Alright, dudes, Chapter 3 is up! Woot! The story's getting started and I'm excited about it! Eheheh. And much thanks to all of my reviewers and supporters, it really means a lot to hear what you guys have to say. The points you bring up make me think too, and even change the direction of my story plot points once in a while. So much thanks to everyone who reviewed: ramen-is-my-goddess, A-chan, XfallenXshadowX, keitorin.24, PirataNoctis, Twilight-Oblivion, -IvyBlonde-! You guys are awesome. Reviews make me update faster! And make my day. And make me worship the ground you walk on. ^^
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Chapter 3
Riku sat and waited for Luxord to talk, still trying to come to grips with what the man just said. For his part, Luxord leaned back against the fallen log, one white blond eyebrow lifting as he examined the stressed youth. He hummed then reached into a pocket of his long trench coat, a second later pulling out what looked to be a deck of cards. The cards though were long and thin, and looked to be made of sturdier material than the usual paper, something more like thin pieces of wood. Luxord glanced up at Riku again then spoke up. "I'll tell you what; we'll play a game to see what I should say. I'll pull two cards, one for me and one for you. Should yours best mine, I'll tell you about this world as best I can. Should mine be a higher number, I'll have to kill you, sound fair?"
Riku raised his head from his hands and snorted. "Hardly." Seriously, was this guy insane?
Riku could only watch as Luxord shuffled the deck, cards flying from hand to hand faster than he could keep track of, blurring into continuous arcs of movement until Luxord suddenly snatched two from the flow. He held them up. "Here's mine now." He threw it toward the fire. The card landed, face up, a few inches from the fire, illuminated from the flickering glow. "Jack of spades. Tough card to beat, but here's yours."
He threw the other card down. Riku tilted his head down to look when he heard Luxord let out a small grunt of surprise. His card was the king of hearts. He had won. Smirking, Riku leaned down to look at Luxord. "My card was higher."
"So it was. A surprising turn of events for sure. But nonetheless, I am nothing but a servant to chance myself. So let's see. Since you know less than a new-born, what should I say?" Luxord collected his cards back together and slid them back into his pocket. "I suppose I should start with the basics. To start with, forget everything you knew about your old world. I've been to it once or twice, I've seen how human's think of things. Here there are no humans, and everything is alive." He saw Riku's face flicker with confusion and sighed. "Everyone here is a spirit of sorts, which is why it's aptly called the spirit world. Now, there are multiple kinds of spirits. Two in particular which have formed into an unfortunate hierarchy."
Luxord leaned forward and held up two fingers. "There are elemental spirits and then there are what are usually called animal spirits though that name can at times be misleading. Animal spirits can also be called demons, but that seems a little harsh, wouldn't you say? But let me give some examples in an attempt to clear things. Wandering around this land is a man who is a friend of mine. He looks very human but he is in fact a water elemental, and has control of water. Then there is another person who is a fox spirit. Now, she may look like a human, but she is actually more an intelligent creature with the ability to change her form."
"Okay…" At this point Riku was wondering it would have been better to risk that Heartless thing than this guy. Luxord had clearly been alone in the wilderness for too long.
A chuckle from Luxord drew Riku from his thoughts. "You don't believe me."
"Not really." Riku crossed his arms. "I wasn't raised to believe in fairy tales or fantasy things like sprits, my father had more sense than that."
"I'm sure he did, but I'm also sure there will be no harm in you listening for a bit longer. As I was saying there's been an unfortunate circumstance where the elementals have grown into thinking that they were better than the animal spirits. They even went so far as to begin a tradition where the strongest of their kind became called 'gods'. You have a god of water. God of fire. God of the dirt found only in a certain region of such and such continent. So they started a hierarchical society, one ruled by an elemental king, one of the many gods. Personally I think the elementals' talk of the animals being second-grade is rubbish. So they're generally a little rougher around the edges. I think the elementals are just jealous that the animals are the only ones who have the ability to travel freely into the human world and back again."
Riku held up his hand when he sensed that Luxord was beginning to ramble, effectively cutting the man off. "Wait, so this place we're in right now has a king?" There was a glimmer of hope for Riku. Maybe, just maybe, if he found the guy in charge around here, crazy or not, he would be able to get directions to somehow get back to Destiny Islands.
"Not at the moment, no." Seeing that Riku was about to protest, Luxord held up his hand. "Our last king was a wise man, an elemental of light. He was sympathetic to the plight of the animal spirits and even elevated them into the highest positions the palace offered. In an attempt to further fix the rift between elemental and animal he married a flower spirit. It was a lower type of elementals, close enough to an animal spirit to arouse some discontent. While our new queen was lovely and kind, the move had been somewhat radical, after all, the woman did already have a son from a previous marriage. And he was an animal sprit. But the move was not unexpected from a headstrong man like him."
Luxord chuckled, though his face fell into thoughtfulness as his eyes fell back onto the campfire. "Most of us celebrated the union, especially after the birth of their two sons, but there were those who became disgruntled. In particular, the leader of the king's guard and several others, all of them dark elementals, banded together and attacked the palace with intent to overthrow the king and create a new regime. They struck at night, when they had the most power and when the king was at his weakest."
Luxord trailed off at this point. Riku, who had just begun to get into the story, frowned after a second. He felt like a child for demanding more, but damn it, it was an interesting story. "So?"
"Hm?"
"So what happened? Obviously something happened."
"The plan of the dark elementals worked too well. Look around us." Luxord waved up to the sky. "We've entered an era of perpetual night. It is three in the afternoon right now, near tea time, but you can't very well tell since the sun only rises in the east for a few hours a day. That mountain range," Luxord motioned to the dark mountains which Riku had noticed when he had first came to the world, "blocks most of the light we might get as it is. Around the noon hour, the sun just barely breaches its peaks. This is all because the light elementals have basically been hunted into extinction or have disappeared. The leader of the guards, the very man that was to be protecting the king, killed him. The fate of the young princes, who were also light elementals, is unknown even to me at this point. All that is certain is they disappeared during the night's raid. Their personal guards ran off in hiding before they were all killed by the dark elementals. The queen escaped with her eldest son and the leader of the guards who killed the kin disappeared as well. One of the other usurpers took control of the palace and so, here we are."
Riku blinked. That was a lot to take in at once. And he had no idea if Luxord was completely making the story up or if there was something to all of it. It had been dark for a long time, hours already. But if he really was in this spirit world than he was incredibly screwed. Especially if things like that black creature were wandering about. Finding his voice after a second, Riku asked. "So that thing…you called it a…Heartless? What was it?"
"The product of too much dark in charge of this world. Too much of any one elemental magic leads to distasteful byproducts. They're particularly nasty things though. They aim for your heart; on account of they don't have one themselves. Jealous little beasties. And you've already caused a new stir, being a new heart. I do believe that they've surrounded my camp even now. Good thing they know better than to test me."
Tensing, Riku turned away from the warmth of the fire to peer into the darkness. He couldn't see anything.
No, wait.
There was a flash of glowing eyes off in the distance. In the next second, there were two other flashes, skirting just inside his peripheral view. Riku scowled at the sight then turned his back to the shadows. If they couldn't come into the camp than it wasn't worth his time to worry about them. But still. With a sigh, Riku ran a hand through his silver hair, carding out a few tangles with his fingers. God, he already had tangles. This world was horrible.
"But you'll be wanting to know how to return to the human world, am I right?"
"Yeah." Riku nodded, clapping his hands on his legs. "I'm just about done with this place. So, how do I get back?"
"I don't know the trick myself, I'm not an animal spirit. You'll be needing to find one if you want to go back to your world, and as it is, I doubt that many would have the strength to create a portal that could support you as well as themselves." Luxord gave Riku a particularly searching look then scratched his beard and shrugged. "I'm taking a gamble here but you might want to try setting off along the path to the east, heading toward the mountains. There might be someone off in that direction who could help you out."
"'There might be someone who can help me?' Could you get any vaguer?"
"Oh, easily. At the moment though that is as specific as I can get, so be thankful. But before you head off I suppose we should take care of that leg of yours. Hold out your ankle, boy." Riku did so with some hesitation, rolling up his jeans to reveal four short but deep gashes in his skin where the Heartless had struck. Riku fought against the need to panic at the sight of them and the way his blood had turned dark and caked up around the wounds. Luxord though only hummed a thoughtful noise and reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a pair of dice. "The wound's not a bad one at all. A low roll should fix that right up."
He tossed the pair of dice up into the air. They tumbled over each other then clattered to the ground, rolling to a stop neatly beside Luxord's hand. A three and a four. "More than enough," Luxord murmured. "Cure."
Riku gasped as a green light suddenly engulfed his wounds, the cuts closing up together as if time was being reversed. Even the blood, dried or not, vanished as if it had never left his body in the first place. Within seconds, the gashes were gone.
"How, how did you do that?"
"Simple Cure spell. Any spirit could manage it. Now if I were you I would start off on the eastern road. That is, if you want to get home anytime soon."
Riku frowned as a sudden thought hit him. "But what about those Heartless things? Come with me, I've got nothing to protect myself with."
Luxord reached into his pocket and pulled out a card then smirked and flipped it around to show Riku. "I'm afraid I can't. Two of diamonds. Bad luck on your part. But you'll be alright. Just keep to the path and don't stray into the darker shadows." Luxord noticed the worried frown on Riku's face and tilted his head to the side. "If you're truly that frightened then take this," reaching into a pocket on the inside of his trench coat, he pulled out a ring. He tossed it to the silver-haired youth who just managed to catch it. The ring was made of some black material and was smooth and cold as stone. "It's a Chaos ring. It will protect you against the weaker Dark creatures, which are the only thing around this forest. Don't take it off until you feel you are safe though. The moment it is off your person is the moment you're open for attack."
Riku frowned but slipped the ring onto his left hand, shivering as it sent a chill through his body. After taking a second to adjust to the feeling, he looked back over to Luxord. "So," he began, voice betraying his inner disbelief, "You're actually going to send me out on my own?"
"Yes. Why? Are you frightened?"
"After what happened with that Heartless, I should have a right to be." He held up his left hand and clenched his fist, feeling the cold of the ring against his palm, "But if this thing really keeps them away, then no, I'm not scared. I just have to follow the road toward the mountains, right?"
"I think so, yes."
Riku sneered. "Wow. Thanks for the help."
Luxord smiled congenially, showing no acknowledgement of Riku's sarcasm. "You are quite welcome. Now, off you go."
Snorting, Riku nonetheless stood up, sending Luxord one last disdainful look before he started to walk away from the campfire, leaving Luxord there with his fire and cart. He couldn't believe that he was being kicked back out into the wilderness, but if that was what was going to happen then fine; he would take it in stride. Jenovan's showed no fear of the unknown, no fear of the darkness. Showing fear about Heartless on the other hand was a little more understandable. After all, they were actually dangerous.
Riku frowned, pulling his jacket closer around his body as the chill of the night soaked back into his skin. He fought the urge to turn around and walk back to the fire. He had pride, damn it. He was not going back to that fire. No matter how warm it was. He could suffer in silence.
Hissing in annoyance, Riku wrapped his arms around himself to try to keep some of the warmth in. So he had never been so cold in his life. Well, his family had gone to the snow once. None of them had fun on that trip. They had spent most of their time warm in their rented vacation house. Riku continued to walk away from the camp though, following the road Luxord had indicated. At least the way was fairly clear. Even in the dark, the dirt path was clearly distinct from the even darker underbrush and fallen leaves at its sides. This made it somewhat easier to avoid the deepest shadows cast by the hint of light peeking over the mountain range ahead of him.
About an hour into his forced march he was beginning to wish that he had gotten Luxord to share a bit of his dinner, or noontime snack or whatever, with him. He grimaced as his stomach gave an annoyed rumble. How long had it been since he had eaten? He had had dinner at the mall, but it had only been a slice of pizza, hardly filling. It hadn't even been good pizza. And by his estimates, that had been a good eight hours ago at least.
Scowling again as his stomach rumbled, Riku grit his teeth and ignored it. For now anyway, he would have to go hungry. There certainly weren't any chefs around, and he was not going to demean himself into hunting for berries or whatever it was people did when they were lost in the forest.
It was boring though, walking. Especially walking in the dark without knowing just how far it will be until reaching your destination. Once he managed to get a hang of steering clear of the darker shadows, the fear of facing Heartless began to die down. And knowing that the ring, what a girly idea in the first place, Luxord had given him kept away the Heartless only increased his sense of security, which, once again, led to greater boredom.
He had just about felt himself slip into a comatose state when he suddenly noticed that as he continued to walk the forest was beginning to close in on the road. Twisting branches from the bare trees were reaching over the dirt path and up ahead and Riku could clearly see that the road was quickly going to be swallowed up by the dense forest. Meaning that there was going to be dark shadows. Blowing out a visible sigh in the cold air, Riku turned around for the first time. There was no sign of helpful life anywhere. It was strange actually, at the lack of animal noises there had been in the forest. Maybe the Heartless had scared everything else away. Of course, if he really was in a spirit world, then there might not even be the normal stock of forest animals. Maybe it was better that he hadn't run into anything yet. The choice now was whether to keep on walking and hope that he'd bump into whoever it was Luxord was talking about or whether to turn back before things became potentially dangerous. Keep going, or take the five hour hike back to Luxord's camp?
Keep going.
It might be bad running into Heartless, but it would be worse still to crawl back to Luxord any time soon. With his mind set, Riku took a hesitant step forward into the shadow of the overhanging forest. There was an immediate change in temperature, the air around him turning from cold to absolutely freezing. Riku shivered then huffed out a quick breath, trying to adjust to the new temperature. As his eyes adjusted to the now near-pitch blackness, he could begin to pick out movement amongst the trees.
The glowing eyes were back again.
Clenching his fist, Riku kept walking. He had been ignorant the first time one of those Heartless had attacked. If they tried it again, he would be more ready. For a few steps, he watched as the Heartless became braver, came closer, started inching onto the path. They moved in near silence. Suddenly, one of them walked onto the path then sunk into the ground, flattening out and looking like a shadow itself as it rushed over to him. Riku took a step back, muttering a low curse as it popped back up barely a foot from him. Soon enough, two other Heartless popped up out of the ground right behind the first, their glowing eyes staring at him with unblinking hunger. Without warning, the first one leapt forward. Riku shouted, throwing up an arm to defend himself. Just before the thing landed on him though, there was a black flash from the Chaos ring Luxord had given him. The Heartless flew back as if it had been rebuffed by a shield, tumbling into the other two. Riku blinked then smirked and straightened up, looking down at the ring with new appreciation. So the thing was worth something after all.
Smirking, Riku tilted his head to the side. "What? Is that all you got?"
One of the Heartless hissed, scrambling out of the tangle of the other two. Its antennae twitched almost angrily as it struck out at Riku with sharp claws only to be flung back like the one before it. Despite their failed efforts though, all three got back onto their feet and faced Riku again. They weren't giving up. In fact they appeared to be getting more excited, jumping up and down and tentatively pulling apart as if to surround him. It was only then that Riku noticed that they weren't alone. More Heartless were starting to come out of the forest, dozens of them by the number of bulging yellow eyes.
Unsure now as to whether his ring would still hold out against so many of the dark creatures, Riku broke away before they could completely surround him.
Once again, he was running.
But this time, there were more than just one. Now it was a small army after him. And right now, he was really hoping that Luxord knew what he was talking about and that there was someone nearby. As he ran, the forest continued to consume the road, the tunnel of trees closing in on him. Branches were starting to dip down to eye level, sharp and hard without their leaves. And as the road bottlenecked and became more tangled, Riku was forced to take more time to weave around the obstacles, giving the Heartless opportunity to catch up.
Breaths coming out harsh from the sprint, Riku grabbed a branch that was hanging into the middle of the path, about to vault over it as he heard at least one Heartless directly behind him. Thinking quickly, he paused to snap the branch off. He felt the rush of air behind him of claws and whipped around, cracking the branch over the head of the Heartless immediately behind him. It tumbled to the ground but Riku couldn't tell if he had killed it or not as it was immediately overrun by more of its kind. Gritting his teeth, Riku continued to run.
He had never used any sort of weapon, but had played baseball before, and he was athletically fit, so every time he felt a Heartless get too close, he turned around to smack it away. He could feel himself tiring fast, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it. If he didn't run, and if he didn't fight back, he wouldn't be able to depend on one little ring to save him from the hoard of living darkness behind him. So he had to keep running, no matter how tired he was. The Heartless were catching up. He could tell. The frigid air on his back had to be coming from them, and it was getting colder as they continued to approach.
Suddenly, one popped up right in front of him from the ground. Tripping over his feet, Riku fumbled to strike it away when the Chaos ring on his finger flashed again, signifying that something had just tried to strike his back. With a growl, Riku twisted around only to be faced with a wall of Heartless, the creatures stacked on top of each other to form a roiling tower taller than he was. He swung out at them, slicing through a layer of them only to have the gap filled up again before he had blinked. His ring was nearly blinding him at this point as Heartless surged forward from all sides, sure to give out at any minute. Soon Riku couldn't tell which way was the path and which was the forest. All he knew was that he was going to be swallowed whole by the Heartless.
In one latch ditch attempt, Riku threw himself at one of the sides, using the branch to bodily force the Heartless back as black claws struck out at him, one or two of them landing their mark with every set of strikes. With one last burst of energy, he forced his way through only to find him stumbling into a wall of tree branches and low bushes.
Terrific.
He had fallen off of the path.
But there was nothing for it now; he had to keep moving. But he was exhausted. Every step forward sent a sting of pain through his body. Everything was cramping, his clothes were getting stained with the blood from those scratches that had managed to hit his skin. His body was freezing, shivering.
Panting, Riku stopped for a moment to catch his breath but the pause caused his legs to give out from under him. He gritted his teeth as he fell to his knees, shaking fingers grabbing for his makeshift weapon. The heaviness of the branch though, was too much for his weakened limbs. Hearing the rustle of bushes behind him, Riku sucked in a breath then forced himself onto his feet. Everything hurt. His vision was swimming in front of his eyes. But he took a step forward anyway.
Reaching forward to support himself against a tree trunk, he let out a shout of surprise as the tree underneath his hand bent under his weight, sending him tumbling into a clearing. The first impression was, light. Everything was lit up, a thick floral scent filling the air.
Groaning, he shakily put his palms against the ground, surprised to find his fingers brushing through thick grass and…flowers. It was the first delicate form of plant life he had ever seen in this world that was alive. And they were beautiful flowers. Taking in a shuddering breath, he blinked as a shadow fell over him. Anticipating a Heartless, he shook his silver hair out of his face, aquamarine eyes widening. It wasn't a Heartless.
It was a wolf.
It was a big wolf, with silver fur and even with his tiring mind could see its striking neon blue eyes. And it was currently snarling at him. Swallowing, Riku locked eyes with it which only increased the animal's growls. He had escaped the Heartless only to get mauled by a giant wolf. His fingers dug into the ground, wrapping around the stems of the flowers as he fought to catch his breath.
"Cloud. Leave him be, he's injured."
The wolf's snarling ceased at the gentle order, its head jerking to the side almost as if he was physically pushed away. Then he snorted and with one final glare at Riku leapt over the fallen youth, charging head on into the forest where the army of Heartless was still undoubtedly raging. A moment later, there were quiet footsteps coming toward him and Riku struggled to sit up. His rising shoulders were met with soft touch and he looked up to see a beautiful woman smiling down at him. She had long brown hair held back in a braid, her green eyes gentle with concern as she crouched down. Her outfit wasn't anything spectacular, it was pretty and pink, but simply made, perfectly suited for the nature setting.
When she saw that she had his attention, the woman's smile grew a little. "Hello there. My name is Aerith. You've been exposed to a lot of darkness. Please, hold still while I heal you. I promise it will all feel better in a moment."
Riku let out a trembling breath as Aerith murmured, "Curaga." Instantly, Riku's cuts and aching muscles felt better. And he could feel the warmth coming from the clearing now. He leaned back with relief, managing a charming smile now that his body wasn't so intolerably exhausted. "Thanks. My name's Riku Jenovan." His smile turned to a dry chuckle. "Not that it matters in this world, I suppose."
Aerith's green eyes had widened slightly at his name but then she tilted her head to the side. Reaching down, she lifted his chin curiously. "You're a long way from your home, aren't you, Riku?"
"More than you know." Riku leaned back, away from her touch, her maternal warmth almost irritating him. He had never had a mother himself, so it was a new and foreign feeling.
The feeling of warm calm was interrupted when a figure entered the clearing behind Riku. Tilting his head back, Riku's eyes widened when a young man stalked passed him. The man's blond hair stood up in wild spikes, his pale skin set off by his black outfit he wore that reminded Riku a lot of what his older brothers would wear. But it was his giant sword that really caught Riku's attention; he didn't know how the man could carry it with one hand.
Aerith looked happy to see the newcomer though and reached out her hand to him. "Cloud, how did everything go?"
Cloud only grunted. The response appeared to seem normal enough to Aerith because she ran a fond hand down his sleeve, her fingers stopping on a small tear. Frowning, she stepped closer to the young man, peeking into the tear to his arm below. "Oh, you should have said something about this cut. Even something small can become infected if it's not taken care of quickly enough. You should know that."
"It's nothing." Oh, so the blond spoke. Riku hadn't been sure.
Cloud turned his gaze onto him and Riku suddenly recognized the eyes. They were the same eyes as the wolf's. And their names, weren't they the same too? Staring at the man's almost feminine face, Riku just barely caught Aerith's words as she began talking again. "Cloud. This is Riku. Riku, this is Cloud." Cloud merely grunted again, clearly uninterested on even acknowledging Riku's existence.
Riku frowned, pulling himself onto his feet, tottering only once as he addressed Cloud. "You were that wolf, right?"
Aerith winced a little as Cloud sent Riku a poisonous glare, the man's neon blue eyes blazing with not-so-subtle rage. "What of it?" The man snarled.
Riku shrugged, keeping his head high under the glare. "I was just curious. I've got nothing against it or anything." He switched his gaze over to Aerith. "When I first came here I ran into a man named Luxord. He told me that I should head east to find someone who could help me get back to the human world. I don't suppose you would be that person?"
"I was wondering where you had come across a Chaos ring. You are lucky Luxord gave it to you." Aerith tilted her head to the side then hummed sadly. "Unfortunately as an elemental I never really had the ability. Cloud…" Cloud scowled and turned away from them, moving to the other side of the flower-covered clearing where he stabbed his sword into the ground then dropped down behind it. Clutching her hands together, Aerith sighed then turned back to Riku. "I'm sorry. Cloud's strong but not strong enough to take someone along with him to the human world, not with all of this darkness. Truthfully, we can barely manage to upkeep the light in this clearing."
"So what are you saying? That I'm stuck here now?" Riku frowned as Aerith's face dropped. "I've got a life back on Destiny Islands, I can't just give it up. I've got a girlfriend, a car, a life! I can't deal with this!"
Just as his voice rose to a near shout, he was suddenly cut off by the tip of a sword pointed directly at his throat. It was Cloud. Somehow he had managed to cross the clearing before Riku had even known he had moved. "Your problem is not her problem." He growled.
Riku had taken a guess at the man's connection to the wolf but he could see it clearly now. The man had a wild look in his eyes and he could almost see Cloud bristling as a dog might. Quickly, Aerith intervened, raising her voice for the first time to an almost angry level. "Cloud! It's okay. Put the sword down. It's okay." Cloud slowly, reluctantly, lowered his massive sword, though Riku swore he could still feel it's cool metal against his throat. Only once she saw that Cloud was calming did Aerith look back to Riku. "I know this must be confusing for you. I can't imagine how different this place must be. We'll do everything we can to help you return to the world of the humans. But I wonder, how did you get here in the first place?"
"I was just in my car with my friend, Axel-"
The name caused Cloud to bristle again, his blue eyes sharpening as Aerith raised her hand to her lips. Looking between the two of them, Riku frowned and crossed his arms. "What, have you heard of him?"
"Axel…We thought he had died in the palace on the night of the raid. But, if he is involved with this, he must have thought that you'd be able to help with the situation." Looking more excited now, she turned to Cloud. "Do you think that you could go and see Demyx? He might know more about what's going on. We might be closer to finding what happened to your brothers!"
Cloud frowned but nodded, slung his sword over his shoulder then walked out of the clearing and back into the forest.
Smiling gently, Aerith turned to Riku. "You probably have a better chance of returning to your home if you follow Cloud. I'm afraid that I can't give you much more help than what I've done."
"I don't think he likes me much."
"You just remind him of someone he's not too fond of. But I'm sure he'll see you as your own separate person soon enough; he just has to adjust to you. Give him some time. Go with him. Please. It will help you understand so much more."
Riku frowned with curiosity but nonetheless followed after Cloud. The blond hadn't even waited for him but Riku had the feeling that with that sword of his, there would be few Heartless left to be a danger.
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