Luxu wasn't entirely surprised when he opened up the door to see the Princess of Heart standing there - Kairi, that was - but he was surprised to see that she apparently was here on "business" again, judging by her demeanor.

He sighed internally, allowing her in.

"Do you want to talk to Namine again?" he asked, wishing he hadn't had to.

To his real and total surprise, the girl shook her head. She looked up at him, right in the eye, and said: "No. I want to talk to you."

"Alright," Luxu said slowly, nodding. He moved for the couch, sitting casually. "What about?"

Kairi gazed at him a moment before moving to sit beside him. She sat at a distance - a stark contrast to Namine, who enjoyed literally bumping elbows with him (sometimes just for personal amusement, too). The girl placed her hands in her lap, gazing down at them as she toyed with her fingers (now that was all Namine; or, rather, Namine's habit there was all Kairi's). After a minute of silence, she spoke again at last.

"You're thousands of years old - isn't that right?" she began, slow and quiet.

"That's right," Luxu said simply.

"So you must know...a lot about the worlds - history, secrets...?"

"Not as much as you might think," Luxu replied, wondering now where this was going. "Because of my...role...I made it a point to keep close to Xehanort - keep an eye on him, even if he never realized I was still hanging around."

"But before that, you must have traveled all over the universe - you must have seen and heard so much..."

"I have seen and heard plenty of things, yeah...but I filtered most of it out unless it pertained to my mission," Luxu replied, stressing it to the girl.

"You said before, in Traverse Town, that you'd been in that Keyblade wielding world - Scala Ad Caelum? That was how you knew Xehanort, and even Aqua's Master?" Kairi pressed on, despite it. Whatever she wanted here, she wasn't going to back down from it until she got it - or not.

Just like Namine.

"...Yeah. I spent a few years there." Luxu admitted, hesitant. Ingrained habit over thousands of years to keep every ounce of true, real information close to his chest was a tough nut to crack. "And I was there, before - centuries ago. My first visit to that place. I wanted to check on someone I made a deal with - someone I'd promised to look out for."

"In all your time there, in all the worlds in-between and since..." Kairi trailed off. She drew in a sharp breath. Then, she raised her head, and she spoke on in a whisper. "Have you ever heard of a Keyblade wielder named...Mikala?"

Luxu frowned. He sat back, closing his eyes and attempting to sift through his inexpressibly long chain of memories... After a few minutes, he shook his head. "Doesn't ring any bells, no. Never heard of them before."

The Princess's shoulders sagged. Her face was mired in disappointment. "Okay. Thank you..." she said, all the same.

"But just because I haven't heard of them doesn't mean much - less than you'd think," Luxu went on swiftly. "Keyblade wielders for generations, all throughout Scala's history, took to scattering across the worlds when they became Masters. Far and wide, in distant parts of the universe, I have come across rumors and legends that have indicated that other groups, circles, and even full on sects have survived the ages - I've even glimpsed a couple of them, wielding their Keyblades before my very eyes. Of course, I kept to myself, slinked away from them...but they're out there, somewhere, doing what Keyblade wielders usually do. I wouldn't doubt that, on some far away world, there are entire schools of Keyblade wielders, not unlike yourself and your friends. Masters and apprentices. They're all just so incredibly far out that it would take you decades to come across them. Trust me, I know."

"What about something worse?"

"Such as...?"

Kairi's teeth clenched together. Her hands became fists in her lap. "It might just have been blowing smoke, I don't know, but he claimed to be a part of some...Keyblade wielding - or at least Keyblade headed - society or something like that. He talked a big game about his 'line' and 'territories' and a 'dynasty' he belonged to. Is it possible for something like that to be out there...without any of us even knowing it was there? Some...evil Keyblade empire or something?"

Luxu sat up straighter now, staring at the girl. "It's possible...that some other form of Keyblade wielding society has been established somewhere out there, yes - that it's survived even as Scala Ad Caelum fell. An off-shoot, from those wayward Masters and apprentices, gathered together, built up over time...yeah, it's definitely possible. Worlds live and die, societies rise and fall every day. Not even the fall of Scala was the end for us. If we all wanted to, we could work at it for a couple decades and make an all new society of wielders ourselves. And who knows? It might even thrive, and last for ages to come. And like I said already: this universe is so vast that you couldn't comprehend it. Even I still can't. There's plenty of space for even multiple Keyblade societies to have been established out there, and still be so far off our radar that they might as well not exist to us."

"Now," Luxu went on quietly. "Would you mind if I asked who they are - why you came to me to ask about them...besides the obvious?"

Kairi nodded. "Namine and I learned about him from my memories. He was a man who...knew my birth mother - when I was a baby. Namine was able to call up my memories as an infant, and we were able to see...this man, and my mother. He claimed to be a Keyblade wielder, though I never saw him summon one in the memory. It might have all been just boasting and intimidation..."

"Maybe," Luxu stated, nodding back. "Well, uh, thanks for coming to me with this - and I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help. But hey, if something does happen to come back to me later on, I'll let you know."

"Thanks." Kairi stood, heading for the door abruptly. But then she stopped there, turning back to him. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I only seem to come here when I need something," Kairi sighed. "Could I change that, do you think? If it wouldn't be any trouble...maybe Namine and I could arrange for a nice, full girl's day out - or even a sleepover? She's never had a sleepover, has she?"

Luxu smiled, spreading his hands at the girl. "No, she hasn't - that's not a bad idea. It would probably do some good for her childhood development. I'll definitely get back to you on that one, sooner rather than later. It definitely wouldn't be any trouble at all; I'm sure she'd love the idea. Whether it's here or on those islands of yours...wherever you'd feel the most comfortable," he concluded quickly.

The Princess's face shone with relief. A smile came to her face as well. "Great. Thank you, again."

"Hey, no problem. Come over any time - for any reason."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind."

But the girl lingered still, piquing Luxu's interest. "What is it?" he asked.

"You were in Radiant Garden around a decade ago, weren't you?"

"I was."

"And before that? Say, five or so years before even then...?"

Luxu shook his head. "I've visited the world a few times over the centuries, but I never lingered too long until...you know. I never had a reason to."

"So the name Rynn Matsui would also mean nothing to you?" the girl said quickly, almost like she was forcing herself to just blurt it out.

"It means nothing to me," Luxu confirmed.

The girl stared at him intently, like she was trying to judge the truth of his words. Not an unfamiliar thing, especially these days...

"All right," she said simply. "Goodbye."

She finally turned and disappeared out the door.

Luxu was left feeling...a little puzzled. But he shrugged it off and returned to his relaxation. The kid had given him far too much to think about in her short visit, and he needed a good nap to purge it from his brain.

Whatever heavy, crazy shit she was getting into, he hoped he could actually be left out of it for once.

Because he was out, damnit, and they were not going to pull him back in!