Afterdeath

Chapter 5

Lea groaned and buried his face in his hands. "So my whole trip to Castle Oblivion was pointless. Only Aqua… er, I mean, Master Aqua… can even reach the room where Ventus and the special keyblade are."

"Just Aqua is fine," Aqua said. "And you shouldn't be kicking yourself. The defense mechanism of the Land of Departure was meant to be secret. Master Eraqus trusted it to no one but himself. He told me only as a last resort." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, one of several identical wooden antiques that Yen Sid had produced in his study. She was doing her best to pretend she was fully recovered, but she could actually barely stand unassisted.

"And don't forget, Lea, that you've brought back some good intel," Mickey spoke up brightly, perched on a chair of his own that had legs conspicuously taller than the others. "Otherwise, we wouldn't know we'll have to face a bunch of new instances of the replicas."

"That will complicate things," Aqua mused sourly. "And how many did you say there were?"

"Hundreds!" Lea declared.

"A dozen," Dilan countered.

"That was more than a dozen! I counted!"

"We couldn't have walked in the room if there were hundreds. It was no more than two dozen at most."

"Gentlemen, please let us try to stay focused." Yen Sid quelled the argument with a piercing look. "Let us return to the more pressing matters. First, is how Xehanort knew to send his vessels after Aqua at the exact moment she was freed."

The room fell to silence. Dilan and Aeleus looked at each other, feeling superfluous. Donald and Goofy just sat, waiting for the conversation to move on to something they could contribute to. Kairi was thinking hard, wanting to contribute something but not having enough experience with the ways of darkness and light to even make a guess.

Finally, Sora made a suggestion. "He put a copy of his heart in her, right? Xehanort, I mean. Like he… like he wanted to do with me." As he got a confirming nod from Yen Sid, Sora continued, "Could he sense that something had happened to that copy? Aqua and I destroyed that heart copy inside her heart. He seems… he seems to have some pull over his other vessels. And I remember one of them said something about a certain symbol letting him track me…"

"That seems the most likely," Yen Sid agreed. "Unfortunately, I know little of the workings of such arts. They are deeply evil and rightfully forbidden. But it seems to make the most sense that Xehanort has some sort of hold over each of his current vessels. And it is likely he can track their locations as well."

"I don't remember him tracking me, though," Aqua mused. "I just remember… he came and planted a seed of hopelessness within me. It grew so fast! But it was so hard in the Realm of Darkness…"

"It's all right, Aqua." Kairi placed a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder. "Take your time remembering."

"But they kept finding me, somehow," Aqua continued, talking primarily to herself. "I kept trying to avoid them – I hated them, blots of darkness all! But they kept finding me. You must be right." Her eyes widened in realization. "I never thought of it before, but they must have been tracking me to keep finding me…"

"Sounds confirmed to me, then," Mickey said. "So that's how they knew to come after Aqua. And I'd bet there's similar tracking on the replicas, too."

"An early warning system," Yen Sid mused, nodding. "To warn Xehanort if we are getting close to reviving Ventus."

"Would you mind explaining who this Ventus guy is?" Dilan demanded.

"Perhaps it is information we do not need to be privy to," Aeleus corrected. "We understand the need for keeping secrets, do we not?"

Dilan grunted in acknowledgment to his companion. "Right. Well, in that case, can we go check up on Ienzo? We don't want to be involved in this unless we have to."

"You may check up on your companion now if you wish," Yen Sid said. "But unfortunately, you are already deeply involved. Xehanort will have his eye on you, wherever you go. The only question now is: how much do you wish to help fight back?"

"Ventus isn't really that big a secret now," Mickey added. "Since Xehanort already knows everything about him anyway."

"So, what's the short version of why he's so important?" Dilan demanded again.

"He's my friend… one of the three of us who were the last to train under Master Eraqus." Aqua tried to adjust her position in her chair again to sit more upright and look stronger. "Xehanort wanted all three of us – as vessels probably – from the start. He's… he still has Terra."

"I was told he was a failed experiment to summon the X-Blade," Lea interrupted. "He and Vanitas were supposed to be the light and darkness needed to summon it."

"The keyblade? What's so special about another keyblade?" Dilan arched an eyebrow.

"Not keyblade. Chi. Like, another way to pronounce the letter 'X.' It's something special," Lea fumbled, not able to remember the full explanation himself. "But basically, it will let Xehanort unlock Kingdom Hearts itself and destroy all the worlds."

Dilan's face twisted in shock. "So why are we waking this guy up again?! We shouldn't give Xehanort any tools to let him destroy the worlds!"

"Ventus can no longer perform his intended purpose," Yen Sid declared. "And besides, the fusion of Ventus and Vanitas was never the only way. Xehanort has other plans, and he will attempt to complete them. Meanwhile, we need to seek all potential allies we can."

The door to Yen Sid's study slowly opened. All eyes went to the door. No one else was expected to show up.

Ienzo slowly entered the room, limping a bit. His face was also a bit too pale. But he spoke with confidence. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting. But I think I've come up with something important."

"Not at all. Please take a seat." Yen Sid waved an arm and another chair grew up out of the floor directly behind Ienzo.

He sat down, carefully, then met Yen Sid's gaze with his own. "I think I know the key to defeating the replicas. Well… defeating them more quickly, anyway. I'm sure Lea's brute force method would work eventually."

Lea buried his face in his hands again. "I told you, I'm really sorry about that…"

Ienzo waited until Yen Sid motioned him to go on, and then continued. "The replicas… whether they were created from the original one, or whether they were newly created from Vexen's data… it makes no difference. They still share a common flaw. I know that Master Riku has progressed rapidly in his mastery of light and dark, but the original data Vexen used to make the replica was taken from Riku before he had made most of this progress."

"I'm… not following. Can you explain it simpler, Ienzo?" Dilan said, scratching his head.

Ienzo scowled. "I'm getting there." He returned his neutral face to Yen Sid. "When I, as Zexion, confronted Riku in Castle Oblivion, I attempted to exploit that weakness, with much success. If not for… outside interference, I think I would have succeeded." Ienzo paused. "Of course, it is best that I did not succeed then, but I believe it will give us the means to succeed now."

"I'm still not understanding you," Dilan complained.

"Light!" Mickey declared, smacking a fist into his other palm. "Back at the start in Castle Oblivion, Riku was so steeped in darkness still that it made him vulnerable to light!"

"Exactly!" Ienzo agreed, clearly pleased. "So we can easily defeat the replicas, no matter how many of them there are, so long as we bring those with us who can harness the power of light."

"Us?" Aeleus gave Ienzo a sharp look. "I don't think it wise for you to go back there again."

"I made an error in reasoning," Ienzo said, frowning. "I expected my power to behave the same as it had as a nobody. Yours and Dilan's remained the same, after all. But mine did not. And I have discovered why." Ienzo held out a hand, and with visible exertion, made his magical tome appear there, hovering just above his hand. Dilan and Aeleus made noises of protest, and Ienzo let them book vanish again almost immediately. The wear on Ienzo was blatant – sweat was trickling down his pale face. "You see? I have it figured out now… my source now is the light, not the dark…"

Aeleus leapt from his own chair and hurried to hold up Ienzo, who was slumping in his seat and quickly losing consciousness. "You didn't have to demonstrate to make your point, Ienzo. We would have believed you."

"Perhaps it would be best to take a short break. And see Ienzo back to bed," Yen Sid declared, looking on the unconscious young man with his studying, inscrutable gaze. "If he is so determined to help us fight for the light, I do not want to deny him. But he ought to be fully recovered first."

And that was the signal that the meeting was adjourned for the moment. Dilan and Aeleus were out the door first, carrying Ienzo between them. Lea almost went with them, but hesitated, and instead let Mickey and his two animal companions precede him out the door. Sora and Kairi went to help Aqua stand and walk out. Lea watched this procedure a moment, again wanting to help but not feeling confident enough to do so. Lea left by himself then, to go in search of a quiet corner to brood in until Yen Sid was ready to discuss the next piece of plan.

x-x-x

The call to reassemble came so much later in the day that Lea had given up waiting and had wandered off to Twilight Town, ostensibly to spend the night. The reality was he went to brood more, of course. Ienzo getting hurt was really eating at him. Yeah, he knew Ienzo would recover and be fine. But Lea just couldn't get over it. He hadn't wanted to confront the young man again in the first place, considering his nobody was directly responsible for the other nobody's death. And then Ienzo had agreed to go along with Lea's hairbrained plan of charging through the castle, barely prepared. And had nearly died again at the hands of a Riku replica. Again. Lea figured, if it had been him, he would be having nightmares about this forever.

As it was, maybe Lea would have nightmares about this. So far, he was showing a consistent track record of failing to protect the people he cared about. Isa, Xion, Roxas… he had promised to protect all of them, and had instead lost all of them. He was going to get them back – he definitely wasn't going to give up. But after the near-disaster at Castle Oblivion, Lea had very little faith in his ability to do it himself. More likely he was just going to mess everything up again. But at least Sora had also promised he was going to help all his friends – Sora didn't give up and Sora kept his promises. All Lea had to do was stick close to Sora and try to not get in his way…

Was he really good enough to be a keyblade wielder? Yeah, the keyblade had chosen him. He'd thought that had been a vote of confidence in him. But Xehanort has a keyblade, too… Lea just didn't know what to think anymore. In spite of all his training, his skill with the keyblade was shaky at best. He still summoned his chakrams instead of the blade more often than not. Maybe he should just go back to using his familiar weapon in battles? Except that the keyblade meant something. You had to be worthy to have one. And in this battlefield, the heroes were the ones with keyblades. And Lea badly, badly wanted to be a hero this time around.

This was the point where he noticed he was being summoned back. Yen Sid had given them all little crystal balls that fit conveniently inside a pocket. The crystals could supposedly be used to contact anyone else on their team, if the user had enough skill with magic. Lea didn't. Yet, anyway. But Yen Sid could use the crystals to reach out to all of them at once – a clear sign of the old man's power. Sometimes he actually spoke through them, but this time he just made the crystal buzz and glow slightly. Just enough to get everyone's attention… if they weren't already asleep. Lea was briefly tempted to pretend he hadn't noticed the summons and actually go to bed… except he realized that he was too wound up now to sleep. And if he wasn't going to get to sleep for real, he may as well go back to the meeting. So Lea went.

Lea was the last one back. Apparently he was noticeably slow, because Sora greeted him by exclaiming, "Lea! You came back!"

"Yeah, yeah." Lea faked a yawn. "I wasn't asleep yet. So, what did I miss?"

"We already beat Xehanort while you were napping," Kairi said with a grin. "We're just planning our victory party now."

Lea smirked back at her. "Well, awfully nice of you to wait for me to plan the party." Lea reluctantly, cautiously took a seat near Dilan and Aeleus and proceeded to pretend they weren't there. They did likewise for him.

"Yep!" agreed Sora, folding his arms behind his head. "And since you're late, you're buying ice cream for everyone!"

"I really don't think this is the time for such silliness," Aqua said coolly, with a glare mostly directed at Lea.

"We don't have time for anything. And yet we simultaneously have all the time in the world," Merlin said cheerfully.

"Uh… does that mean we have a plan?" Sora asked.

"Indeed," said Yen Sid, mustering a small smile himself. "I apologize for the long delay. But I needed to enlist the help of my good friend," Yen Sid gestured here to Merlin, "to attempt a… dangerous course of action. But I am pleased to inform you all that we were successful."

"Gosh!" exclaimed Mickey. "That's good to hear! But I thought, uh you said… you didn't want to 'lower yourself to Xehanort's level' by doing that."

Yen Sid looked grim again. "I have reconsidered. In light of what happened during Sora's mastery exam, we cannot afford not to explore all avenues open to us."

Everyone nodded or looked thoughtful. Except Lea, who rubbed the back of his neck. "Am I the only one who doesn't know what we're talking about here?"

"Why my boy," said Merlin with a chuckle. "We mean time travel, of course!"

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Sleeping on the job? Figures."

Riku jolted back to alertness and hopped to his feet. He hadn't been sleeping exactly… but he did feel more rested. "Are we ready for our next move?"

Vanitas pulled off his helmet and dropped it to the ground. Now Riku could see his glare instead of just imagining it. It was a strange expression to see on a Sora-like face. "Tell me how you intend to continue with your plan while not leaving my room."

"We can't, obviously," Riku said with a shrug. "We'll have to risk that much. But if you can transfer me to the others without talking to them – or even better, without them seeing you – then I think we should be able to get away with it."

"Tch. I don't know if I can do it over that much distance."

"Xehanort can call you over any distance. So it's possible. We don't need to have his range. Just… across a room, maybe."

"Okay, genius," Vanitas said with a roll of his eyes. "But then how are you going to get back? There's no way I can just follow them around for a couple hours and expect them not to notice."

"Right…" Riku mused to himself. "Well… you've been able to move me around yourself, within your own heart. Do you think you could pull me back, after a reasonable amount of time has passed?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. No way to know until we've tried it." Vanitas's tone was acidic.

"We'll just have to give it a try then," Riku countered with forced enthusiasm.

"You know you could end up stuck in one of the seekers' hearts, permanently," Vanitas commented with a cruel smile.

"Like I already told you… it's worth the risk. I've got to do whatever I can to try to stop Xehanort. And right now, this is all I can do."

"I could also choose to leave you in someone else's heart. Rid myself of your obnoxious presence."

Riku grit his teeth. "Yes, you could. I get it. But I'll still take that chance. So now, are we doing this or not?"

Vanitas made a disgusted face. "Watch your attitude. You're lucky I'm so patient with you."

Riku rolled his eyes, knowing Vanitas wouldn't see it. "So…?"

Vanitas finally gave up his game. "Whatever. So, who would you like to risk getting stuck with?"

Riku had given a lot of thought to the seeker he wished to target next. But the chance of getting stuck permanently made him reconsider his first choice. "Let's try… Vexen," Riku decided.

"That creep? You're serious? What happened to picking the ones most likely to help us?"

"Vexen is… yeah, not the greatest person, I agree. But he's most likely to get rescued by my friends. They know he was recompleted, and they know that Xehanort kidnapped him again, so they'll make it a higher priority to get him back. So he makes the most sense for me to pick, if there's a chance I'll get stuck there…"

Vanitas looked incredulous, but just shook his head. "Whatever. And you know I'll be sure to blame you for everything if he rats us out to Xehanort."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Riku sighed.

Vanitas looked furious and started flaring an aura of dark energy.

Riku hastened to clarify, "We succeed or fail together. I can't pull this off without you. And you need me, too."

Vanitas let the dark energy dissipate. "Well, aren't you just a disgusting bundle of sentimentality. I think I'm going to be sick." Vanitas summoned his keyblade and pointed it at Riku. "Let's do a little target practice before I risk my life to sneak up on that loony scientist."

"Target practice" ended up meaning "flinging Riku around practice." Riku ended up as dazed as if Vanitas had actually been hitting him. Vanitas's first assault landed Riku awkwardly on Vanitas's heart station. Riku only got as far as pushing up to his knees before he was yanked away again and sent hurtling through another high-speed dive portal. This one dumped him back in the Oblivion throne room. Riku landed half-on one chair and immediately fell off, landing hard on the floor. He only got a moment to catch his breath before he was sucked away from that location and sent somewhere else.

Vanitas played with pulling Riku around several more times while Riku just tried to get in a cure spell quickly enough before Vanitas's next move disrupted the spell. Riku kept his eyes clenched shut, trying to hold back his growing nausea. At last, at his next location, he was allowed to lay still on the ground long enough to fully steady his breathing.

Vanitas planted a foot on Riku's side. "I think I've got the hang of moving you around!" he said cheerfully.

"Good job," Riku grumbled, trying to not sound completely sarcastic.

Vanitas laughed. "So, are you ready to go or do you need to hurl?"

Riku took a moment before replying to cast another cure spell. "I'm fine," he said as he shakily stood up. "Let's go."

x-x-x

They found Vexen at a desk in his laboratory, working feverishly on some paperwork.

(I can't approach him like this,) Vanitas hissed in the mental space. (He'll tattle to Xehanort for sure!)

(Can you cast the spell sleep?) Riku suggested.

(Are you stupid?! I would have already suggested it if I could!)

(Okay, okay…) Riku made an attempt to cast sleep at Vexen, but nothing happened.

(I could have told you that wouldn't work.)

(I had to try it just in case!) Riku tried to think of any excuse Vanitas could use to start up a conversation with Vexen, but could come up with nothing that wouldn't sound suspicious. Vexen meanwhile continued on his work, seemingly oblivious to Vanitas's presence. (He's not looking. Could you just try to send me over from here?)

Vanitas was silent a long moment. Riku thought for sure the other boy was just going to insult him or start complaining again. Instead, Vanitas asked, (How long will you need?)

That was a good question. (How long was I inside Demyx's heart?)

(I don't know. I didn't keep track. A while. Half an hour?) Vanitas said petulantly.

(How about two hours then, just in case. I don't trust Vexen, and so it might take me longer to find Xehanort's heart if I can't get Even to cooperate with me.) Riku shifted his focus so he could no longer see Vexen at the desk, but now could see Vanitas in the darkened Traverse Town. "Don't take any big risks to get me back. Wait until the circumstances are good."

"You don't have to tell me that," Vanitas said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "And you… you try not to give our plan away."

Riku nodded. "Got it."

Vanitas whipped out his keyblade. "Don't screw up!" he yelled by way of farewell as he sent Riku's heart out on the path of the chains towards Vexen's heart.

The air felt thin, insubstantial. Riku felt a moment of terror, realizing he hadn't considered the possibility that his heart wouldn't make the initial transfer, let alone a return. What would happen to his heart if it fell from the path of chains? Would he become a heartless?! Riku made every exertion he could then to stay in the path. He banged headlong into several boulder-like obstacles in his attempts to stay centered. Riku flailed his arms and kicked his legs as though he were swimming in the air. It made little difference, but little was just enough. He reached a glowing white portal that marked the edge of Vexen's heart and hurtled through.

Now Riku was falling through a normal dive to the heart. He could hardly find the motivation to pay attention to the floating images, as he was still gripped by the terror that he had nearly lost his own existence. A few heartless appeared as he fell, but they were relatively weak and almost not even worth the effort of attacking. At last, Riku passed through the final portal and landed inside Vexen/Even's heart.

The location was Radiant Garden, which wasn't really surprising. The big surprise was that it was the current Radiant Garden, rather than that of the past. Riku supposed it must be because Even had had some time to get used to being a person again before getting kidnapped by Xehanort. He had already accepted the changes in the world. Riku idly wondered if the other recompleted Organization Thirteen members had the past or the present version of their home in their hearts.

Riku looked around and saw Even conversing with Ienzo and some others off in the square. He remembered how well it had gone to try to approach Edym inside his own heart – and Riku was still somewhat suspicious of Even anyway. He would really rather not have to interact with Even at all if he could avoid it. As a nobody, Vexen had always looked at Riku as though he were something to be dissected and studied. Once his heart was restored, Even still seemed almost the same. His eyes were always cold, and he looked at people in the same sort of dismissive way as DiZ had looked at Naminé and Roxas. It made Riku deeply uncomfortable.

Riku closed his eyes and focused his senses, trying to make out where Xehanort's heart was hiding. But he could sense nothing. It must not be in this layer, Riku mused. That made sense, the more he thought of it. Xehanort would want his heart difficult to remove, so he would plant it as deeply as he could. That made Riku's job more difficult, however.

Still, Riku needed to carry on. He only had two hours – what had previously sounded like an abundance of time now felt like it might not be enough. He needed to get into the lower levels of Even's heart and find Xehanort quickly.

And now Even was approaching him, rapidly. His face was cold and determined. Riku glanced around for someplace to hide and found nothing close by. And then Even swung his shield at his head. Riku only just managed to duck. He summoned his keyblade but then was frozen in place mid-swing.

"Ha! Not so strong in here, are you?!" Even crowed. He summoned a cloud full of icicle spears and sent them hurtling at Riku.

Riku was so surprised at being caught off guard that he needed several moments for his thoughts to catch up and remind him that Even was a master of ice magic. And that he had apparently figured out how to boost his strength inside his own mind. Finally Riku was able to break free of the spell immobilizing him and drop to the ground in an aching ball. "Even! Will you quit attacking me?! This isn't helping anything!"

"Maybe not, but it makes me feel much better."

Riku groaned, did a shadow slip to get back a few paces, then cast curaga on himself. "I don't want to fight you! Um, this time…" Remembering how Vanitas had gone around assaulting the other darkness seekers, Riku cringed with embarrassment. That sure came back to bite me quickly. "Please, can we talk things out?"

Even was staring at Riku, a puzzled look on his face. "That wasn't your magic. And that… that is not your keyblade! What is going on?!" Even demanded.

Riku groaned. "Apparently I am really bad at this. Before I say anything else, will you promise to not say anything to Xehanort?"

Even sniffed in disdain. "I have nothing to say to that man. Now explain."

Riku decided he needed to take the chance that he could trust Even. "Okay, so first of all, I'm… I'm not…" I'm not really Vanitas. I'm Riku. Riku couldn't get the words to come out. The disguise spell wouldn't allow it. Riku clenched his jaw and changed tactics. "I'm not here for you. I'm here for Xehanort's heart."

"Ah, so you're attempting a more subtle method of subverting the master's plans." Even looked almost impressed. "But if I allow you to proceed, am I not risking my own wellbeing? Surely the master's reprisals would target me as well?"

Even liked using a lot of big words. Riku wasn't sure he knew what they all meant. But he thought he got the gist of it. "You're right – the only way my plan will work is if you can pretend you're still under Xehanort's control after I break his hold on you. He needs to think nothing is wrong, up until the X-Blade gets summoned. His visions of the future have blank spots, and we – I think that's the next one that he can't see beyond."

"Interesting." Even raised an eyebrow. "So you think you can exploit his certainty in his visions to plant a weakness where he would not expect one to be able to take root. Surprisingly ingenious, for you, Vanitas." Even turned and started pacing slowly. "But still, why should I aid you? How does your plan work to my advantage?"

Riku gaped at Even, incredulous. "How does my…? Don't you want to be free of Xehanort's control?! Don't you want to be able to live your own life, and not exist just as one of his pawns? Do you really want to help him destroy all the worlds?!"

"The master says he will create something new and wonderful. Shouldn't I, as a scientist, also wish to see such a thing?" Even looked off to the side and downward, avoiding Riku's gaze.

"Don't you care about anything in the current worlds?" Riku pressed. "Or anyone? Everyone will die if Xehanort gets his way…"

"Everyone will die if I try to cross Xehanort!" Even roared. Then he realized he had misspoken, blanched, and turned away. "That is… I mean…"

"Xehanort has threatened the people you care about," Riku guessed. It wasn't that surprising, really. "That he'll kill them if you try to resist him. But Even, the thing is… if Xehanort completes his plan, then they'll die anyway. Stopping Xehanort is the only way they'll have a chance to live. Isn't it worth it to at least try, since if we fail, their fates will be the same anyway?"

Even gave Riku a dirty, sideways glance. "And how am I to know it isn't too late already? How do I know my… my ward still lives?"

"Your ward… you mean Ienzo?" Riku thought he remembered Ienzo saying something to that effect – that he'd been unofficially adopted by Even – to answer to how he had come to be involved with Ansem's assistants as a boy. Riku hadn't expected Even to actually be capable of real affection.

"Does Ienzo live? – tell me that, puppet, and I will cooperate with your absurd plan!" Even scowled at Riku, his eyes wild. "But if he does not… if the master has slain my… has slain Ienzo, in defiance of his promise… then what do I have left to fight for? No, I may as well wait patiently, that I might be counted worthy to witness a birth of a new universe!"

He's crazy. And way too interested in the reforming of the worlds for his own good. And besides that, Riku couldn't remember the last time he had seen Ienzo, either. "Can't you go check on Ienzo yourself?"

"Don't be foolish!" Even snapped. "If I make any attempt to contact him myself, the master will destroy him!"

Riku sighed silently. "But how can I prove he's alive… I can't go talk to him. And if I grab something of his, you could just say—"

"—That anyone could have grabbed one of his old things. A physical object proves nothing," Even agreed.

Riku groaned audibly. How do you prove someone's existence?! I might as well be trying to prove that Roxas existed! Wait… Roxas. They still had evidence of him… in that photograph from the data Twilight Town. "Even, do you have a camera?"

Even nodded, pleased. "I do indeed. In the lower left drawer of my desk. Return the camera to me with a picture of Ienzo, and I will count that as sufficient."

Finally Riku was able to relax. He had a plan to placate Even. Now on to the next problem. "I'll do that as soon as I get back to… um, my conscious body," Riku finished awkwardly. Finding Ienzo would hopefully not be too difficult. But it was a reasonable request, all things considered. "But I'm going to need to make sure your nobody Vexen doesn't sell me out to Xehanort before I can fulfill your request. And the only way to do that is to break Xehanort's control over you right now. So, do we have an agreement?"

Even scowled again while he considered the conditions. At last he nodded, though still scowling. "I suppose we must. Very well. Do what is necessary."

"Great." Riku finally felt secure enough to walk closer to Even without expecting to get attacked again. "Now, could you point me in the direction of Xehanort's heart?"

"Can't you find him on your own?"

"Well yeah, eventually. If you don't mind me randomly wandering through your heart, running into all sorts of memories…"

Even's eye twitched. "Follow me. I will take you there myself."

x-x-x

"That's it?" Even's tone was incredulous.

"Yep. That's it," Riku replied, surveying the unconscious, sleep-sealed Xehanort. This had been the easiest battle yet. Even had wanted to help, too, and Riku didn't know how to talk him out of it. The hardest part was stopping Even from destroying Xehanort's heart entirely. Riku was relieved to see that Even at least possessed a healthy amount of hatred toward the decrepit old master. "So now, I just need to get back to the upper levels of your heart, and then I can be on my way…"

"Don't forget, boy—" Even snarled.

"—I owe you a photo of Ienzo. I got it memorized." Riku couldn't resist. He even playfully tapped the side of his head. Lea rubbed off on everybody.

Even glared at Riku in revulsion. "Don't you ever imitate that… Gah!" Even summoned his shield again and shook it threateningly at Riku. "Get out of my heart now, you brat!"

"Yessir. Going now!" With a laugh, Riku departed for the upper layers of Even's heart.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Endnote:

When I started writing the scene where Riku enters Vexen's heart, I intended for it to be a simple, quick scene. But Vexen/Even took over and next thing I knew, he was picking a fight with Riku. And giving Riku a side-quest! Haha! It's not often I have a character take over a scene and redirect it like that. But in this case, I think it added a lot to the story.