Hey guys. I guess you're sick of me apologizing for being late… but stuff happens…

Anyway, there has been a VERY DISAPPOINTING lack of reviews. Get with the program, people. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal… if the reviews pick up, I'll update more often. Fair enough?

Insert a disclaimer of your choice here. Enjoy.


Feels like the weight of the world
Like God in heaven gave me a turn
Don't cling to me, I swear I can't fix you
Still in the dark can you fix me?
Freefall, freefall all through life
If you love me
Then let go of me
I won't be held down by who I used to be
She's nothing to me
- Evanescence, "Weight of the World"


As if the pain in Bruixe's ribs and shoulder wasn't enough, there was this annoying poking sensation on her face.

"Helloooo?" said a voice.

"Riku?" Bruixe murmured groggily.

"Um… close," the voice said. "Well… not really. But good guess."

"Ren, I don't really think that's doing a whole lot for her condition," admonished another voice. The poking ceased.

"Well, she woke up, didn't she?" Ren pointed out.

Bruixe opened her eyes.

Ren was crouched over her, green eyes worried, but she smiled as Bruixe looked at her. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she said.

Bruixe tried to sit up, but Ren held her back down. Ordinarily, the younger girl's strength wouldn't be enough to stop Bruixe, but her ribs gave a pang of protest. "Easy," said the second voice, which she now recognized as Kairi. "Just sit tight a minute."

There was a peculiar tingling sensation in her abdomen, and then the pain vanished. "What did you do?" Bruixe asked in wonder, sitting up with ease.

"I healed you," Kairi said, a hint of smugness in her voice. "Didn't you know? I already passed my classes back on Destiny Island. I'm a full-fledged healer now."

"And you couldn't have done that last year when I was frickin' dying on the beach?" Bruixe muttered.

"You weren't dying," Kairi said patiently. "And I didn't really know what I was doing, then."

Bruixe groaned. "Don't tell me that. For the sake of all that is good and holy, do not ever say anything like that ever again. Where are we?"

"In some sort of dungeon," Ren told her. "Rondot's men put us in here."

Bruixe growled. "Where are Sora and Riku? Riku was here – he was captured, too..."

"They're in a different cell, I guess," Kairi said. "They're – they're probably fine. Well, as fine as we are, anyway."

"Bruixe?" Ren whispered. "What was… what was in the room? Where Isalena found us?"

Kairi's face paled, and Bruixe put a hand on her shoulder. "It was… it was Danthus," she said brokenly. "She – that traitorous bitch – she killed him. Murdered him."

"Dead?" Ren panicked. "But Hanna – Hanna was with them! What if…" Tears started streaming down her face.

Kairi pulled Ren into a hug, and Bruixe balled her hands into fists. "She won't get away with this," she swore, more to herself than to her friends. "Even if I have to kill her myself."

The door to the tiny room they were in creaked open, and Bruixe leapt to her feet, taking up a protective stance between the door and the other two girls. For an instant, another scene flashed into her mind – she stood the same way, hell-bent on protecting someone, only this time it was not Saix in front of her, but Isalena herself.

"You," Bruixe growled.

"Fully recovered, I see?" Isalena said pleasantly. "Very good. That girl is quite the healer, isn't she? Very useful."

"You won't touch her," Bruixe spat.

"Dearest, I'm not here for your friends," Isalena laughed delicately. "I'm here for you."


"Where are we going?" demanded Bruixe.

Her hands were tied behind her back, a blindfold over her eyes; all she knew was that she was in another wagon, bouncing over uneven ground. She guessed they were near the mountains; she could smell pine needles and spruce.

"Can't you guess?" Isalena asked, and the wagon stopped.

Strong hands shoved her up and out of the wagon; someone cut the blindfold from around her head, and she blinked a few times to clear her sight.

"Welcome home, Bruixe," Isalena said smugly.

It was her old house, or what was left of it. Bruixe hadn't seen it in eleven years. She hadn't been allowed to go back after her father was killed – the Council was adamant in keeping her away from anything that might have encouraged her to follow in Xehanort's footsteps. The juniper bushes Bruixe used to love were overgrown now, spreading across the ground in tangles of needles and blue-white berries; many of the windows were broken, and the wood was rotting in some places.

Bruixe swallowed, trying not to show her discomfort. "Why are we here?"

"There's something here I think you should see," Isalena told her, motioning for Bruixe to follow.

For half a second, Bruixe considered running – she knew these woods better than anyone. But she didn't want to think about what Isalena might do to her friends if that happened. Growling, she followed Isalena into the house.

"Do you know why your father built his house here?" Isalena asked conversationally.

"No," Bruixe remarked.

"Neither did I, for the longest time," the Councilor replied. "A giant house, away from the city, secluded in these godforsaken woods, isolated from all civilization. It makes no sense."

"Neither does building a manor in the desert," Bruixe pointed out.

Isalena waved a hand in dismissal. "I must admit, I was curious. Curious enough to see for myself – what lured him to live here? The great Xehanort was no hermit, I was sure of it."

"My father wasn't 'great'," Bruixe spat. "He was a murderer."

"Your father could have saved this entire world," Isalena said coldly. "He was a genius. Misguided, perhaps… but a genius."

A sinking feeling settled into Bruixe's stomach. "You were one of the Councilors that denied him, if I recall," she said uneasily.

"His idea was good, in theory," Isalena said. "An army of extraordinarily strong soldiers that will not rebel, or disobey orders – that seek out the strongest opponent and destroy it first. It would have been a remarkable asset to the Eternal Kingdom. However, your father wanted to control them all himself. It could not be allowed to happen."

They stopped at the door to Xehanort's study. "But I admit, I was intrigued by his ideas. I wondered how he had ever come up with such a theory. So I came here."

She pushed the door open, and Bruixe gasped.

The floor of her father's study had rotted away, revealing a staircase to an underground tunnel. "Impossible," Bruixe whispered. It must have been hidden here, for years – if the house hadn't been abandoned, it might have stayed hidden. I never knew…

"Curious?" Isalena said, starting the descent. "I was."

Bruixe followed her again, knowing that she'd never get to the heart of this if she didn't.

"I never dreamed what your father might have found," Isalena continued. "After all…. No one really believed this place existed. It was the stuff of legends, you see. A myth. But your father stumbled upon it – whether by coincidence or divine intervention, I'll never know."

The tunnel ended at a metal door embedded in a rock wall. Strange symbols were etched into the metal, and Bruixe knew instinctively that her father had not built it. Without waiting for Isalena, she pulled on the handle; it was surprisingly light, and swung open without much effort.

Inside was a small, round room, the walls made of the same metal as the door, with similar symbols creating flowing patterns around the room. A single sculpted chair stood in the middle.

"What is this place?" Bruixe whispered. Her voice echoed, as if the room were many times larger than it appeared.

"The Room of Awakening," Isalena said simply.

The name surprised her; Bruixe had heard it before, but not in the Eternal Kingdom.

"…pointless to divide our forces," the Lancer was saying.

"Nah," Xigbar disagreed. "Divide and conquer."

"The saying is, 'unite and conquer,' fool," Xaldin told him.

"No it's not," the older man argued. "Divide and conquer. Alexander the Great."

"Who?"

"That's not the point," Xigbar said, shaking his head. "The point of the Oblivion headquarters was to find the Room of Awakening."

What? Bruixe wondered.

"Meaningless," Xaldin scoffed. "It doesn't exist."

"Xemnas seems to think it does," Xigbar shrugged. "And this is the guy that found the first one. Who's to say there isn't a second?"

"He didn't discover the Room of Sleep, he built it," argued Xaldin.

"Are you sure?" asked Xigbar cockily. "You were there, Dilan."

Xaldin stiffened visibly. Must be his other's name, thought Bruixe.

"Yeah, you know what I'm talking about," Xigbar went on. "That room in the basement was there long before we took over. We weren't allowed in. So of course it was the first place Xemnas went when he was in control."

"But what's down there?" the Lancer mused.

"Who knows? Gotta be something, otherwise Xemnas wouldn't bother. And I'm guessing the Room of Awakening is important."

"I suppose," Xaldin agreed reluctantly. Then, "So he thinks it's in Castle Oblivion?"

Xigbar shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, but it's at least somewhere to start looking."

Isalena noticed the look of recognition on Bruixe's face. "You know of this place?" she asked.

Bruixe shook her head slowly. "I've heard the name… and I've heard of the Room of Sleep…"

"Also a place of wonder," Isalena said. "The old legends tell of two places hidden in the worlds, no one knows – knew – where. They say these Rooms are left over from the beginning of time, when there was but one world. Before the Fall. These Rooms hold the power to cross over into other realms."

"Other worlds?" Bruixe wanted to know.

"No," Isalena told her. "Other realms. Well, as far as we know – as far as your father knew – there are only two. The realm of the living, and the realm of the dead."

Chills ran down Bruixe's spine.

"The Room of Sleep – which we now believe to be located in Radiant Garden – allows a living person passage into the realm of the dead. Not the whole person, mind you – but their consciousness. Their body appears to be asleep. Hence, the Room of Sleep."

"And what does this one do?" Bruixe asked, waving a hand around at the walls.

"This is the Room of Awakening, as I said," Isalena replied. "The opposite of the Room of Sleep. Here, souls can be brought from the realm of the dead to our own realm."

"You can bring back the dead?" Bruixe gasped.

A flash of the dreams she'd been having returned to her – Axel. Demyx.

"Only a shadow," the Councilor told her. "There is a link that connects them to the realm of the dead – they must always return. However…" She smiled, and Bruixe was reminded of a cat waiting to pounce. "Can you imagine why your father found this room especially fascinating?"

Bruixe's heart thudded unevenly. "I guess anyone would be 'fascinated' with this place."

"Do you know the power of the Keyblade your father wielded?" Isalena hissed.

"It creates Chasers," Bruixe said, a little taken aback at the question.

"Not quite," Isalena told her. "Fallen Angel – aptly named – has the power to destroy magic. To cut through the intangible ties that connect the worlds. Xehanort discovered that he could sever the link that connects the souls of the dead to their own realm. The result… he called a Chaser."

"No," Bruixe whispered.

"These wraiths walk the worlds, searching for that which would make them whole. They are drawn to the life, the vitality of those with strong hearts," Isalena told her, now smug. "And when they are destroyed, they do not die. They cease to be."

The heart-rending screech of a dying Chaser filled her ears, and Bruixe had to force herself to breathe.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Isn't it obvious, dearest?" Isalena laughed as if at an endearing pet. "You are going to create an army. Not Chasers, no – I think we'll call them Wardens, yes? An army for the Eternal Kingdom. The protectors."

"Why?" Bruixe demanded.

Isalena's smug face fell, replaced by a mask of rage. "This world is corrupt," she stated, steel in her tone. "The Council – a bunch of doddering old fools – bickers and argues over the price of grain while the true problems lie in the city itself. Mankind has fallen, Bruixe, darling. People kill each other on the streets. Children go hungry while fat, lazy nobles put on airs and lounge around their jeweled estates. The people need a strong ruler – not a complaint committee."

Slowly Bruixe began to realize what Isalena was saying. "And I imagine you think yourself a 'strong ruler', then?"

"I can do more for this world than you know," Isalena spat.

"By enforcing your rules with an army of demons?" Bruixe growled. "Because that's what you're saying!"

"When the people go astray, it is the duty of the elite to guide them to the correct path," Isalena said magnanimously.

"Why kill Danthus, then?" Bruixe shouted. "He was just as strong as you – stronger!"

Isalena's eyes glittered dangerously. "Danthus was a fool," she said. "All the Council is. Battle you may understand, dearest, but politics you do not. Often to create a new order, the old must be torn down."

"You're not stopping with Danthus," Bruixe realized, horrified.

"It is a decision I regret, but it must happen," the Councilor said coldly.

Bruixe shook her head. "I won't be a part of this."

"You don't have a choice, love," Isalena told her.

"The hell I do!"

Isalena pierced her with a steely glare. "You will create an army for me," Isalena said. "Or your friends will be the ones to pay the price."

She lured me here on purpose, Bruixe realized. Not just me – but Riku, and Sora, and Kairi too – she's been planning this all along. She thinks she can use me.

A thought struck her. Not thinks. She knows she can use me.

Bruixe had always sworn she would die for her friends… but she'd never imagined she'd have to murder for them.


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