I open my eyes to see we're all back in the room where the Keyhole used to be. It must have disappeared when we sealed it. All that remains is a wall of pipes and machinery.
At the bottom of the stairs leading down, the gang from Traverse Town stands. Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, and Cid. We go down to meet them.
"You did it!" Aerith cheers. "You sealed the final Keyhole!"
"Good job," Leon says gruffly. He isn't very talkative, is he?
"Don't mind him," Yuffie says cheerily. "You guys did great! You have no idea how much this means to us!" What does she mean by that?
Noticing my and Sora's confused expressions, Leon elaborates. "Hollow Bastion is our home world. We thought it was destroyed, but apparently Maleficent took over."
"Not to mention it's our world too," Matt says. So that's why they were so determined to save this place. If I could save Destiny Islands, I wouldn't stop at anything.
Sora changes the subject suddenly. "But where is Ansem? He should have been in there, right?"
Yen turns to him. "You have a point there. If he's not here, then where could he be?"
"I think I can solve that problem," Cid says. "A new world appeared not far from here. A powerful darkness is centered there. You can't use a gummi ship, but a portal leading there is in the cathedral." In a wordless glance, we all agreed to go.
Cid leads us back to the cathedral. In the center of the room, the air seems to shimmer, sometimes shining purple.
"Is that it?" Matt asks.
"Yes. It will lead you guys to the new world." We all begin to walk toward it but Cid suddenly stops us. "And one more thing, we're not sure if you guys will be able to return through the same portal. You'll probably have to find a new way out."
"So what will happen to us if we're trapped and can't return?" Yen whispers. Cid doesn't answer this time.
"We just won't let that happen!" I say. "We'll find a way out, no matter what!" I don't know why I feel so confident. I can tell there aren't many options for escape. Deep inside my heart, I have a feeling we won't be coming back.
Kingdom Hearts.
My vision clears up, revealing a dark dawn sky and what looks to be a light purple sea. I'm standing on what looks like a slab of floating rock. A few more are scattered throughout the area. A few hundred yards away, a strange portal-like distortion appears.
"What is this place?" I hear Matt whisper. I look around me. Everyone is here, but what is here?
Yen looks at the rock surrounding us. Every one seems to be made of something different, now that I look closer. A few are sand, some are covered in grass, and some look like parts of buildings.
"You don't think…" Yen whispers. Sora nods.
"This is what's left of all of the worlds taken by darkness." How did he come up with that? Now that he mentions it, that would make sense.
"Do you think Ansem is here?" I ask.
"He might as well be," Donald says in his usual almost unintelligible voice. "We can't leave this place. The gummi ships aren't responding!"
"What do you mean, not responding!" Goofy cries.
Donald smacks him with his wand, much to my surprise. "It means we're stuck in this world, you big palooka!" I interrupt before things can get more heated between the two.
"Come on, guys! We need to defeat Ansem before he can destroy any more worlds!"
"But if we save all of the worlds," Sora says, "what happens to this one?" I didn't think about that. If all of these worlds are remains of worlds lost in darkness, then they have to disappear. With us in it!
"Don't worry, guys," Goofy says, "Even if this world disappears, we'll be just fine!" I don't know how he can know that, but I'd rather believe Goofy than think we'll all disappear.
We hop from stone to stone, not wanting to ind out if the ground wasnt solid the hard way. However, after a few minutes of this, a strange whistling noise fills my ears. I look up and gasp in shock. A large orb of darkness is falling right at me!
I stay rooted to the spot, unable to go anywhere. The Darkness Falls closer and closer. it may be far away now, but it's going way to fast to avoid. Noticing I was looking up, the rest of our group looks up from their spots as well. Before I know it, two balls enter my vision. We're going to be wiped out!
The orbs come closer and closer. finally, they hit the ground and a brilliant explosion ensues. I have to cover my eyes to avoid being blinded. (It is kinda weird how darkness went to light, though.) Just when I think it's over, I find myself facing multiple heartless.
I look around, confused. Matt and Donald are here as well, looking confused. But that doesn't last long. Realizing the heartless could attack any minute, we each prepare our weapons.
The first to attack is a humanoid shadow heartless. It appears to be quite buff and floats a foot above the ground. It has a long tail with a spiked end. It has two sets of wings, one set of bat wings on its back and one set of angel wings on it's elbows. It carries a huge blue sword with Japanese sybols on it as well.
The heartless swings it sword down on Matt, but he uses his Keyblade to block the strike. The two stay evenly matched for a moment before a blast of fire separates the two.
All of a sudden, the other heartless are spurred into action. There are two more heartless like the one Matt is fighting and three that look like winged hour-glasses. Determining the shadows to be a bigger threat, I decide to take them on first.
I charge up to the closest one, firing a volley of firagas. The heartless is dazed when I reach it and slash with my Keyblade. It is unable to dodge and is pushed a few feet backward. I continue my assault, but it eventually swings its sword hard and I go flying back. The blast seems to have broken a rib or two, but I use a cura spell to put it back into place.
I stand up and search for the heartless. It disappeared! Suddenly, something slams into my side, pushing me out of the way. I look to where it ended up to see it was the sword! But where is the heartless.
The sword swings around toward me and tries to attack again. I dive out of the way, but it just turns back for another try.
I dodge again and again until the sword plants itself in the ground. I relax, thinking I can get a break, but it's not over! I ring of dark flame appears around my waist. I try to run away from it, but it stays firmly planted where it is.
It begins to spin, slowly at first, but steadily gains speed as time goes on. All the while, I try to get out of it. Suddenly, the ring starts to glow and a sharp pain blasts me into the air.
I fall to the ground, bouncing onto my stomach. I cast another cura, but I can tell my magic is out of the option for now. At least the heartless is back now. It picks up its sword and flies straight at me.
I fake a strike going left and when it tries to block, I turn to swing on it's right side. While it's stunned, I jump into the air to attack. I swing back and forth, forcing the heartless to the ground. Then, still in the air, I cast Thundaga. The heartless is obliterated instantly.
Now to focus on the other ones. Matt seems to have finished off his heartless and is fighting one of the hourglasses. These things flie around so quickly, it's must be hard to hit. Then I'll just use magic!
I grab an ether from my pocket and crush the blue cube in my hand. A soft light washes over me and I feel my magic return.
I charge over to the heartless, casting all of the attack spells I know. I even use gravira, a spell I barely know how to use. It works this time, crushing the heartless against the ground. The intense pressure destroys it after a few seconds.
As soon as we finish off the other two heartless, we find ourselves back on the rocks. Soon, Sora, Yen, and Goofy appear on the rocks they stood on.
Unwilling to fight another group of heartless, we go much faster. We quickly reach the distortion ahead and jump straight through.
I find myself at the edge of a large drop. I can't see the bottom, but colorful crystals and spiderwb-like thread is scattered throughout the place. It's lucky I stopped right then because I'm right at the edge of a platform.
Suddenly, something hits me from behind! I lean forward, losing my balance. It looks like I'm about to see the bottom of this place. I try to steady myself, but it's no use.
I fall forward, flipping wildly. Everything blurs past. i hear Matt shout my name in worry. I eventually manage to gain an upright position, then I use magic to slow my fall. It's a good thing I can do that.
Once on the ground, I look around. There are just as many crystals down here as up there! They look kind of valuable too...
I shake my head as if to remind myself not to think about munny. We're on a mission here!
"Kaze! Are you okay?" Sora shouts. I can't see him, the crevasse is too dark.
"I'm alright!" I holler back. "I'm not sure i can get back up though!"
I take another look around for a way up. All of a sudden, a bright light begins to come from a large, apparently hollow, rock. The light seems to twist around itself in bright ribbons. It is quite beautiful to see. The rock rises too high to jump onto, but there has to be a way, right?
I shout up to my friends. "Guys, I think I found a way out of here! Just don't fall all of the way down!"
"We're on it!" Matt calls. Now to find a way in!
I look around the bottom. All I can see is a few rocks and crystals; nothing I can climb onto to get high enough. Then, I notice a wall with a few vines on it. I run over to it and test the strength of the foliage. It seems strong enough to me.
I grab on and pull myself up. I keep climbing until I reach an outreach of rock. Right above the hole! Now that I can see the top, it seems to be a fall into nothingness.
Soon, the rest of the group floats down, also using magic to slow their descent. Noticing what I had planned, Yen exclaims, "Seriously, you want to go in there!"
"Yep. It's the only way out!" I say. Everyone still looks reluctant, so I take the first jump in. "See you on the other side!" I jump in. The light seems to be blowing a strong wind, almost strong enough to push me out.
I continue to fall into nothingness, unable to see anything. Was I wrong about this exit? Was it a trap? Do I just lead my friends to their deaths!
"Just when I feel it's over, I hit solid ground. I sigh in reliev before lookin around. I am in the center of a strange lookin tower. More of them are off in the distance. At opposite ends of the tower, a green and blue light appear.
In a few minutes, Sora, Matt, Yen, Donald, and Goofy appear. One minute, nothing was there, then they were.
"Looks like you were right, Kaze," Sora says.
"We can take care of the congratulations later!" Yen says in a normal voice. This must be important. "We need to find Ansem soon. I can feel the darkness in this place growing stronger!"
I can feel it too, now that he mentions it. I feel cold. Not just a regular cold, but the kind that gets right into your bones. Like the time I got locked in the ice cream shop with Sora and Riku. I never thought anything could get colder than that.
"Then we have to hurry!" Sora says, zipping up his jacket. He felt it too, then.
"But which way do we go?" Goofy asks. "The green light or the blue one?"
"I think blue," I suggest. "We came in near the green, so blue is the obvious choice." No one argued, so we headed to the blue ball of energy. Tired of going first, I let everyone else go before me. When someone touched the ball, they faded away, leaving nothing. It was the best each of us could do to hope they got somewhere safely.
When it was my turn, I touched the orb. It felt so warm. So much better than the cold. I felt like I was flying across the sky for a brief second and I then found myself in front of a large pillar of darkness. The rest of the group is nowhere to be seen.
In retrospect, I probably shouldn't go near the darkness. It just doesn't seem like a good idea. But for some reason, it's calling to me. I feel like there is something I need to see. Something important.
Against my better judgement, I go into the dark pillar.
Kingdom Hearts
"What is this place?" I whisper aloud. I'm in what looks like a lab. A computer sits in the center of the room surrounded by five containers filled with different color liquids. They look big enough to fit a lot of stuff inside. I shiver. Or a person.
I go over to the computer. It is already on and a strange message is on the screen.
Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys. The door to darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. One born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens.
What could that possibly mean?
I don't have time to think about it, though! Three invisibles, the sword wielding heartless, appear behind me!
I duck under one swing aimed for my head, but the strike hits the computer, destroying it! Looks like I'm not getting any answers any time soon.
I summon my Keyblade and easily dispatch the heartless, already knowing their attacks. "I can take on anything!" I say to myself, confidently.
All of a sudden, the lab disappears, leaving me back in a tower. Only this time, my friends are here as well.
"Did anyone else see another world?" I ask. Everyone nods. "And did you find anything odd?" Everyone nods again and pulls a paper or two out of their pockets. The papers look old, yellowed with age. It's a wonder they even hold together, much less that they're legible.
On each paper, the top reads 'Ansem Report'. Every one has a different number; 1-13. We arrange them in order and read.
Ansem Report 1 –
Much of my life has been dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times.
Darkness… Darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I
must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness.
Ansem Report 2 –
It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:
- Extract the darkness from a person's heart.
- Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.
- Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.
The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.
Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness… What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?
Ansem Report 3 –
The shadows that crawl beneath the castle… Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?
All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts… I will call them the Heartless.
Ansem Report 4 –
The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.
I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.
Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?
It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?
Ansem Report 5 –
To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence.
I had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. SO I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy. That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?
Ansem Report 6 –
A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless.
The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too–the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.
The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?
Ansem Report 7 –
I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance.
Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world… I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow.
But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.
Ansem Report 8 –
There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart.
As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless.
This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.
Ansem Report 9 –
Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks." It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel.
We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade." The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power.
ne legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened.
Ansem Report 10 –
Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart.
Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing.
My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I most do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.
You can only acquire the following 3 Ansem Reports in Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
Ansem Report 11 –
In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, the wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds.
The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case.
If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something.
Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other…
I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is…
I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds.
Ansem Report 12 –
I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation.
My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied.
In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart.
The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report…)
There are still so many unknown worlds.
The present world.
The world of darkness.
The world of light.
And, The world in-between.
Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?
Ansem Report 13 –
When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go?
Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?
Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears.
However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?
If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere.
An existence neither of darkness nor of light.
An in-between existence.
Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light.
This mystery cannot be easily resolved.
The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one.
But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent.
Therefore I shall call them…
"The non-existent ones."
Woah. That was kind of creepy. Ansem is the reason for the heartless invading! I knew he was bad, but not this bad! And he turned himself into a heartless! He must have been restored like Sora
"I think it's time we told you guys something," Matt says.
"Yes. It's about Ansem," Yen whispers.
Matt quickly says his next sentence as if it is painful to get out. "He used to be ruler of Hollow Bastion!"
"What!" I cry. "But he's so evil!"
Yen elaborates. "Well, he wasnt always that way. Before the heartless invaded, Ansem was a wise and kind ruler. He was so nice to the people, who knew he could do anything wrong? But then, people started disappearing from town. Heartless appeared everywhere, and just after the incident with those other monsters! Finally, our world was taken over and no one had seen Ansem since. Until now."
We all stayed silent. It just doesn't add up. Why would such a nice person suddenly turn to the dark side? Then again, not much has made sense this past week. I never thought any of this could happen to me.
Well, we can't dwell on this now. We have to find Ansem! As if by a silent agreement, we all leap into the portal.