Chapter 8: The sacrifice

"He...what?" Axel said, his voice cracking at the sudden outburst.

Xemnas looked like he'd been slapped in the face, his chin dropped and his eyes widened in surprise.

"He wants me to hack into the Kingdom Heart," Roxas clarified, slowly this time.

Axel sank his head and closed his eyes while he tried to gather his thoughts. When he looked up, his face was sad.

"Are you sure you got it right, Rox?"

Roxas nodded. He didn't have to go over the puzzle pieces again, he was certain of the answer.

Xemnas looked from Roxas to Axel and back again, his face now shut, the expression stern.

"If that really is what Diz had in mind, we've got more trouble than we first thought," he said slowly.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"How come?"

Xemnas gave Axel another look before he answered.

"How much do you know about the Kingdom Heart?"

Roxas shook his shoulders.

"Not much, I'm afraid," he said honestly. "Only that it's the biggest collective memory unit existing, every hacker's nightmare and highest dream in one. If someone would manage to get it opened, that person would have access to just about every single file ever created on a computer, anywhere and everywhere in the world."

Xemnas nodded slowly.

"All of that is true," he said, putting his hands together so that his fingertips met and leaned forward on his elbows. "Now, what do you know of the ones who've tried hacking into it?"

"Someone has actually tried it?" Roxas replied, dumbfounded.

This time Axel was the one answering him.

"Rox, that's why he came after you: you're a key wielder, a code cracking prodigy. There have been others like you before and those were the ones to either protect or try to crack open the KH. Sora was the last who tried – and just like the ones before him, he failed. Do you know what that means?"

Roxas stared at Axel in silence as images of being swallowed up by darkness flashed before his eyes.

"It means that if you even as much as try to crack the KH security, you'll have to succeed all the way through or lose yourself trying," Xemnas cut in and observed Roxas' reactions with cold eyes. "Meaning, you'll die."

"But, hang on, I never said anything about me wanting to do it!" Roxas objected as soon as the information had sunk in. He stared with wide eyed fear at both of the other men.

"Neither did Sora," Axel mumbled and looked back at him, his emerald green eyes meeting Roxas', sending out a silent message of a fear that responded to his own.

"What are you saying? That I'll go on a suicide mission against my own will? Not likely!" Roxas suddenly stood up from his chair, agitated by the whole situation and frustrated from the feeling of helplessness that was creeping up on him.

However, the fast movement caused a rush of nausea to overrun him and before he knew how he'd got there, he was lying in Axel's arms, looking up at his concerned face.

"Take it easy, buddy," he said softly and helped him back into his own chair. "You still have a day or so to let your body catch up with things."

Xemnas watched them with a troubled face from his side of the desk.

"What we mean is that Sora never had his mind set on KH to begin with. He even helped us protect it", Xemnas said in a low voice.

"Then what made him do such a fucked-up thing?" Roxas shouted out in growing confusion.

Xemnas took another long look at Axel, who suddenly sunk a lot deeper into his chair, his face paler than usual.

"Sora had a friend whom himself was showing promising potential to become a key wielder," Xemnas said slowly. "He showed promise of becoming the greatest of them all, even out-doing Sora."

Roxas felt a chill run down his spine. This sounded way too familiar to be comfortable.

"What happened?" he asked hesitatingly, not sure if he wanted to know.

Xemnas looked at him as if he was already doomed.

"Sora was a very simple, but strong soul. He did what he thought was right, no matter what others told him, and most of the time it was a good thing. He also had a very strong sense of friendship and was prepared to do just about anything, if he thought it could help a friend".

Xemnas paused for a moment, letting the meaning of what he'd said sink in before he continued.

"Riku had a strong mind of his own. Unfortunately, he was more easily persuaded by alternative truths and was weak for the promise of power. A man named Ansem made Riku an offer that he accepted without thinking through the consequences. In exchange for lending Ansem his knowledge of our security business and what he knew about the defences of the KH, Ansem promised Riku the power of one who have the keys to the KH. In short, Riku never fully saw what Ansem meant to do."

Xemnas leaned back in his chair and let his hands land on its armrests.

"Riku was used as a shield. Ansem found a way to extract his mind and separate it from his body. When doing this, he had full control over Riku, letting him take all the power of the blows dealt out by the defences around the Heart while Ansem himself could sit on a safe spot and hack his way through the walls using Riku's coded self to do so. Once Sora found out who was breaking through the security and how, he was devastated and set his mind on saving Riku while time still was."

Another pause made the silence around the three of them seem thick with soundless warnings of the future.

"Since Sora was a keybearer of full ranking, a keymaster if you like, he had a greater chance of making it through the Heart's defences without getting hurt, than Riku – or for that matter, Ansem – had. What Sora did was to seek out Ansem and give him an offer that would set Riku free and still give Ansem what he wanted. So as soon as he was sure of Riku's safety, Sora put himself in the position of breaking the KH walls and he was successful beyond even his own hopes. However, when one wall remained, someone pulled the plug connecting Sora's mind with his body. The result was that Sora, no longer able to manipulate the codes surrounding him, was devoured by the system's anti-breakage program and his code was deleted."

"But who...?" Roxas started to ask, but cut himself short as he realised that he'd already been given the answer.

"All sources point at Riku being the one who pulled the plug, and thus killing his friend who'd risked his life for him," Xemnas answered him.

"No way..."

Roxas had trouble believing this, but he knew it was the only logical solution. But why kill Sora? And what did this have to do with himself?

"Now, I guess you're wondering how all of this can make me so certain of you somehow trying to abide to Diz's wishes, am I right?" Xemnas asked mildly.

Roxas nodded slowly.

"It's because you have so much in common with Sora; a skill beyond what can be taught by another, a strong mind and heart, and most importantly; I suspect you now also have his memories."

Roxas flinched as Xemnas' eyes locked with his.

"What...? How...? Roxas stuttered as he tried to find out if what he said was true, and if so, how he could have known anything about it.

"But, even if I have all that," Roxas said once he found his voice again, " Diz doesn't have the same hold on me as Ansem had on Sora!"

Xemnas closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, he directed their cold glare towards Axel.

"No, at least not yet," he said slowly. "Not yet, but I'm afraid he will get it, sooner or later."