CHAPTER V

Baby, It's Fact

(NOTE)

This chapter might get a little bit... extreme. I realize I'm rushing things in this fanfiction, but a lot will happen. There may even be two split up plots if this one ends too quickly, which I don't plan on. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and enjoy this one! Disclaimer: ...[insert something witty here I don't own Kingdom Hearts. :D

(/NOTE)

In the dead of night, everyone was awoken. Charity and Riku had gotten out of there comfort zone, and Charity's hands were now shaking from the news she had yet to deliver to the rest of them. Still, Sora, Kairi, Nessa, Quince, and Broden sat patiently on the couch in the living room, Charity and Riku standing in front of it.

"Periodically, I've been seeing some of the Heartless's created memories," she announced to the group. 'What am I doing?' she asked herself. "May as well get to the point." she decided. "She gave Anton a heart."

Naminé jumped right out of Kairi just by hearing this, as did the rest of the group jump just as much as she had. Everyone had except for Nessa, whose eyes just widened and she clenched her hands to the side of the bed.

"He's dead." Nessa whispered. "I killed him."

"Not quite." Riku interjected. "Did you wonder why he was so hard to just defeat when you were fighting him? He sacrificed his heart to Kingdom Hearts to become a Nobody and live for all eternity." He glared at Nessa, who didn't seem to want to believe him.

"He tricked you." Charity said simply. "He tricked all of us, and he's back. We don't know where he is or if he's planning anything at all, but he's back and we've got a big, big mess on our hands tonight." Everyone on the couches were still staring at her, feeling hopeless. "It may feel like," she suddenly got confidence and stood right on the table, "it's hopeless. Everyone we've defeated seems to come back. Every task we accomplish only gives us ten more we need to accomplish again. Nessa isn't the only one with a loss.

"We've all lost something to Anton, to the Organization, to others. Some of us our homes, some of us our dignity and spirit, and others our lives." Charity put her hand to her chest. "I swear that we'll get Roxas, Naminé, and Axel back, we'll destroy the Organization, destroy Anton and retrieve my Heartless, if it's the last thing I do."

"Let's do it!" Sora exclaimed, putting his hand in the center of the group palm-side down. Everyone else imitated this and put their hands on top of Sora's. "All for one and one for all. That's what Goofy and Donald always used to tell me."

"And that's what we should live by." Riku told them, "Nobody gets left behind, nobody gets abandoned, and most importantly, nobody gets killed. We're all in this as a whole, not individually," he glanced over at Broden for a second. "Let's go seal some worlds."

xxxxx

There was a strange power the two could feel as the bulk of their selves, or lack thereof, conjoined. A Nobody and a Heartless, one potential and the other forever existing, becoming one. They felt alive; they could feel. In the place where a Heartless once sat was now a Somebody, opening her eyes for the first time.

Silvery brown eyes, almost as if a translucent sheet was laid on both of them. The hair was short and chocolate/red colored that hit her just below the shoulders. In her hand appeared the Destroyer of Balance; she was thinking for herself. What the Organization had said about needing a weapon to make hearts was untrue; she could direct her powers just fine for what Naminé had given to her. The Heartless had even brought somebody back.

But she wasn't a Heartless anymore.

"What am I doing?" the girl asked herself. Both Exie and Calypso's voices spoke at the same time. Her skin was a pale color with the slightest yellowish tint underneath the moonlight that shone in her 'room'. "None of these memories are real."

Staring down at her hands, she clenched them into fists, Destroyer of Balance crushing under her right grip.

"I will destroy Charity." she murmured to herself, "I refuse to live the alternate life of somebody who is already living. There isn't room for both of us here."

But how was she to do it? Wasn't she a captive of the Organization?

In the hand that had crushed the Destroyer of Balance, a new keyblade appeared. The arm was black, with weaving, golden ringlets surrounding it and running up the arm, yet somehow without touching it. The top of the keyblade seemed to shift between silver and black as the glory of it shone under the moonlight. Standing up, she ran the keyblade down her own hand. Blood. Sharp as a knife. The keyblade disappeared when she bid it to.

"The Organization does not command me."

xxxxx

"It's late." Broden complained, "Couldn't we have waited until the morning to go and seal keyholes? Or better yet, next week? I'm hungry. Is there a McDonald's in this place?" he asked, greatly annoying Charity. He was starting to remind her of Leander. He was just missing the green and red hair.

Savior of Balance appeared in Charity's hand, and began to pulse rapidly as though it had a heart beat of its own. Then again, if each world had a heart, what could make them so sure that her keyblade did not? Shrugging it off that she was just eager to fight, she let the keyblade whisk itself away into the air around her.

The Gummi Ship finally landed after Broden's ongoing complaints about fast-food and how it's 'so fattening but so good'. "Whoa! You guys didn't tell me that we were going here!" Charity purred as she swam around underwater. She had now become a mermaid, and her tail was a pretty, light blue that turned to yellow at the tip of her fins.

"Sorpresa!" Sora smiled. Author's Note: At school, at the end of the year we have award days in all of our classes, and my Spanish teacher said that the awards would be a 'sorpresa', and the next day she told us 'I forgot the awards at home. Sorpresa!'

Nessa, on the other hand, was just as enthusiastic but had a plain, purple tail. Kairi's was a light pink, Sora's was a normal, deep blue, and Riku's was a shocking yellow. Broden and Quince, however, both had different shades of green. The only thing the girls seemed to be worried about was the fact that they were only equipped with a very uncomfortable shell bra.

"Where's the keyhole under here?" asked Kairi.

"It's in Ariel's grotto, I'll show you." Sora told them. They swam out of the small cavern that they were in, only to be confronted by the mermaid that Sora had known as Arielle herself. They both stopped abruptly before they hit each other, and Flounder was swimming right next to her. He had obviously gotten older and fatter since the last time they met, although Sora couldn't figure out why. He then realized that it was probably because times moved differently in other worlds.

"Sora! You have to help me!" the redhead pleaded.

"Nice to see you too."

"My daughter, Melody, became a mermaid somehow," she told them, "even though she's a human. I think it might have been Ursula's doing, but you destroyed her with Donald and Goofy a long time ago, so I don't know who it is."

"Actually, we just came to seal the keyho—..." Broden was interrupted.

"We'll help find her." Sora nodded.

"Thank you so much." Ariel said sadly. "And those Heartless are back again. Does that mean a Heartless would have taken her?"

Sora thought for a second. What would the Heartless want with her? "We'll find out." He nodded, and led the group in a seemingly random direction, although he obviously knew exactly where he was going.

"It's kind of dark under here." Nessa commented.

"Probably the Heartless." Charity suggested.

They reached a strangely strong current that they all had to swim up, which became increasingly difficult the farther they went. As they finally were able to branch off into a small cavern, they swam through it and discovered the area of the sunken ship like they had once three years ago, or at least half of them did.

"You think she would be in here?" asked the worried mother.

"Where else? You said she was adventurous, right?" Of course, Sora was left to do all of the talking to these messed up Disney characters.

"Adventurous probably isn't the same as exploring a sunken deadbeat ship." Charity remarked.

"I think she's right." Kairi said.

"I kinda like the ship." Nessa remarked.

"Can't we at least get tacos?"

"Will you all just shut up!?" asked Sora, who now couldn't concentrate.

"I'll shut up when I get a big mac." Broden grunted.

At that moment, and odd fish dropped an anvil on Broden. He started to complain very loudly about how some 'Azul Twilight' keeps beating him up.

"Hush." Nessa sighed, putting her hand to her forehead.

"I don't see her." Riku called to them. Apparently, while everyone else was giving Sora a headache, he had actually been exploring the ship to see if he could find the younger mermaid anywhere, but had come up luckless.

"Told you." Charity shook her head.

"What'd you tell me?" asked Sora dumbly.

"Let's just try Ursula's old lair?" suggested Ariel. Even fully grown, she was as daring as ever as she boldly ran into the giant hole in the underwater wall to where Ursula's lair used to be.

"She's too mary-sue ish. Let's trap her." Charity suggested happily.

"No, no." Quince sighed. He just decided to follow after her, and soon, everyone followed suit.

"We're never going to lock that keyhole are we?" asked Kairi.

Riku shook his head. "I don't think we will."

xxxxx

"What are you doing, Heartless?!" came Xemnas's angry voice as Calypso bursted into the scene. The Organization members that were in the meeting all jumped out of their chairs to see her on the white floor. She looked definitely different; but why?

"Thanks to Exie, I now have the powers of both a Nobody and a Heartless." she told them, as if reading their minds. "Out of a reaction, we combined. I am now a Somebody with power, and you no longer command me. Now, I am your new leader."

"Says who?" asked Larxene angrily, pulling out her kunai which were laying readily in between her fingers. She shot one of them out, and without even flinching, Calypso created a barrier which rebounded the kunai back at Larxene, missing her head by an inch as it hit the wall.

"You missed." Larxene spat.

"So did you." Calypso raised an eyebrow. The girl had certainly gained an attitude since they had first met; she had also gained strength unheard of.

"What makes you think you have the power to overrun my Organization?" asked Xemnas, stepping up in front of everybody. At this Marluxia's face screwed up in twisted anger; how he wanted control over the Organization.

"This." she said quietly. She held out her hand. Nothing came out of it, but darkness began to wrap around their leader. Slowly and surely, it wrapped around his neck and began to squeeze tighter and tighter.

Before they all knew it, their leader disappeared into the darkness once more.

Staring at where the Superior stood just a second before in utter shock, all eyes eventually trailed back to Calypso. Although Roxas and Axel really had nothing against Xemnas leaving, what would they do?

"Unless you wish to serve a painful death such as that; one that cannot be brought back due to simple acquired abilities," she looked at Marluxia, "you will listen to me and do as I command." This girl was obviously not afraid that she was a Somebody and she could bleed and be injured, for her power obviously outdid even the strongest Organization member.

"Apparently," she spoke as everybody went silent, "your task is no longer to receive a heart from me. Only one of you receive a heart, and that one shall be the member that carries out this task, as I wish to stay here and learn more about the Nobodies and Heartless."

"What's the task?" Roxas broke the silence.

Calypso grinned at him. Apparently, she had remembered Roxas, including the fake memories that Naminé had given her. "I will give a heart to whoever can destroy the girl known as Charity first." she smirked.

Axel pounded his fist into the wall behind him, "What are you talking about? Why?" he asked angrily.

"Fake memories or not, a different name or not, I am Charity. I am two thirds of her whereas she's just a body with a heart. There's only room for one of us in the Universe of Kingdom Hearts, and surely if one stays while the other does as well, the universe will be destroyed."

Vexen stepped in. "I understand. Because her Nobody and Heartless made a Somebody when combining, having two of the same exact person, appearance-wise or not, would trigger an unbalance in the universe and destroy it."

Calypso grinned. "You're smart." Her eyes scanned the Organization. They were all at least ten years older than she had been given the appearance of, but she was not intimidated in the slightest, "Besides," she spoke, "It's a matter of pride. I want her gone."

xxxxx

"I remember this," Sora whispered, "The last time we found the keyhole inside of Ursula's pot thing and we also found Odol hiding out in there."

Charity laughed. She couldn't remember the last time that Odol was actually an enemy to them all. After that, her thoughts just trailed back to Kiur and then to Anton. She still couldn't get herself to believe that he was back.

"Help me!" came a fragile voice, obviously from outside of Ursula's lair. They all swam out fast to enter the opening again where the sunken ship was held. At the bottom of the area, a young mermaid with long, black hair was tied down by seaweed. Her mouth had apparently been tied down as well, but she managed to wiggle it off of her face.

"Melody!" Ariel cried. As she tried to run up to her daughter, she was stopped by a giant half-octopus woman that could have been Ursula had she not been so skinny.

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Who is that!?" he called to Ariel.

"Morgana!" Ariel hissed, not at Sora but at the octopus. Sora had guessed that she had just pulled an Ursula and made herself huge in attempt to stop them. Although, Ursula had hardly needed it to begin with.

Kingdom Key whipped into Sora's hand before anybody else's did, although the weapons had appeared, following suit. The Gunblade that Broden wielded turned out to be very useful in battle, although the wielder himself could have something else said for him. Brutally attacking the Octopus, she proved stronger than her appearance.

xxxxx

"What happens to me?" Naminé asked Calypso quietly, who had visited Roxas's room solely to talk to Naminé.

"I'll need you here. You've spoken to Charity before, haven't you? Obviously you can tell me her weaknesses." Calypso responded.

Naminé's eyes widened, and she looked down, sadly. Why was it she was always being used in the worst ways.

"Surely you'll have to tell me," Calypso threatened, her keyblade appearing in her hand. It shown almost as gloriously in the daybreak that had fallen upon them all since she had destroyed Xemnas herself, "or I may have to get rid of Roxas."

"You!" Naminé cried out angrily, "I've given you Charity's memories along with the ones where you lived in the Organization. Why can't you figure out her weakness yourself?!" She obviously didn't want to sell out one of her best friends so directly.

"So what you're saying," Calypso started quietly. Her voice and appearance was so much like Charity's that it almost made Naminé sick, "is that her weakness lies in her memories?" She stood up and closed her eyes. "Who is it that this Charity cares for the most?" she asked herself as she turned away from the girl.

xxxxx

Morgana was weakening, and showing her own weakening by yelling out cries of pain almost every time she was hit in the face with a keyblade. At that point, almost everybody understood that her face was her weak point. Attacking as if they'd never get to hold a keyblade again, the giant octopus finally made her fall.

"She's gone." Ariel sighed. She was hardly able to help, but she was a good distraction and was able to keep Melody safe at the moment.

"Mom!" Melody cried, "I'm sorry, I'll never go back to the ocean again. I promise."

Ariel shook her head, "That isn't the solution, Melody," she said, holding her close, "I think we should tear down the walls to the ocean. We all deserve to be able to come back here."

Although nobody seemed to have the smallest idea as to what she meant, they all smiled and watched upon the scene giddily.

Sora shot up, "The keyhole!" he told them. They all jumped and followed him out of the very creepy area, and ended up in an open part of the ocean. There was a small hut that seemed to be made out of rock, but when Sora pushed a rock aside and they went in, it was definitely bigger than they had thought.

There were shelves everywhere with the oddest objects lining them, all of them very random and not from the world underwater, such as shoes and forks. Sora smiled as he saw a crystal trident head that seemed to be stuck in the wall, and pointed his keyblade.

"Uh, Sora?" started Riku.

"There's... no keyhole...!" Kairi and Riku had obviously been wrong, because at that second a keyhole appeared in its place, which Sora took only a few seconds to seal up.

"Trust me from now on, 'kay?" he asked the rest of them, smiling.

Riku and Kairi both laughed. Obviously, this was a friendship that wouldn't die, not because it started so early but because it was so strong.

"Braaavo," came a drawling voice from behind them. Spinning around, they saw a man in an Organization suit; he had blond hair that was mostly spiked up and a smug face, carrying a sitar at his side. Sora immediately relaxed as he realized it was him on the scene; he was one of the easiest Organization members he had to fight.

"You have Naminé," Charity interjected, "what do you want?"

"There's been a change in leadership," the man named Demyx smiled at them, "That is to say, Xemnas is no longer our leader."

"Anton?!" Charity exclaimed.

Demyx laughed a little bit, "Haha; I guess you'll have to find out. But, we were promised a heart if we carried out one task, ya see? I really don't want to, but if it means I can become a Somebody I could probably make a band and, well, you know what they say, anything for rock and roll, right?"

"What do you they want you to do?" asked Sora, stalling as he waited for Kingdom Key to appear dramatically at exactly the right moment.

"Kill Charity." The Keyblade appeared at the perfect time, but Sora was pushed away.

"Wanna kill me?" she asked, and looked back at the rest of them, "Then you fight me, one on one." Charity could hardly remember a time that she ever fought anybody one on one, even during her fight with Kiur she was eventually joined by Nessa and Riku.

"I told you," he said in a baby-like voice, "I don't want to, but I have to."

"Whatever." Charity groaned. Savior of Balance appeared in her hands; it was pulsing again. In a way, it seemed much stronger than before.

"Dance, water, dance!" he shouted, strumming his sitar. Water versions of Demyx appeared much to Charity's disgust. It seemed as if she was being timed to destroy them all before she could even get to Demyx, but just with a few strikes they were all gone. She then began to hack the hell out of Demyx, who seemed to have the same ambition back.

"You know you're not gonna win." Charity told him, smiling.

"What makes you sure?" he asked. He looked seriously confused; poor guy. Stupid and didn't want to be in the Organization.

"Think about it, what damage can water do except maybe whiplash? Especially under water?" she asked.

"You have a point." Demyx mentioned. It was odd being able to carry on a casual conversation with this Organization member.

"You want a heart that bad?" asked Charity as she knocked Demyx backwards. He nodded and swam right back up to her, summoning more of his water forms. "If you say 'dance water dance' one more time I think I'll go crazy." she told him.

The battle, although, did not last very long as Demyx fell to the floor on one knee. "Worth a shot." he smirked. "After all, the darkness isn't so bad." He disappeared into nothing.

"Get ready," Sora called at her from behind, "that's by far the easiest Organization member you'll ever fight."

"I hope so." Charity murmured. "But they're under a different commander?"

"It has to be Anton." Riku decided, "Why else would they have brought him back?"

Broden raised an eyebrow, "They want to be under the command of somebody besides Xemnas?" Surprisingly enough, they had a point.

"We can't think about that right now." Charity shook her head. "The point is that we've gotten rid of Demyx, and if Xemnas isn't the leader anymore he's probably killed himself, so eleven Organization members to go."

"Minus Axel and Roxas," Nessa reminded her, "So it's nine."

Charity shook her head, "That's what I'm afraid of. What if we have to fight them?"

Sora shook his head, "You were right before, we can't worry about this right now. We sealed the keyhole, let's get back to Hollow Bastion for that rest we never actually got.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Quince sighed. He was obviously just as tired as the rest of them. Nessa found it very hard to resist the temptation just to fall asleep on his shoulder when they finally made it back on the Gummi Ship. Imagine how awkward he would have to feel if he even knew that she was with Hayner?

"Anton." Charity looked at Riku, who looked back down at her, "He had a Way to Twilight, right?"

xxxxx

"How does it feel?" Calypso asked Anton. He was standing in the middle of the meeting room; he was brought back days before, but now had just woken up.

The boy had certainly grown while he was in the darkness. His hair was shaggy and longer, but still spiked up in the back while flat in the front and strawberry-blond. The boy's build was somehow more muscular and real, and his eyes had finally fit his face. "Different." was all he said. Obviously, since he was in the darkness, he had become quiet again.

"Charity's weakness," started Calypso, "her only weakness, unfortunately," she went on, "is her friends. You're her best friend's cousin, and a former member of their little 'order'. Do you know what that means?" she asked him.

"Means I'm fucked." was all he said.

Calypso's eyes narrowed, "it means that you're going to have to fight. If any of them do manage to kill you, they will be too weak at heart to survive another attack."

"I'm not dying again." he growled at the girl.

"You never died in the first place." she told him, "Remember? You sacrificed your heart to Kingdom Hearts. You were never really dead, as your body just faded into the darkness when they all left the scenery. Have you, perhaps, tricked yourself into thinking you were dead as you tricked them as well?"

Anton grimaced, and he placed his hand on his chest where Nessa had stabbed him. How he had deserved it, but he had no intention of joining that side. Light, balance, darkness, it all lead to chaos. Couldn't he just be nothing again?

"Take this room." she told him, no, commanded him as she changed the subject. "My room is now that of Xemnas's, my rightful room, as is my position. I've done you well by giving you a heart," she reminded him as she stepped out of the room, "don't disappoint me." She closed the door behind her.

Anton's fists curled up in anger; why was he so angry? Did he really hate being back that much?" At the first sight of a box in the corner labeled 'hearts', he kicked it as hard as he could. The hundreds of hearts fell out from the box, and shattered the second they hit the floor. He stood in the center of the room once more, his pulse quickening and his anger rising only by the second. "We'll see, Calypso," he laughed, a brilliant idea coming to mind, "we'll see."

xxxxx

Hollow Bastion was definitely comforting that day. The sun was shining, although it had to have been at least three pm, it felt like morning. Riku and Charity had gone for a walk together hand-in-hand, Broden, Kairi and Sora went back to watch television, and Nessa played Monopoly with Quince. It was an odd thing to do, but at least it kept them both entertained.

"Why would Anton want to kill me?" asked Charity to Riku.

Riku shrugged, "Everyone wants to kill you. You're the link between the darkness and the light and they're probably under the impression that they'll get your power by killing you."

Charity nodded, her grip on Riku's hand intertwined with hers strengthening, "That doesn't matter, though, because we'll defeat them, and we might even restore Azure Daybreak, right?" she smiled at Riku.

Just by seeing her smile, Riku's heart melted; he missed it so much. With his other hand, he felt for a small object in his pocket, but pulled his hand back out. Facing Charity now, he pushed her hair out of her face caused by the wind blowing on it, and kissed her on the lips.

"Tonight, let's just not worry about that." He winked at her, a very un-Riku-ish thing to do, and kept walking.

Charity found it very odd how so many couples were able to be so emotional with their partners when near them that they couldn't even smile, because God strike her down where she stood, smiling was something that Riku could make her do the best.

Author's Note: I suppose I'll end it there because I have a massive headache and I thought the ending was cute. So, I'll see you next chapter, and I'm looking forward to it. :3