Marie and her keyblade:

www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/Marie-and-her-Shooting-Star-Keyblade-38350 2787

Ryan:

www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/That-s-his-name-286861562

A\N:
Yay, we're finally at Hollow Bastion. After the tron world, I think we're in the clear!

Chapter Forty-One

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Computers!

We left Twilight Town after speaking with Hayner, Pence and Olette for a bit, since I wanted to catch up with them. I was still uneasy with Sora and Kairi, but I decided to let it slip since we had other things that needed my attention. Sora was still bummed out that she was missing along with Riku and the king, and I really didn't like him being so gloomy.

"It's okay, Sora," I said as I looked at him. I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "We'll find them all, you'll see. So please don't be sad anymore."

"But it's my fault they got taken away," he said as he pushed my arm off his shoulder. I stood there with my hands close to me and watched as he paced around. Ryan came walking beside me, and he seemed a bit angry. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked towards the deck, looking out onto the screen. I couldn't even help Sora calm down, but I guess he was that upset with the whole situation. I heard a beeping noise, and everyone else walked in, with Sora being the last.

"Oh no! Hollow Bastion! It's all covered in darkness!" chip said through the intercom. The image of Hollow Bastion appeared, and it was indeed covered in darkness. My eyes widened, and he told us to head to it as soon as possible. We all turned to Sora, who nodded as he ran straight to his seat. We all sat down as he went flying straight to Hollow Bastion.

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As we landed, I was the first to get off and I noticed there weren't a lot of people around. A couple of heartless came running up to me, and I was about to take out my keyblade when they all disappeared. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ryan came running in after, noting at how there were more heartless around. We stopped talking when we saw nobodies floating around too, and I was getting suspicious. I turned around to face the rest as I spoke.

"Let's go check in with everyone." Goofy told me that everyone was probably hanging out at Merlin's and I nodded. We made our way through the market, making sure to be on our guard. We stopped when we saw someone, and I had a little smile when it was Cloud. We walked up to him leaning on the wall, and I called out his name. "Hey, Cloud!"

"Whatcha doing?" Donald asked after I spoke. He didn't look up from the ground, and just told us how he was going to settle the score with the darkness in his heart—or Sephiroth. There was a small silence that filled the area and Donald just laughed a bit nervously. "I thought there was something different with you, Cloud."

"Tell me if you see him," he replied. We agreed, and Sora told him we had to leave. He got off from the wall, and told us to be careful. "He messes with your head, makes you think darkness is the only way."

"Is something wrong?" I turned around and met with Aerith. My smile got bigger, but I noticed that she wasn't looking at us. She was looking at Cloud, and started walking towards him. He told her it was nothing, and that he didn't want her involved, but Aerith didn't seem convinced. "You mean you don't want me there when you go away again?"

"I just—"he stopped to close his eyes for a moment, and then looked back at Aerith. "Listen, even if I go far away, I'll come back."

She asked him if he meant it, and he looked away as he told her yes. She wasn't convinced, but after thinking it through she smiled. "Okay, go. Get things settled. No matter how far away you are… once you find your light... I'm sure it will lead you back here again. Right?"

"I suppose."

"So I'll stay here—and I'll cheer for you—okay, Cloud?" she said. He agreed, and started walking down the stairs. Aerith wondered if he would be okay, and Sora assured her that he had some light somewhere in him. I walked up to Aerith, who turned to me. She gave a bright smile and gave me a hug, and I giggled as she did. Her hugs always seemed the warmest, mainly because Aerith was such a sweet woman. She let go and looked at everyone else. "I think Cid had some news for you guys, he's down by Merlin's."

She walked away with a wave, and we all headed towards Merlin's. Ryan walked by my side, and he asked if Aerith was single. I rolled my eyes, and told him that even if she was, I don't think it would work between them. They were from different worlds, and I really don't think Ryan would give everything up to be with a girl he just knew. He laughed and agreed, and told me that he was still hung up on Selphie. I wondered how he even felt about her.

"I dunno, but I really like how she doesn't treat me any different," he said. He placed his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. "I don't know if she likes me back, but she's caring on one hand and a total fun girl to just hang out with."

"Maybe that's her way of liking you," I replied. I looked down to the ground, I don't know if I'm such a great candidate to be talking about this stuff, but I wanted to see Ryan happy. I mean, it sounded like everyone in the hill family was everything but happy. I sighed. "I'm not the greatest at these sorts of things, but I think you should talk and tell her how you feel."

"When you start loving Sora, I'll do it," he said as he started running to Merlin's house. I stuck out my hand as he did, and I was going to speak until Donald and Goofy came by my side.

"Gawrsh, are you okay, Marie?" Goofy asked. I turned my head to them and wondered where Sora was, but I saw him running towards Merlin's house along with Ryan. I sighed, and told them I was fine.

"Really, cause you don't look it," Donald said. "You've been too quiet throughout the whole journey, but you're quieter ever since we visited Twilight Town."

"I just feel a bit uneasy, I'm not sure why, but I just do." That was a lie, I did know, but I didn't want them worrying about me. I don't want anyone worrying about me—I just want to go home and be running around and do what teenagers do, not worry about my powers, or Stella or fighting heartless and nobodies. I feel like I'm at my end with this heroic stuff—I'm not cut out for this! I want to protect what I feel like protecting, and I know that sounds selfish, but I'm useless in everything else. Sora is the wielder of a keyblade and can unlock doors and paths while I can't. Riku is a really strong guy who can do what I do ten times better and Kairi is a beautiful princess of light! Where do I fit in all of this? I should've just stayed in that coma. I shook my head and looked towards Donald and Goofy as I smiled. "I'll be fine though, don't worry."

I walked ahead of them, and caught them scratching their heads with the corner of my eye. I sighed a bit, and walked through Merlin's door. Everyone was inside by now, and we saw Cid hacking away on a computer with Yuffie standing by him. She gasped when she saw us, which made Cid turn around.

"Hey, guys—you're just in time," he said. He had some good news for us and that we should head over to Leon's. Sora asked him what they were.

"We found the computer Ansem was using!" Yuffie shouted. My head perked up, and I looked at them both. The computer ansy was using? Cid explained that it should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization.

"And maybe something on the dark realm, too?" Sora asked. "It looks like that's where Riku and Kairi are."

Donald added the king, and Cid told us we needed to head there as soon as possible. We needed to get to the computer room through the castle postern. He spat out the toothpick he had and took out a new one as he placed it in his mouth. "It might also help you try to get your memories back if you go there too, Marie."

"Me?" I asked. He nodded, and told me that since I was the closest to Ansem, he might've relayed some important information to me. I was a bit skeptic, mainly because I knew Ansem and I were close, but I don't know if he trusted me enough to give out really important stuff. But it could probably help me get my memory back. "Okay, I'll go. If I find anything out I'll tell you guys."

They nodded, and we all walked out of Merlin's place. Ryan seemed really happy, and I wondered why. He walked up in front of us, and took off his cap to brush through his hair. "Man, this'll be cool! What if you actually get your memory back?"

"I'm not really sure, it sounds too far-fetched," I replied. "But it would be nice if it helped me. I wonder what I've been missing… remembering things I forgot."

"I'm curious, too! What if you remember a big secret plan Ansem told you?" Goofy said. I raised my eyebrow and laughed at his comment. Donald seemed just as interested, and wondered if I would remember if this place had treasures or not. I scratched my head and looked at Sora, he seemed a bit different, but when he caught me looking at him he gave a big smile. I smiled back, though not as big as his, and wondered what it would mean to us if I remembered.

We made it to the bailey, but we were stopped when we heard a lady ask us if we were with the restoration committee. We turned around, but we didn't see anyone. We looked at each other in confusion, but then a couple of tiny fairies appeared in front of us. "What's Leon's gang up to?" the fairy in the middle asked.

"They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern," Sora replied. I took a closer look at them. The one in the middle had short brown hair with one eye green and the other blue. She was wearing a white top with a pink hoodie, and a blue skirt with a…cloth? Hanging down by it. It was white and blue. She also had blue boots. The one beside her had blonde hair with green eyes, and she had a yellow faded into orange scarf. She was wearing an orange skirt with white stocking and white and blue boots, and a yellow tank top. The one left of the one in the middle had silver hair and red eyes, and she had bat wings and was dressed in all black with a couple of red belts.

"Scoop!" the orange one said. The one in black told them they needed to report, and we were confused. Donald asked who they were reporting to, and the one in the middle told them they were reporting to their leader. "Yeah, you know. Male—"

The one in black covered the orange one's mouth, and she muffled some words and screamed a bit, but she calmed down. "Don't mind her. I assure you, we come in peace," she said. They disappeared after apologizing, and we just stood there scratching our heads.

"Uh, let's keep going," Ryan said. We all agreed, and continued walking past the bailey. When we made it past, I stopped as I looked up towards the castle. It was definitely different from last year, but it was coming along nicely. We continued our way towards it.

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"Over here!" Aerith said as she called us over. We entered the castle, and she confirmed about finding Ansem's computer. "The king is very interested in it."

"The king?" Donald asked. Aerith told them that he was inside with Leon, and Donald and Goofy were beyond ecstatic, because they would be able to see the king. I heard Sora ask if Riku was with them, but Aerith just shook her head. He was obviously disappointed, but didn't lose hope. He told her that the computer would be able to tell them something, and she agreed. She told us that he was past the door down the stairs, and we looked ahead. She walked away, saying she needed to catch up on Yuffie and Cid.

When we entered the room, it was a narrow hallway. The layout was very familiar to me, and Donald asked if I remembered how the castle looked. I sighed. "From the outside, but the inside is still a bit hazy."

Nonetheless, we continued walking and I was eventually leading the way. I don't know how—maybe it was my subconscious—but I eventually lead them to a wide-opened space, and there was another narrow hallway leading to a door. We walked through it and it looked like an office, there was a picture of a man—the man who told us he was Ansem. I walked up to it, and I really wanted to punch it. This man was an imposter and even though I couldn't remember how the real Ansem looked like, I knew this wasn't him.

"This must be his office," Goofy suggested. I scoffed at it, and didn't even want to be in the room with that picture hanging. Donald wondered where the king was, and Sora called out to see if anyone would respond.

"Hey, you," we heard a woman call. We turned towards the door and a tall, beautiful looking woman with dark brown hair and red eyes looked at us. Ryan's jaw dropped, and he was about to try and woo her, but I pulled him back. "I'm looking for somebody. Have any of you seen a guy with spikey hair?"

We all immediately looked at Sora, who touched his own, spikey hair. I raised my eyebrow and wondered if she was looking for him, but she chuckled and told us he had spikier hair. We all shrugged and told her no, and she went ahead and looked around. She knocked on the walls, checked the desk, looked around the bookshelves, and went back to examining the wall. She eventually stopped, and suddenly kicked the wall, which made us tremble a bit. She turned around, and smiled. "Sorry to bother you."

"No bother, ma'am!" Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ryan said as they stood still with their arms straight by their sides. I chuckled and let my feminine side bask in the fact that they were all scared of this woman, but I have to admit, she seemed really strong. She closed the door, and the guys sighed.

"So you made it," we heard Leon say behind us. He was leaning against the wall, and got up from it as he looked at us. We asked if the king was with him, but he quickly brought a finger to his mouth and told us to be quiet. "You'll seem him soon enough. Here, this ought to tide you over."

He turned around and touched the wall and it disappeared into a pathway, and he started walking into it. We followed along and he told us that it was Ansem's computer room, and I was a bit anxious to see it. When we entered, there was a giant computer in the room, and Sora ran to it with Donald and Goofy.

"This is it! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?" he said as he tried typing in some buttons. When nothing appeared he smacked the keyboard, and I raised my eyebrow. Clearly he isn't tech savvy.

"Easy, you wanna break it?" my thoughts exactly, Leon. He came in and stood beside Ryan and I. Sora turned around and apologized, saying he got a little carried away. Goofy screamed when he looked up, and when we did we saw a little blue guy climbing up on the ceiling. He jumped down right on the keyboard, and we all gasped—who was this little guy? Donald told him to get off and jumped on the keyboard, with the little guy running off. He turned around, and we heard alarms go off.

"Attention current user. This is a warning. Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action."

"Who's there?" Sora asked.

"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system."

"Where are you?" Sora asked. Donald looked at the computer screen and then at everything else. We were on our toes, simply because he was on the keyboard. He took one step forward, and the alarms went off.

"Donald!" we all shouted. Leon face palmed the duck while everyone else grew annoyed. Donald apologized, and the computer started talking.

"Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest."

Ryan and I maintained our position, while everyone else panicked. A light appeared from behind the computer, and Leon, Ryan and I noticed. Leon quickly told Sora, Goofy and Donald to run, but it was too late. A laser light pointed at all three of them, and they started pixelating away.

"Sora!" I cried out. I ran up to them, but Leon held me back. The light started getting brighter and when they disappeared it faded.

"Wait! Donald! Goofy!"

Okay, so we're still a chapter or two short of the thousand heartless battles, but we're getting there! Hey look! Marie and Ryan weren't sucked into the computer, I wonder what this means?