Riku was not happy to hear what Kairi and Sora had to tell them when they returned from their dessert run. They came back bruised, a little beaten, but relatively unscathed from their brush with the Organization's number two. Riku didn't care that he showed up. He didn't care that they fought him two on one. He didn't particularly even care that Xigbar got away.

What he did care about was that he almost lost his best friend.

Kairi was like his little sister. She was annoying and stubborn and he loved her for it. If he lost her, he didn't know what would happen to him. He would probably succumb to his own darkness, allowing it to swallow him whole. He didn't want to live in a universe without her. And he had almost lost her that night.

He wanted to blame someone. He wanted to blame himself for not being there. He wanted to blame Sora for not doing everything he could to protect her. He knew it wasn't fair to Sora. He knew Sora was only following orders. He was told to reel back until the time was right and he was doing marvelously. And, Riku supposed, Sora did bring her back. He made sure she stayed safe, no matter what happened, even if Kairi gave him more than an earful for it.

But the fact still stood he almost lost her. She had her heart pulled from her body. She had almost had it taken by Organization XIII to do who knows what to it. But why her?! She was a Princess of Heart. It wasn't like she had a Heartless created after.

Yuffie stood behind Riku as he typed in the new information into their computer, biting her thumbnail. She cared about Kairi, too. But she saw it about as bluntly as Kairi did. Kairi was safe at this moment. She came out of the fight just fine. There was nothing to worry about. Except maybe… "Hey… if Kairi can't make a Heartless… could she still make a Nobody?"

Riku glanced back at the ninja. She folded her arms, her brows knit tight. This was probably the most thinking Riku had ever seen her do. "That DiZ guy said they wanted a Keyblade, right? What if they were trying to make a Nobody with a Keyblade?"

"That's dumb," Riku turned back to the computer. "I doubt it would be possible with Kairi and her heart. It's kind of… special."

"But, she's stubborn." Yuffie pointed out. At the table, Ven, Kairi, and Sora were laughing about something or other. Probably about the fight. Kairi had come back, rather shaken, but after a good night's sleep, she was back to her old self. Fearless and confident. Aqua leaned on the wall next to the computer, a frown forming on her lips. "I wouldn't doubt her will would be strong enough to make a Nobody. And a powerful on at that."

"Like one that could fit right in the Organization," Aqua added.

"Right," Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah, but… why her?" Riku shook his head. "If anyone, it should be Aqua or Sora."

"Or you," Aqua pointed out. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Riku. Your heart would create both a powerful Heartless and a strong Nobody."

He didn't doubt the Heartless part. Not with how in tune Riku had been becoming with his own darkness. "The point stands. Aqua's a Master and Sora has an unwieldy amount of power." By unwieldy, he meant it. He realized Sora barely had control over his own strength. Not that he lost control or anything. Just… he didn't have the power to use it all. He could what he could do. He didn't have any idea how to use it, though. He had told Riku that he counted his Keyblades once. There was no way he'd be able to use all of them at once. He couldn't keep track.

"They don't know about Sora, though, right?" Yuffie asked.

"They know he can wield at least two Keyblades." Aqua replied. "And maybe that he can fly. And that he doesn't necessarily have to hold them to use them."

"Telekinetic?" Yuffie asked.

"Not quite," Aqua shook her head. "He can only pick up the Keyblades. Ask him to pick up any other object, he's have no command over it."

"Yeah, why didn't they go for him?" Yuffie asked.

"It can't be a Keyblade their after then," Riku concluded, putting in the information Sora gave him about Xigbar's new ammunition. He was very concerned that the Organization was able to use something like that.

"Maybe they just wanted to study her heart," Yuffie shrugged. "Didn't Xigbar say something about that?"

"Yeah, but," Aqua chewed her lip, "I doubt Xigbar would have been able to go far with her heart."

Riku stopped, looked up to the woman. First, Aqua was Kairi's legitimate Keyblade Master. Second, she had actually met all of them when they were just children. Before Kairi's world fell and after Riku had met the stranger on the island. What else did this woman know?

She fidgeted under Riku's gaze. "I, uh, cast a charm on her when we met." Aqua confessed. "If she were ever lost, she would find someone who would protect her. That applies to her heart, too."

Yuffie punched her palm, expressing that she understood. "That's why she went to Destiny Island instead of Traverse Town after our world fell."

"Yes," Aqua nodded.

It dawned on Riku. Everything. All at once. Smacking him in the face like it had been there all along. And he couldn't help but feel a twinge of… jealousy? "Sora found her." He said quietly, looking to the boy. "He found her washed up on the beach."

Aqua followed Riku's gaze, landing on the boy she helped raise. "Her heart would have probably found it's way to his. Like Ven's did."

Sora must have realized he was behind watched. He grinned brightly, waving at Riku and Aqua. Aqua waved back as Riku turned to his work. Sora did an awful job protecting Kairi. He wasn't there for any of it. He wasn't there for the destruction of their home or for the hoards of monsters they've had to battle or the broken bones and lost wars.

"She was lucky, though." Aqua turned to Riku, maybe sensing his anger. "She found two people to help protect her."

He hated to admit it, but… it did make him feel better. He had been there with her for everything. He protected her from schoolyard bullies and Heartless alike. He taught her to fight. He taught her to defend herself and help others. She had grown stronger than he ever thought she would and he was so proud.

Riku saved the progress on the computer. He ran his hands down his face, not really sure what to do now that he had finished his input. Once Leon got a hold of this information, Riku knew hew as going to throw a fit. Thank goodness he was off world for now. Cid and DiZ had been communicating a bit through the computers and Cid had suggested upgrades. DiZ was more than happy to allow Cid to fiddle with his machines, which surprised Aqua. So, Cid and Leon went to the devices. Cid was the mechanic and Leon was the muscle.

The next few days, training had been put on hold. Darkness was spilling into some worlds and they Keyblade wielders needed to reseal the Keyholes. Riku had taken Ven on his first mission, which Ven was excited about. Kairi and Sora went off together to Neverland and Aqua to the Land of the Dragons with Donald and Goofy, while Riku and Ven went to Halloween Town.

Riku could safely say the mission with Ven went infinitely better than the one with Sora. It was just the two of them, so they took their Keyblade Gliders (Riku was glad for the practice and the silence). They made it there without incident. Ven was particularly excited about the change in atmosphere and the change that this world brought upon. Riku explained that Donald taught him how to cast a spell that would help them blend in to other worlds. Ven had never heard of anything like it.

"Yeah," the older started (was Riku older? He wasn't sure. Ven looked fifteen. He acted fifteen. Wasn't he technically twenty-something? This whole thing threw Riku off). "In the Pride Lands, we become lions. In Altantica, we… become merpeople…" That was still particularly a sore spot. He was glad Ariel and her father had made it to Traverse Town. They had been transformed into humans to blend in, much to Ariel's delight and King Triton's chagrin. Unfortunately, Ariel's sisters and friends had been lost with their world. Riku quickly went on, not wanting to talk about that massive failure. "Yet, we always seem out of place wherever we go."

"I think that happened to me before," Ven scratched at a stitch on his cheek. "In Castle of Dreams, I somehow shrank to the size of a mouse. Cinderella actually thought I was one."

"Has she seen you yet?" Riku asked. Some of the Princesses of Heart were still in Traverse Town due to their worlds being taken by the darkness. Cinderella was one of them. The Princesses tended to stick to themselves. Riku didn't want them involved in any of this, so they went about their assigned work, like most of the other citizens of Twilight Town, and came when called upon for their help. Their light was more than enough to help keep the Twilight Town Keyhole stable.

"No!" Ven waved his arms. "I don't even know what she'd say! I mean… it's been over ten years. And… I don't…" Ven furrowed his brows. "It's so weird… because… I haven't aged at all. Neither have the Princesses I've met."

"Time flows differently in the worlds," Riku explained as they walked to the Keyhole. "And for some of them, their worlds were destroyed a long time ago. Like, Aurora for example. Her world fell about ten years ago. She was taken by Maleficent and forced to sleep. She didn't age during that sleep and I think when we bring her world back, it'll be as it was."

"You think so?" Ven asked. "How are you so sure?"

Riku shrugged. "I'm not. It's Kairi's wishful thinking."

"Kairi seems so know everything."

"Because she's confident." Riku snorted. "She only acts like she knows everything."

It didn't take long after they arrived for the Heartless to show up. With a Keyblade around, it wasn't ever a surprise. The two went into battle, fighting off the Heartless. Ven easily took care of himself, thankfully. Riku knew Ven was capable, but he hadn't been in the field with him yet. He was afraid he'd have to pick up the slack and Ven proved he was just fine.

After clearing the Graveyard, Riku wiped his brow, turning to his partner. "I guess putting you on clean up in Traverse Town was a good idea."

Ven scoffed. "As if. This is nothing. You should see the Unversed I've had to fight. Hoards of 'em. Big baddies. All on my own."

"Right. The creatures before the Heartless, right?"

Ven nodded. Then, changed his mind and shook his head. "The Heartless have… been around for a while. It's kind of fuzzy but… Xehanort had me train with them."

Aqua had told them about the Unversed. They were creatures wrought from Vanitas and were no longer a concern. Fledgling emotions that he had control over… Riku wondered if Ven had a similar power in him. After all, he was light and his other half was darkness. Doubtful, but his power was being stifled by Master Eraqus and Xehanort thought the boy weak. It was possible. Again, Riku's imagination was running from him. Ven was the original and Vanitas was considered an abomination. Well, that was what Xehanort's reports said. Ven had them on his person when he fell asleep and they were still in his pocket when he woke up. He didn't have all of them. Aqua had a few, but they were still missing at least four reports. They had still learned a lot from them and Riku was grateful to get better insight.

Riku was really started to get annoyed with how complicated things were getting. It was so simple before. A Heartless and a Nobody Organization who were a little too much for Riku and Kairi to handle on their own. Now there was possession (well, there still was, but with Cloud it was different) and other people this affected, not just the bad guys. Now they had to worry about putting Terra back together, too. Aqua and Ven would not stand for leaving him behind and… Riku hated to admit it, but he wanted to help. He really wanted to meet Terra, the man that promised him the power of the Keyblade.

"So, uh, does this world just not have Emblem Heartless, or what?" Ven asked as he blasted the surrounding Heartless with Thunder.

"Uh, no?" Riku looked around. Nothing by Purebloods. How had he not noticed? Where had all the emblem Heartless gone? That was... weird. So very, very weird. And wrong. "They've been pretty adamant about sending Emblems our way."

"Then… where are they?"

It was strange and eerie and Riku wondered if Jack Skellington knew anything about it. This was a quick in and out mission and he would make sure to say hello before they left, but maybe he should find the Pumpkin King to see if he knew what was going on. As Riku turned to Ven to suggest his idea, Ven stopped, standing on top of the curly hill. He was looking out, over the wall. Something was clearly distracting him, enough for him not to notice the Neoshadow rushing towards him.

Riku was quick to slash it down. "Oi! Ven, pay attention!"

"I think I found them."

Riku trudged up the hill, his gaze following Ven's finger. The blonde was pointing towards what remained of Oogie's Manor. There, Riku could see thorny branches throwing a Wight Knight a pink bulb with golden eyes. That was… weird. It was… eating Heartless? That made no sense. It took Riku's brain a moment to catch up. Ven pushed him off the hill as a weird claw thing burst from the ground, snatching at them. Ven landed much more gracefully than Riku as more claws rose.

The two of them took care of them fairly easily. They weren't any more annoying than the regular variety of Heartless. They took snips at the boys (stinging pretty easily) but were cleared easily. The two made their way towards the Manor Ruins. The bridge brought more… Tentaclaws. The Riku saw one of them eat up a Hover Ghost. Was it cannibalism or something else? Were these things even Heartless? He had no idea. But Riku was sure it had to do with that bulb. Was that a Heartless? Maybe another one of Professor Finkekstein creations.

There was a scream. Riku and Ven turned to a corner by the wall where a Tentaclaw snipped at someone in all black. Ven was quick on it, practically flying at it to destroy it. As the girl stood up—it was most certainly a girl from the scream—Riku could see she was wearing an Organization cloak.

"Are you okay?" Ven asked. The girl shrunk back as he advanced, expressing his concern. Riku walked up behind him, trying to get a better look at the girl. Maybe a peek under her hood. She was smaller than Larxene. Slight, quaking with fear. Ven tried to step up to her again, offering a hand. "Look, you're hurt. Let me just take a look at it."

Her cloak was torn at her shoulder, exposing flesh and a deep red mark. She quickly covered it with a gloved hand, shaking her head. "Please don't hurt me." She begged in a small, soft voice. As Ven opened his mouth, most likely to assure her she was in no danger with them, she ran. She shoved past Ven, around Riku, and towards the bridge. Towards… the bulb.

Riku wasn't quiet sure what happened next. One moment, he and Ven were bolting across the bridge to chase the girl and the next Riku was in the air, taking a swing at a casket that was branded with the Heartless Emblem. Riku yelled in confusion and frustration, feeling the sudden pain wracking his entire body, as he slashed at the creature with all he had. He landed deftly, in front of Ven who was on his backside, propped on his elbows.

Ven was beat to all hell. He was bruised and bleeding and looked like he'd been chewed up. Riku felt like Ven looked. Turning to the Heartless that they seemed to be in the middle of battling, Riku finally took in what was going on.

Before them, stood a toppling casket with nails embedded in the black sides. A pink bulb sat on the top, thorny vines supporting it. It was a Heartless. And… the battle was ending. The creature dropped, a very large heart rising from it. One of the biggest Riku had ever seen.

Riku held out a hand for Ven, helping the blonde up. Oh, boy. His health was depleting. His magic was gone. This must have been one hell of a battle. Oh, and he was poisoned. Yeah. He could feel that.

"So, uh, what just happened?" Riku asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Ven rubbed the back of his head. "Last I remember… we were chasing that girl."

"Yeah, me, too," Riku furrowed his brow. What was going on? What caused them to forget a clearly hellish boss battle? How could they forget just up until the end of it? Was it the Heartless or was it… that girl? Who was she? Why was she wearing an Organization XIII cloak? Was she a spy or was she the Organization's long awaited thirteenth member?

"So, uh… was that Heartless a cannibal?" Ven asked, cringing.

"I… think so," Riku replied, completely uncertain. He was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. "Do you happen to have a panacea? I'm out apparently. Even a potion would be nice."

"Uh…" Ven pat down his pockets. He pulled out a bottle, frowning. "Ether."

"How about enough magic for Cure?" Riku asked, feeling rather unbalanced. He might just pass out.

"Just a little," Ven downed the Ether to cast Cure on Riku. "Better?"

"Do I look better?"

"No."

He didn't feel it, either. That meant they'd be grounded until they found a Moogle. The Moogles were pretty good at putting up shop in the worlds. Since the worlds started disappearing more rapidly, they'd put up projections, but at least they hadn't bailed quite yet. Riku slumped against Ven, who offered his support. Riku showed Ven how to enforce the Keyhole that lay where Oogie's Manor once had. Ven supported Riku, who felt the poison working it's way through his system, back to the Guillotine Gate, where a Moogle stood waiting for them.

Ven bought a panacea, helping Riku drink it. They stocked up on potions and ethers, downing them until they felt relatively healthy. Riku almost wished he brought the Gummy. At the moment, he hated the idea of flying through gummy space to return to Traverse Town. He wanted nothing more than his couch, but he still had a few hours to get there.

Maybe he'd say hello to Jack next time. He felt bad, but he physically felt worse. Riku hated being poisoned. He always felt nauseous and shaky and he wasn't a fan. He preferred paralysis, to be honest.

His biggest concern was that girl. Maybe they should find Mickey and see what he knew. Or, better yet, go to Twilight Town. Maybe DiZ knew something. He seemed to keep good tabs on the Organization. Riku wanted to know who she was and where she came from. He needed to know. Because… if she was who he thought she was… no… she couldn't be. It wasn't possible, right?

Riku needed answers. And he needed them now.

Uh... yay! I usually say things at this point, but I have nothing to say except for Thanks for reading!