high above them. As they walked out onto yet another platform surrounding the castle, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy beheld the jet of light hitting the moon.

"What's that?" Sora asked to no one in particular.

"It's the King and Ansem the Wise," Riku replied. "They must be higher up yet, so we had better hurry." Nodding, the five began to walk up the next flight of stairs. Their progress was halted twice when they encountered Luxord and Saïx. Xemnas had finally allowed the Nobodies to dispense of the inhabitants of the realm of light, and so the last members of the Organization were just itching for a piece of the action. However, both were defeated, but both of them leaving Sora questioning why everyone had been calling him Roxas. Riku finally shed light on that subject for him: Roxas was Sora's Nobody, from the time he had lost his heart in Hollow Bastion to free Kairi's own heart from his body. Riku told him of Roxas's betrayal of the Organization, how he had come to fight him twice, and his realization that he might never have had to fight Roxas to help Sora in the first place. He assumed that Roxas had left the Organization because he really wanted to meet his someone, his other half: Sora.

At this point, Ansem the Wise's machine was starting to go on the fritz. He laughed at his own foolishness; even after studying the heart for all of those years, he still hadn't learned all of their secrets. All of his years of research, amounted to nothing compared to Sora's heart. His own models, even those in his artificial Twilight Town, always lacked essential components needed for a real one. Ansem the Wise urged King Mickey to escape – his machine was about to self-destruct, and anything could happen.

"Your majesty!" King Mickey turned around just in time to see his five friends run up the stairs towards them.

Ansem the Wise turned, his eyes full of sorrow. "Sora, it is all up to you now." More quietly, he whispered, "Roxas, I don't know if you can hear me…but I am truly sorry."

"Ansem…!" King Mickey tried to reach for his long time friend, but a strong arm stopped him. "But Riku!"

"His heart has decided, and we can't change that." Suddenly, a dark portal appeared on the opposite side of Ansem the Wise.

"I was wondering who would have dared interfere with my Kingdom Hearts," Xemnas said darkly. "And look – here you all are…" he looked around for a moment "…save one. All still very convenient for me."

"What?!" Riku said angrily. Who else could be in the castle but them? What if that thing from earlier…? Damn it! he mentally shouted. I told her to stay put! All this while, Xemnas and Ansem the Wise were exchanging bitter words from the past. However, his attention was quickly diverted back to the conversation when he heard Xemnas speak his next sentence.

"…After all, none of this would have happened without you. You are the source of all Heartless," he said smugly.

"I admit, my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one…I know it ruined at least one young girl's life already. But my heart is what held me back; it is what finally convinced me that my research was better left forgotten. What you continued in my name…that abominable research into hearts and those without…should have never come to fruition in the first place. Neither you nor I have learned anything since then. And any world that you try to create would be an empire of ignorance!"

Geni had followed Sora's path, leading her higher and higher up into the stronghold, towards the peak nearest to the black, empty sky. All she could think of was helping Sora, of finally defeating the Organization, and not her own safety. She ran and ran, up flights of stairs, across huge chambers; she even noticed when a laser-like beam was shot towards the heart moon. None of this concerned her; her only thought was to make sure that everyone was safe and the Organization failed at whatever it was doing with Kingdom Hearts. She finally had to pause at the base of yet another flight of stairs. Her legs felt like jelly, and her breath came in ragged gasps. The beating her chest had gone through on the edge of the castle only an hour before had not helped either.

"Riku, you know what to do!" Geni's head shot up, hearing a vaguely familiar voice call out Riku's name only feet above her. Wincing, she forced her legs to climb each step, each one feeling like a small mountain rather than mere inches. "I wish I could apologize to all the people I have wronged, but alas, that shall never be. Please tell Geni how sorry I am, King Mickey, when you see her. Farewell!" As Geni was about to climb the last few steps, she finally beheld the tragic scene before her. Ansem the Wise, the leader of Hollow Bastion before it had been destroyed by the darkness, was clutching a machine that was making strange noises. King Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were facing Ansem the Wise and of course did not see her arrival. Xemnas was standing a ways from him, facing her direction, so of course he did see her.

"Even if you ruin my Kingdom Hearts, I still have another way…" he said menacingly. However, no one noticed his statement because at that same moment Ansem's machine self-destructed, blinding everyone in a radiant light.