Chapter 28 New Allies, New Enemies

Their footsteps echo around the empty artium as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy enter the castle. From the outside it had been broken and battered, but the inside is clean and nearly every surface is so bright a shade of white it's nearly blinding.

"Is this really MEKA?" Sora asks aloud, looking around the atrium for any little detail that looks familiar.

"From the outside I thought so, but…" Kairi says, trailing off as she examines a white vase on a white pedestal against the wall. She touches the vase lightly with her fingertips. "The inside isn't home."

"The home you remember has been lost," a voice says and all five jump, summoning their weapons and looking to the far side of the room where a group of four in identical long black robes has appeared.

"But it had to be lost in order to find what you are seeking." The man speaking is at the front of the group wearing a smirk. He stands out with his long pink hair. "That is the way in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" Riku asks, lowering his keyblade slightly. The four strangers are at ease and unarmed, but they look far from friendly. The one woman of the group, with slicked back blond hair and electric blue eyes, has a smile like a cat that just caught a mouse between its paws.

"Here you will meet people from the past," the pink haired man says, gesturing to the door behind him that leads deeper into the castle. "And you will meet people you miss."

"I miss?" Sora repeats, touching a hand over his chest. He glances to his friends for a moment and snaps his eyes back to the black coats. "Ven! You mean Ven's here?"

"Indeed," the same man says. "However, whether or not you will be able to find him, I cannot say."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi demands,

The man with pink hair exchanges glances with his companions. They seem content to let him do the speaking. The woman and the older man with long straight hair stand at his sides, smirking, but the youngest one doesn't seem to be even paying attention. He stares at Sora with his one eye not hidden by his hair and Sora is sure he isn't even blinking.

"It means you are not the only horse we are betting on," the pink haired man says, drawing Sora's attention back onto him. "You may be the one in the possession of the X-blade bearer's heart or it may be held by another."

"Who?" Riku asks. "And who are you? What interest do you have in Ven?"

"Who it is is of no importance to you," the man replies evenly. "As for who we are, we are Organization XII."

"What's that?" Donald demands. Sora can see he is ready to spring forward and beat the cryptic man down with his staff so he puts a warning hand on his friend's shoulder.

"A group with particular interests," the pink haired man says. "Namely concerning the three of you." He points to Sora, Kairi, and Riku. "Should you prove to be of no use to us, we will eradicate you."

Riku falls into a battle stance. "I'd like to see you try."

The man smiles. It doesn't reach his eyes. Swirling black portal suddenly appear, enveloping the group in black coats and a blink of the eye later, they're gone.

"What should we do?" Goofy asks nervously as they all relax and let their weapons disappear. "This place doesn't seem too friendly."

"We can't let them scare us away," Sora says angrily, moving towards the door at the far side of the atrium. "If Ven is here we have to find him."

Sora glances back at his friends, seeing the nerves he feels reflected in their expressions, but they nod. No one wants to turn back now. They can't. Not when they are so close to finding answers.

Taking a deep breath, Sora grips the large handles of the white doors and pulls.

…

The front door of the 7th Heaven bar bangs hard against the wall as it is slammed open, causing everyone inside to jump and turn to see Cloud storming in.

"Cloud?" Tifa says, stepping forward with her hands out to stop him pause. "What are you...?"

Cloud side steps her without even a glance. His eyes are glued to where Zack is leaning against the bar, sipping a beer. The way he looks so casual after all the heartache he has caused his friends and family is the final straw that snaps something in Cloud.

Stalking over to Zack, Cloud knocks the beer bottle out of his hand and it shatters on the ground at their feet.

"What are-" Zack starts to say, but Cloud interrupts, shouting right in Zack's face.

"What the hell is going on, Zack? Is Sora caught up in whatever fucking mess you're in?"

He is glaring at Zack and Zack is glaring right back. "What are you talking about?" Zack replies in a barely controlled voice. "I haven't seen Sora in a week."

Cloud grabs Zack by the front of his shirt. "Then why are they missing again?" He demands, not hearing the gasps around him or noticing Leon running in the door he had left open. "You show up and they're gone again. Taken by some guy in a black coat. Who is he and what does he want with them?"

Leon gets in between the two of them, forcing Cloud to lose his grip on Zack's shirt. "I don't know anything about a guy in a black coat," Zack shouts over Leon's shoulder, trying to get around the older man, but Leon holds his ground.

"Black coat, huh?" An unfamiliar voice says from the door. "Sounds like the Organization."

Cloud freezes in his attempt to push Leon out of his way and turns to see the speaker with the squeaky voice is a mouse less than half his height. Standing in the bar doorway with the mouse are two woman in white cloaks. The older woman has her hood down, letting her wavy dark brown hair turned dull with age fall messily on her shoulders. Her companion takes her hood down as well as she steps across the threshold. Her eyes sweep warily around the bar room, looking over each of them with undisguised suspicion. She is in her mid twenties and has hair that is platinum blond with a streak of purple underneath just visible in the braid she wears it in. She's young enough to be the older woman's daughter, but nothing in their appearance suggests they are related.

"King Mickey?" Zack says, surprised and Cloud turns to look at him.

"You know them?" Cloud asks, the hostility from before still evident in his voice.

Zack glances at him. "Only Mickey. We met when I was looking for Ven. He knew Master Eraqus and the others." At the mention of Eraqus, the older woman looks away frowning, but only Zack seems to notice her reaction.

"Sorry for dropping in like this," Mickey says an apologetic smile on his face as he cross the bar room. The two woman follow, not as at ease as he is. "I should introduce myself. I'm Mickey Mouse," he says and holds out a hand to Cloud.

"Cloud." He shakes Mickey's hand after a moment's hesitation. "You said you know who this man in the black coat is?"

"One of the members of Organization XIII most likely," Mickey says, shaking the others' hands as well. "We've been tracking their movements."

"We?" Zack asks, glancing at the two women.

"Oh, right," Mickey says. "I forgot we all need introductions. This is Master Amiddon and her apprentice Ryla."

"Master," Leon says, looking to the older woman. "As in…"

"Keyblade Master," Master Amiddon says, stepping forward. Everything from the way she carries herself to the inflexible tone of her voice tells Cloud she has the mentality of a soldier. "How do you know it was a man in a black coat that took your friends? Did you see him?"

"We found this picture," Leon says, pulling the camera out of his pocket and holding it up to show the others.

"Is that Sora and Kairi kissing?" Marlene says, jumping out of her seat in excitement before remembering the seriousness of the situation at hand.

"Yes, but in the background there," Leon says pointing to the man with gray hair and yellow eyes.

Amiddon steps forward. "May I?" She asks holding out her hand to Leon. He nods and gives her the camera.

Her apprentice Ryla peers over her shoulder. "That's Xemnas," the younger woman says. She looks to Mickey. "Those kids are keyblade wielders, right?" She says, pointing to Sora and Kairi. "Why didn't they kill him? He was right there!"

"Ryla." Master Amiddon flashes a warning look at her apprentice.

"We don't know what happened," Leon says in an even voice. "All we know is this man was there and now Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy are missing."

"Donald and Goofy?" Mickey asks, looking to Zack. "They're with the kids?"

Zack nods. "They were looking for you."

"Gosh," Mickey says, frowning and rubbing his head. "I've been away from home too long if they were worried enough to come looking for me."

"But what do the Nobodies want with them?" Ryla asks, not seeming to be paying attention to them. She has taken the camera from her Master and zoomed the picture in on Xemnas.

"Nobodies?" Zack says at the same time Cloud says,

"What are Nobodies?"

"What's left after a person is turned into a heartless," Zack answers, staring pointedly at Cloud's shoes instead of looking him in the eye.

"Right," Mickey says. "The body and mind can continue on even when the heart is gone, but they're dangerous creature 'cause without their hearts they don't have normal emotions."

Master Amiddon points to the camera. "That man there, Xemnas, is the leader of a band on the most dangerous ones. They call themselves Organization XIII."

"I met one," Zack says quietly and everyone turns to him.

"A member of the Organization?" Master Amiddon asks. "Were they wearing the coat?"

Zack shakes his head. "She was young. Her name was Namine. Have you heard of her?"

Mickey looks to Master Amiddon and Ryla who both shake their heads. "No. She isn't one their members."

"She's the reason I'm here," Zack says, taking a seat on a bar stool. "She said Xemnas," he gestures to the camera in Ryla's hand, "was looking for Ven too."

Tifa gets up from where she had taken a seat at one of the tables and moves to Zack's side. She puts a hand on his shoulder and he sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"She said I was right, Sora had Ven's heart, but he lost it."

"Sora?" Mickey asks and when Zack nods he nods as well. "That makes sense."

"Well, Sora doesn't have it anymore and all Namine would say about where Ven's heart is now is 'Ask the Nobodies'," Zack says. "And I was thinking...what if she meant that a Nobody has it. What if Sora's Nobody has it?"

There is silence in the bar as everyone tries to wrap their head around Zack's theory. Cloud is the first to speak up.

"That makes sense." He looks around at the others who nod their agreement. "But then what does Xemnas want with Sora and the others?"

"Maybe he doesn't know what Namine knows," Ryla suggests, handing Leon back the camera. "Or maybe he doesn't care and just likes to destroy other people's lives for no reason. It doesn't really matter." She turns to her master. "I say we take this girl Namine's advice literally. 'Ask the Nobodies'. We've been following in their destructive wake for too long. Let's confront them head on and get some answers."

Everyone looks to Master Amiddon as she regards her student with arms crossed. "Charging at them without a plan is foolish," she says and Ryla's jaw clenches. "However," Master Amiddon holds up a finger to forestall her apprentice's retort. "You are right that we need to find some answers. I, therefore, propose we go to the Nobody World and see if there are any clues there."

She looks to Mickey who considers for a moment before replying, "Sounds good to me. I'll come with you."

"Thank you," Master Amiddon says.

"I'm coming too."

Zack stands with hard expression that dares anyone to try and stop him. Master Amiddon considers him for a moment and then looks to Mickey.

"You sure, Zack?" Mickey asks. "We might not find any answers."

"I'm going," Zack says evenly, looking anywhere but at Tifa.

"We might find some answers," Master Amiddon says in a soft voice.

Instinctively, Zack reaches into his pocket closes his fingers around Ven's pin. He couldn't back down now out of fear he might be wrong. "I know," he says. "I need to go."

"Alright," Master Amiddon says. She looks around. "We'll give you a moment to say good bye."

She, Ryla, and Mickey exit the bar, leaving an uncomfortable silence in their wake. Zack turns to Tifa, an apology on his lips, but before he can say a word she envelops him in a hug.

"I understand," she whispers in his ear. She pulls his head down and kisses his forehead. "Be safe."

She releases him and Zack finds himself shaking hands with the others who murmur words of good luck and staying safe. Yuffie hugs him and when she lets him go he is facing Cloud whose expression he can't read. Cloud sticks out his hand and Zack copies. As they shake, neither says a word.

Zack moves to the door and looks back one last time. His friends are all stony faced but he can see their unhappiness showing through. He raises his hand in an awkward farewell and hurries out of the bar.

In the square outside, Master Amiddon, Ryla, and Mickey are waiting. "Ready, Zack?" Mickey asks as he reaches them.

Zack nods and watches Master Amiddon and Ryla don the hoods of their odd white cloaks. "Light corridor will be the fastest way to travel," Master Amiddon says. "Ryla, will you do the honors?"

The young woman steps away from the others and holds out a hand. A portal of light appears before them. Ryla steps back as Master Amiddon steps forward, going through the portal first. They all follow; Ryla, Mickey, and finally Zack who gives Traverse Town one last sad look before entering the light corridor and letting it take him far away.

Hey there! It's been too long!

Sorry for the long wait, I really wanted to give NaNoWriMo a try last month with the novel I'm attempting to write so this story had to be put on hold. I ended November with about 12,000 words and I'm happy with that considering the crazy state my life is in right now. All my fellow NaNoWriMoers, we made it! Give yourself a big old pat on the back.

Now that it's December all my writing focus is back on fanfic and I am so ready to get back into it. Being away for a month really made me eager to pick this up again.

Okay! Enough about me! Time to talk about what happened in this chapter.

If you didn't notice with Sora and the gang, there will be no dumb cards in my Castle Oblivion. I wouldn't even know how to begin to write fight scenes like that so as I said no cards! There are also other changes I've made to C.O. that might surprise you…

One other thing - OCs. Meet Master Amiddon and Ryla. They are the last OCs I should need to make this story work. You might remember that Amiddon was mentioned in MEKA (chapter 54 to be exact). Ryla however is brand new and you'll learn more her about her...idk at some point.

K that's it for now. Next chapter will be posted much faster I promise!