The Sapphire Sorceress

Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.

Act 41: Sinister Sundown

"Maybe... You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"

Unknown Location

- Day 148 - Understanding

In the middle of the ongoing conflict between nobodies and somebodies, the real cause of this conflict was pondering to himself the future of all worlds. Being a former apprentice of Ansem the Wise the man who simply wonders throughout words remained unaware of what exactly happened to him. He currently identified himself as "Ansem" however that was his true identity: Xehanort. The being who currently took on that name was in fact that remained of the former friend of Aqua who was possessed by Master Xehanort.

"How long has it been since I've been around any form of civilization." The last time he could remember being around people was if he desired something to eat or needed rest. Even then he preferred the solitude of being alone without anyone to get in his way, but he was unsure of the destination of his personal journey. Looking at the vast forest in front of his vision he could see darkness covering him under the moonlight. Another night where he would brave the elements, but someone had been watching this man as he stepped out of the shift in time to make himself known.

"This is only a small happen's chance encounter. Still, this meeting needed to occur sooner or later...Xehanort."

"That's not my name...it's Ansem!" The hooded figure knew this period was when Terra-Xehanort was in doubt about his purpose in the universe. Despite the loss of his memories, it was because of the fusion of both Terra and Xehanort that Organization XIII along with the start of the next Keyblade War was slowly being made possible for a certain future. That being said this traveler of another possible time period knew things were also being changed in the current flow of fate, the future he came from might not be what it could be once he completes his mission.

"Yes, the name you've borrowed from your mentor and teacher. That name is also taken by your individual selves: The Heartless soul of "Ansem" and the Nobody shell of Xemnas. Together both halves are needed to begin the start of the reforging of the X-Blade, and then finally the return of Kingdom Hearts."

"That's not what...I want..."

"Indeed your purpose is much more important than getting involved in the current affairs of the many worlds. My reason for being here is because of two special people, Aqua, and Kairi. Those two have become intertwined with each other, the fates of their lives being changed before it was deemed so by the rightful timeline."

"You mean both of their lives have been altered now?" The amnesiac man's eyes widen at this suggestion while the hooded figure remained calm as he usually was considering his lack of empathy. Being removed from his own time period had made the youngest incarnation of Xehanort fell apathetic about things like the people involved in other periods of time, but this paradox that continued to grow over the weeks was beginning to concern him. The building influx of changes might result in an entirely different outcome than what the mysterious figure expected out of this timeline.

"I know you don't remember your friend Aqua, but do you have any knowledge of your past with her?" He had to know if any kind of memory surfaced when he told the former keyblade warrior about his forgotten past, which was lost the moment he accepted Xehanort's heart or rather those memories had been sealed up inside of his mind. It would only be a matter of time before this man could remember all of the actions he's done since his new identity had been made for him.

"Aqua? Aqua..." The faint image of a girl in blue began to appear in his mind, and yet he didn't understand why she was important to him. The hooded Xehanort shook his head knowing it was futile for him to even ask that he might even be aware of what happened to his former comrades.

"She's currently aligned with the organization of nobodies made by your own personal nobody. Without her heart which is under the control of a heartless in the many worlds she will never be whole until she fulfills the role she must complete in Organization XIII. As for Kairi, she's been traveling different worlds lately, and she's currently residing in Twilight Town thanks to the incident with a group of heroes from another world. Apparently, she's also gotten them involved with the affairs of the nobodies, the shifts in events that were meant to occur are becoming too much to accept."

"You're saying none of this was supposed to happen?" The former apprentice knew that this man likely was supposed to interfere with the timeline if he was speaking about such events.

"Not all of it...Kairi was meant to become one of the 7 Warriors of Light along with being a Princess of Heart, but it was not meant to happen this soon. I fear that if things continue that I will not be able to recognize this timeline that I've meant to get involved in later."

"Then why did you come to me?" The apprentice was unsure about his younger and oldest incarnation's true reason for speaking with him.

"Perhaps to pass away my boredom or I wanted some advice from my other self..." Shaking the hood his time was just about up in this period however he needed to get one last point across before he left. It was advice about what he should consider before the end of Xemnas' attempt to create a fake Kingdom Hearts.

"If you ever come across the heartless containing Aqua's heart, the best thing you could do would be to destroy it. Also, should you meet Kairi tell her about this special heartless? Despite not soon remembering any of this your heart will not forget...just like before. This understanding is that your memories will pretend that we've never encountered each other."

"You want me to help her...this Aqua why?" Terra-Xehanort felt more emotional in that statement with part of the deeper side of his compassion for his old friend managing to resurface.

"I simply wish to restore things back to where they were before I made my journey. If that means removing Aqua from the field then so be it..." With that, the time-traveler departed from this period of events letting the unknowing instigator to his thoughts, which would soon be forgotten like his conversation with Young Xehanort.

"Aqua and Kairi...have they meet each other before-no perhaps I've met them before?" Looking up at the moon in the sky he couldn't be sure of what was the right answer. Nevertheless, he would continue on his journey with his purpose remaining a mystery to him even now.

"Aqua..."

The World That Never Was: Grey Area ( Aqua's POV )

"Aqua...Aqua!" I was brought out of my momentary daze by Xion's voice. For a mere second I was looking outside at the empty sky, the imagination that was seeing a person looking out to find me in a land far away from here...Terra? Looking down at the younger nobody I gave a false smile of reassurance about myself. It had been a few weeks since my last big operation ended mostly in failure, but Xemnas had forgiven me with my work in helping out Xion get stronger even without Zexion's book. Not to mention that I covered some ground for Roxas, which gave him more time to spend with Axel and Xion.

'Don't think you will earn favor from Lord Xemnas.' Quipped Saix despite the fact the Superior had indeed been reconsidering my offer and eventually caved into my request because of my extra work. From there I gave Xion skills that would improve her craft in magical abilities, how to use them more effectively, and most of all what she can do to improve on her own when I was not around to help her out. Evidently, she had become strong enough to do a few missions without a partner, and that made me feel something that resembled happiness.

"Do you mind if we can go to Twilight Town for some sea-salt ice cream? I know we have a mission there as well, but we haven't gotten much time to be with each other since my last training with spells."

"Well, have you been keeping up your craft without me? I know those more advanced spells have given you trouble, Xion."

"I haven't had much of a problem with the books and passages. Saix tells me that I won't be able to master everything in the book like Zexion." Of course, he wasn't happy that Xion would be learning from the now deceased member of this group, the irony being that he was trying to defend one of the "traitors" of our organization. It only meant that by proving number VII wrong Xion would earn some respect from the other nobodies here.

"Right then let's do just that. Today's mission shouldn't be that difficult just an exploration assignment around Twilight Town for this "Old Mansion" everyone's been speaking about lately." Not exactly top priority, but Twilight Town usually is where Axel, Roxas, Xion, and myself hang around besides this castle, so it would make sense that we should know what might be going on there. Although I couldn't shake off this odd sensation about the mission I would be taking on today. Before heading off Axel and Roxas walked up to give us a nice send-off.

"Shame we got to deal with the icky business in that spandex world, the hell happened to you and those heroes anyway? Roxas only gave me the cliff notes about that incident, and there is no way I'm gonna reread a bunch of journal entries." While I essentially explained why the world of heroes now considers us enemies until we need to come back there logically there can be no way they'll come after us. Unlike keyblade wielders they are bound by the rules of the worlds, the barrier covering their land means they shouldn't break free...they won't stop us...

"I tried to explain ourselves, but that other keyblade wielder...Kairi interfered. I wanted Xemnas to see her however she got away from us." Axel dropped his cool smile now looking at me with concern about what I just told him.

"That doesn't sound like you, Aqua. Sure Kairi being a keyblade wielder is big news, but kidnapping her just to make the boss learn about this seems...odd."

"It's Auxaq. I simply wished to earn the Superior's favor to help out Xion, although I would be lying if I hadn't become interested in the girl myself." I suppose she had just as many questions about what happened to me and everyone from Radiant Garden. It would seem we both wouldn't get those answers until we came across each other again in a different world.

"No matter it is very unlike we will see each other again until she has perfected her skills, and that will only benefit our cause even more." If she can slay more heartless then it will make the process of our plan go much quicker.

"You're no longer that nobody I rescued from that realm of darkness, instead you've changed into someone else..."

"Is that a bad thing, Axel?" Was he feeling upset about my personality? While others felt like I've changed my desires, but I personally, think that I've simply gotten used to my existence here.

"No hell if anything we've all gone through a change. If you came here earlier then I would have likely just left you to fade with the rest of the group in Castle Oblivion. The thing is this hothead really does want to keep you around like with Roxas. You know I wouldn't have cared about if we met in the first days of Organization XIII." Roxas couldn't believe that from the Axel he's gotten to know over the past couple of weeks. Despite lacking the emotions to express such thoughts we still could pretending that we never lost our souls at all.

"Well, have fun in the spooky manor kids!" Axel did love giving a salute before I headed off while Xion seemed more happy than usual. In fact, the fact she was smiling more often around me indicated she had really started trusting me. I wonder if we should go visit Twilight Town once we regain our hearts since she loves going there often.

Twilight Town: Market Street

I wasn't sure why Xemnas wanted us to explore this place besides some rumors about DiZ's whereabouts being there. That being said I felt like spending a few minutes in a different part of this world to relax for a moment. The second reason is heaving Xion being around somebodies since she would need to handle being on her own at times. I gave her a simple task of going to a shop to buy a single Ether with the munny I provided for her.

As I hid behind a wall hoping she would not feel my presence I watched her wait in line behind two people showing her patience with others. Stepping forward she began to speak with the man in charge of the shop, her hand gave up the small amount of munny needed for the item, and with a nod of approval, she left the man to come back over here with the "mission" being successful. That's when I heard yelling ring in my ears, so I turned around to find someone trying to steal Xion's bought Either right out of her hand.

"Leave me alone, you jerk!"

"Hmph," The older boy smirked. "Girls like you don't need this stuff, but I do!" As he tried grabbing the item I was slowly catching up to him since we couldn't just blow our cover by showing off our abilities all the time. Xion tried pushing him away, but the jerk wouldn't let go forcing me to intervene by grabbing his arm to hold him up in the air.

"What? Aren't you gonna try stealing something from her or perhaps me, boy?" Not so tough now are you brat! Shaking the boy up and down I convinced him to surrender the stolen item back to Xion.

"I'm sorry please don't hurt me!" Seeing Xion was worried that I was punishing this weak somebody too hard I let him drop back down. Still, he deserved a warning so I told him if he tried this again I would make sure that he would lose something in return...like maybe his heart...no! I couldn't just make people go through what we're enduring just because they don't understand us. It is what I told those heroes and Kairi before...we're not the villains here merely victims of the heartless.

Watching the boy run off I asked Xion if she was alright after dealing with such an experience. She looked to be okay, but she began to look at the boy running away in the distance.

"Why did he need to steal something when he could have just bought it himself. There was no need to just steal this Ether."

"Who knows, Xion. Perhaps he had no munny or was desperate enough to snatch it away from someone..." Not all somebodies are the same after all, but even so, we couldn't let them judge us for lacking real souls although my patience with them was growing thin. With a bit of time left before we need to go investigate the manor, I decided to give Xion another mission to help boost her confidence with somebodies that aren't mean bullies who like to steal. Looking over at some kids who were riding on something I asked Xion to talk with them about it.

Feeling a bit of hesitation she eventually agreed, walking over to meet the group of children riding on that strange item with rolling wheels. Watching again from a distance I saw Xion have a smile on her face while she began speaking with the kids who were playing in the alleyway. Suddenly I noticed the boys were trying to get Xion to step onto the board to ride around like they were doing moments ago, the look on Xion's face was nervous or at least she pretending to feel that way.

"There you go, girl! Ride that skateboard like a champ!" Before I knew it Xion was rolling down the hill at an increasing rate of speed, which leads to her going downhill in a state of panic forcing me to step in once more. Holding her after she ended up falling off the board I watched her frightened expression of being on the ground with the other kids laughing in the distance.

"Did you see her faceplant? That was hilarious!"

"She must be new here. There is no way anyone could fail like that besides a stranger!"

Did they expect this to happen? Were they merely playing with Xion just for fun? The nerve of these somebodies.

"How did I do, Auxaq? They said that it would be fun...and I'm not sure if I had what they would consider fun on my mind..." I doubt that you had much fun being on a board that you couldn't control, Xion. I asked if they explained how to control the board, the response was a simple shaking her head saying "no" without speaking a single word.

"Do you feel like making them not laugh at you anymore?"

"I just really want to ride on this board properly..." She didn't seem like she was angry with them rather feeling disappointed in herself. Nodding in agreement I stepped back while Xion took the board and decided to ride it again despite the children trying to boo her when she walked past them. Xion was determined to prove the critics wrong as she stepped back onto the white riding board; originally, she would have been fine with letting people get away with mocking her like that. Her personality was changing because of the influence of people like these somebodies, members of the organization, and perhaps because of her own newly found motivation.

"Huh? She's not falling off now!"

"She's actually doing better than before!" Xion this time she didn't fall over rather she was able to jump off before it hit the wall again. While the kids were still snickering I was impressed by how well she took their laughter this time, no sadness, and just a simple look of determination to prove them wrong. Despite asking if she wanted to just give up she continued rolling up and down, improving with each turn given by the children.

"I thought you said she would just give up, and now she's taking up our time to play!"

"Let's take our board back already!"

"Oh, none of you will be doing anything on my watch." There was no way I was gonna let them push Xion around without me not stepping in. Giving them a defiant glare I looked back to see Xion actually laughing, rolling around without falling off, and she was even smiling.

"Look, look, look I can do this they were wrong about this being hard to understand!" While this wasn't part of our assignment I couldn't help feeling the accomplishment she must have been expressing at this shining moment. Leaving the boys confused about who we actually were the main reason we both came here was in front of our eyes.

The Woods: Old Mansion

"This is that mansion?" Xion asked having never seen it before in her earlier trips to this world. I wondered if there someone who still watched people from that window...it was how I came across this "DiZ" character in the first place. What did concern me besides the rumors about "specters" who haunted this place, the fact there was an increase of heartless roaming around this place lately...they could be drawn to some kind of source of darkness and maybe a strong-willed heart to devour.

"Be on guard, Xion." No sooner did I say that did a bunch of orb-shaped heartless appear, the inside of those weird spheres had several kinds of colored balls inside. Next to them were a bunch of the usual shadow and soldier-like heartless as well.

"Typical...are you ready for this?" Watching her head nod in agreement I made the first move, sending out my weapon to strike at some of the closest heartless, which made things easier for Xion who harvested the hearts trapped within their bodies. These creatures didn't pose much of a challenge; before I needed to be protected as did Xion when battling heartless however now we could manage just fine on our own.

"This is easier than before, the heartless are weaker...and I've become much stronger than before..."

Xion's efforts in training were paying off like I expected. Much like with Roxas the potential that lies within her seemed limitless, and that is something that makes being a keyblade wielder special. Kicking back one of the soldiers I slamming my weapon into another shadow watching them all begin to disappear likely due to being afraid of Xion's weapon. I watched her grab hold of one of the remaining heartless, moving her keyblade right into the chest to rip out the captive soul with ease.

'More hearts...more souls unifying as one...' All to form the key to regaining our hearts, but that made me wonder about Xion's life before turning into a nobody. Unlike everyone else besides perhaps Roxas I didn't understand much about her past life. Did she also come from Radiant Garden, a place that I visited back when I was a somebody, and or somewhere that I've never been to in my life? Was she a girl who had a normal life, perhaps she was already special before becoming a hollow being, but then again she could have just been a person who was merely an afterthought in the grander scheme of things.

"Looks like that is the last of them. Strange there was only that many here..." I commented on how easy things seemed which Xion agreed with. Something was right about any of this, but we didn't have to worry about the outside threats only the lock that kept this gate sealed up. I considered simply creating a portal into the mansion, but Xion quickly stopped me by pointing at the gate's lock.

"There might be a reason the gate is locked...let me try something first." While I didn't understand her comment my eyes saw her pull out the keyblade, and she aimed her weapon at the lock holding the gate shut. A ray of light entered the gate as it seemingly opened the pathway without even needing to be opened by physically using the keyblade. I quickly saw a barrier fade in the sky, which meant Xion was correct about needing to unlock the gate first before we could actually enter the mansion.

"How did you know to do that, Xion?"

"I...don't know exactly. There was just someone who did that on a key-shaped hole, I think that my body just followed what this boy did before..." Her explanation seemed off, but at the very least we can get inside of this place now. Touching the main door I looked around to find the first room was simply abandoned with no one in sight.

"Be prepared for anything..." I knew heartless could show up or perhaps even the owner of this place so we had to remain on guard. Looking around I saw many different areas to explore, so we decided to explore the lower floor first instead of splitting up. The place looked rather dank and run-down judging by the state of things. No sound of heartless or any sign of life could be found among the broken items scattered across this mansion.

"Nothing so far, but there is much more ground to cover. Xion, do you think that we should look in different rooms on this floor?" I didn't want to leave this part of the house, but we could cover more ground by looking in other rooms by ourselves. At the very least if something happened we wouldn't be that far away from each other. I noticed there was a room filled with a giant table, and a few different paintings decorating the walls.

"Any luck on your end, Xion?"

"Nothing!" Well, it seems like the only way up was...up? Entering the room that was higher up from the stars we found a room filled with many kinds of books. Nothing looked out of place, but I wanted to explore that other area instead, so I asked Xion to remain here. Moving across the second floor I found a completely different area that was nearly empty and white all over. Covering the walls was several different pictures, each seemingly drawn in mere crayon, and in the middle was a giant table with a box of crayons on some white paper sheets.

'Someone does live here then? Could it be a child...no wait these drawings look familiar.' Getting a better look at these pictures I began to feel reminded of being at Castle Oblivion. The kinds of pictures that were in the building belonged to...Namine! That young nobody that Marluxia took under his wing during my time at that place. She might actually have been in this town all of this time...there was no way I could believe that. Looking around I didn't find anyone here, but I did notice a strange drawing in a door.

"Is that supposed to be me?" I was sitting on a huge tower with apparently Roxas, Axel, and Xion next to my side. We all had sea-salt in our hands, and apparently, each one of us had smiles on our faces however Xion didn't have eyes on her face. She only had a smile on her face with none of her black hair or blue eyes. Another drawing caught my attention, but this one seemed more disturbing to me as it was myself, Ventus, and Terra all falling into a dark void. I'm assuming this was an interpretation of what happened to all of us ever since the fall of Radiant Garden.

"Creepy...but hold on what's this one?" I pulled out a drawing under the pack of crayons while I looked at the last picture...it was me except my hair wasn't colored blue. White no gray hair, the eyes weren't blue either they were...yellow and my skin isn't pale rather it looked tanned.

"No way...just like in that dream! Was she able to tap into my memories somehow, but why did she draw this nightmare!?" How could she be aware of that dream besides reading my mind...or she might have read my journal. Opening up the closet I only found some white dresses that could only be worn by a small girl meaning Namine is here, and yet not here at this very moment.

"Someone must be here with her in this mansion." How else could she live in this place other than with someone helping her out? Running out of this place I went back to the balcony on the second floor only to find there were flying soldiers waiting for me. I called out for Xion to assist me, but she didn't come which made me concerned about her safety, which would have to wait once I got rid of these guys first. Despite their ranks being more tougher to deal with there were a less number of enemies in this mansion than outside near the gate.

'I don't have time to waste with these grunts.' Putting all of my strength into moving around I needed to end this as quickly as possible. Cutting up a heartless in front of my eyes I shredded them into puffs of darkness while my body was in an enhanced state of speed. Deciding to forego the usual style I put into my attacks the remaining heartless quickly scattered into the air leaving me alone once again. Closing my eyes for a moment to calm down, the next thing I saw was a figure standing above me...in the Organization's coat?

"Who are you?!" How did he or she get this coat, the person who was just staring at me like this...could they be in Organization XIII?

The figure said nothing as it comes closer to me; my attempt to make the mysterious person back off with my weapons failed. Should I just flee and look for Xion, but this person might try following me. Xion could still be here or for some reason left the mansion, so I needed to decide what to do next.

"Aqua?"

"Close, the name is Auxaq." The voice sounded it knew me plus the name suggested that either we've met before or he knew about me.

"You don't belong here..."

"Well, I can say for sure that outfit doesn't belong to you." Throwing out my Monsoon fans to distract him while I jumped down to the first floor to get out of the mansion like this guy said or at least that's what I guessed from when he spoke to me. Looking outside there was a figure in black that looked like Xion, but it was standing in front of someone I couldn't see that well. I felt something behind me, the sight of a strange bat-like weapon was about to slice my backside if I don't block it with my own weapon.

"I can't believe you're here of all the people I've could have met today...it had to be you!"

"Riku?!" The bat, voice, and now I can see that white hair flowing in the black cloak. The other difference was the fact his eyes had been covered by a black strand of clothing around his face. Something's changed since I've last seen this boy, and yet he still was someone who got in my way...trying to bring harm to my comrades like with poor Larxene. I won't forgive him even if he was under the influence of someone else.

"Don't think I'll let you off easy, boy. Larxene would be ashamed if I didn't give you some payback."

"Your friend was nothing more than a heartless witch who tried using me and Sora. If you and your friend don't leave here then both of you will end up back in nothingness."

"At least I'm not afraid of the dark, Riku!" Hissing out that reply my attacks matched his as this unexpected battle of mine began with an old friend or rather foe. I can't help but wonder what Xion is doing out there...

( Kairi's POV )

Stupid watches. Stupid heartless. Stupid multiple worlds.

I was grateful that Gwen was fine with me borrowing the watch for a while since she managed to get a new one built in her own world. What I wasn't expecting to stick around this town I ended up in, the world that was called Twilight Town. Since my encounter with those nobodies, I came across the citizens living here while I looked for a way back home. It wasn't until my hand turned on this traveling watch by accident that my homeworld could be found. Squall later explained that while portals into the other worlds could be made this couldn't shatter the barrier around a world.

"I do appreciate the change in scenery, but why does this place never have nighttime or even daytime."

The mystery behind the town's endless sunset confused me. At least this place seemed easier to be around than in Hollow Bastion with all the construction crews moving around the rebuilding area. Today I felt like exploring this forest area to learn more about Twilight Town only to discover a bunch of those nobodies lurking here in the forest. Unlike with those costumed heroes, I was by myself now, so I couldn't afford to get into a battle.

'Why are they here then?' I knew they could be looking for me, but they shouldn't be aware of my presence in this world. Unless they were looking for someone else here, which means I've got to find out who and why! Hiding behind the huge trees for cover I managed to sneak up to this giant mansion everyone back in town was talking about over the past few days. Moving closer I noticed there was someone in black, the uniform of that organization that tried kidnapping me! So, these nobodies are here then...perhaps with Auxaq as well.

There was an opened gate so it wouldn't be too hard to enter the front yard, but I drew out my keyblade in case this nobody tried to make the first move.

"Turn around, take off the hood, and don't try coming any closer!" No chances would be taken with these people after last time, and I glared with defiance while I watched the figure slowly turn around to comply with my order.

"Don't hurt me...I'm not your enemy," Says the nobody who likely worked with Auxaq, which certainly hasn't made me feel that she was a "good" person or un-person which described a nobody almost perfectly. "I will show you my face just don't harm me." Slowly her hands moved around the hood covering her face...

No way...

It can't be...

Why does she look like...

"Sora?!"

[ Alright got this done in less time than before, so now we are halfway through with the 358/2 Days arc. Sadly we have another cliffhanger on our hands, but trust me this is a big revelation for both Kairi and Xion since they never met each other in canon. Hope you all stick around for the confrontation next time thanks for reading up until this point I appreciate it very much. BTW I hope to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible if something doesn't come up irl. ]