My god I'm a terrible author…So so so sorry for the delay in this update. See…after about 11 pages written, I was able to download Ragnarok again…and thus got very sidetracked by that game. Then I managed to lose my flashdrive for a good few weeks. But now I have found it again! And am back again writing. So thanks to those of you who have decided to stick with me, and I'll try to be better from now on!

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Chapter 5: You're Kidding…Right?

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Going through the portal, Sora mused, felt very much like traveling through a wall of water. Or maybe haunted water, as passing through it sent chills up and down his spine. He had given up struggling against the iron grip that held him in place, as doing such only made the monstrosity holding him tighten its grip.

They arrived in a grand, circular room that looked to Sora as if it belonged in some medieval castle. There was a large staircase spiraling around each side that led to a higher platform on the far side of the room, where a huge carving was set in the wall that seemed to be an ornately decorated heart.

The man's voice echoed off the acoustic chamber when he spoke. "Welcome, Sora, to Hollow Bastion!" He made a sweeping gesture around the room, as if he was welcoming Sora as a guest to his home. It wasn't very brightly lit, and Sora was almost sure he saw eyes glowing from random spots in the darkness. Though he could never quite tell for sure, because every time he blinked they were gone or in a different spot. It was very unnerving actually.

With a commanding snap of the man's fingers, the large shadow creature began to morph, once again forming the army of smaller shadows it had been before. But it never once relinquished its grip on Sora, and when the change was complete he was being held in place by many smaller cold, clawed hands. He struggled weakly, at the same time asking, "Hollow Bastion?"

"I'm sure you will come to appreciate this place with time." He said carelessly, correctly reading the fear and apprehension in Sora's bright blue eyes. "But in the mean time…bind him." He ordered to the shadows, and Sora yelped as he was suddenly being dragged backwards.

"W-wait a minute. What are you going to do to me?" the brunette asked nervously, fiercely fighting the many stronger hands dragging him up the stairs and towards the platform in front of the heart engraving. As they reached the top of the stairs, Sora realized that the platform was adorned by a mirror image of the heart on the wall, and as soon as his feet touched it the lines began to glow. Sora gasped as the light spread, and caused the design on the heart to glow as well, shining a multitude of brilliant colors. It would have been beautiful if Sora hadn't been so scared at the moment.

And then chains shot forth from the wall, wrapping tight around Sora's wrists and ankles, pulling him from the ground and suspending him in the air directly in front of the center of the heart. "Hey!" he yelled, half in fright and half in sudden anger. "What's going on? What are you doing?" He really didn't like the looks the shadow creatures were giving him. Both smaller and larger surrounded him below, staring up with hungry yellow eyes, looking as if they wished nothing more than to simply eat him.

"Holding you there is as much for your safety as it is for my benefit, Sora. You see…it's been a long time since a heart as pure, and as powerful as yours has graced their presence. They're hungry Sora."

Sora gulped as he stared down at the shadows again, and then at the man standing at the center of the room speaking to him. "A heart as pure…they want to eat my heart?" he asked, looking suitably disgusted.

"It is the only thing a heartless desires."

"A…heartless?"

"Yes, and you might as well become acquainted, as this is to be your…family, from now on."

Sora's eyebrows rose in a sort of incredulous expression. "Family? But you're not gonna…I mean they're not…what the hell are you planning?" Sora asked, a bit of his bravado coming back in the nerve-induced adrenaline rush. Or maybe it was a hysterical shock setting in.

"Nothing you'll have to worry about for long. You see…it's as I've told you before, I need your heart, and the time has come to take my prize." He walked over to a strange sort of panel that Sora hadn't noticed before. It looked to be a cross between some sort of ancient magic, and beyond modern technology. How that was possible he wasn't sure, but the thought quickly left his mind as the man started pressing buttons, tracing patterns, and other things Sora didn't care to notice.

"If you've wanted this –my heart or whatever- for so long, then why did you wait? Wouldn't it have been easier to just take me by surprise that first time a year ago when I was defenseless and unsuspecting?" He was only half stalling for time with the question, as he really was curious about the answer.

"Perhaps, but at that time I wouldn't have been able to return with you, thus making any sort of attack a moot point." He never once looked up from the panel now lit up by many different colored lights. Then suddenly there was a whirring sound, and Sora tugged against the chains as he felt a strange energy swirling around him. It felt like he was slowly being drained; like something was tugging at him from the inside.

Sora wanted to ask why, ask what was different now that the attack worked, but was too distracted by the tingling beginning to spread through his entire body. This…magic?…that seemed to be pulling against his mind was creating a buzzing in his head that was starting to give him a headache.

But suddenly his attention was pulled outward again as there was a loud crash from outside the grand ancient doors on the other side of the room. This was soon followed by an almost intelligible sound that sounded like a lot of angry quacking in a way. He was barely able to make out the words "Don't let it get away!"

Then a clearer voice followed, though the accent was strange. "I'm on it!" the voice shouted, followed by another crashing sound, and more angry quacking.

Sora raised an eyebrow at the strange interruption that seemed very out of place for the situation. Creepy-shadow-man turned suddenly, making a sound of irritation, and turned to walk towards the door. But before he took two steps, the large doors flew open, and in stumbled the strangest two beings Sora had ever seen. From what he could tell, they looked like a duck and a dog…but humanoid in some way. Well, they were wearing clothes at least.

They ran in chasing another one of the shadow creatures –heartless he recalled- and he was suddenly hopeful these guys might be on his side. The duck came through first, waving a small staff wildly, and random bolts of lighting came from nowhere around the shadow. He was still yelling a bunch of unintelligible noise. Following him was the dog-man, wielding nothing but a shield, stumbling in trying to shake some sort of rope or chord from around his left foot.

Sora snorted with laughter despite his current predicament. He couldn't help it, that entrance was worthy of a comedy show in a circus. The noise, however, alerted the two new faces to his presence, and suddenly everyone froze, and it felt for a moment as if time itself had stopped.

"Donald, Donald!" The dog-man suddenly shouted to the duck, forgetting about the chord around his foot and pointing wildly toward Sora as he jumped up and down excitedly. "It's him! He's here!"

"Wha-?" The duck now identified as Donald stared closely at him. His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed suspiciously. "How do we know for sure…?" he muttered.

Sora's vision started to blur as his energy was continuously drained from him, and he renewed his struggle against the steel chains holding him in place. He spoke at the same time shadow-man decided enough was enough.

"Um…a little help here?"

"You two! What are you doing here?"

And time was normal again. "Goofy, get the boy!" Donald shouted as he ran straight towards Sora's main enemy at the moment.

Goofy? What an odd name… Sora thought absentmindedly. He was beginning to feel as if he'd been drugged. He felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face, and he screwed his eyes shut, pulling harder at the bonds. He barely noted the pain as his wrists and ankles were cut into, and started to wonder if this was where he was going to die. The world around him slid in and out of focus, and the last thing he saw was the dog-man named goofy spinning wildly through the shadows at his feet, knocking them away with his shield before all sight was lost to unconsciousness.

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Back at Destiny High, right after Sora had been pulled through the portal, the scene was chaotic. Some were still running around screaming, some were standing with mouths wide open in disbelief, and some had even fainted. It took the teachers a full half hour to get everybody calm enough again to get into the auditorium for an emergency assembly.

None of Sora's group joined it. With Kairi in the lead, they decided that the school day was ruined now, and went to find Riku. They knew nothing useful would be said in the assembly anyway. Most likely the principal would attempt to make excuses for what had happened, and tell them not to worry, that they would look into the 'events' as they were like to be called. There was no way they would be able to explain to the satisfaction of the students though. After all, they had just been attacked by a giant shadow monster! At least nobody could call Sora delusional now.

"So what do you think that thing was?" Yuffie asked conversationally as they walked away from the school grounds, where you couldn't even tell anything had happened except for trodden grass in the shape of giant footprints.

"Creepy, that's what." Selphie said with a shiver, wrapping her arms around her middle protectively.

"I'd call it a demon if I had to give it a name." Kairi replied, "But I'm more concerned with that strange man that was with it. You know, the one that actually talked?" She gave herself a little credit for not sounding too sarcastic with that statement.

"Yeah, he definitely looked like a schemer." Tidus added.

Kairi rolled her eyes and decided not to respond. It didn't matter though, as they'd reached Riku's house by this point. The others were silent as she reached up and knocked firmly on the door.

No answer.

She knocked again, a bit louder this time. And again there was no answer. Sighing she decided to test the doorknob, and was surprised to find it unlocked. With a quick glance to the three behind her –who all nodded their encouragement- she pushed the door open.

They weren't quite prepared for the sight they walked in on. Selphie gasped and brought her hands to her mouth as she caught sight of the glass that littered the far side of the living room. The shards glinted in the sunlight that streamed in through the open doorway. Behind the couch and near the shattered doors, there were small bloodstains. And right in the center of the living room was Riku. He sat on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking, and no one knew quite what to do. Even Yuffie was quiet.

Kairi was the first to break out of the shock, and she walked slowly towards the boy on the couch. "Riku…?" she whispered uncertainly. She perched on the armrest and rested her hand lightly on Riku's back.

"What are you guys doing here?" he snapped harshly, though his hands muffled the effect.

Yuffie stepped forward with her hands on her hips and a glare set on Riku. "Just because you miss your boyfriend is no reason to yell at us!" she said determinedly.

Riku's head snapped up and he returned her glare with a stunned look of his own. "Boyfriend?" His eyes were red and his hair was mussed where his hands had clutched it before.

"Well yeah, you are, aren't you?" Yuffie asked looking far too confident.

Slowly Riku shook his head. "I couldn't call him my boyfriend, but…I'd be lying if I said there wasn't something…" He felt Kairi's hand leave his back, and silently wondered if he'd offended her.

Yuffie nodded. "Yes, I thought you seemed a little upset for losing just a friend."

There was silence for a moment before Riku turned an icy gaze towards the girl. "Just a friend? You don't seem that worried. Does Sora mean that little to you? I should think that, after something like what happened today happens, that you would be at least a little worried for even just a friend."

"Of course I am!" Yuffie countered with a surprised gasp at the accusation. "Sora's like a best friend to all of us! If I wasn't concerned about him, I would be at home enjoying the interruption of school instead of coming here to get some answers."

"And what sort of answers do you expect me to have?" he said somewhat defensively, realizing that yelling at his own –and especially Sora's- friends would get him nowhere.

"Well how about what happened to your doors, for starters?" Tidus suggested, waving a hand towards the shattered glass.

Riku lifted his head to look at the indicated spot. "Huh…I should get that cleaned up and fixed before my parents come back." He muttered.

"Hey, where are your parents, anyway?" Selphie wondered as she took note of the much too silent house.

Riku made a vague gesture with his hand. "They're out on a second honeymoon or something. Said they'd be gone for a couple weeks. Didn't I mention that?"

Kairi tilted her head in thought. "No, I don't think you did."

Tidus cleared his throat in annoyance. "The doors?"

"Oh, right." Riku sighed and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing out the silver strands. "That happened on Friday, when Sora came over."

Selphie raised an eyebrow. "You broke the doors?"

"We were attacked."

Kairi gasped, and everyone moved around to take a seat on the couch and armchair for the story. Riku rolled his eyes, feeling very much like a kindergarten storyteller. "It was nothing like the one that came to the school today. Well, the man was there, but the creature that attacked us was smaller…about the size of any of us, actually." His eyes traveled over the floor and landed on a small bloodstain; he immediately averted his gaze. "Apparently it was ordered to attack me, but Sora jumped in the way. He fought the thing, and I grabbed a sword from the back and tossed it at the creature. It just so happened they were in front of the glass doors. I still need to get that sword from the backyard actually…it's my favorite one."

"So that's why Sora looked so…out of it yesterday."

"Yeah…thing damn near killed him. I'd never seen Sora look so scared in my life." He shuddered at remembering the look that had been in Sora' eyes. "I've got to find him…"

"Do you have any idea where they could've gone?" Selphie asked tentatively. "I mean…they disappeared through some black portal. That's not exactly a normal mode of transportation."

Riku sighed and dropped his head into his hands again. "I haven't a single clue. That man left the same way that night; he wanted Sora to go with him somewhere. And I'm starting to think that this 'somewhere' is in another world entirely."

"Another world?" Kairi asked only a little doubtfully.

"If you've got a better suggestion I'd love to hear it."

"Riku, don't be difficult."

The silver-haired teen stood abruptly, and began pacing in front of the couch. "I'm not trying to be difficult…I just—" He cut himself off with another heavy sigh. "I'm just trying to figure out what I can do."

Yuffie tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "What was it that Sora yelled just before they all disappeared?"

"'Ansem', wasn't it?" Selphie answered after a short pause.

Suddenly Riku's eyes widened. "Ansem…" he whispered. He smacked his hand to his forehead. "I'm so stupid! He was looking right at me when he said that. I've got to…I gotta go" he mumbled haltingly.

"What? Riku, wait!" Kairi called. "Where are you going?"

"To Sora's house."

Tidus lifted his eyebrows curiously. "I'm pretty sure Sora didn't just go home."

Riku answered with a deadpan stare. "Duh. I need to talk to his mother."

"Oh my…she doesn't know, does she?" Kairi whispered.

"Nope…and it's gonna suck having to tell her. But I need some information and I know she can give it to me."

"And what are we supposed to do?" Yuffie asked.

Riku thought for a moment. "I dunno…go do some damage control at the school or something." And without another word he left.

There was quite a pause after Riku's exit, before Selphie spoke. "Damage control…?"

Kairi glared at the door. "He expects us to explain everything that happened to the school? No way, I don't think so. If we explain things he's coming with us."

Selphie giggled a bit at that. "I don't know…he looked pretty determined with his own agenda. You think he knows something?"

Kairi shrugged, turning her gaze back to the people around her. "Probably. Whatever it is, it's got something to do with this Ansem person."

Tidus shifted in his seat. "I think we should wait until Riku's calmed down a bit, and maybe ask him about it tomorrow." Every head turned and gave him a strange look. "What?" he asked a bit nervously.

"Someone write this down, Tidus actually said something useful!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly.

"Hey!"

The other girls giggled, and Kairi nodded. "I agree. Riku can be pretty bull-headed when he gets something into his mind." She turned to the other two girls in the room. "Hey, you guys wanna stay over tonight?"

"Ooh, can I come?" All three girls turned a glare on Tidus. "Er…right then. I'll just…be going. Call me if you find anything out!" He quickly took his leave, and left the others laughing at his expense.

Kairi stood up, and with one last glance at the shattered doors, gestured for the other girls to follow her. "Come on, we can talk more at my house." They were quick to agree, and Riku's house was soon empty once again.

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Sora woke slowly and yawned widely, brining his hands up to rub his eyes. He felt oddly refreshed, and it took a couple of minutes before he remembered why he shouldn't be feeling that way. With a startled gasp, he sat up straight, and looked fearfully around him. He saw the two from Hollow Bastion –Donald and Goofy if he remembered right- as well as some people he'd never seen before. One was a tall, rather frightening looking man with long brown hair, gray eyes, an almost all leather outfit and a scar across his nose.

The other was a kindly looking young woman with a red and pink dress, her light brown hair tied back in a braid that reached her lower back. "Where am I?" he asked softly, unconsciously edging towards the wall behind him. They had been talking amongst themselves, but now they focused on him.

"You're awake!" The woman said needlessly and smiled. "How do you feel?"

Sora watched her warily. "I'm…fine. Who are you?"

"Oh, forgive me. My name is Aerith." She pointed to the man standing with his arms folded over his chest. "This here is Squall."

"Leon." The man grunted.

Aerith laughed. "Right, Leon. And these two are Donald and Goofy."

Goofy grinned and waved enthusiastically. Sora waved hesitantly back.

"You're sure this is him?" Leon asked, turning to Donald and Goofy.

Donald nodded. "Absolutely. Xemnas had him."

"Xemnas…is that the man who's been after me all this time?" Sora asked, momentarily forgetting his fears in the wake of getting answers. Aerith nodded, and he decided to voice his next question. "Why?"

There was a silent exchange of meaningful looks among the odd group before Leon stepped forward. "What do you know about the Keyblade?" he asked, gray eyes boring into Sora's own blue ones.

"Keyblade…oh! Right, that's what that guy –Xemnas- called that thing…" He was speaking more to himself than the people around him, much to their amusement. He concentrated on that energy signature again, and called the blade to his hand. "I…don't know anything about this thing." He admitted hesitantly. Looking up hopefully, he continued speaking, "That Xemnas guy told me that just because I can call the Keyblade…doesn't mean I can wield it. What does he mean by that?" And then as an afterthought he added, "What happened to him anyway? How did I get here and why am I not dead?"

Aerith laughed lightly. "Try to stick to one topic if you're going to throw out a barrage of questions, won't you?"

Sora blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"We saved ya!" Goofy piped up.

Sora's attention was drawn to the first two friendly faces he'd seen in this place, and the thought briefly passed his mind to ask 'What are you?' But he thought better of it, realizing it would probably come off rather rude. "Well, thanks…I guess, but…what exactly did you save me from? I mean, what was he going to do to me?"

"I'm afraid we can't answer that for sure…" Aerith answered sadly. "Donald and Goofy told us what they saw, but we don't really know what, exactly, he was trying to accomplish."

"Was he going to take my heart…?" Sora whispered, and all eyes turned to look at him in sudden surprise. He flinched and scooted back just a bit further. "What?" The word came out a bit harsher than he'd intended.

"Did he tell you that's what he was doing?" Sora thought Leon really should smile more…because that man was scary.

"Um…no, he just told me –well, has been for a year actually- that he wants my heart. And something about the powers I have too…"

Leon turned to Aerith. "We need to speak to King Mickey. He might know more about the situation than us."

"King?" Sora asked, but his question was either unheard, or ignored.

"Do you think he'll know what Xemnas was up to?" Aerith replied.

"The king always knows!" Goofy answered faithfully.

"But Goofy…" Donald whined. "We promised the king we could handle this ourselves!"

"Yeah, but, we didn't know Xemnas or the Keyblade's Chosen would be here!" Goofy indicated Sora with a wild swing of his arm.

"My name is Sora." The teen said with narrowed eyes. He was starting to really dislike this Keyblade business. Not that he hadn't before, of course, but now all he really wanted was to go back home.

Donald looked as if he was about to say something, but didn't get a chance, as there came a sudden barking and scratching at the door. All heads turned curiously towards the sound, and Aerith walked over to open it.

A very energetic dog came bounding into the room, and ran straight to Donald and Goofy, wagging its tail excitedly as it offered a letter in its mouth. "Pluto? What's he doin' here?" Goofy asked in surprise while Donald took the letter.

After a short silence, where everyone stared expectantly at the duck, Donald sighed and patted the dog on the head, whispering a quick 'thanks' as it bounded away. "Looks like we can't rely on the king for this one."

"Did something happen?" Aerith asked worriedly.

Donald shook his head, glancing at the letter once more. "No, but apparently he has some important business to attend to in Twilight Town. He's taken Merlin with him, but he didn't say what for, or why he's going."

"Twilight Town?" Leon muttered. "That's really far from here. I wonder what sort of business had him leaving so suddenly?"

Sora watched with half interest as the strange people speculated about why their king had things to do. He quickly lost all interest, and turned to examining the Keyblade in his hands. It was a solid looking weapon, if not an odd one, and he wondered why this thing was so important. Xemnas had mentioned unlocking things, but what on earth sort of door would need a key this big…and magical? And he had determined that it was magical, since it could be called at will, and had created some sort of barrier in front of him when he'd used it against the monster earlier that day.

Keeping a wary eye on the other occupants of the room, Sora turned until his feet touched the floor, and got off the bed to look around the room. The decorations displayed a primary theme of green, but were otherwise uninteresting. He passed the door labeled 'Red Room' and took a peek out a different door. This one led to a large hallway. If he had to guess he would say they were in a hotel of some sort.

Sora heard his name mentioned behind him, and turned around to listen back in to the conversation.

"What do we do about Sora then?" Aerith asked, sounding truly concerned.

"We'll have to protect him until King Mickey gets back." Leon answered.

"But Leon, we've got other duties to attend to; we can't possibly take care of him."

"Which is why Donald and Goofy would be the ones to watch him."

"Or…" Sora stepped in, joining the circle, "You could just return me to my home and we can all just pretend this never happened. Sounds like that solves everyone's problems to me."

Leon gave Sora a calculating glance, at which the younger brunette shivered. Leon could be quite intimidating after all. "It would solve many problems…but not the largest one."

"Which is…?" Sora prompted after Leon didn't continue.

"Which is the fact that we need the Keyblade Master here, and Xemnas stopped."

"Okay…why?" Sora silently berated himself. There he went again with that bad habit of being sarcastic in the face of his own unease.

"Sora…" Aerith stepped forward, and Sora wasn't quite sure he liked the patronizing tone of her voice. "I know this may be a lot to so suddenly ask of you…but we need your help."

Sora's brow furrowed in a mix of emotions ranging from confusion to annoyance. Aerith seemed like a very nice woman, and for some odd reason he was reminded of his mother when he saw her, probably because of her nature. "What do you think I could possibly do?" he asked skeptically. The only training he'd had on fighting was one lesson with Riku, and an impromptu fight against a giant shadow…which he lost.

Aerith's gaze turned slightly sad, and she turned to Leon, who raised an eyebrow back. Sora looked back and forth between them, trying to figure out their silent conversation. Finally Leon sighed heavily and took a seat on a bench near the bed. "Sora…it's not what you can do…but what you have to do."

Sora's eyebrows rose at the rather presumptuous statement. "Have to?"

If Leon noticed Sora's irritated tone, he made no mention of it. "It was seen long before your arrival here. He told us of the Keyblade Master; the only one that can fight the darkness. We don't know exactly what Xemnas has planned, but we do know that you are supposedly the only one that can stop him."

Sora felt he was handling this rather well, considering. There was a long moment's silence, until Sora suddenly stood up, and walked to the door that led to the hallway before wrenching it open. "I can't do this." He muttered as he walked out and slammed the door behind him.

"…Tactful as always, Squall." Aerith accused with a glare at the man.

"Leon."

"Sora!" Goofy shouted suddenly, and ran towards the door after the young Keyblade wielder. Everyone stared after him in slight surprised, and Donald rolled his eyes towards the ceiling as if in a silent prayer.

"Here we go…" he mumbled as he too went after Sora.

Sora had no idea where he was going. He had run down the hallway, and outside of the building he had now affirmed was a hotel. After flinging open the large doors, he was met with a very unfamiliar city, which of course only added to his growing trepidation. He took off in a random direction, feeling a sudden threat of tears behind his eyes. He kept hoping he would wake up, and find that this had all been some horrible dream.

As he turned a corner into a back alley, Sora was immediately forced to a stop, and actually skidded across the brick walkway before his shoes found traction again. Seemingly out of thin air, another creature formed before him. It seemed to be made of nothing but armor, and its hands, feet and head were detached from its torso. Immediately Sora knew he should run, as he got that same chill whenever the shadows were near him. The same heart-shaped design from Hollow Bastion was engraved in its chest. "Give up, Sora." It whispered, and took a step towards him.

Sora gasped, and turned around, nearly tripping as he tried turned to run away, back out into the open courtyard-like area near the alley.

"Sora!" Goofy yelled from the ledge above, and Sora thought that might just be his new favorite voice.

"Goofy! Help!" He shouted back, running towards the dog, while Donald ran towards him from the other side. Goofy's eyes widened as the heartless came into view, and he immediately vaulted over the brick ledge to the ground below…where he landed wrong and went tumbling headfirst into a bench. Sora winced at the crash, but Goofy got up as if nothing had happened. Donald was soon to follow but his landing was a bit more graceful.

Sora ran over to the two before facing the heartless again. The Keyblade appeared in his hand once more even though he was quite sure he hadn't called it.

It's not what you can do…but what you have to do.

The brunette was fast realizing that Leon's words were, unfortunately, very true. Nothing had quite settled in his mind yet, as it all seemed so surreal. But being faced with yet another thing out to kill him was starting to drill into his head that…this was in fact very real. 'It's not a dream…' he thought miserably to himself. 'But how can I fight it…I don't know what I'm doing…' He was watching with wide, not quite focused eyes as Donald and Goofy relentlessly attacked the intruder.

A sudden feeling of helplessness washed over him, and he suddenly wished that Riku were there with him. The taller teen was never lacking in encouraging words, or bold bravado. He could almost hear Riku's voice in his mind, a teasing smirk on his face as he told Sora what a coward he was being. Riku wouldn't let him fall into a hopeless despair…no; this was exactly what he had been trying to prevent. Riku had taught him to fight, and for this very reason. So why was he just standing here while Goofy and Donald saved him again? The Keyblade seemed to vibrate with pent up magical energy, as if agreeing with him, and so with a sudden burst of courage Sora wasn't aware he was capable of, he leapt towards his newest enemy, striking a hard blow across its chest.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku took a deep breath as he stood in front of the door to Sora's home. He was not looking forward to this at all; he really liked Sora's mother, and knew she was going to be devastated to find her son was missing through some inter-dimensional portal.

Gathering up his courage and collecting his thoughts, Riku raised one hand and knocked thrice on the door. It immediately swung open with such force that he took a half step in surprise. Sora's mother stood on the other side, and Riku couldn't tell if her expression was happily surprised or anxiously disappointed…as it seemed to be an odd combination of both. "Riku dear…please come in." she muttered distractedly and motioned for him to enter as she walked into the living room. Immediately Riku was able to see the reason for her odd behavior.

The TV was on in the living room, and on it he could see his own school. His eyes widened as he watched the speech the principle was giving to the school. "How the hell did the news crews get there so fast…?" he muttered, in his mind likening the media to disaster like moths to a flame.

"Riku, please tell me what happened. Where's my Sora? Your principle has only mentioned something about an attack. I…I need to know…is Sora okay?" She sounded on the verge of tears…or a panic attack, neither of which Riku could handle in his own frazzled state.

He bit his lip, and turned his head in the other direction. "I don't know." He muttered honestly, hands clenching on the back of the couch. He heard the woman gasp, as she fell into the couch with her hand over her heart. "Sora's been…kidnapped, I guess."

"You guess?" Her tone wasn't accusing, but it definitely had an edge to it. Riku winced as he realized he was now dealing with a mother's instinctual concern of her child.

"Well, captured might be a better word…tell me about Ansem." He changed the topic quickly in hopes of surprising the woman into not panicking. It seemed to work.

Blinking in surprise, Sora's mother turned and regarded Riku curiously. "Ansem…you mean Sora's psychiatrist?"

Riku had to fight not to let any emotion show as he remembered Sora's opinion of the man. "Yes, him. I…where can I find him?"

"What do you need to find him for?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Does he know where my baby is?"

Riku closed his eyes at her tone, and sighed deeply. "I'm not sure. I…I need to talk to him. Can you tell me where I might find him?"

The paused for a second, as if trying to figure out how Ansem had anything to do with the current situation. "Well I-yeah, I can take you to his office. I think he should be there at this time." She muttered distractedly and looked at the clock, which read 5:30.

Riku was a bit hesitant to respond, and studied her carefully. Should she be informed of everything that was going on? He didn't want to give the poor woman a heart attack. No, for now he would just have her take him to Ansem, and go from there. His only concern at the moment was getting Sora back. Riku nodded in response. "That would be great, thanks."

So without further pause, she stood up and grabbed her keys, beckoning Riku to follow her as she walked out to her car. The trip to the clinic was a bit awkward, as neither really knew what to say in such a situation. After half the trip in silence, Sora's mom spoke up. "So why do you need to speak with Ansem?"

Riku sighed and rested his forehead against the glass of the car window. "I just…need to ask him some things about Sora. To see if he has any idea about…what happened today."

She didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but noticed Riku's reluctance to talk about it, and decided not to push it. Riku was, after all, a very hard person to get information from if he didn't feel like divulging any. Shortly after, they arrived at the clinic, and Riku stepped out of the car with a very distinct feeling of nervous trepidation. He was suddenly overcome with the feeling that he didn't want to find out what was going on. But then an image of Sora's smiling face came to mind, and he sighed heavily. For Sora… he thought as he stepped up and pushed through the clinic's doors.

As Riku walked up to the receptionist's desk, the girl behind it looked up and immediately blushed upon spotting Riku. He stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he stepped forward and asked gruffly, "Where's Ansem?" He heard the bell of the front doors behind him, and guessed Sora's mom had caught up.

"Ansem…?" the receptionist asked absently, making no sign that she had actually heard what Riku said as she smoothed imaginary wrinkles in her shirt.

Riku was not in the mood to be patient. His eye twitched once before he slammed his hand down on the desk, effectively startling both the girl in front of him, and everyone else in the room. "God damn it girl, stop ogling me and do your job, will you?! Now where is Ansem!" The last bit was near shouted, and the girl looked sufficiently frightened. He didn't care at the moment. It had been one hell of a stressful day, and he wasn't expecting things to get better.

With a hand over her heart, and a look of half fear, half annoyance on her face, the receptionist pointed down a hallway to the left. "His office is down there…fifth door on the right."

Riku found with amusement that her expression looked as if she expected him to attack her at any moment. As he turned away, he threw a sardonic smirk and mock salute over his shoulder. Sora's mother glanced uncertainly between the receptionist and Riku, before hurrying to follow her son's best friend.

…3…4…5. Riku stopped as he found the right door, and narrowed his eyes as he saw the golden nameplate bearing the office's owner's name. It was making him antsy, not knowing what to expect on the other side of this thin piece of wood, as he was very much used to being in control of his life. He wondered how much Ansem knew, or how much help the man would be to him. Would he be able to help him at all? His hand rested on the doorknob, and he took a deep breath before swinging the door open, allowing it to slam against the inside wall. The two occupants of the room jumped, and Riku prided himself on another dramatic entrance. It always helped to have the element of surprise and intimidation when looking for answers.

"Wh-who are you?" asked a woman looking to be in her late twenties. She held a tissue in her hand, and was sitting in the chair across from the large desk that made up the centerpiece of the room. It seemed she was a patient of Ansem's. Riku only spared her a quick glance before focusing on the seemingly nonplussed man behind the desk.

He looked almost bored in fact, golden eyes gleaming in the low lighting. "Can I help you?" he asked, his tone perfected into a sort of sultry baritone meant to put people at ease.

Riku narrowed his eyes, and felt his lip curl slightly as he took a good look at the man Sora hated so much. This man was the reason Sora had come to him that night so distressed, and now he had the gall to address him so casually? In one swift movement Riku was behind the desk, and he clutched the front of Ansem's suit. He had swept forward with such force that the man's chair rolled back into the wall behind him.

There were twin gasps from the women in the room, but Ansem merely raised his eyebrows, almost looking as if he had asked Riku to come in and slam him against the wall. This of course irritated Riku to no end. "What did you do to him?" He growled, pressing his fist against the man's throat. "I know you know something, now where is Sora?" After a slight pause, he yelled, "Tell me!"

"Sora? You mean the delightful young boy who's been coming to see me?" It was hard to tell whether he was being sarcastic or not.

Riku's eyes narrowed further. "Don't dare play me for a fool." He muttered dangerously, and Ansem raised his eyebrows.

"Hm, you must be Riku then."

Riku's grip slackened a bit in surprise. "You…know who I am?"

"Your name came up in one of our sessions; Sora seems to think highly of you." He paused, and Riku wasn't quite sure what to make of the man's tone. "I wonder what sweet little Sora would say if he knew it was because of your incompetence that he is now gone."

Now Riku let his grip fall completely, and he stepped back with a look of uneasy suspicion in his eyes. "What do you mean…because of me?"

"Fate is a very funny thing, Riku. Sometimes it is your friend, and at others…your very worst enemy."

Riku blinked and furrowed his brow. They had just been talking about Sora…why now then, were they suddenly in a conversation about fate?

"As young Sora's protector, it should have been you that saved him from the tragic events of earlier today." Before he could continue, Riku interrupted.

"Protector? So what, you're saying I'm supposed to be some guardian angel or something?" Was this guy for real? Riku found himself wondering more and more the longer the man spoke. "In case you haven't noticed…this is real life, not some fairy tale."

A smirk crossed the man's face as he regarded Riku with an expression that suggested he was far superior to anyone around him. "And what do you know of real life child? Tell me…how do you explain the presence of the shadow? No, this is no fairy tale. This," he gestured with a sweeping motion of his arm. "Is reality. There is far more than you know stretched beyond the walls of this world you seclude yourself in. And you will never find Sora if you continue to see through such blinded eyes."

His expression was serious again, and Riku was lost for words. The golden gaze held him, and Riku held his breath as if waiting; waiting for something to happen but not knowing what to expect. Finally, he managed to put together a few words in the confusion in his mind. "What of fate, then?" he asked, wondering why it had been brought up in the first place.

"The ties that bind us all are strung by fate." The doubt and suspicion was obvious in Riku's eyes, and so he decided to answer the question before it was even asked. "We may control our own destinies, but it is fate that guides us in the directions we choose."

Sora's words from that day –it seemed so long ago now- entered his mind. 'He didn't seem to like it when I started throwing the fancy words he's so fond of back at him.' He had to agree with Sora about the man's 'fondness for fancy words'. But how much was real? The way Sora spoke of this man, it seemed nothing he said should be trusted. And yet…he knew about the shadow. From what he said…he might know what happened to Sora.

Ansem watched on with a calm indifference as the boy in front of him seemed to war with himself. "You wish to help Sora, yes?" he asked calmly, resting his chin on folded hands. Immediately Riku's eyes locked on his, and Ansem took this as an obvious yes. "I can help, you know. I know how to cross the shadows; shadows you could not see without a guide."

Riku felt his breaths shorten as the situation began to weigh on him. Should he trust this man? But then again, he was the only way he had of getting to Sora. He knew what was going on, and it sounded like he knew where Sora was. But could he be trusted? How many of his words were truth, and how many lies? He shut his eyes tight, and fisted his hands at his sides. It was going against all better judgment, and all his instincts…but he had to do it. For Sora…he thought again to himself, and once more looked up at the collected man in front of him. "You promise you'll take me to Sora?"

A slow smile spread across Ansem's face, and Riku wasn't quite sure he liked the glint in the man's eyes. "I do. But tell me Riku, are you willing to do whatever it takes to get him back?"

"Promise you won't push me away again…"

Riku took a deep breath, and stood up straight. No, never again. He thought determinedly to himself, and in a rare show of selfless bravery, he nodded. "I am."

And with two words was his fate thus sealed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Boy was this chapter hard to write, aside from the issues about finding my flashdrive of course. (And once again I apologize for the ridiculous delay in updating!) Well I sort of broke my chain of each chapter being longer than the next…this one only just reached the 18th page. But I really liked the way that line sounded as an ending. ::grins:: I really hope this chapter is up to par, and please tell me if you see anything that should be fixed, or if the story at any time seems to flow wrong or something. In other words, tell me what you thought! (I'll keep in mind any suggestions for future chapters too. And before you comment, no I didn't forget about the two other women in the room…they're just not important at the moment.)

This chapter is where everything is set into place for the rest of the story, which is why it was so hard to write. I had to make sure everything was set up the way I needed it to be. ::sigh:: Okay, I'm don rambling, and I'll try not to take so long again. But don't expect super speedy updates either, since classes start on Monday.

Oh and I have a feeling that last line was highly influenced by Final Fantasy XII. I've been playing that game a lot lately, and most of the dialogue/narration is like that. You know, like, old English style and fancy wording and stuff.