Afterdeath

Author's note: Just an endnote this time.

Chapter 3

"I didn't feel any resistance at all!" Vanitas declared brightly. "You must have actually done it!"

Riku could only take comfort in the fact that his other Destiny Islands friends had probably not understood a word of Vanitas's "explanation." However, Vanitas had ended the conversation by magically vanishing into a dark corridor. That alone was going to cause some major problems when he got back home. Whenever that was.

Sora would probably get back to the island before him, and so would have to deal with the explanations himself…

"Hey, pet? Nothing to say?"

"Just thinking." Riku switched trains of thought. "How strong is Xehanort's connection between his real heart and all the copies of his heart?"

"Not strong. It's like, nothing," Vanitas snorted. "Does a copy of a photo have a connection to the original? No."

"Okay but… you were implying he still has a connection to you."

"Yes, and it's exactly that: a connection. Chains, really. All of us are chained by our hearts to that stinking piece of—"

"What kind of power do these chains give him?" Riku interrupted.

"Well, they were intended to give him full control over us," Vanitas admitted grudgingly. "Somehow he could use the chains like a path to transfer his full consciousness over and take control of our bodies."

"He can fully control all his vessels like puppets." Riku nodded thoughtfully.

Vanitas grimaced but nodded. "He hasn't tried it for a while. Like you said, I think he's getting weaker, and he knows it. He probably still could though. At least briefly."

"But would it work on you now? Now that his heart is sleeping…?"

"That's the thing," Vanitas said with a shrug. "He wouldn't be able to instantly take control. But whatever you did, he could easily undo once inside my heart."

"So we can't get him suspicious enough to take a look inside."

"Right. Glad you're not completely hopeless."

Riku ignored Vanitas. He was getting better at it. "So Xehanort made the chains as a way for his consciousness to travel…"

"And a way to keep tabs on us. He can peer down the chain to see where we are. Or give a yank to summon us," Vanitas grumbled.

"Right. So you need to not go anywhere suspicious. Well, not any more than you already have," Riku amended. "Going to Destiny Islands was a big risk."

Vanitas was remorseless. "It had to be done. I needed to be sure. From this moment on, I can't act an inch out of line. I have to play at being the good puppet, up until that X-Blade appears."

"Right. And then you'll… what? Fight Xehanort with it? Fight all the other seekers with it?"

"Like you've got a better plan!" Vanitas snapped, temper flaring. "You're the one who's dead!"

Riku kept his face neutral. "Actually, I do think I've got a better plan. We've broken Xehanort's control over you. Why stop there?"

"What? What are you…?" Vanitas's face twisted from confusion to disgust. "You think you can go fight Xehanort himself in his heart?"

"No, not him. The other seekers. I can put his heart inside of them to sleep as well."

Vanitas stared at him, then shook his head. "Are you out of your mind?! That's…! He'll notice for sure!"

Riku folded his arms. "Think about it for a minute. You going up against Xehanort is already a long shot. You want to destroy Xehanort – I do, too. This will majorly increase your chances if you don't have to fight his other seekers as well."

"Well, sure it will. If Xehanort doesn't catch on and destroy us all first!"

"Let me try with one of them," Riku suggested. "Whichever one you think is least likely to want to support Xehanort. But still able to keep a secret."

Vanitas groaned and turned away. "They're all idiots."

"You think everyone is an idiot. That's not saying much."

Vanitas turned back to glare at Riku. "You're the biggest idiot of all."

"Thank you, I'm aware of that. Now, are you going to help me give this a try?"

Vanitas turned away again. He was silent a moment. "I… I'm not good at reading people. They're all just so… ugh!"

"Okay…" Riku tapped his fingers on his arm. "Can you let me see each of them? Like you showed me Destiny Islands? I'm not the best at judging character either, but… we've got to try."

"I don't usually… go talk to people," Vanitas snapped.

"So go pick a fight with them. Say you're training or something."

Vanitas's face slowly twisted into an ugly smile. "Yes… that might actually work. I told Xehanort I needed your heart to gain more power. I can just tell them I'm testing it out!"

"There you go, then." Riku smiled, too, then stopped. "Do you actually need more power? I could probably…."

"You've done enough already, remember?" Vanitas snapped.

Oh yeah, the heart station. Riku nodded. "Good then. We don't want them to be suspicious of your excuse."

Vanitas slowly nodded as well. He gave Riku a long, piercing look. Then he sighed. "Right. We're doing this." He flicked his keyblade at the window again then stood aside to give Riku the view. "Here we go."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Vanitas went to the castle in the World that Never Was.

(Didn't we destroy this place?) Riku asked, his presence strong enough that if felt like he was standing at Vanitas's back rather than just whispering to a projection in his heart.

"Xehanort loves his castle," Vanitas snorted, aloud, accidentally. He made sure to keep his next words internal. (This place is really important to his plans, somehow, but for whatever reason he doesn't spend much time here. This world… I think he created it himself. Nobodies and heartless gather here, but I don't know why. So stop asking. It's distracting me.)

Riku just hummed in response, which rankled Vanitas more. Actually, everything Riku did got on his nerves. He just wasn't afraid of him. Normal people were afraid of Vanitas. Those dopey kids on the beach were afraid of Vanitas. What was wrong with Riku?

Vanitas hopped up the sides of a few buildings, not quite flying but certainly not really running. He realized this was the first time he had ever approached the seekers of darkness on purpose before. They were bound to be suspicious. Riku was an idiot.

Unfortunately, Riku was also right that Vanitas alone was not likely going to be enough to destroy Xehanort. He had tried to kill Xehanort before, a few times. That had never ended well. Xehanort wouldn't be surprised to have him try again. Vanitas needed an extra boost – an extra surprise – like Riku had suggested.

Vanitas was never going to tell Riku that he thought he was right. Going forward with the plan should be acknowledgment enough. At least Riku was keeping quiet for now.

The World that Never Was was already incongruous enough, but this greenhouse was even more so. It literally defied gravity: glass-walled cubes popped out perpendicularly from the sides of the tower that the main greenhouse crowned the top of. Tropical plants of every size and color dominated the space inside. Glass and plants – such fragile things, Vanitas noted in disgust. He trod carefully on the glass ceilings, skeptical of their ability to remain in place and not simply break loose and go plummeting down down down to a hard landing.

"Why, Vanitas? What brings you here?" The greenhouse's master had chosen to make an appearance. He kept the hood up, but some of his pink hair poked out the edges anyway.

"This place has gotten even more ridiculous since the last time I saw it," Vanitas snorted, proudly speaking his mind. "You don't have a lot of real work to do, do you?"

(Who's he?) Riku prodded.

(Marluxia. Quiet!)

Marluxia's lip curled as part of a glare that Vanitas could only half see under the hood. "I don't have to justify myself to you. What is Xehanort's failed experiment doing up here?"

"I'm no failure." Vanitas summoned his keyblade and took a fighting stance. "Why don't you show me what you can do with your oversized pruning hook."

Marluxia snorted. "You wish to test yourself against me?" He summoned his scythe. "Far be it from me to deny you a beating."

"Bring it on, pinky," Vanitas retorted. Then he charged forward and attacked.

x-x-x

(I hope you're happy,) Vanitas growled at Riku.

(Very,) Riku said.

Vanitas groaned as he slowly sank down against a tree in some heartless-forsaken world he couldn't remember the name of. He gulped down another healing potion. (Now they're all going to be out for my blood!) Well, okay – technically not all of them. Just the seven he had attacked – the ones that had a heart besides Xehanort's – the ones they intended to let Riku target. That ruled out young and old Xehanort, Ansem the heartless, and Xemnas the nobody. The last two were technically vessels, too, but Vanitas and Riku had both agreed they didn't want to take the risk on them.

And Riku's body, too. The risk of Riku getting stuck in there with Xehanort was too great. Vanitas had expected Riku to argue about it, but surprisingly he hadn't.

(I don't think they'll try anything. You beat them all soundly.) Riku sounded way too smug about that.

Vanitas was certainly never going to do anything like thank Riku for the in-battle help he had given. Riku's suggestions had offered Vanitas a more strategic, less aggressive strategy – no doubt what he had used against the Organization members before. And it had worked. Vanitas was almost having an existential crisis that this kid could give him legitimate advice. If he'd had a proper heart, Vanitas supposed he would have been grateful. Of course, that was the reason he was doing all this, Vanitas reminded himself. Riku had bought him some more time, but that was all.

Since Xehanort had brought Vanitas back by… whatever means it had been – prying him out of the memories of his heart and forcing him back into physical form – Vanitas had been haunted by the horrible, hopeless sensation of fading away after Ventus had defeated him and destroyed their X-Blade. Vanitas should have got back to Ventus's heart – was supposed to. Instead he had faded away to nothingness, into the darkness. Until Xehanort had brought him back.

The two halves needed to be whole again. Xehanort had split them apart in the first place. It made sense that Xehanort was preventing the reunification from happening. How, Vanitas didn't know. He really didn't understand most of what was going on. He doubted that even Xehanort did. But regardless, it was reason enough to seek Xehanort's end. Without that crazy old meddler around, Vanitas would finally have the freedom to think, to figure out how to get the reunification to work right.

And maybe even have a real conversation with Ventus.

Maybe…

(You okay there? I could try a healing spell…)

(Don't be stupid. You can't heal my body from inside my heart!) Vanitas snapped.

(We won't know unless I try,) Riku countered.

(Fine! Try it.)

Riku cast a curaga. Vanitas instantly felt much, much better. And he felt mortified. This was another thing that he was just going to try to pretend never happened. And yet… (Why didn't you do that while Larxene was electrocuting me?!)

(I didn't know if it would work then! And besides… I worried they might catch on we were working together if I started healing you in public.)

(I could just lie and tell them I've learned healing magic.)

(Wouldn't Xehanort know better though?)

Vanitas's real form grimaced. Good thing he had his mask on. Better yet that no one was around. (Fine, you win. But you're healing me right after every fight I pick for you. Got it?)

(Deal.) Once again, Riku sounded way too pleased about all this.

Whatever. Vanitas was done talking about this. (So, did you pick your target?)

(Yeah, let's start with an easy one. As soon as you're recovered.)

(I'm recovered. Let's go!) Vanitas snapped. The clock was ticking. Time was counting down.

(Okay then. I want to start with–)

X-X-X-X-X-X

"And none of you thought to tell us that Even has gone missing?!" Lea demanded.

"Well you see, in times before, he would occasionally go off on his own for several days," Ienzo started to explain.

"When was the last time anyone saw him?" Donald asked, trying to get back to business.

"What did he say?" Dilan asked, scratching his head. He looked to Aeleus, who just shrugged.

"When did you last see Even?" Lea translated.

"That's what I said!" Donald squawked, hopping with indignation. He bumped into Goofy who was gawping at the laboratory with great curiosity.

Goofy stumbled, caught his feathered companion, then regained his balance. "Uh, sorry fellers. What were you saying?"

"Great team you've got here, Axel," Dilan snarked, folding his arms.

"It's Lea! Lea! You don't hear me calling you Xaldin, do you?!"

"Why are you here, Lea? It surely wasn't to inquire after Even," Ienzo said. "And I believe it has been over a week since I last spoke to Even. For what's it's worth."

Lea massaged his temples with both hands. "Great. Just great. Are any of his notes or papers missing?"

"Most of them are gone…" Ienzo hesitated. "He left a note saying he needed them for a new research project."

"Wonderful. Can this get any worse?" Lea complained up at the ceiling. He let his hands fall to his sides. "Well, at least you three are still here. That's something."

Dilan raised an eyebrow. "Where else would we be….?"

"Riku is dead," Lea said bluntly. "Xehanort targeted him specifically, then sent Saïx over to gloat about it. There's a good chance he took Even as well."

The ex-organization members, hardened criminals though they had been, paled at the revelation. Dilan recovered first. "We can't stay here! This castle has no defenses to speak of. And against Xehanort…"

"If Xehanort wanted you, he probably would have already grabbed you. For what it's worth." Lea massaged his temples again. "There must be something of Even's research that Xehanort wants."

"Or Vexen's research," Ienzo suggested softly.

Lea nodded. "Right. Or Vexen's work." Lea shook his head. "Anyway – I agree, you shouldn't stay here. I thought Xehanort had decided to leave the rest of us alone. But… I guess not. We can't risk… can't risk him getting his hands on anyone else from our side."

Aeleus finally spoke. "So what did bring you here? We have only been exchanging news to this point."

"Finally!" Donald snapped. "We need you guys to come with us to Castle Oblivion for a very important mission!"

"What?" Both Dilan and Ienzo asked it simultaneously this time.

While Goofy placated a fuming Donald, Lea explained, "Yen Sid has requested your help with a mission. It's… someplace familiar."

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Demyx!" Vanitas said in a singsong voice, filling the doorway.

"What the–?! Why are you in my room?!" Demyx awkwardly stumbled off his bed and scrambled to his feet, summoning his attack sitar. He was sporting an impressive black eye and several bandages on his arms. He looked terrified. "You already beat me once today, what more do you want?!"

"I think you mean, what does our master want?" Vanitas said, waggling a finger at Demyx.

On the inside of Vanitas's heart, a different kind of conversation entirely was taking place.

"Are we close enough yet?" Riku asked nervously.

Heart-Vanitas stretched an arm upward. Nothing happened. "Not yet. Hold on."

Riku fidgeted with his gloved hands. Then he reached up to touch his face. Or tried to. His hand collided with a helmet. He tried to tug it off and found he couldn't. "Was it really necessary to disguise me this much?"

Vanitas paused to give Riku a glare. He was currently wearing his helmet, too, so it didn't really translate except through body language. After a moment, Vanitas realized that fact and snorted. "I told you – some of these bozos might actually be loyal to Xehanort, and not just puppets getting yanked along by his heart. Think about it: any of them think they're getting visions of Riku, the glorious blah blah blah hero of light, what's the first thing they'll do? The first thing they'll do is go ask Xehanort about it!"

"I know, I know," Riku muttered. Even his voice was different. Vanitas had swathed Riku in his emotional/darkness magic and turned him into a perfect doppelganger of himself. He just hadn't been anticipating the side effects… of feeling like he was Vanitas. "This is just extremely uncomfortable. I feel like I might start forgetting who I am!"

"Then don't take too long," Vanitas countered. His real-world-self grabbed Demyx by the throat. "That's it – time to go."

"Ready," Riku said tensely.

Vanitas hardly gave Riku enough time to speak. He reached out to the chains that bound Xehanort's two cloned hearts together and created a portal between them. With a burst of magic, he threw Riku through the doorway and along the chain. Riku's heart and consciousness slipped across and landed undetected in the other vessel's heart.

x-x-x

Riku plummeted down, down, down again, through the heart dive that was becoming a commonplace event. Vanitas's heart dive had been infested with monsters – Sora's had been littered with sleeping images of himself. Demyx's was full of… songs. The songs didn't really take clear physical form – they were just swirls of color and light, floating in the vertical tunnel that Riku was falling through. But as Riku came close enough to brush against them, he could briefly hear a few phrases of each song. It was really fascinating. Riku hadn't thought too deeply about the fact that Demyx had a musical instrument as the weapon of his heart. At best, he had guessed that Demyx liked music a lot. It seemed that that assessment had been way off.

Music was everything to Demyx.

As he continued falling, Riku tried to intercept as many of the song orbs as possible, hoping they would somehow give him more insight into his new target. Riku liked music, sure, but he didn't really know anything about any of the theory behind it. Like how someone actually went about writing a song. The music in the orbs were greatly varied – different styles, different speeds, and even different instruments. Riku soon decided that he was getting nowhere trying to understand it. He hoped he understood enough. The portal appeared below him and Riku dropped through.

Riku landed in a small town – or village. The houses were simple and small, and the people were dressed in simple, unremarkable clothes. No sign of Demyx, though. Riku frowned. He could sense no darkness here, and so didn't know where to begin. But just then, someone started playing a song on a stringed instrument, just beyond his sight. Riku jogged toward the sound with confidence.

Sure enough, around the corner in a market square was Demyx. He was performing with three others – two were playing different types of stringed instruments, one was singing, and Demyx was playing something much like his weaponized sitar while crooning out a harmony part to the song. Much to Riku's surprise, Demyx was actually pretty good. I guess I just expected he just wanted to be a musician… instead of actually being one, Riku mused to himself.

The song dragged on, and Riku grew impatient. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He needed to find Xehanort's heart, and quickly. He couldn't sense anything here. In Vanitas's heart, the path had been clear. But here… he needed something more to go on.

Riku stepped forward, approaching the performers. He felt a little bad interrupting like this – he would never have done this in real life – and he had to remind himself that this wasn't real. It was a memory at best – a dream of a memory. "Hey! Hey, you! I need to talk to you!"

Demyx looked up and made eye contact with Riku, and then everything around Riku wobbled and distorted like it was all a reflection in a pool of water and someone had just thrown a large stone into it. The scene changed. All the people were gone, and all the buildings were taller and darker. The sky was darker as well. Was it nighttime or… something less savory? Riku still couldn't sense any darkness here, though.

Demyx was still ahead of Riku, though a little farther away than before. He was talking to his fellow musicians from before. No… he was arguing with them. Riku wandered closer.

"Edym, no. I've already told you!" one of them, with a blue haircut similar to Demyx's, was saying with a think drawl. "We aren't going to the next festival. We're playing at Bernie's tomorrow and then we're taking the rest of the week off."

"Do you want to play at Bernie's the rest of your life? This could be our big break!" Demyx – or was it Edym? – said passionately. "Everybody's who's even half serious will be at the festival!"

"Edym, man, chill," another one of the musicians said. This one had reddish hair that covered the eyes completely. "The festival will still be there next year. Let's take some more time, write some more songs, and enjoy life a little."

"Enjoy–?! This is my life!" Demyx-Edym snapped. "You told me you were serious about this!"

"Enough drama. We've already decided," the first speaker said again. "We're not going to the festival. Now, are you coming out with us tonight or not?"

"No. No, I'm not." Demyx-Edym looked almost ready to cry, but he shook it off. "If you won't come with me, I'll do it myself."

Blue mullet guy snorted. "As a solo?!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Whatever." Blue mullet guy motioned to his companions and started walking away. "Come find us next week, after you get laughed out of the festival."

"No, I won't," Demyx-Edym whispered fervently, too quietly for the others to hear. "I'll make it on my own if I have to." Then he suddenly looked up and seemed to notice Riku. The scene warped and changed in a water ripple again.

Now it was Demyx-Edym in a bare, square room. The room was empty except for the musician, the sitar, and papers scattered everywhere. Oh, and Riku, too. Demyx-Edym was scrawling notes on one of the pages. Music, probably. Then he looked up at Riku, and the scene transitioned again.

This time, it was the festival Edym had been talking about. Probably. It was nighttime, though the area was lit up by numerous hung lanterns. Riku found himself in the middle of a massive crowd surrounding a stage. Edym was onstage, unsurprisingly. He had apparently found a new group to sing with. Riku struggled to discern details about the other musicians, but it didn't matter. As soon as Edym looked in Riku's direction, the scene splashed and changed again.

This time it was a darkened street alley, and it was just Edym and Riku.

"Why are you following me?!" Edym yelled. There was a fury in his eyes and a confidence that was completely lacking in Demyx's nobody form.

Riku glanced over his shoulder. There was really no one else around. "Uh… are you talking to me?"

"Yes, I'm talking to you! You – you're Vanitas, aren't you?! Why are you pawing through my memories?! Haven't I given enough to your master?!" Edym was gesticulating wildly, but he didn't draw a weapon. As a somebody, he probably hadn't been able to. But now that he was… was he a nobody again?

Riku thought he should make sure. "Were you recompleted?"

"Was I… what?"

"Were you… Did you wake up again as your past self, after your nobody was destroyed?" Riku only got a stare in response, so he tried again. "Do you remember your time as the nobody Demyx?"

Now Edym looked confused, which was a much more familiar expression to see on that face. "Why are you asking me that? What do you want from me?"

Riku hesitated. He knew he had to be very careful how much he shared. But he also was going to need Edym-Demyx's help to pull this off. "Housekeeping. Xehanort's made a big mess of a lot of things. I'm here to help you clean things up."

Now Edym looked outright suspicious. "But didn't you… attack my outer self?"

Riku shrugged. "Sorry – I couldn't just walk up and talk to you. I had to allay suspicion."

"I see…" Edym cocked his head. "But aren't you Xehanort's creation? Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I hate Xehanort. You know this." The words came easily to Riku. They were true enough for him, too, but the essence of Vanitas was overwhelming him again. Riku had to take a moment to force it back down. "Look, Edym… that is your name, right? I'm guessing you didn't join Xehanort of your own choice?"

Edym nodded slowly. "He… said he admired my passion. The strength of my heart. He wanted to turn my drive to his own purposes. But… it wasn't what I wanted." Edym wrapped his arms around himself. "You asked if I remember being Demyx? I do. And it was horrible!

"Do you know what it's like to wake up with a song in your head, and it eats at you because you can't remember how it ends? That's how I felt. Except they were my songs. I recognized them, but… but I couldn't remember how they went. Everything I spent years of my life working towards, ripped away by that murderous creep!

"And then Demyx died… or faded away, I guess. Whichever. And I thought that it was done, everything was all over. Except that I woke up again. I had a heart again, and I could feel something again besides fear. And I could hear my songs in my mind again! But then, almost instantly, he was there again…"

Riku nodded, sympathetically. "So, now you're… here? Do you have any control of your body at all?"

"Some," Edym said with a sigh. "It's mostly Demyx again, though." He ran a hand absently through his hair. "We were all regrowing hearts as nobodies – I assume you already know that. And though Demyx's heart should have merged with my heart when we were… recompleted, as you said… Xehanort didn't give us the chance. He jammed his heart into my chest and raised a wall to keep me stuck down… here. So Demyx is mostly doing the driving. And Xehanort can reach in and take direct control whenever he wants." Edym gave Riku a curious look. "Is it the same for you?"

"No. It's… a bit different." Riku wasn't sure how much to say. How much he could say. The instinct to be Vanitas was very strong. He decided to sidestep the question. "How often does Xehanort take direct control?"

"Lately? Not at all. Not since I've given up on fighting and have been trying to occupy myself down here." Edym sagged where he stood. "At least I can work on my songs in peace now…"

"So, you could take back control. If you wanted to. Right?" At Edym's reluctant nod, Riku asked, "Do you think you could take back control and act like Demyx? So Xehanort wouldn't realize that anything had changed?"

"As soon as I try to do anything, Xehanort's avatar in here drags me back down and locks me away. It took me a week to free myself last time!"

Riku's smile grew wide. "But you managed to get free, all by yourself. That's a good sign of the strength of your heart. That's half of what we need to get you free again." He summoned his keyblade into his hand, and hefted it (in what he hoped was a nonthreatening manner). "Now, if you can show me to Xehanort's heart, I can give you a hand with the other half."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Riku raised his keyblade and summoned the keyhole of Xehanort's heart. And then, as he had done once already before, he sealed the cancerous heart away into sleep. Once again, the ease of it all made him nervous. But the old man's avatar still did not stir after the sound beating Riku had given him. Everything seemed to be complete. Riku raised his keyblade again and summoned another keyhole – this one for the path to let him ascend into the higher level of Edym's heart, where Edym's avatar awaited him. The travel took only a minute, and was perfectly smooth.

"You did it then?" Edym asked. The way he bounced on his feet made him look both excited and nervous.

"Yeah, I did. Everything went just fine," Riku said.

Edym sighed loudly and wrung his hands. "Okay, so now… What does this mean? You said I can't let Xehanort's know anything has changed…"

"Right," Riku confirmed. "If Xehanort's catches on that anything has happened, he can come back in here and undo it."

"So, what advantage does this gain me?"

"A chance to stop him from destroying all the worlds," Riku said grimly. "From what I understand of his plan, he wants to summon the X-Blade, and use it destroy Kingdom Hearts – and by extension, all the worlds that exist. Everything will be swallowed up into darkness. Xehanort says that the worlds were all originally born out of such a calamity. And so, this will just bring a new rebirth to the worlds. But…"

"You think he's just crazy and want to stop him from destroying everything?"

"Right. And besides, even if he is right… He doesn't have the right to just end everybody's lives like that! It's worth it to stop him, at whatever cost."

Edym nodded in agreement. "So, what can I do that will help?"

"Van… er, I found out that he can see the future, but not everything. He has some moments he cannot see beyond. And one of those is where he summons the X-Blade. So the moment after that is when we can surprise him."

Edym flinched. "That… doesn't sound like we have much to work with."

Riku agreed, "Yeah, you're right. But it's all we have. And so, we have to make sure that once the X-Blade appears, I am the one to get it. Not Xehanort." Riku grimaced as he caught himself speaking as Vanitas again. He decided to just go with it. Luckily his face wasn't visible under Vanitas's helmet.

Edym nodded, more slowly. "Okay. So… I play along as the loyal servant until the X-Blade shows up. And then… rip the other seekers apart?"

"We'll see. I'm going to try to free the others. Well… most of them. The ones you'll really want to focus on will be the forms of Xehanort himself."

"Ugh." Edym made a disgusted face. "That guy… those guys… give me the creeps… Well, but if you gotta, you gotta. Okay. Count me in!"

Riku smiled, then remembered it wouldn't show behind his mask. He nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks, Edym. I'd better get back to… my body. I may not be able to talk to you again"

"No problem. Oh, and… I may not be able to take control for a bit. So maybe watch your back for a while, because I think Demyx wants to kill you."

"I understand. Thank you, again." Riku raised his keyblade up, and this time searched mentally for the chains that created a bridge back to Vanitas. The chain was faint, but he managed to find it without too much trouble. Then, just like jumping between worlds, he opened the keyhole and let his heart dive through.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Endnote: I went to a lot of trouble to pick names for all the unnamed somebodies. I know everyone has their own choices and reasons. For Demyx, I went with Edym because it can be a real name. Some baby name site says it is a variation of "Adam." I know a lot of people like the name Myde because of the connection to water, but I decided I couldn't take him seriously if I named him after a turtle.

Also, I'm currently replaying 358/2 Days just for fun. I'd forgotten how whiny Demyx is. Lol, poor baby. My take on Demyx is that, as a somebody, he was very passionate, but only about his one dream. He was basically abducted/murdered by Xehanort, so he hates the Organization and everything about it, and so makes it his goal to passive-aggressively resist everything that he is asked to do. I really don't understand why Xehanort would choose to keep someone like Demyx in his organization, but maybe Demyx is super-powerful or something and we just never get to see it. *shrugs*