Author's Note: I do not own ANYTHING pertaining to Kingdom Hearts. I only own Blastbone Clarkson, Charlotte Amaturie (to appear in later chapters), and their nobodies (and the Seekers, who won't appear in this chapter).

Chapter XVII: Dinner Stories

At 7:30pm, right on schedule, Blaster looked up from the kitchen into the large dining hall and saw everyone walk through the door. He had been busy training Sora, Riku, and Kairi with their blades and their magic. Sora displayed the ability to regain a grasp on the magic he had learned before he succumbed to the alien. Riku furthered his abilities in the darkness, and Kairi learned some helpful spells that used her light. Blaster had run the Destiny Island trio to the ground, making sure they knew partially what they were doing before they could rest. By that time, dinner was ready.

The dining hall could fit over 200 people in it, making it feel empty, even with 8 people in it at one time. So, Blaster had everyone go into the adjoined VIP Dining Suite, where it could only fit 12 people at a time. Blaster, who was wearing a chef's hat, almost burst through the doors to the kitchen with a cart full of the main course. Once everyone was served, everyone ate in silence, occasionally broken by the clinking of silverware on plates, or the small attempts to start conversation.

By 8:00, after ice cream sundaes were served for dessert, Blaster finally was able to break the ice.

"So," Blaster said. As he sat at the head of the table, he turned to his left, where Nox and Xarch were eating (because, even though they are Nobodies, they have to eat SOMETHING, right?). "Nox, Xarch. Tell me, how did you end up angering one of the most powerful organizations in the universe?"

Nox put down his spoon, while Xarch shuddered at the thought. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all suddenly were at attention, while Donald and Goofy volunteered to bring the dishes back into the kitchen to be cleaned, even though they were both really interested in the tale.

"It all started when we were created," Nox said, leaning back in his chair. "When we first arrived in Twilight Town, we were both recruited after Roxas, and Xemnas' fancy little experiment, Xion."

"Xion?" Sora asked, earning him an elbow in the gut from Kairi.

"Yes," Xarch said. "Xion was an experiment. Just like Vexen made that replica of Riku…" Riku shuddered, but no one noticed "…Xion was supposed to be a replica of Sora in case Sora would be useless in the Organization's plans. She was Xemnas', but she was imperfect."

"I remember her," Riku said. "She looked like Kairi, but she had black hair, if I remember. Because she was an imperfect replica of Sora, but a replica none the less, she too could wield the Keyblade."

"Very true," Nos said. "Anyway, she was quick to befriend Roxas and Axel, but she eventually got more of Sora's traits during his memory restoration process. After she learned where she came from, she returned to normal and left. Xarch and I were sent to track her down, as she also befriended us."

"Well," Xarch said. "The sad part was that Axel got to her first and returned her to the Organization. Xemnas 'reprogrammed' her to go after Roxas, thinking that, if she could defeat and absorb Roxas, she would become the 'real' Sora. But, you know Roxas. He's hard to beat. Xion was defeated, and she returned to her senses. But at a price. As she died, she informed Roxas of the Organizations' plan, and asked him to stop Xemnas at all costs."

"That's sad," Kairi said. "So, she just died."

"No," Nox said, leaning back forward in his chair. "You see, when she died, she dissolved like mostly all nobodies, but, instead of returning to nothingness, she was absorbed by Roxas. Since then, he gained the ability to use two Keyblades. One was his own, the other Xion's."

"Okay," Blaster said, holding up both hands to stop the tangent. "We went from why you were kicked out to the Unofficial fourteenth member. You guys have a terrible habit of getting off topic."

"Right, sorry," Nox apologized. "Right when we started, Xemnas had a field day. He ran experiments on us for some time. After the first week of experiments, we became so angry, we eventually got into a fight with Xemnas as he experimented on us. He won, but he was surprised at our techniques and powers. But he was still suspicious. Especially with Xarch."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"You know that I befriended Roxas, right?" Xarch asked. Riku, Kairi and Sora all nodded. "Well, when I befriended Roxas, I somehow got the ability to control his lesser Nobodies, the Samurais. He was thinking Roxas and I were plotting to overthrow the Organization. That was soon quelled when Xemnas got word from Axel that Marluxia had attempted to overthrow the Organization using Sora as a pawn.

"After Roxas left, we were tasked with his capture and return. That's when Riku took him. Nox and I suspected that they would send us to retrieve him. That is when we made the mistake of defecting ourselves. We were able to set a charge to take out a good chunk of Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts. When we came back to finish the job, we were ambushed by Luxord and Xigbar, under the orders of Saix."

"They left us for dead," Nox said, continuing for Xarch. "We were relentlessly attacked by the lesser nobodies for some time just on the outskirts of the City that Never Was. We were there, expecting the worst when, for some unknown reason, all the Nobodies just stopped and vanished. After that, we fought our way back to the Castle that Never Was, then, ended up in Disney Castle. You know the rest of the story."

"Wow," Riku said. "I must say that, when Sora and I defeated Xemnas, the lesser nobodies had no one else to take orders from, so they just left. And fought us in that little world we last fought Xemnas."

"That is possibly the best assumption," Blaster said, taking one of the last swigs from his glass of water.

"By the way, Blaster," Riku said, turning to the head of the table, where Blaster sat. "You said that the energy signature off that 'Chaos Emerald' was similar to that of the Crux Stones. What are they?"

Blaster cleared his throat before leaning forward in his chair.

"Back in my universe, I lived on earth for all my life," Blaster said. "When I was 16, I had entered my Junior Year at high school. The times were hard in 2019, because we were encapsulated in the Second Great Depression, which came so soon after the Second Civil War. I was with my friend from the orphanage we lived in, and, on our way home, we discovered a strange stone. What happened next changed my life entirely.

"This stone had a symbol on it," Blaster continued. "You would know what it looks like, Sora. It was all over your clothes when we did that drive back there in Olympus Coliseum."

"Was it the square spiral that revolved three times before ending in a dot in the center?" Sora asked.

"Yes," Blaster replied, nodding. "My friends, Wendy Ulrich and Charlotte Amaturie, and I all touched that symbol together. That stone infused us with greater powers than what we originally had. I had all the powers I have now, but to a lesser degree. Char had precognition to a certain degree, and Wendy had some strange ability that allowed her to solve nearly every problem. Apparently, the stone called to the nearest ship, which picked us up and took us to what was the homeworld of a very powerful race called the Torillians. That was where I learned the name, Crux Stone, and my lineage."

"So, you encountered the stone on accident?" Kairi asked.

"Yes," Blaster replied, nodding again. "The Crux Stone could enhance one person's abilities, and even add new ones. But, there are 13 of them, and in conjunction with the Tablet of Trio-Cruex, they have the power to literally turn a normal person into a God of sorts. I have collected all thirteen Crux Stones, and I shared them with my friends. When the power is distributed like that, no one person becomes too powerful."

"So, you didn't get the full potential of the stones," Riku said, curiously.

"No, I didn't" Blaster replied, leaning back in his chair. "I wouldn't want to be that powerful. Even if I was the Chosen One, I don't need that much power."

"You said you learned your lineage," Sora probed. "Does that mean that you know know where you're from?"

"In a manner of speaking," Blaster said. "When I learned myself I couldn't believe it either. I am not human."

"You are an alien?" Kairi asked. "Like E.T, or something?"

"Not entirely," Blaster said. "I am human, but not fully human. I am one of the last two descendents of the Torillians. If you remember correctly, I spoke in a weird language when talking to King Mickey. That language was the native tongue of my ancestors."

"How did you end up coming across all 13 of these Crux stones, by the way," Nox asked. "That part I can't seem to remember."

"When I first started, the first was the one I stumbled upon by accident," Blaster said. "That set in motion the events that got me here today. The next 6 I had to obtain for some dictator, Drackenor."

"I remember him," Riku said. "He was the bumbling idiot of Maleficent's when I was there."

"He was so much powerful back then," Blaster said. "I faced off with him in a duel, and I ended up 'killing' him, or so I thought. In the end, I had obtained all thirteen Crux Stones. That Tablet of Trio-Cruex I found on my next journey, beating the 'dead' Drackenor to it by a matter of seconds."

"Wait a second," Sora said. "I remember over a year ago. Blaster came, and he was searching for the thirteen stones that he said were the source of his powers."

"That is correct," Blaster said.

"Another quick question," Xarch said. "You said that there are two remaining descendents of these Torillians. Who is the other?"

"Char, of course," Blaster replied. "Didn't I tell you all of this earlier, Riku?"

"I probably don't remember most of it," Riku replied. "I thought you were going home, so I thought it was useless information and forgot it."

"An acceptable excuse," Sora said. "So, when are we going to get to this next world?"

"The next world is approximately 30 minutes away if we drop out of hyperspace within the next 5 minutes," Pegasus replied. "As per your orders, I have searched the name of this new world."

"Wait for us to get to the bridge first," Blaster said.

"I suggest you hurry," Pegasus replied. "I am detecting Heartless and Partial ships lying in wait about 10 minutes out."

"We should be able to get by them without a problem," Blaster replied. "But, why are they lying in wait right there?"

"What's going on?" Donald asked.

"We're about to get ambushed, aren't we?" Sora asked, almost monotonously.

"Pegasus, scan for all life signs, excluding us," Blaster ordered.

"There is a Heartless signature in the hyperdrive generator room," Pegasus replied. "The power is decreasing."

And, once again, the Pegasus rocked slightly before the extreme deceleration signaled that they dropped out of hyperspace, leaving Blaster cursing under his breath.

(Scenes from the next chapter.)

ON THE NEXT "INTO THE FIRE": Another space battle leaves the Pegasus on top once again. And we reach the next world. Tune in next week for an all new chapter of "Into the Fire." Fridays at 9/8c.