Hey guys. I'm going back to college classes today, so I might not update as often. I apologize, but school comes first.

Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 43

Kyrie stared at the picture on the screen with wide eyes, she knew who this person was. This was the man from her dreams, who her younger self referred to as "grandfather". But Sora, not noticing the expression on the girl's face, stared at the screen in confusion.

"Who's this guy?" Sora asked as he stared. Donald and Goofy shrugged their shoulders, before another voice spoke up.

"Welp, I see ya got things workin'!" the king spoke as he walked into the room. But Kyrie paid no attention to this, as she stared at the picture.

"So this computer has a picture of him…maybe it would know where he is, just like the king said. And maybe…this hunk of junk would know about me, too. Maybe I can get some answers from this thing after all." she thought as she stared. Before she could lift her fingers to touch the keys, the king walked over.

"Ansem the Wise!" the mouse exclaimed as he stared at the picture. Kyrie looked at him from the corner of her eye and turned her attention back to the computer as Sora, Donald, and Goofy dragged him out of the room. Her finger tips hovered over the keys for a moment, before she began typing.

"Where is Ansem? Who am I? What can you tell me?" she thought as she typed, pressing enter when she typed Ansem's name. But all that would show up was his picture, so she switched over to her own name. She quickly typed in her name, and a few pictures showed up. One was a little girl holding a star doll, like the picture and the doll in her backpack. Another was of a blonde-haired man who was standing with a silver-haired woman, a baby in her arms. The last one was of Ansem, her father and mother, and of her. There were other pictures, but mostly of her, Ienzo, Lea, Isa, the guards, her parents, and other people. But no further information showed up, making her sigh and turn away.

"Nothing. Looks like I'll just have to keep searching." she thought as she walked out, following Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the king. She found the four in Ansem's study, standing in front of a large frame with a familiar face on it. She stopped. She knew this man, she had seen him before.

"Xemnas? No…Xemnas looks a bit different, more cold and emotionless. This man…" she thought back to one of her dreams, remembering the man who had cut down Ienzo, Even, and the others. She stiffened, remembering the man's name.

"Xehanort. This man must be Xehanort." she thought with finality.

"I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella." she heard the king spoke as the group looked at the painting. She walked up from behind to get a better view of the picture as Sora turned to him.

"So, where did you meet this guy?" he asked. The king was silent as he crossed his arms.

"Gosh…I can't remember. Ansem the Wise- the real Ansem- must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it." he answered, making the boys slump. But Sora straightened out immediately, glaring at the painting.

"You…! You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi…" suddenly he gasped, turning to the king.

"Your majesty, do you know where Riku is?" he asked. The king stiffened immediately, before looking away. "He's…I'm sorry. I can't help." he answered. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at this, he was lying. She could tell.

"Really, your majesty? Are you sure?" Sora pleaded, trying to look him in the eye. But the king turned away, not meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry, Sora." he spoke. The room was quiet for a moment, before Sora continued.

"What about Kairi? Organization XIII might've kidnapped her." he asked. At this, the king turned to look at him.

"Oh, no!" he gasped. But he went silent for a moment, before turning to them.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie. I was plannin' to get help from Ansem the Wise. But- now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping others should always come before asking others for help. We're safe and sound- and free to choose! So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends. Let's look for Riku and Kairi together." he explained. The group nodded in agreement, before the ground began to shake, startling them as Goofy fell to the floor, covering his head. Once it was done, Sora looked at the ceiling.

"Outside!" he exclaimed. The king nodded.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" and with that, he ran out of the door. The group looked at each other and nodded, before following after him.

-Hallway-

The group ran into the hallway as quickly as they could, weapons drawn, as they came across a strange scene. Heartless and nobodies were going at it, with the nobodies winning as they took out the heartless with one blow. But a voice above them called out, stopping the melee.

"Heartless! Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora and his friends!" they heard a familiar voice, Maleficent's, command. With that, the heartless turned to them, as well as the nobodies.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy exclaimed. With that, the fight began. The group targeted both the heartless and the nobodies, but strangely, the nobodies were staying as far away from Kyrie as possible. And she did the same, going after the heartless as they surrounded her.

"But why are they not coming after me? Do they think that I'm still part of the organization?" she thought as she fought. Soon, all of the heartless and nobodies were gone, leaving the four to stand there alone as they calmed down from their encounter. Suddenly, three small fairies flew up to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but Kyrie paid them no mind. Her mind was lost in thought, if the dusks and other nobodies were here, so were members of the organization.

"But who's here? Is Axel…" but she quickly shook her head. Now was not the time to get mixed up with him. When the three fairies disappeared, the group was quick to head to the castle postern and see what was going on outside. But just as they got to the center of the postern, a dark light flashes, causing the group to stop.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed as the group halted. In the center of the postern stood a man with long, silver hair and a long sword. He had black wings, but only one was unfurled. Donald growled.

"Sora, it's Sephiroth!" he cried as he pointed his staff at him. Goofy looked at the man in confusion.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" he asked, placing a hand over his heart. The man looked at them.

"Did Cloud tell you that? Then he must understand now." the man spoke.

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora asked as he took a step forward. Kyrie was right behind him, she didn't trust this man. She could feel revulsion welling up deep inside her chest, this man was covered with darkness.

"He's bad news. I hope we don't have to fight him. We wouldn't stand a chance." she thought as she glared at the man.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness." Sephiroth answered. Sora was quiet for a moment, before continuing.

"He says he's got a score to settle with you." he warned him. The man nodded, before looking at the sky.

"I see…he wants to meet me again. Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out." and with that, he flew up into the sky and disappeared in a flash of dark light. The group stared at where he was for a moment, before continuing on.

When they got to the Bailey, they realized just how much damage the heartless and the nobodies caused. They had wrecked the wall that separated the bailey and the path to the castle postern, as well as knock over a few other things. Leon and the gang were currently fighting some heartless, and Sora instantly rushed in.

"We'll help!" he cried as he ran in, keyblade in hand. Aerith turned at the sound of his voice, but she gasped immediately.

"Sora! Behind you!" she cried as she pointed. The group turned and were met by a group of nobodies, consisting of Dusks, creepers, and dancers. But they were no match for the group, as they worked together to fight them off and destroy them. But the nobodies still avoided exchanging blows with Kyrie, confusing her even more.

"There nobodies…they're under Demyx. Does that mean he's here still? But if he is…why?" she thought as she fought. Once all of the nobodies were gone, the gang turned to Leon as he moved on.

"The King's in the bailey. You better head over there!" he called. Sora nodded.

"Got it!" he called.

-The Bailey-

"Whoa…" Sora spoke as he looked over the destruction that lay below. Hundreds of heartless scattered about, their friends fighting bravely to protect their homeland as they invaded. Kyrie growled silently as she clenched her fists, angry as she watched the onslaught.

"Whoever is doing this is gonna pay, dearly. I'll see to this." she thought as she watched on. Without further ado, she ran onward.

"Kyrie, wait!" Sora called as he ran after her. But the girl was quick as she jumped down from the ledge, only to hear a thump from behind her. Turning, she spotted the king as he stood in front of Sora, Donald, and Goofy with his hands stretched out, preventing them from going any farther.

"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!" she heard the king order.

"But Leon and the others are friends too!" she heard Sora protest.

"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here! We'll take care of this fight."

"But…I promised Leon!" there was a moment's pause.

"Donald! Goofy! Take Sora and Kyrie and get goin'!" at this, Kyrie clenched her fists.

"Nu-uh. I'm not going! We promised to help Leon and the others take down the heartless, and I'm not about to turn tail and run like a coward!" she thought as she glared at the king. She didn't hear what was said next, and there was a long pause before suddenly, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran past the king and joined Kyrie on the ledge. The group turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, your majesty!" Sora called as he turned and jumped. Donald followed right after him, as Kyrie and Goofy stared back at the king.

"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy called as he jumped as well. Kyrie followed right after them, and as soon as they hit the ground, they kept going. But just as the group was about to enter the Ravine Trail, a familiar dark corridor appeared, stopping them in their tracks. Once it disappeared, a familiar dirty blonde nobody stood in its place, jumping for a moment at the sight of them. Kyrie groaned internally.

"Oh no…Demyx…" she thought in dismay.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively." The man spoke as he looked at them, trying to lift the mood. But Sora and the others were not in the mood for games.

"Scram!" Donald ordered as he brandished his staff, Sora taking a closer look at the young man.

"Didn't we catch you before messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII? I bet you can't even fight." he spoke, taunting a little.

"Yeah, but we can!" Donald agreed. Demxy stiffened a little, before waving his finger at them like a teacher to a misbehaved student.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." He warned. But the second Sora brandished his keyblade, he gasped and jumped back in alarm. With that, he quickly turned and began mumbling to himself.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy..." She heard Demyx groan. Kyrie wished the same thing, why did they have to send Demyx? Sora raised his eyebrow as he stared at the man.

"Who is this kook?" he asked. Goofy was silent for a moment, before turning to him.

"Remember, the organization's made up of nobodies." he explained. Sora nodded.

"Right-no hearts!" at this, Demyx turned.

"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…" he spoke. Donald glared at him.

"You can't trick us!" he exclaimed. All was quiet for a few moments, before Demyx pointed at them.

"Silence, traitor."

Oh noes! Demmy's fight is finally here! Will he make it or not? ...Well, I can say this. You won't find you if you don't review!

Xigbar: Seriously? Man babe, you're harsh.

Demyx: *puppy eyes* Aw! I don't wanna fade!

Axel: *glares* When am I going to get to talk to Kyrie again? Huh?

Me: Soon, so shut up guys!