Chapter 84

Return to Sunlight

Sora, Riku, Mickey, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy watched through the window as Aqua slept peacefully on the medical bed. They heard a beep as an apparatus measured her heartbeat and monitored her vitals.

Next to the visitors, Aerith busily filled out a form on a clipboard. "For now, we should let her rest. When she wakes up, we'll have a meal ready for her," she told the party. "I expect that she'll be asleep until four o'clock tomorrow morning at the earliest. I would recommend that someone she knows be here when she awakens."

Sora nodded. "Got it. Thanks, Aerith," he replied.

"Don't mention it. We were all worried for you."

"How long were we gone?" Mickey asked, aware that a few hours in the Realm of Darkness did not translate to the same amount of time in the Realm of Light.

"Three days," Aerith replied. "We had no way of knowing just how much time passed in the dark realm, so we could only hope you were doing alright."

Riku nodded. "It wasn't exactly smooth sailing in there," he admitted.

"Thank you, Aerith. I'll be sure to come over by four to be here when Aqua wakes up," Mickey said.

Aerith nodded. "Of course, your Majesty. Be sure that you all get some rest as well."

"We will. See you," Sora said, waving back as the party turned to leave. They passed a man in a black coat, who joined them in their pace. Aerith had noticed the man standing off in the corner and wondered who he could be, but she was too focused on maintaining Aqua's care to bother asking.

"Hello, everyone," Sora greeted the crew in the castle study. Ienzo and Even looked up from their studies to find that they had returned.

"Greetings. Did your mission go as intended?" Even asked. He looked at the cast entering the circular room, but did not see anyone resembling the woman in the photograph. The only stranger he saw was someone wearing an Organization XIII coat, but he was far too bulky to be Aqua.

Mickey nodded. "We found Aqua and got her out safely. She's resting in Aerith's clinic," he explained. "And we found someone else down there, too." He looked up at the man in the coat, prompting the scientists to turn their attention to him. However, the man did not react.

"Um, that was your cue," Sora whispered to the man. The man turned to him in confusion. "Show them your face."

"Oh," the man breathed. He had actually anticipated that he would do so on seeing the people whom Mickey had said were his former apprentices, but he did not recognize the two men in front of him. He realized that he could not recall much about the individuals whom he ought to have known, particularly not their faces. Now aware that these are the individuals to whom Mickey referred him to, the man pulled his hood down.

Ienzo and Even gasped. They recognized the man's short, pale blond hair, full moustache and beard, and red eyes all too well. They were staring at the face of a man whom they had called their teacher, and who they had believed to be dead.

"M-Master Ansem!" Ienzo stammered, otherwise at a loss for words. A mixture of emotions, surprise chief among them, flooded his head, and he was unable to process an appropriate reaction.

Not bothering to break his gaze away, Even turned his head slightly to try to cast his voice down the hall behind him. "Dilan! Aeleus! You had best come in here!" he shouted. A moment later, the two guards hurried into the study and stopped in utter bewilderment at the sight before them.

"Lord Ansem! You…" Aeleus began, but he also fumbled for words. "We had heard that you had passed on."

Ansem nodded. "As I have been told. I can only take your word for it, as everything is still hazy," he replied. He continued to stare at the auburn-haired giant uncertainly. "Forgive me, but… which one are you?"

Aeleus and Dilan blinked in surprise. Ienzo and Even looked at each other with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"It appears as though his memory's been messed up since he was sent to the Realm of Darkness," Mickey explained. "He remembers some of the things he did, but he can't seem to even remember his own name."

Even put his hand to his chin in contemplation. "Intriguing. It appears to be one of the unstable effects of the Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploding. Since he was right on top of the source, it is highly likely that the disruption, which may have even been on the atomic level, created an instantaneous spatial distortion that transported him into the Realm of Darkness," he hypothesized. "As for his memories, that same instability likely destabilized the links in his chain of memories in the initial burst."

"Is there any way to help him?" Riku asked.

Even shook his head. "I fear that even my great mind has a minimal understanding of the power of memory," he lamented.

"Maybe Naminé can put his memories back together," Goofy suggested.

"Hold on," Kairi advised. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, relaxing. Sora and Riku could tell that she was entering a psychic conversation with her Nobody. After a minute, she opened her eyes again and shook her head. "Sorry. Her powers only work on Sora directly and affect the people he knows only tangentially, and Sora barely knew Ansem."

Mickey sighed in disappointment. He had just found a friend whom he thought was dead, but said friend might never get his memories back. However, Ansem knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Mickey looked up at him, and Ansem stared into Mickey's eyes with a sincere, calming gaze.

"Worry not. Perhaps my memories will return now that I am back in the light. Or they may not and I will be left as a blank slate. However, I intend to use the time that I have been allowed to keep to look toward the future," he assured the mouse. "If a method is discovered that may rectify my capabilities of retention, I will gladly take it. But I shall not concern myself too heavily upon my absent past. Becoming lost in my history is, if I recall, how I became a monster consumed with thoughts of revenge. I am prepared to start anew." He stood up and turned to his former apprentices. "That is, if you would have me by your side."

Ienzo jumped in surprise as he processed the offer. "Y-Yes, of course. We would be happy to have you with us, M-… Ansem," he said.

Dilan allowed himself a small smile. "Truth be told, I did miss you," he told Ansem. "We all did."

Aeleus nodded, maintaining his stoic expression. "We are all in search of a new beginning. There is much that we would like to make up for. In our decade as Nobodies, we have committed far too many sins. We have decided that we would use the opportunity granted to us to do something better."

Ienzo smiled, a tear starting to form in the corner of his eye. "Welcome aboard," he said, extending his hand.

Ansem smiled and took the younger researcher's hand, shaking it.

After leaving the castle study, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy returned to town to visit the Restoration Committee. They recounted their adventure in the Realm of Darkness, telling of the new enemies they faced, their meeting with Aqua and the amnesiac Ansem, and their discovery of the enhancements to offensive spells in that region of the Realm of Darkness.

Leon closed his eyes, thinking hard about what he had heard. "To think the Purebloods could come in so much stronger forms," he mused, his stoic tone concealing how worried he was about the idea of things being tougher than they already were.

"Well, they said that the Heartless were stronger on their home turf, so even if we did have to worry about them, they wouldn't be much tougher than the ones we've been dealing with," Yuffie assured him. "I dunno about the Dark Hide thing, though. That sounded like a load of trouble."

Merlin seemed to be lost in thought on a different matter. "My, that was quite an unfortunate accident, Kairi. I am sorry that I never made certain that you all knew the risks of using spells beyond your level of experience," he said.

"It wasn't your fault," Kairi replied.

However, Merlin shook his head, having none of it. "No, no. I'm your instructor in magic. I should have warned you of the dangers. In particular, I should have noticed the risk when I saw that you were still on second-tier while your companions were on third-tier." He cleared his throat and adjusted his spectacles. "Well, then, I suppose I must do a better job as your teacher, and work to expand your repertoire."

Donald smiled and rubbed his hands together in excitement. They could all figure out what the old wizard meant. He was going to teach them new magic spells.

Cid grunted. "Well, if you're gonna be flinging some funky mumbo jumbo around, do it some place that won't bother us," he grumbled.

Mickey nodded. "Don't worry, Cid. We won't get in the way of your work," he promised.

"Now then…" Merlin clapped his hands and he and the main party were engulfed in clouds of smoke. When their visions cleared, they found that they were in a circular chamber with torches mounted on the wall. "How about we expand upon your understanding of time magic with the Slow charm?" He waved his wand and conjured a mine cart and a man-sized catapult.

Zeromast stared at a shelf in his chamber, on which sat eleven crystals of varying color and composite. Each one had a different shape, and each one was marked with a different symbol. The crystals were glowing, and he smiled as he knew that it was due to them detecting another of their kind. The heroes had done as he planned.

His inner musings were interrupted when he heard a set of soft footsteps and the sound of fabric being dragged across stone from behind him. "Good afternoon, Maleficent," he said without turning around. "I see you followed me to my gateway point."

"Well, I had to sate my curiosity on this matter," the witch replied calmly. "You have waited three days for them to return from the darkness with your prize. I figured that I ought to know what sort of bauble you covet so much." She looked around, noticing all of the artifacts, old parchments, and incenses that the man held in his chamber. Even his bed was engraved with runes and sigils that seemed designed to protect him from hostile spirits, with a dreamcatcher hanging above where his head would lay. "Quite the interesting collection you have."

Zeromast shook his head. "Do you not know that it is rude to intrude into an abode where you have not been invited?" he asked sarcastically.

Maleficent shrugged. "King Stefan said loosely the same thing, not that it did him any benefit," she replied in an unconcerned tone. She maneuvered around a totem pole and ducked under a silver birdcage and walked up until she was standing next to him, examining the eleven crystals. "Are these symbols from the Zodiac?" she asked.

Zeromast nodded. "Indeed. When I came upon the first few, I became interested in gathering the complete set," he answered. "Now, there is only one left to obtain."

"What plans do you have for when you get the last one?" Maleficent asked.

"None," Zeromast admitted. "The stones and their magic are merely an object of my fascination. But, perhaps, there may be an occasion where their powers, particularly united, would be of use to me."

Maleficent smirked slightly, finally getting a read on her mysterious benefactor. More information would be quite helpful in the long run. "You're a collector of trinkets that mimic magic for you," she said.

"I am a scholar. I collect knowledge, and take command of that knowledge," he corrected. "And what I do with that knowledge is up to me to decide."

"Such as the knowledge of the nature-twisting power that you are supposed to be protecting."

"Many view the world as one that is flawed and could use an overhaul. Only few possess the means and the will to change things to the way they desire."

Maleficent smiled. "And when the means fall in the hands of those with the will, who's to say they can't give it a try?" She shook her head and turned away, taking one last look at the Zodiac stones. "Very well, then. I'll leave you to your business. But I must ask, how do you plan to retrieve the stone from our enemies?"

Zeromast smirked to himself, not bothering to turn and face the witch. "Why don't you wait and see for yourself?" he replied confidently.

Maleficent raised an eyebrow, surprised at the proud response. Nevertheless, she made her way to the back of the room and walked through an invisible portal in the wall above a line of chalk that had been drawn on the floor. When she returned to the fortress and ascended to the council room, she found Pete playing cards with Loki and Dr. Facilier, Cruella reading a fashion magazine, Yzma sleeping on top of Doug's head while the sheep chemist experimented with chemicals, and Hades having an argument with the Horned King.

"My, you are rather fast learners," Merlin said, adjusting his spectacles as he watched Donald fall asleep while standing up. Sora and Kairi were laughing at the duck's expense. Goofy, in the meantime, was playing around with the catapult, which was now small enough to lift with both hands.

Merlin had spent the day teaching Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, and Donald various spells such as Slow, Haste, Zero Gravity, Mini, and Sleep. He found that Mickey was already familiar with most of them, the others had started learning Zero Gravity, and Sora and Kairi had been exposed to Mini. He had intended to teach the Esuna spell, but was informed that Mickey had already taught it to them.

While teaching the Slow spell, Merlin had his students practice by slowing down a moving mine cart and projectiles launched by the catapult. Kairi had jokingly suggested practicing it on each other, and they found that their movements and reaction times had slowed down by at least half of their original rates.

Merlin had followed this up by teaching Haste, which had the opposite effect and sped a person up in relation to everything around them, by roughly the same factor as the rate change induced by Slow, as if its effects were the exact opposite to that spell.

They had soon proven their understanding of the other spells. After they decided that they had had their fun, Sora slapped Donald upside the head, causing him to wake up and jump in surprise.

"Now, you've learned the spells faster than I anticipated. We covered far more material today than I had expected. Excellent work, all of you," Merlin commended. "Now, I suggest that we call it a night. These old bones can't keep going on forever. And I suggest you get some rest as well, and replenish your energy from your trip through the dark realm."

Deciding that it was a good idea, the party said goodbye to Merlin and left the training ground. Mickey split off from the others to visit the clinic so that he would be present when Aqua awoke, and the rest of the group checked into the hotel for the night.