Roxas wished that the flight to Twilight Town didn't go by as fast as it did.

He had to admit, when they needed to get somewhere, Cid could get there twice as fast as they needed to go. It helped, it really did, and it proved to Roxas that Cid wasn't just the old, cranky grandpa he played off to be, he really did care about the safety of the worlds. But still, Roxas couldn't help but worry about the new Guardian's safety.

Before they landed, Cid cloaked the Gummi Ship with invisibly and then landed in a clear meadow in the woods where the Old Mansion used to be. Roxas could not tell if the Mansion was still there or not, since the area it was once in was overgrown with trees, but he figured it didn't matter.

Cid hit the switch that allowed the doors to open when Cloud began to take action. "Cid, stay here, when we get the new Guardian, we need to get out of here as soon as possible," he said. To respond, Cid gave Cloud a thumbs up. "Roxas, grab an Organization coat."

Before Roxas could question where the coats where, Tifa went to a double door that she opened, revealing several Organization coats on hangers, just waiting to be worn. Reluctantly, Roxas went over and grabbed the coat that looked to be in his size and slipped it on. By the time he was done, Cloud and Tifa were already cloaked and heading out the door. Sighing since he knew this was going to be a hard day, Roxas ran after them into the clear meadow.

For a brief moment, Roxas was relieved to breathe in the scent of flowers and fresh grass, something he was not able to smell for a long time since he lived on a beach. It amazed him as to how untouched this area seemed to be, perfectly fine even though Xehanort was still in rule. Without anyone looking, Roxas let out a light smile, appreciating the life that had managed to survive Xehanort's rule. He wished he could have stayed there for a long time, if he could, but Cloud managed to snap him back into reality.

"Our best beat would be to go this way," Cloud pointed in the direction of the Clock Tower, which could just barely be seen over the tall trees of the woods. "We can get to most of the town safely through the underground tunnels, one of them is there. They have been shut down since Xehanort took over, but if we play our cards right, we should be able to sneak in. When in there we head to the main part of town, it would make the most sense if Xehanort's lackeys were there since it's the most populated area."

Roxas was stunned by how heavily Cloud took control over a situation. Judging from how much he knew about the area, Roxas figured that he must have lived here for a short period of time, just enough to know the area this well. But Roxas was also shocked by Cloud's leadership skills. He knew from Sora's memories that when Cloud had a goal in mind, he would do anything to accomplish it, including joining forces with the god of the underworld himself and fight a person stronger than anyone he had ever seen. But still, this was impressing the keyblader.

"Roxas," he heard Tifa hiss. Roxas turned his head slightly to see Tifa, looking down at him, with anger in her bright blue eyes. "You better keep up."

Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her before he nodded. "No problem," he said casually. Tifa nodded in return before she turned to Cloud, who nodded back at her. Cloud then turned around, looking straight at the Clock Tower, and began running towards it. Tifa quickly followed, and Roxas did the same shortly afterwards.

When the three were about halfway to the Clock Tower, a sudden movement in the ground stopped them in their tracks. Roxas turned his head around quickly to see a huge puff of black smoke rising from another part of the town. Roxas heard Tifa curse before she began to speak again. "Damn it! Come on, we need to get there fast!" She yelled.

"That was in the main part of town…" Roxas realized, not even realizing he said that out loud. He stared at the black smoke for what seemed like forever, worrying about the people living there and their safety. He hadn't seen them in such a long time, but Roxas couldn't help but wonder if Hayner, Pence, and Olette where there or if they even survived this long. Even though it had been some time since they saw each other, they were the only friends Roxas had left that were alive.

"Of course it was," Cloud said. "Come on, we need to get moving to the tunnels."

"No, no we don't," Roxas muttered to himself. For a moment, Roxas began to search through his own memories, recalling the times he, Hayner, Pence, and Olette would run through this town, and all their secret shortcuts they had come up with. When Cloud called out his name, wondering if Roxas was even paying attention, the former nobody remembered an area not too far away from here, one that would get them to their destination quicker.

"Follow me!" Roxas yelled before he began running. He could hear Cloud and Tifa call his name out in frustration behind him, but he kept running. If his memories were correct, there should be a shortcut just straight ahead, through the woods. After several short seconds of running, Roxas came across the wall that surrounded Twilight Town. And thankfully, when he looked down, he saw the hole in the wall, the one that lead to the Old Mansion, was still there. He felt relief sink over him as soon as he saw the hole, hopeful now, they can get to the main part of town before anything else happened.

When Cloud and Tifa caught up to him, Roxas turned around, standing right in front of the hole. "Told you," he spat.

While Tifa sent him a death glare, Cloud only stepped forward. "That was a dumb move," he told him. "But I admit, I'm impressed."

Before Roxas could return the comment, the three suddenly felt the ground beneath them shake again. Using the hole in the wall, Cloud lead the group, stepping into the hole, bringing them into the walls of Twilight Town. Thankfully, there was so much large debris on the ground that they were not noticed by the group of Xehanort's soldiers that stood several feet in front of him. Before Roxas could attempt to get any closer to them, Cloud grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him down to the ground, hiding him behind a large piece of debris. "Stay down!" He whispered, but Roxas knew if he was given the chance, he would have yelled. The three of them stayed completely still behind the debris, out of the soldier's sight. "If they see us things will only get ten times more complicated than they already are."

For a brief moment, all was silent, and the three did not hear anything from behind the debris they were hiding behind. For a moment, Roxas was beginning to wonder if they had left the area, moving onto another since there was no success in his one. But a sudden, loud voice stopped that.

"No Guardian detected," one soldier's voice said. Roxas took note of how robotic the voice sounded before he continued to listen. "Move on to the next area for inspection."

Without Tifa or Cloud noticing, Roxas slowly turned his head at an angle so he could see the soldiers. Thankfully, they were not looking at him, so he figured it was safe. The soldiers were standing next to what looked like it used to be a building, like a shop of some sort, but it was now destroyed. Roxas glared at the scene from under his hood, having a hard time believing that blowing up places was the only way they could find this new Guardian.

"Find the Guardian," another soldier said. "Look in the next building."

Roxas steadied his breathing before he looked away from the scene, not wanting to see the soldiers blow up someone's building, with the possibly of someone else being inside it. It disgusted Roxas that Xehanort commanded his soldiers to blow up innocent people's homes just to find this new Guardian. Weren't there other methods of trying to find the Guardian? This was not necessary, so he figured that Xehanort must have been doing this to scare the other people, setting the example that he was in charge of the worlds.

When Roxas looked away, all was quiet for several minutes, which was surprising to the three; no sound of an explosion or the soldiers came. But before they could question what was happening, a voice cried out.

"Intruders!" One of the soldiers cried. Before the three could even react, they suddenly heard gunshots coming right towards them, and they banged against the debris they were hiding behind. Roxas heard Tifa curse again before she brought her fist up and tightened her gloves, preparing for a fight.

While Tifa did this, Roxas noticed Cloud bring his sword out, preparing as well. "I don't see any sight of the Seeker of Darkness yet, we can handle them," he said.

Figuring that they were also talking to him, Roxas summoned his keyblade, but as quickly as he did so, Cloud grabbed a hold of his wrist. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Me and Tifa have this handled, you stay here," Cloud said.

"What? I thought the whole point of me coming with you was to fight alongside you, not just sit on the sidelines!" Roxas protested.

"No, the whole point of you coming was to help us find the new Guardian, you can't do that if your dead," Cloud continued.

"I can fight!" Roxas was beginning to get frustrated now. He had a keyblade, he was a Guardian, he was so many other things that these two weren't, but yet they didn't want his help fighting these soldiers?

"I am aware of that, but you need to stay here!" Cloud was yelling over the sound of bullets being fired at them. Before Roxas could protest any further, Tifa and Cloud jumped out from behind the debris, leaving Roxas alone. Frustrated, Roxas hit his keyblade against the ground so hard that it unsummoned itself. The battle cries of Cloud and Tifa made him even more mad as he followed their orders and stayed put.

But after a short while, Roxas noticed something out of the corner of his eye, like a shadow that seemed to move on its own. Roxas turned his head quickly to see the entrance to the underground tunnels of the town. But that is not what caught Roxas' eye, it was the figure in a black Organization XIII coat that was trying to break into it, who had come out of hiding the moment Cloud and Tifa had the soldiers' attention.

Roxas did not dare move from his position, but he watched the figure with careful eyes; which he could tell was female by her body frame and her movements. Cloud was right about the tunnels being closed down, since there were huge, barred doors with a big lock that prevented her from entering. Roxas couldn't help but think her attempts were useless to escape, the doors were too well-built and it wouldn't take long for Xehanort's soldiers to notice her and place her under arrest for wearing an Organization coat.

Or at least Roxas believed she wouldn't be able to escape until she summoned a keyblade.

Roxas took in a deep breath before he gaped at the scene, not believing it was happening. The girl had a keyblade in her hands, Kingdom Key, which Roxas didn't even believe was possible. How did she have Kingdom Key when he wielded it as well? But Roxas did not pay attention to that fact because there was something more important about this: she was a Guardian. If she had a keyblade, which she did, she was one. It was then when it made sense to Roxas: why she wore the Organization coat, why she was trying to get away through the tunnels, everything.

To try and stop her, Roxas brought his hand out and was about to call out to her, but she unsummoned her blade, opened the door and entered the tunnels before he could do anything. The fact that she escaped without even bothering to close the gates behind her proved even more so to Roxas that she was a Guardian, the one they were looking for. She was right there, only a few feet away from Roxas, and she slipped out of his fingers that easily.

So, the only logical thing that Roxas could think of was to follow her.

…

Keep running, don't look back, just get out of here.

That was the only thing that was running through her head as she ran through the underground tunnels of Twilight Town, faster than her legs could carry her. She was breathing at a heavy rate from running for so long and from fear, but she didn't bother to pay attention to it. If she wanted to get out of her, to survive, she needed to keep running.

After several more minutes of running, the girl was forced to come to a stop from fatigue. She stopped in a more open area of the tunnels and rested her back against the wall, trying to remain as quiet as she possibly could. She could hear no footsteps from behind her, so she knew no one noticed her escape. She breathed in a sigh of relief as she looked back where she came from, seeing no one following her. For a moment, just for a brief moment, she thought she was home free, she escaped Xehanort's clutches.

But that feeling did not last for long because some magic attack came and hit her dead on in the other direction.

She grunted when the magic attack hit her, which she knew immediately was a blizzard attack from the cold surge that went through her body. The attack also sent her back, causing her to skid against the brick floor of the tunnels. She was on the verge of tears from the pain when she finally came to a stop, and she used the brief amount of time she had to look down at the area that the blizzard attack hit her (in her left side). Her eyes widened underneath her hood as she saw the frost starting to climb up her body, making every part of it freeze.

She knew she would not be able to get up, but despite knowing this she tried anyway, using her arms and knees to rise herself up. But every attempt to do this failed. After several more attempts of doing this, she felt a strong hand grip onto her right arm, forcing her into a weak standing position. Whoever was doing this then pinned her against the wall, thinking cleverly by pinning her against her right arm while her left side remained unusable from the ice.

From underneath her hood, she looked at the figure that had captured her, studying him. She could not see his face due to the black and grey helmet that covered his face. Her eyes moved down to look at his red and black body suit that covered every inch of his body. At his waist, there were three belts that held a piece of fabric that draped off his waist like a cape. He also wore red and black boots, matching his body suit that made him every bit as intimidating.

Before began to speak, she heard the man laugh. "Trying to escape?" He asked her. "Nice try."

She tried to pull away from him, but he would not allow her to do anything like that. "Almost made it, you kind of ruined it though," she retorted.

He laughed again. "Well you see, my boss just really needs you Guardians dead," he said calmly. "I'm sure you understand."

Before he continued, he took his free arm and held it out to his side, and before she could blink, a red, grey, and black keyblade appeared in his hand. Her eyes widened at the intimidating sight, the piece catching her attention the most being the blue eyes that rested on the halt and in-between the center of the key's teeth. He looked at it briefly before he pointed the tip of the blade at her neck. "Have to get the job done, right?"

She glared at him from under her hood. "You can try whatever you want to keep Xehanort in power, but you can't protect him forever," she restored. "One day, the worlds will realize they have to stop you, and then none of you will stand a chance."

She heard him huff out a laugh at her comments. "A fighter huh?" He seemed to question. "I like that about you, still doesn't mean I won't kill you but you've earned my respect." He paused and looked at her, as if he was trying to see what face lied underneath the hood. "No hard feelings?"

He then pinned his arm against her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe, but she did manage to get air into her lungs. He pinned her down well, and she knew she was not going to escape anytime soon. He brought his keyblade closer to her neck, moving it slowly to make sure that she knew it was coming.

"Leave the girl alone."

The voice made the man pinning her down stop as soon as the voice echoed across the tunnel walls. He loosened his grip on her slightly, not enough to allow her to escape, but enough for to move her head slightly in the direction of the voice. Standing just a few feet away from them was another figure, standing strongly in an Organization XIII coat. He didn't dare move from his position and, even though his hood was up, she could practically feel his eyes staring directly at them.

Upon seeing him, Vanitas laughed, but didn't move his eyes off this new figure. "Why didn't you tell me you had a friend?" He asked as he brought his keyblade closer to her neck. "I would have invited him to watch the show in the first place."

For a moment, the new figure did not make a move and only stood there, standing his ground. But before Vanitas could attempt to do anything else, the figure brought his hands up and removed his hood, allowing his face to be seen.

And that is what made her heart stop beating.

It was him. Upon seeing his sight, she wanted to jump at him and embrace him in a hug out of her joy for seeing him again, but Vanitas did not allow her to do that. Oh how she wished she could though, the last time he saw her was when she was dying in his arms, dissolving into nothingness as everyone started to forget any memories of her…

This very thought might as well punched her in the stomach. That was right, after what happened, no one remembered her, not even him, who was one of her best friends. She let out a sad sigh as she looked at his blue eyes and spiky, blond hair, knowing that even though she remembered him, he would not remember her.

But if he didn't remember her, why was he here? Sure, it could be because he is a Guardian as well as her and he is just trying to save her, but who knows. She knew that he had to be a Guardian, but maybe he did somehow remember her, and was saving her because of that.

She could hear the man holding her against the wall laugh as Roxas brought out his hand and summoned his keyblade, teasing him. She saw Kingdom Key shine brightly in his hand, and it made her feel nostalgic, but she couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion. She knew that he had learned to summon them shortly after she… died, so she wondered why he didn't use them. The two blades could have ended this man easily, in fact he might have run off if he saw two keyblades appear in his hands.

"I said let her go," he repeated. His position was strong and firm, sowing with his movements that he was not leaving anytime soon. This made her thankful, even if Roxas didn't remember her, he still was willing to sacrifice his life for her.

"I am afraid that it is not going to be that simple," he tightened his grip on her, which caused her to inhale heavily. "See, my boss wants her dead as well as you. Can't have Guardians of Light running around with Xehanort still around."

The two did not move for several short moments, but then the man holding her down did something that she was not expecting: he let her go. She fell to the floor the instant his arm stopped pinning her down, relieved to finally be able to breathe completely again. But before she could get up and run away, he fired a blast of blizzard right at her arm, the one that she used to summon her keyblade with. She let out a short cry of pain as her arm froze and, since it was close to the wall, her arm was now stuck against the brick wall. She tried to pull away from the wall, trying to break the ice that connected them, but it would not break. She knew at that moment that this man was skilled in magic.

"But before I do that, I have curiosity getting the best of me," he commented, slowly walking towards Roxas casually. "My question is whose nobody are you really: Ventus or Sora's?"

Roxas made a confused face at him for a moment and he lowered his keyblade. "What are you talking about?" He asked him.

"So even you don't know," he continued. He looked off in the distance for a moment before he looked back at Roxas. "Every one of us Seekers of Darkness has been trying to figure that out. We guessed that the only one who knows is the one who manipulated your life." She knew at that moment that he was talking about Ansem, Ansem the Wise. "I figured that you would know to, but I guess I was wrong."

"Start making sense!" Roxas yelled, pointing his keyblade at the man. "I am not here to answer your questions; I am here to get her away from people like you."

For the first time since he appeared, he actually sounded like the Roxas she remembered.

"Hold your horses!" He exclaimed. He then placed his finger to his chin, stuck in a pensive thought, before he continued. "Maybe, you'll remember whose nobody you are if I show you who I am."

"What are you—"

Before Roxas could continue, he froze along with her. The moment that man said those words, his helmet began to vanish, literally vanish before their eyes. Neither one of them could move their eyes away from the sight as the helmet evaporated into nothing. When the helmet was completely gone, she could not help but gasp.

He looked just like Sora but with pitch black hair and piercing yellow eyes.

"When the stars start to shine,

The gods above us smiling in the night.

Like spark to a flame,

Feel it as my fear begins to fade..."

To Feel Alive by Iameve

DUN DUN DUH!

So, even though their names were not yet revealed, I am pretty sure you all know who just appeared, and I hope you are excited!

And I am sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I would have wrote more, but unfortunately, it is that time of year again: finals are coming up shortly. I managed to get this chapter done in between studying. I may be able to do it again, but if I don't update for a while, you all know why.

But on the bright side Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix is confirmed to appear at Jump Festa! Hopefully we will get a release date at least for Japan.

Also, for all you readers of the Reconnect Series, I have a poll concerning it if you don't mind voting!

So that is really all I have to say so please R&R and look out for the next chapter! You support so far has been AMAZING! So thank every single one of you reading this!

SHADOWS ASSMBLE!