Chapter 22

"NO!"

It was uncertain who yelled, screamed, or cried out first, but it was wholly apparent that none of those people was Xemnas. As the beam struck Geni, he was only laughing with triumph.

As it impaled her, the beam of white light did not go all the way through Geni like Sora's Keyblade had, but filled her to the brim with its brilliance. Her entire body was in slow motion; her arms fell slowly, her eyes gradually closed, her body slumping as if she were falling asleep while standing up. However, something was taking her place, an exact copy of her made of thousands of points of light. This creature of light quickly turned, and stooped to hold her as it began to lower her body to the dais. It looked as if it felt the remorse for the life that had been given up for it to be there. Once Geni's motionless body was lying peacefully upon the platform, the being stood up.

It looked towards the group below it, surveying them quietly. Not one of them had moved or spoken, save Xemnas who had come forward to stand below the platform and gloat in his accomplishment. Even though it was made of light, the outline of Geni's body and clothing could be seen clearly; also, in the center of its chest, sat Geni's half a heart. Luckily for them, most of it was obscured so it was not easily discernable that only half of a heart was residing there. At that moment and out of nowhere, a magnificent pair of wings sprouted from its back, giving the creature an appearance that commanded respect. Then the being began to speak, however its mouth remained closed. The words could be heard coming from everywhere and anywhere all at once.

The doorway cannot be opened for those who wished harm upon this one.

"What do you mean?!" Xemnas said, furious. "I gave you the necessary heart. Now open the doorway to my Kingdom Hearts!"

This one had no heart.

"What are you talking about? Of course she did! How else could I have…?" Xemnas was fumbling for words.

We will not repeat ourselves again; this one did not have a heart.

"You lost, Xemnas," Riku said flatly, without any emotion. Xemnas turned, seeing the six of them standing there. Riku was eerily calm and collected. "She knew that even before you kidnapped her."

"Explain yourself," Xemnas said as his impassive gaze rested upon Riku.

"You forget, Xemnas. Who brought Geni into the Organization? When did they do it?"

Xemnas did not answer, but his brows furrowed in hidden anger. "Axel…"

"Yes, Axel. Axel had already betrayed Marluxia at Castle Oblivion, and he was already on his way out of the Organization when he brought Geni to you. He knew you were blinded by your goal of obtaining a heart, and so you wouldn't look far into Geni's reasons for being coerced. You only knew that you could fool Sora into destroying more Heartless for you if he knew his sister was being held hostage by the Organization. But why was Geni deceived in the first place? Because she had the same goal as you: of obtaining a heart, a full one. Geni lost half of her heart years ago to a Heartless in Hollow Bastion. Axel knew and manipulated that fact into tricking her into joining the Organization. The dark spell she was under completed her missing half of a heart, so you probably never knew the difference. And so she went through all of this knowing you would fail; again, if need be."

"No…" Xemnas said as he turned towards the being of light and the ruined moon. It was silent and still, its wings rustling occasionally. The creature only seemed mildly interested in the conversation between the two parties. "No…I will start all over again. Warriors of the Keyblade: go forth, and bring me more hearts!"

"No!" Riku, Sora, and King Mickey replied as they withdrew their Keyblades. Riku was still as impassive as before, but King Mickey and Sora had finally gotten over their initial shock at seeing Geni lying motionless above them. Their disbelief had been replaced with a torrid anger.

"No, Xemnas! No more people will be hurt because of you and your ambitions!" King Mickey cried out.

"You'll pay for this, Xemnas," Sora said threateningly.

"Hmph. Tell me, denizens of light: why do you hate the darkness so?"

"We don't hate it," King Mickey replied. "The world is made of light and darkness. You can't have one without the other, because darkness is half of everything."

"The only reason anyone has to be afraid of the darkness is because who is lurking inside of it," Riku insinuated.

"Then allow me one more question: you accept darkness, but choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who hover on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark, never given a choice?"

"That's simple," Riku stated. "It's because you ruin our worlds, and destroy everything that we care about."

"That may be, but what other choice might we have had?"

"Enough already! You're Nobodies – you don't have hearts or feelings to feel sorry about!" Sora finally shouted.

"I cannot feel sorrow…no matter what misery befalls the worlds or their people, no matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist." Xemnas's monologue hung in the air, a tribute to a being without remorse for his actions. Suddenly, Xemnas raised his hands high into the air, and drops of light began shooting upwards out of the ground and into the sky. First a few, then dozens, then thousands of them surrounded the platform on top of the castle. Sora shielded his eyes from the light, only to reopen them to a strange scene. He had been transported back down to the square with the television tower in front of him. Looking around, he realized he was the only one of his friends who had been transported.

The others opened their eyes, and saw that Xemnas had disappeared. They soon realized that he was not the only one who had vanished.

"Sora! Sora, where are you!" Kairi shouted. As Kairi cried out worriedly for her friend, Riku silently took his chance to retrieve Geni from the raised platform. He couldn't leave her there, all by herself. The being of light was still there, still standing over her as if to guard her empty shell. Riku slowly walked towards the platform, his gaze never leaving that of the creatures. Step by step, he slowly ascended until he was at eye level with it. They stood for a moment, staring at each other, until the being dipped its head in what seemed like a gesture of gratitude, or maybe humility.

This one was strong. Its final words were quiet as it turned to face away from Riku and towards the still demolished moon high above them. Still, this one was happy at the end. And with that, the light of the being began to collapse in unto itself. After a moment, it turned into a sphere of light suspended in the air in front of him. Slowly it rose towards the moon, soon becoming lost in the blackness of its center.

Riku knelt onto the cold stone of the platform, Geni's body gently splayed across it. He unconsciously let his hand slide a piece of her hair off of her face. Flashes of memory raced across his vision: Geni angry at him for calling her weird the first time they had met, her laughter as he told her about Sora's first escapades with their wooden swords, her smile as she showed him new battle skills, her tears as they cascaded down her face when she had still been doubting herself about her need in the world…

He could feel his own tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to fall. However, Riku knew that he had to be strong for everyone else…especially for Sora. Ever so carefully, he picked up the still body, gently placing his hands under her knees and her back. She was as light as ever, her eyes closed and a tiny smile playing at her lips; she could have been sleeping for all anyone knew. He carefully rested her head against his shoulder, embracing her with his strong, kind arms. Standing up, he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned around.

King Mickey had been watching Riku the entire time, knowing it would be best for him to retrieve her. Not that he didn't want to, of course, but he hadn't been able to lift Geni since she was six years old. As Riku turned and began walking back down the steps, the platform and steps began to disappear slowly. Once back onto the roof of the castle, the steps disappeared altogether.

Kairi had only shouted for Sora once more before she had noticed Riku's destination. She had promptly quieted herself for the moment, stepping forward to stand next to the stoic King Mickey. Donald and Goofy were also next to them, and Goofy already had a few tears leaking out of his eyes. As Riku came to a stop in front of them, King Mickey gestured for him to lay her down in front of him. Riku complied, his every gesture radiating with care.

Geni scarcely looked any different from the last time he had seen her smiling face. She was paler though, and her skin was strangely cool. King Mickey checked for a pulse in her wrist, and also leaned down to listen to the too faint heartbeat in her chest. Sitting up, he looked around at the distraught expressions of his friends. "Geni's heart is gone…Kingdom Hearts has taken it. We can't even retrieve it and give it back to her like Sora did for you, Kairi. Even though you had been without one for several weeks, you were still strong enough to reclaim it. However, Geni's condition when she lost it was quite bad. Her strength, energy, and magic are literally gone. Even if we did find her heart again, her body is already fading and before long it will be too late and her body would never absorb it."

"You mean, it's hopeless?" Donald warbled softly. "She's not going to make it?"

"I'm afraid so," King Mickey affirmed. Riku all of this time had never once taken his gaze off of her face, one of his hands still holding hers just like when she was sick at Hollow Bastion. Kairi stepped around Geni, walking up behind Riku to kneel next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it to remove him from his trance. Riku slowly looked up at his red-headed best friend, at the remorseful expression upon her own face.

"Riku," she began quietly. "I…I haven't known Geni for as long as any of you, but her last actions spoke louder than anything to me. We have to go find Sora, and then defeat Xemnas if Sora already hasn't. She gave her life to try and protect us, and now it's our turn to return the favor." Her blue eyes penetrated deeply into his own, stirring him from shock. Looking at her one last time, he gently laid her hand down next to her. He stood up, absentmindedly wiping dust off of him.

"Your right Kairi," he said. A feeling was beginning to replace the sadness and remorse inside of him. It raged through his veins, clouding all other forms of rational thought. "Xemnas must be defeated; he's the Organization's last survivor. I'll make sure that Geni's sacrifice wasn't in vain."

Sora in the meantime had been battling with Xemnas in the strange area. He couldn't go very far; once the buildings began to get fuzzy it seems that was where the barrier surrounding them ended. They battled up and down the strange building, doing flips in midair, trying to outdo each other's strategy. It took Sora longer than normal to defeat him because Xemnas kept using some kind of magic on him to block the use of his own. Finally, Sora had struck the final blow, and Xemnas began to disappear in front of him as the other Nobodies had when he had defeated them.

"Well, now what?" Sora thought aloud. He had been battling ever since he arrived, pushing the thought that Geni was gone to the far back of his mind. Now that he was alone and idle…

"Sora, where are you?" Kairi shouted. He looked around, hearing her voice but not seeing her. Suddenly, the area around him began to disappear into the backwards rain of light once again. In a blinding flash, he felt himself land face-first onto a hard surface.

"Oww," he said as he sat up, rubbing his nose.

"Sora! You're okay!" Kairi had run up from behind him and threw her arms around him. Sora was surprised; two major shows of affection in one day? This definitely had to do with…and that's when he saw Geni lying on the ground next to Riku. Kairi felt Sora stiffen, seeing his sister. As he rose to his feet, Kairi let him go, but stayed right by his side as he slowly walked over to her. He looked at Riku, who was kneeling next to her. His face could have been etched in stone, but Sora knew the turmoil that must be raging inside of him.

Sora knelt down next to his motionless sister, gently taking one of her hands in both of his. She didn't move, didn't stir, didn't do anything. He brought her hand and rested it on his chest next to his heart, his head bent, body shaking. He could see her chest moving up and down, but the movement was so small that if you weren't watching closely you would miss it easily.

"Sora?" King Mickey said faintly. "Where's Xemnas?" Sora looked up, silent. Suddenly they heard laughing from high over them. Looking up, they saw that Xemnas had implanted himself directly in the center of the ruined moon.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts! It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give you as many hearts as it may take. Mark my words; you can be no more complete without me than I without you. Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the other fools that may hinder us."

King Mickey jumped to his feet. "Xemnas, no! Don't do it!"

"Hearts quivering with hatred…hearts burning with rage…hearts scarred by envy. Hearts are the source of all power!" The darkness building up within Xemnas was finally released into the moon around him, making it explode with a brilliance that could rival an exploding sun. The six of them hid their eyes, Sora instinctively throwing his arms around Kairi to protect her. In moments, the light had faded and with it Xemnas.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Riku yelled.

"We can't let him get away now!" King Mickey said.

"Wait, look!" Kairi cried, pointing in front of them. A gigantic doorway was materializing in front of them, as gray as the Nobody's stronghold. It looked oddly familiar…a doorway from the past.

"Kingdom Hearts…" King Mickey said, mystified. "The worlds gave us this doorway; they want us to be the guardians of their destiny!"

"Once we go through we can't come back. It's either victory…or oblivion," Riku said flatly. He turned, facing Geni's still body once more. "We can't just…leave her here, can we?" he asked King Mickey, the mouse who had always helped him through the darkness.

"I can fix that," he said. "Sora, you still have Geni's staff, right?" Sora nodded, and removed the staff from his belt. The staff looked more alive than his sister did at the moment. Handing it over to King Mickey, the small mouse took it and pressed both ends of the staff in onto itself. "Okay, everyone stand back." Riku, Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all moved back a ways from their silent – but still breathing slightly…could they dare hope, even now? – friend as King Mickey said a few words over it. The staff began to glow, and he hurriedly placed it in one of her hands that was lying across her stomach. He quickly dashed away, and as he did a shimmering bubble emerged from the staff and completely covered Geni with it. "That will keep her safe until we come back," King Mickey said confidently. "Are you all ready?" he asked the five of them.

They looked towards their fallen comrade, friend, and sister. "For Geni," Sora whispered quietly. "For Geni, we'll defeat Xemnas and save the worlds." He turned and walked towards the large doorway. Riku and King Mickey followed him, each of them preparing their Keyblade. As they stood facing the door, the placed the tips of their Keyblades together. They began to glow, and from them a beam of light shot forth and hit the doorway, forcing the doors open with a loud creak. Silently, and with great determination, the five of them walked towards the doorway and into the realm of Kingdom Hearts, save one.

Riku paused at the entrance, glancing back one last time towards Geni. The magical bubble which surrounded and protected her reminded him of a bedtime story Kairi used to read when she was little, about a princess and seven dwarfs. An evil witch poisoned the princess with an apple and everyone thought she had died. They placed her in a glass coffin so everyone could bear witness to her beauty and gentle nature even in death. A handsome prince had found her, and asked that she be moved to his own castle. On the way, the poisoned apple in her throat had been loosened and coughed up when they were carting her over several large bumps in the road. The princess had awakened, and everyone rejoiced. The princess and the prince had married and lived happily ever after. I guess this won't be one of those "happily ever after's" after all, he thought.

"Riku?" Riku turned, seeing Sora's concerned face. "Are you coming?"

"Of course," he replied. "Just…"

"I know," Sora said with a sad smile. "Let's finish this." Riku nodded, and they stepped through the threshold.

The realm of Kingdom Hearts was not much different than The World That Never Was. However, the buildings were oddly decorated in zigzags of black and white. Waiting for them with a large monster that was shaped like the stronghold outside was Xemnas.

"So, your hearts have led you to obliteration," he said smugly. "Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's own heart." And with that, he raised his hand, thereby raising the monsters hand. It picked up one of the huge buildings and threw it at them. The six of them ran backwards, trying to avoid the shock and debris. However, Kairi and King Mickey were thrown back through the doors into The World That Never Was, and the doors then closed effectively sealing Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy inside the realm of Kingdom Hearts.

Sora made a deeply aggravated noise in the back of his throat. "We can take him on our own!" Withdrawing their Keyblades, the four of them charged through the wreckage Xemnas was causing amongst the buildings. He threw them at the four repeatedly, but each time they drew closer and closer to him. Finally, they reached the point where they could climb up into the monster and destroy his power source.

The living castle was powered by several generators that occasionally spewed humongous bursts of energy towards them. Jumping from platform to platform, they managed to evade each one and eventually destroy the reactors. As they exploded, a bright light consumed them and unknowingly transported them to the heart of the monster. Xemnas had also been transformed into a strange creature as well; his features were almost bird-like, sitting upon his throne of darkness. He was attached to the monster itself; giant red veins connecting him to the wall and body behind him.

Sora, Riku, Goofy, and Donald were dazed for a moment from the transport, but soon took up the offensive and attacked Xemnas. At first they all charged in at once, but Xemnas blocked them and sent them sprawling with a large electrical attack from his oversized sword. From then on they attacked in waves, Riku and Sora heading in first while Donald attacked with his magic from behind also while he was shielded by Goofy. And for strange reason as well, Xemnas was able to use Xigbar's blasters as well as Xaldin's spears. It went on and on like a repetitive dance; Xemnas would fire his black and white electricity at them, sending the heroes sprawling, while they would then counterattack using partner battling techniques.

Kairi and King Mickey had felt bad that they had been thrown from the battle before it even started, but they had enough on their hands destroying the few Heartless and Nobodies that had managed to reach the top of the castle. Most of them seemed lost and without cause, except for the hunger for the living hearts they felt. Any control that Xemnas once had was slipping through his fingers as he fought the defenders. They also kept a protective vigil over Geni's still body; probably fooling themselves that there might be something else they could still do to save her.

Soon inside Kingdom Hearts, the battle concluded. Sora, Donald, Riku, and Goofy had all dashed in and poured their power into one last attack against Xemnas. As the monster collapsed into a brilliant burst of light, they found themselves back on the top of Organization XIII's stronghold, Xemnas on his knees in front of them, the doorway to Kingdom Hearts gone.

"I need…more rage…more hearts," he stuttered.

"Xemnas," Sora said as he lowered his Keyblade, "There's more to a heart than just anger or hate; it's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" he said, almost earnestly.

"Unfortunately…I don't," he said as he finally faded away into the nothingness from whence he came. It took the six of them a moment before they finally realized that it was over. Xemnas had been defeated, and the worlds were finally safe.

"We did it," Sora said quietly. "We did it, like I promised." He turned towards Geni, still safe inside her protective shield King Mickey had set up around her. He walked over to her and placed his hand upon the shield. As if sensing the danger was gone, the protective spell enveloping her drew itself back into her staff. The threat had passed, and everyone was safe. Sora could now mourn his sister's loss in relative peace. He kneeled down next to her, letting his emotions and tears finally run freely.

"Geni," he said, the tears trickling down his face. "Xemnas is gone for good, as is the rest of the Organization. You're finally free from them," he said with a whisper. He bent his head, his spiky hair hiding his face from the world as his sorrow flew freely. Kairi came over and sat down next to him, and took one of Sora's hands in her own. Her presence was comforting, but it could not placate the deep loss Sora felt: he was losing half of himself and could not bring her back. Riku walked over to them as well, taking his place on Geni's other side. He had felt the tears stinging at his eyes earlier, but now he felt empty and dry.

King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all came and stood around Geni's body. King Mickey kneeled next to Riku to check Geni's vital signs one last time. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Riku knew that Geni was now gone for good. The person who had been so full of life, who had made him laugh countless times before, was now in a place where he could never reach her.

"Oh, my dear," King Mickey sighed as he placed a hand on her cool forehead. For some reason, a memory came to the forefront of his mind, when Geni was younger. She had found a large volume in the library, a story called "The Lord of the Rings," by a man named Tolkien from a world called England. One of her favorite lines had been when a Hobbit named Frodo was talking to a wizard named Gandalf in a dark cave, when he had wished that he did not have to tread the path of destiny he was on. The wizard had told him, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

You have certainly made good use of the time that you were given, particularly your second chance at life even though you were still so young at the time. As the six of them mourned their friend, they did not see the rift in the air opening behind him. A small breeze began to billow from it, hardly noticeable until it began to grow in strength relative to the size of the hole. Goofy was the first to feel the cool breeze, turning to see where the small bit of comfort in this forsaken land had come from. He couldn't believe his eyes, and began to pull on Donald's sleeve. "Donald…hey Donald…turn around…"

"Not now, Goofy," Donald said with a sigh. "If it's a Heartless, just…" he began to speak as he turned to face Goofy. His jaw dropped as well when he saw the unusual sight. Pointing, he bellowed, "What?!"

His sudden outburst caused the rest of them to look up at him. "Donald, what's the –" Sora began before his tongue was tied like the rest of them. He just couldn't believe at what he was staring at. The large rip in the air in front of them was beginning to blow huge gusts of air towards them, propelling their hair all about. They could not see anything inside of the rip, for it was shining forth a brilliant amount of light. However, something inside of the rift was beginning to emerge, its outline severely blurred. The wind began to die down to a consistent but soft breeze as the thing…wait…things emerged from the tear. Sora and Kairi both doubted their eyes, staring blankly at the apparitions in front of them.

"Roxas?...Naminé?..."