I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

45. Daybreak Town

Man we've been away to long.

Let's just get to the main course.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 45: Daybreak Town

"You guys felt that, right?"

"So it wasn't just me… shit, what is happening right now?"

"I just got connected with Wrex and Liara. Come on, they're waiting on us."

Garrus, Ashley and Kaidan were in a private room, standing in front of two disks that flickered on.

A moment later, Liara T'Soni and Urdnot Wrex appeared.

The three Normandy crew members physically sharing the same space all waited on the third to appear but their Quarian friend didn't answer. And they could've tried getting in touch with Stitch, but who knows how to reach him.

They frowned at her not appearing, getting an odd gut feeling but they placed that aside for now as they turned to address their friends.

"Liara, Wrex," Kaidan pleasantly said with a smile. "Thanks for being able to answer on such short notice."

"While I wish we would all be here just to catch up, I believe I have an idea as to the sudden call." Liara stated with a tentative expression.

"Yeah, I'd like to know what the hell is going on?" Wrex grumbles out. "I've been minding my own business with the other clans when I'm suddenly feeling… off."

"So it really isn't just us." Ashley quietly said.

"Thought it was just a passing thing, but it's growing more like a sudden migraine." Garrus muttered, hand over his chest. "But it's coming from here."

There was a moment of silence shared between them. While the knee-jerk reaction would have been to dismiss such a bizarre description, they found that this was a rather apt means of describing what they were feeling at this time.

"...How the hell does that work?" Williams inquired, hoping someone would have some form of an answer.

Again, silence.

The five of them brainstormed for answers but in reality, they already had a pretty clear idea as to what it was that might have caused this feeling.

When they all felt that sensation, that clenching in their hearts, someone specific sprung to mind followed by two others.

"Something happened to Roxas." Liara murmured. "And in turn, it may have affected Xion and Axel."

There was a troublesome feeling shared between them, negative thoughts and assumptions playing out in their minds.

Wordlessly, Liara was the first to reach for her Omni-Tool, activating it and immediately tried contacting their friends in another galaxy.

There was a beat followed by a worried look on her face.

"I can't seem to reach them."

"How? Shouldn't their Omni-tools work relatively anywhere now with the Gummi tech?"

"It should, theoretically."

The others soon tried their hand at contacting their friends to no avail, being met with the same result as Liara.

"Well, that's not troubling at all." Ashley grimaced.

"We'll have to reach out again later." Garrus said in complete seriousness. "They could be somewhere… unreachable, I think."

"You think?" Wrex gruffly said.

"Bite me, Wrex." Garrus flatly retorted. "We've only been to their galaxy once and visited a grand total of one planet. How are we supposed to know distance, function and whatever the hell else might be happening."

"What do you think is happening to them?" Kaidan silently asked.

"Nothing good, that's for certain." Liara worriedly said, fidgeting her hands together. "Goddess, losing Shepard was bad enough. To think something may be happening to Roxas, Xion and Axel-"

"Hey, hey, don't tempt fate like that." Williams cut her off, a clear sign of concern in her voice. "Last thing we need is that kind of thought."

Liara looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ashley."

"Just don't dwell on that kind of thing." The Major quickly said, hoping to reassure the Asari. "They're tough and it's cuz of them we became tougher. We just gotta have faith that they're alright. We've seen what they're capable of."

The others were quick to agree, knowing Williams' words were true.

After a moment, an audible growling huff was heard.

Wrex looked away, grumbling to himself, getting his friends to turn their attention to him. They all stared at him quizzically, exchanging glances before turning back to the Krogan Battlemaster.

"What's eatin' ya, Wrex?" Ashley asked.

He didn't respond, only mumbling an incoherent answer that only stemmed further confusion.

"Wrex?" Kaidan now spoke up.

"I'm annoyed by all this." He grunted out.

"Annoyed?" Liara repeated. "What in the galaxy for?"

"Just…"

Was… was Wrex embarrassed? Bashful? They had never seen such an expression from their Krogan comrade.

"I hate this mushy shit." Wrex admitted with what could only be described as a Krogan equivalent to a pout.

"Aw, so there is a soft heart underneath that tough exterior of yours."

"Williams…" He growled non-threateningly.

"A hug should clear all that up." Garrus remarked, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Don't worry Wrexy, as soon as we get back into contact with the others, we'll have Xion teleport right over to ya and give ya a long overdue hug. The other clans can learn something about their tough and gruff leader."

"Shaddap!" The Krogan leader barked out, causing only further laughter and ridicule.

Over at the Flotilla, the lone Quarian of the Normandy crew was in a bind of her own, one that prevented her from responding to the hail sent to her by her friends. Normally, it would have been an instant response to them but she didn't have such time and luxury at this moment.

Right now, Tali was in the middle of assessing damage to one of the ships of the Flotilla with a degree of anger coursing within her.

"Cerberus bosh'tets." She cursed, slamming a fuse box shut. "Alright, that should be good. I'm heading down to the core room."

Tali didn't wait for a response from the other Quarians in the vicinity, taking her equipment and leaving to head down to the lower levels of the ship she was in. As she made her way down, Tali was quick to spot other areas under maintenance, the damage being visible for all to see.

The damage done by the bastard bosh'tets that called themselves Cerberus.

The attack was sudden. Her people were hardly prepared. All she knew at this time was there being a certain amount of lives lost. But they were able to drive them off, somehow.

Most people wondered why Cerberus came up to attack the Flotilla in the first place. They never really crossed paths before, as far as Tali recalls. Last she checked, the only people she knew of that ever encountered them were Commander Shepard, Axel and several of her other friends and comrades from the Normandy.

'I'll find out more when I submit my report and ask my father and Aunty Raan.' She thought to herself.

Tali activated her Omni-Tool, pulling up the schematics of the ship she resided in coupled with others that had received damage in the surprise attack. For the most part, while there was serious damage that had been sustained, there was thankfully no ship that was damaged beyond repair.

All would be back to their full functioning capabilities within a week or two, max. Until then, she'll be working a lot once more to get things taken care of.

'Though the others will order me to actually rest like before all this happened.' She reminded herself. 'It's just… gonna be harder to do so now.'

Out of the corner of her eyes, Tali saw a notification that made her mood drop slightly.

She had received a request to enter a video call with her friends. However, she had to decline as the present issue with her people was mandatory.

But she would reach out as soon as she was done.

Whatever it was they had reached out to her for they had marked it as urgent.

Talk about bad timing.

So much weight was on her shoulders now. Her mind dwelled on just what it was her friends wanted to speak with her about… but strangely or maybe not, she had a feeling in her chest and gut just why they were reaching out to her.

"Roxas…" Tali longingly whispered to herself. "I wish you were here with me right now."

Elsewhere, in an unknown place, filled with endless darkness, someone was searching for another. It couldn't be just them here in the dark, desolate place.

They knew they weren't alone.

Someone else was out here, calling out to them.

Or maybe, they were calling out to anyone that just might hear them.

Regardless, this lone individual had to find… them…

The person traversing the darkness stopped in their tracks.

Slowly, they turned back in the direction they came, a deeply conflicted expression on their face.

Without even realizing it, a single name slipped out between their lips, one that conveyed worry and remorse for not being there for them.

"Roxas…"

All the while…

In the World that Never Was, Xemnas was standing at the Altar of Naught. It was the closest he could be to seeing the developing Kingdom Hearts in the sky above.

The process was slow but the results were evident.

With every passing hour, day, week and month, the radiance and power that exuded from the heart-shaped moon that hung over the World That Never Was increased dramatically. The hollow, desolate and darkened corners of this World that should never have existed began to feel the light from Kingdom Hearts reach them.

Despite things not initially going to plan, the Organization was anything if not flexible.

They knew that so long as Roxas, Sora and Xion did their job, willingly or not in destroying any Heartless they came across, the plans of the Organization would come to pass. Not to mention the other plans in motion at this time such as-

"What is this feeling?" Xemnas questioned himself.

It suddenly came out of nowhere. It was utterly strange, quite alien.

Almost hesitating, the leader of the Organization reached up with his hand to place it over his chest.

No. I held a deep frown, one that conveyed conflict and bewilderment.

Where did this come from?

His amber eyes turned upwards to the heart-shaped moon hanging above him.

"Is this you, Kingdom Hearts?" He mutters aloud. Scrunching his face to discern the feeling once more, he came to a conclusion. "No, it is not. Something else is at play."

This may bear some personal investigation.

-Scene Cut-

A door burst open and in walked a large gaggle of people.

"You can lay them down over there." A teen with silver hair and a red scarf directed those who were carrying and supporting three other teens who were unconscious.

Axel, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Namine along with a teen girl with long black hair and a teenage boy with a fedora helped get Roxas, Sora and Xion onto separate beds.

"Phew," Ephemer, the silver-haired teen said with a small smile of relief. "Least we got them here without any trouble."

Just as he turned, there was a brief increase in temperature followed by a fiery *shing* and Ephemer nearly jumped back at the sharp blade pointed at his head.

"Whoa!" He cried out, throwing his hands up in surrender.

His friends weren't so quick to follow suit.

The one wearing the fedora threw his hand up and in a familiar flash, within his hand appeared a Keyblade. It has a smooth, cylindrical gray shaft that tapers outward at both ends. It has a boxy guard, made up of two small, light gray boxes and a copper rod. The base of the guard connects to the grip, and both sport several small indentations lining them. The grip itself is somewhat unique as it's squared instead of smoothly round. The teeth are in the shape of an "E". The weapon's Keychain is made of several simple chain links with a heart-shaped token with a cross connected to the bottom.

"WHACK!" Donald exclaimed. "A Keyblade?!"

Axel only glanced at the one called Brain out of the corner of his eyes before they shifted to the black-haired girl Skuld.

She appeared slightly nervous but her hand was in a ready position, similar to how Sora, Roxas and Xion would be when calling their Keyblades.

So she was one too?

And… there was something… weirdly… familiar about her… or was he imagining things?

Shelving the thought for now, Axel refocused on Ephemer who still had his hands up but was considerably calmer than before.

"Start talking." No. VIII all but demanded. "You called Roxas Ventus when we met you. Who are you people? And how do you know that name?"

"Er…" Ephemer clearly wasn't expecting such treatment.

Luckily for him, one of the redhead's friends stepped in.

"Axel," Namine stood next to him. "Please, the last thing we need is to start a fight. They helped us right away. We should talk and make sure our friends are alright."

No. VIII gazed down at the platinum-blond teen, her blue eyes boring into his teal ones.

With a grunt, Axel looked away a bit sheepish as he dispelled his chakram with fiery wisps floating away from his that snuffed themselves out.

"Sorry… it's been… one hell of a long day for us." He said with a tired sigh.

"Could have fooled us." Ephemer said good-naturedly.

The red-scarfed teen shot his fedora-wearing friend a look and after a second, Brain recalled his Keyblade.

They heard a soft moan and all heads snapped in the direction of the three unconscious teens currently laid out on the beds.

Xion appeared to be the most calm whilst Sora and Roxas both seemed to be in pain.

Namine quickly moved over to them, joined by Donald and the pair used their magic in hopes of alleviating whatever it was that was burdening them. It worked, or at least they think it did.

Sora and Roxas didn't look like they were about to spazz about.

"Whoa~" Brain whistled in intrigue. "Interesting magic you got there. Whaddya do?"

"We focused on relaxing their mind and I used my power to momentarily shut away the memory that was affecting them." Namine explained.

"Uh… what?"

Riku was equally as flummoxed. "Since when could you do that?"

"I'm a memory witch, remember?" She teased though there was a tilt in her voice that conveyed she wasn't entirely proud of it either. "With Donald's help, I've managed to subdue their minds for the time being until they wake up."

"If they do." Axel murmured, crossing his arms. "The way they reacted when we got here? Never seen anything like that."

All the while, after hearing about what Namine is capable of, Ephemer leans over to Skuld and whispers. "You know any of that kind of magic?"

The bluenette shakes her head 'no'. "This is a first for me hearing such a thing."

Brain was rubbing his chin in deep thought, eyeing Namine with intrigue. He soon had a small smirk forming, finding the platinum blond to be quite the looker too. It was then that he felt a small pressure around him and he turned to the source of it.

The fedora-wearing Keyblade wielder's eyes widened slightly at the murderous glare that Riku was directing at him and he hastily chuckled, a means of showing 'alright man, I got your message'.

"Uh," Goofy now spoke up, scratching the top of his head. "I think we all got off on a bit of a strange foot. What were your names again?"

"Huh? Oh, right, right, yeah it was a bit rushed back there." The other silver-haired teen said with a laugh. "Anyways, to rewind and repeat, I'm Ephemer. This is Brain and Skuld."

"Riku." The Destiny Islander curtly said.

"Axel, got it memorized?"

"Hard to imagine such a thing." Skuld wryly said.

"Donald Duck."

"Name's Goofy."

"I'm Namine." The platinum-blond Nobody then gestured to the three in bed. "This is Sora, Xion and Roxas."

The three "guest" Keybladers gave some curt greetings in kind. Well… they would've if they were conscious. All they did, however, was merely groan in an odd manner.

"Roxas…" Brain repeated with a small frown.

"You called him something else," Riku spoke up. "Ventus right?"

"Yeah, he is but-"

"It's not him." Axel quickly cut Ephemer off.

The teen scrunched his face up. "Huh? What do you mean that's not him?"

"It's not, believe me." Axel firmly said. "That zombie lying there is Roxas. He ain't Ventus, that's for certain."

There was an odd pause and the redhead ignored the looks directed at him from his friends whilst Ephemer, Brain and Skuld alternated between looking at Axel and Roxas.

"I mean, I don't know if I'll sound foolish here but…" Skuld skewed her eyes slightly, going over to kneel right next to Roxas. "Are you sure he's not Ventus?"

"Trust me, I know." Axel stated with a tone that brokered no arguments.

This only served to further add to the confusion and now a growing sense of suspicion from everyone in the room in more ways than one.

"And how do you know?" Donald accusingly asked whilst Goofy had a more pondering posture.

"Hmmm, ya know, this Ven name keeps popping up and I coulda swore Donald and I heard it before."

Axel released a small sigh of frustration. "Oi, enough of that. Let's just get some important details out of the way. First of all, where are we? What even is this place called?"

Ephemer, Brain and Skuld exchanged glances before looking back at the tall redhead.

"You're in Daybreak Town." Skuld answered on behalf of her friends.

Axel turned to the others and they all shrugged, conveying they had no knowledge of this place.

"Never heard of it." Riku commented.

"Me either." No. VIII remarked.

Ephemer tilted his head at that. "You sure? It's quite-"

The conversation was halted when a knock was heard from the door. Looking over, the group saw a teenage boy with dark blue eyes and shoulder length rose-colored hair walk into the room they occupied. He wore a large-collared white button-up shirt with large cuffs beneath a black vest, dark pink pants and sleek black shoes and a far more friendlier expression than most everyone else in the room.

"Is everything alright here?" The new arrival asks before spotting people he is unfamiliar with. "Oh, I didn't know we were entertaining some people here. Hi there."

Namine and Axel froze when they saw the person there. Despite being younger, the appearance was uncanny. No, there was no doubt between them.

"M-Marluxia." The former muttered a tinge of fear in her tone.

The latter remained silent, trying to control his anger and process who he was looking at.

This man… this was Marluxia but not at the same time.

The rose-haired teen approached the group with a warm smile on his face. "Marluxia? That's an odd name. My name is Lauriam. It's nice to meet you all."

"Lauriam…" Axel parroted and in his mind, his brain worked over time as he now removed the X from Marluxia's name and swapped the remaining letters around and from it…

The Flurry of Dancing Flames soon realized just who and what he was looking at.

And he couldn't really believe it.

This person standing before them… this was the original self of Marluxia!

What was he doing here?!

How was he here for that matter?!

This memory world they were in… it seemed like it was Roxas' given that it was he who had likely caused this memory world to manifest.

But now came a whole waterfall of additional questions.

The primary one being Lauriam/Marluxia was in a memory world that came from Roxas.

How in the hell did Roxas have a memory of Marluxia's Somebody?!

What was going on right now?!

And as if that wasn't enough…

The pink-haired teen suddenly got pushed forward by someone who came up from behind him.

And like Lauriam, she had a face Namine and Axel knew all too well.

"Lauriam! Why'd you run off like that?" Spoke the newcomer, a comically whiney expression on her face that dropped as soon as she saw everyone else. "Oh, there you guys are! Lauriam and I were lookin' for you guys."

Looking over to the doorway once more, the group saw a young blonde haired girl with side-swept bangs and two strands as antennae with aquamarine eyes. She wears a white blouse with a black tie, a light blue leather jacket, black shorts and light blue boots with black socks.

"Larxene?!" Axel nearly exclaimed.

"Larxene? Who's that?" Says the unique blonde. "Name's Elrena." She then gestures to a small, chibi feline in her arms with short gray fur and blue eyes with a star-marked purse hanging around its neck and wearing a light blue cape. Everyone who didn't know who or what that thing was blinked upon realizing that they didn't even notice the odd creature come in with her. "And this is Chirithy."

It gave them an adorable wave. This had Namine practically coo at the sight of it.

"What is going on right now?" Axel muttered, running his hands through his hair.

"I think that's the question on everyone's mind right now." Brain commented.

It was then that they heard another grunt coming from those who were unconscious and they all saw that it was Roxas who regained consciousness first.

"Roxas." Namine said and his friends were by his side in an instant.

"Urgh…" He grumbled rubbing his head, feeling a pressure that had yet to alleviate itself. "What… what happened?"

"Gawrsh, you passed out." Goofy worriedly said.

"Soon as we got here." Riku added on.

"And where is…" Roxas removed his hand from his eyes, his vision blurry.

But it cleared quickly enough for him to land his gaze upon the two faces he recognized almost immediately.

And while his immediate thoughts went to names he associated with, what came out of his mouth were two different names entirely.

"Lauriam? Elrena?"

"Huh?!" Came the response of those who knew him.

"Ventus?" Lauriam said with a frown. "What on earth happened to you?" He then saw the clothing the sandy-blond teen wore. "And what happened to your clothes? When did you start wearing that?"

"Ok, ok, can we all take a moment here." Skuld cut in before the conversation could go anywhere. "Let's all rewind right now and just take everything we wanna ask and talk about one step at a time."

"I'd very much appreciate that now." Riku lowly said.

"Let's wait for a sec." Axel chimed in. "If Roxas just woke up, Xion and Sora should be waking up soon enough."

They all nodded at that.

And as Axel said, after a few minutes, Sora came too with Xion several minutes after.

And like her fellow Nobody's, No. XIV's eyes were immediately on the faces of the two other teens who held the same as Numbers XI and XII of the Organization.

"Uh…"

"Hi." Lauriam said with a charming smile. "I imagine that you must be mistaking me for someone else right now, yes?" He looks over to the "Memory Witch". What did you call me again, Namine? Marluxia?"

"You have the face of someone who is identical to you in many ways." Axel spoke up. "You don't have a brother, do you?"

Lauriam laughed good-naturedly. "No, but I do have a sister."

"A sister?"

"Yeah." Lauriam brow rose at the surprise evident in Axel's voice. "What of it?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed contemplatively. "...Nothing."

The rose haired teen gave Axel a look before focusing elsewhere. In the meantime, Sora was getting some introductions out of the way.

After all that, Brain spoke up. "Since you guys are finally up, we should get going."

"Go?" Donald said. "Go where?"

Brain simply gestured his hand in a following motion. "Just follow me."

Seeing there was no other option at this time, the assembled group followed Brain.

As they were heading to wherever the fedora-wearing teen was taking them, Xion looked at Elrena alongside the others she knew. Elrena walked between Lauriam and Skuld, making a comment that made the other two laugh with the yellow-haired teen laughing with them.

"...She is so sweet and adorable." No. XIV whispered to her friends.

"It's like looking in a mirror." Commented Namine. Change the eyes and hair and this person could be like a relative to the blonde Nobody.

"What the hell happened to her to make her such a bitch?"

"Axel!" Xion and Namine said at the same time.

"What?" He shrugged uncaringly. "I'm just sayin'."

"It's rude." Goofy reprimanded, wagging his finger at the redhead.

"It's the truth."

"And him." Says Roxas, gazing at Lauriam. "He's… He's…"

"Not so backstabbery?" Axel filled in for him.

"I wouldn't say it like that but… is that even a word?"

"It is now." Axel remarked, giving Roxas, Xion and Sora a look over. "You guys holding up alright?"

The three of them all glanced at one another.

"Well… do you guys have like-"

"This weird pressure feeling in your chest and head?" Roxas finished for Sora, the brown-haired islander rapidly nodding.

"Yeah, that. What is that?" Sora asked.

"Maybe it's the lingering effect of this memory world." Xion quietly said.

"Let's hope we get some answers then." Riku stated, the group all nodding in agreement.

Eventually, they appeared in some kind of conference room, given the large circular table with five chairs tucked in. There was a desk on the far corner with a pair of elongated bookshelves nearby it. Along the walls were large gears that were moving to continue the function of the building's mechanism.

"So this is the Master's room." Says Brian.

"Who's room?" Sora asked.

"The Master of Masters." Ephemer elaborated, getting blank stares from the newcomers of Daybreak Town.

"...Who?" Roxas and Xion said at the same time.

Lauriam looked a bit bewildered at this question. "How do you not know who he is?"

"Case you guys haven't noticed, we're not from around here." Riku says in the best way he possibly could give to them.

"Are ya sure?" Skuld spoke up. "You three are even wearing the same cloak the Master of Master's always wore."

That made the trio of former Organization members pause in their thoughts and walk. "I'm sorry, what?" They chorused.

"Not just him, but Luxu as well." Ephemer noted.

"Who's Luxu?"

There was another pause.

"So are you guys really not from around here?" Elrena asked now.

"Yes, very much so." Axel peevishly said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be asking you all these questions and not gawking at everything you say."

"Alright, alright, sorry." The antenna-haired teen said with a small, genuine frown.

No. VIII felt an odd gut feeling of guilt at the way he just spoke and to see the normally impish and quick-to-anger Larxene having such a face…

Kingdom Hearts, this was beyond anything he had expected when coming to Castle Oblivion.

Coughing into his hand, he redirected the attention of the large ensemble to the room they were all in.

"So, Master of Master's room, huh? Looks rather drab." Axel looks towards the stained glass windows. "You think this place would be brightened up with natural lighting."

"Oh, it usually is. It's just that we're dealing with an overcast today." Ephemer stated.

"Try not to touch anything." Says Skuld.

"Too late." Heckled Goofy.

Looking over, Skuld saw a number of the others going through the books and messing with various lab equipment.

At this point, Sora wore a teasing smile. "Here I thought Donald would be the more responsible one."

At the mention of this, the magician froze when carrying a batch of test tubes from the bookshelf. He puts it back before whistling a little to appear he did nothing wrong.

Brain was flipping through a book at the one far off desk by this point. "And why not? It's ours now, isn't it?"

Ephemer crosses his arm. "I suppose you're right."

Lauriam sat down at one of the seats by the large circular table. "What now?"

"We should decide on Union leaders." Says Skuld.

"Union leaders?" Donald said.

"Positions Master Ava instructed for our group to have." Ephemer explained.

Roxas and Xion had a far-off stare.

"Master… Ava?" The latter murmured.

"You don't think…" The former whispered. "It couldn't be the same person… right?"

Rather than ask or bring up the book that belonged to a Master Ava, the pair decided to withhold this information as the last thing they needed was even more confusion in they're already weird and crazy situation.

"And speaking of Union leaders…" The others turned to Ephemer, wanting to hear what he had to say. "I don't know if we should be assigning people just yet."

"Huh?" Brain mutters a little.

Ephemer's eyes briefly flitted over to Sora and Roxas' group and turned back to his friends with a pointed look.

"I think right now, the selection of Union Leaders isn't at the top of our list of priorities. We have new guests that we gotta talk with about a lot, most likely."

Lauriam nods. "A wise choice. We should keep the five Unions as they are for now."

"Why? Afraid of being overcrowded?" Brain jokes, thumbing to the newcomers.

His friend chortled at that.

"Mostly numbers, keeping them under stable management." Ephemer says some reasons from the top of his head. "As for who goes where, we'll need to discuss it in length."

Skuld ponders slightly. "To avoid repeating history."

"Exactly." Ephemer smiles a bit more. "I don't want people to be loyal to their own Unions."

"Hey," Riku now spoke up. "Not to sound rude or anything but what are you guys talking about right now? What's this about Unions and all?"

Skuld tapped her chin with her finger. "Hmm, to summarize it, you guys already know about Keyblades, yeah?"

They all nodded.

"We're Keyblade wielders ourselves." Xion spoke up, gesturing to herself, Sora and Roxas.

"Well, that's a given with Ven." Elrena said since it was obvious.

"Guys…" Roxas felt really weird right now. "I'm not this Ven you speak of."

"But you have his face," Ephemer noted.

"Still…" Brain rubbed his chin. "There is something different about him."

"He's not Ven." Axel firmly declared. "Believe me when I tell you this."

"It's kind of hard to believe that when his face is Ventus'." Skuld argued.

"I know but trust me," Axel definitively stated. "I knew the Ventus you guys probably are referring to,"

He didn't miss most of his friends turning their heads in his direction.

"And Roxas isn't him."

"Well," Ephemer was clearly unsure, glancing over at Roxas. "...if you say so."

"But if that's not Ventus then who are you guys? And more importantly, where is he?" Skuld inquired, now appearing worried.

"Hang on a sec," Lauriam held up his hands in a 'timeout' gesture. "How can you say he's not Ventus when he saw me and Elrena and knew who we were? If he's this Roxas person, not Ventus, how could he have known about us?"

"That… is an insanely long, complicated, and convoluted explanation that not even we can explain." No. VIII stated with a long-winded sigh, shaking his head. "So, back to Riku's question, what's this Union stuff you guys are talking about?"

There was a pause between the Keyblade users of this memory World before the one who wore the fedora spoke up.

"Unions are groups of Keyblade wielders with a leader. It's sort of a team thing with separate characteristics and all but our goals are all the same. To be the vanguards and defenders of the World." Brain said, seated on a far-off desk from the others, holding up a book. "And we have a job to assign new leaders."

"Yes, but it doesn't state when." Lauriam pointed out.

The fedora-wearing Keybearer flips to another page in his book, humming aloud. "Got it. No need to hurry then."

"It's an important decision." Says Skuld. "We'll need to think long and hard."

"I agree." Says the rose-haired teen.

"A town of Keyblade users." Sora said in open wonder. "That's… so crazy."

"So you really haven't heard of this place, huh?" Ephemer said with a small grin. "Ya know, I'm actually curious myself about you guys. Never met other Keyblade wielders who came from outside of Daybreak Town."

"A two-way street really." Riku spoke up. "We have a former Keyblade Master we report to and he's never once mentioned a place like this. Honestly, you'd think he would."

"You do?" Elrena curiously said. "Who is he?"

"Does the name Yen Sid ring any bells?" Sora asked and the residents of this memory world all shook their heads. "Figured."

"Another Keyblade master," Skuld said in wonder. "And you said his name was Yen Sid?"

Sora and the others nodded.

"Hmmm, maybe we have something here in the Master's room, the control center or the library." She mused.

"Maybe. But we still have to talk about selecting Union Leaders." Ephemer said.

"Didn't we agree to do it later?" Lauriam remarked.

"On selecting, not on discussing it." Ephemer turned to No. XIII again. "I… I'm still really confused about all this but… I still don't know how I can call you anything but Ventus."

Roxas felt really awkward right now and his expression squirmed at a pulse he felt in his heart and mind. "I'm sorry. But it feels like me being Ven is important."

"Well, yeah, it should be. You're a Union leader."

That made Roxas shake his head slightly, pointing at himself. "I am?"

"He is?" Chorused Riku, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Axel, Xion and Namine.

"You sound surprised." Lauriam noted.

"Of course I am." Roxas argued. "I've never been a leader for anything. Why would I be this "Union" Leader? It's not even meant for me."

"Well, that's what I thought. Same as the rest of us until Master Ava chose each of us to be the leaders." Said Ephemer.

"She saw qualities in us that made us capable of being leaders." Skuld comments.

"So she was bound to have found something in you." Lauriam finishes off.

Shaking his head at the bit of news, Roxas had to recompose himself. "Look, I know you guys think I'm this Ventus person but I'm not. And I'm no Union Leader either."

"Ya sure sound like him." Elrena said, pointing at him.

"And what you just said sounds exactly like something he'd say." Ephemer tacked on in amusement.

Roxas could only sigh, shaking his head as he couldn't really think of anything to refute what they were saying. This whole situation and experience just keeps on adding more and more questions.

The main ones being the following: How did they get here? What this place really was? And more importantly in Roxas' mind, how was it that he had no idea who these people were but the familiarity was deeply rooted in the back of his mind?

Ephemer gave the blonde Nobody a smile. "Then it's settled-"

"How is anything settled?" Riku said in bewilderment but this went ignored.

"Oh, and to avoid any confusion or chaos, let's not say a word about the Foretellers to anyone just yet." Ephemer went on.

Axel ends up voicing the same thought as the others in his little group. "Who?"

The pink-haired teen smirked. "Ignoring you for now-"

"Hey!"

"Right now, all of the Keyblade wielders in town are undergoing their training again." States Lauriam. "It may be a good time to discuss the issue when that's over with."

"Alright."

"Sounds fair."

Instead of answering, Brain closes the book and gets off the seat. "Change of subject." He heads to the circular table and places the one book he was reading on its surface. This was done before looking towards the new arrivals. "Since you guys are apparently new around here. I believe you should be brought up to speed."

"About what?" Namine queried.

Skuld held up the book he was holding. "On a whole lot of things. And you can tell us about yourselves."

All the while…

"How could this have happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Oh really? And what would that be exactly?"

At the top floor of Castle Oblivion, the Organization members in the observation room were outright befuddled.

They had several crystal balls in the room and over a dozen screens. And they all had the same type of display.

The crystal balls had only fog and the screens were all static.

"I just don't understand," No. IV, Vexen of the Organization aggressively typed away at the keyboards at each screen. "No matter what I try, what my input is… all my attempts don't fail, they get rejected."

"And how is that any different from failure?" Luxord, No. X inquired.

"A substantial difference." The Chilly Academic retorted.

The Gambler of Fate rubbed his chin in thought.

"Have you tried unplugging everything and-"

"These do not have routers, plugs or any of that nonsense you moron."

"Yes, how observant of you, Larxene." Luxord dryly said.

No. XII released a huff, turning away from the buzz-cut Nobody and instead focused on the screens.

"So what's happening, nerd? Any ideas?" She brashly asked. "I got sent here for a report on what's happening here. Why didn't you send a message to Xemnas about those traitors and their friends being here?"

"Such an unusual statement coming from attempted traitors themselves." Vexen snapped back. "Why Lord Xemnas bothered sending an untrustworthy nymph such as yourself is beyond me."

"He wanted a progress report on the happenings here."

"You shall get one," Zexion spoke up from a separate terminal. "Once we make sense of what has happened."

"And what "has happened", bookworm?" Larxene snipped.

"Something weird." Kirux/Riku Replica answered, arms crossed and eyes affixed onto the static screens.

Larxene gave the copy of the Hero of Darkness a glaring deadpan.

"Really? No shit, copycat, tell me something I don't know."

"You're unbearable to be around." Kirux retorted with a snarl.

Lightning crackled around the blond Nobody as she took a step forward. In response, darkness swirled around Kirux and both looked ready to pounce at each other until Lexeaus appeared between them, his large hands on their shoulders, holding them back with ease.

"Enough." He declared, his voice making the room rumble. "Now isn't the time for foolishness."

Larxene huffs a little, rotating her shoulder to get his hand off her before looking back at Vexen. "Can't we just go in there and look?"

"You didn't think we hadn't tried?" Vexen rebuked. "Lexeaus attempted to teleport in as did the rest of us and we were all met with the same result. I can't find a way to get in there."

"That's impossible," Larxene said with a frown. "We should be able to get in there with our Corridors."

"Apparently not." Lexaeus mutters aloud. "There are more secrets in this place than we ever thought before."

"How are we supposed to complete our task now?" Kirux then asks.

"Just keep going on what we've been doing previously." Said Zexion. "We just won't be doing a thing about the floor they're currently in."

"But the data-"

"Vexen, shut the hell up and go over what we have right now."

No. IV gave a small snarl at the blond in return. "You are the last to order me around, No. XII."

"Ah, shut up." The Savage Nymph shot back, making a face at the Chilly Academic who grits his teeth at her behavior.

Larxene smirked to herself, amused at the aggravation she could instill in Vexen. She turned away from her fellow Organization members and held a privately troubled frown.

The moment she came here today, there was this… unusual sensation coursing within her.

It was one of the strangest feelings she'd ever felt in her non-existence.

What was going on?

And why did she have a gut feeling it had to do with what was happening right now on the twelfth floor?

-Scene Cut-

Back in Daybreak Town's central building, the "guests" on the memory floor were digesting… a boatload of information.

What Daybreak Town was. Who they were. The Master of Masters. His six apprentices, the Foretellers. The Unions. The Books of Prophecy each one held.

The Keyblade War.

Well, that last one was only covered on the basics. There wasn't much discussed, making the "guests" wonder what else occurred. All they got from it was the five Unions led by the Foretellers clashed against each other due to some apparent animosity towards each other.

Questions obviously came up as to why the Master of Masters and Luxu never intervened in the war, but they mysteriously disappeared one day and were never seen or heard from ever since.

Remnants… survivors of the war were scattered to the wind. Others stayed in Daybreak Town and became a new organization called the Dandelions, organized by Master Ava prior to the war. And the leaders of this group were Ephemer, Skuld, Brain, Lauriam and apparently Roxas… well more like Ventus.

Still weird and uncomfortable to be referred to as someone he is not.

"What do you make of all this?" Axel asked, he and his friends all standing in a library, either standing or sitting on chairs or desks.

The natives of this memory World were somewhere in the vicinity but they all figured they needed to talk in private.

"There's more questions in my head that overwhelm the answers." Namine said with a strained expression.

"I can already tell what some of them are." Riku thought aloud. "Like was there more to the Keyblade War than what we were told?"

"A Keyblade War…" Xion muttered with a troubled look. "I didn't even know such a thing happened."

"Gawrsh, that's really scary." Goofy said, shivering slightly with Donald releasing a quacking sigh of agreement.

"Once this is over, we'll need to have a nice long chat with Yen Sid." Axel declared. "See what he knows."

"Maybe even the King has some knowledge of this Keyblade War." Riku brought up, arms crossed with a deep, contemplative frown.

Sora blew off a puff of air. "You said it."

"So now what?" Donald asked. "We've gone through the memory Worlds so…"

"I think the problem is we don't know where to start with this one." Namine murmured.

"Shouldn't we?" Riku challenged, turning to the Sandy-blond Nobody. "Roxas, you got to have some kind of an idea, right? I know you say you don't know this place but-"

"It is familiar, yeah." Roxas admitted with a frown. "I just… don't understand it."

"And you knew Lauriam and Elrena when you woke up." Sora tacked on before making a face. "Grah, why is this making my head hurt so much?!"

"For once, I can't fault ya and call ya a dope." His best friend commented, ignoring the flat stare Sora shot him. "We're in no better a position here."

"Looks like we're gonna have to get creative here." Axel muttered.

"How do we do that?" Xion questioned.

A knock on wood in the area they resided in interrupted their collective conversation. Looking over, they saw the silver-haired, red-scarfed Union leader standing there.

"You need something, Ephemer?" Xion kindly said.

"When you guys have a moment, I wanna talk to you guys along with the others." He answered, thumbing behind him.

"Yeah, sure. Conference room?" Seeing Ephemer nod, Roxas continues. "We'll be there."

Some time passes with Ephemer sitting at the large table and contemplating while waiting for the others to arrive.

"What's going on?" The scarf wearer looks over to see the others returning from going all over town. "Why'd you call us, Ephemer?" Asks Skuld.

"I've got books that need reading." Says Brain.

"I'll be quick." Ephemer waits for the others to come closer to begin.

However, before the scarf wearer could start, there appeared to be some people missing.

"Shouldn't we wait for Lauriam?" Sora asked, resting arms behind his head.

"What about Elrena?" Riku tacked on.

"They're not coming."

Some others look over to Brain in response.

"What?" Several of them said.

"Then shouldn't we do this at a different time with them here?" Skuld said, frowning slightly.

Ephemer sighs a little. "I'd prefer if all of us were here for this."

"Lauriam said you have his support, no matter what." Says Brain, garnering a lot of looks. "It's simple. He believes in you, Mr. Leader."

Ephemer had an uncomfortable, slightly bashful smile at that.

"What about Elrena?" Namine brought up, feeling strange in doing so.

"She's not a Union leader." Brain states.

"But everyone here is a leader." Ephemer glances over to the "guests" of the town. "Uh, more or less."

Axel puffed his chest out cockily. "You got that right."

His friends all rolled his eyes at that and he flicked a few in the back of the head in retaliation.

"Usually in a group as big as you're implying, sometimes there are subsidiaries who report to the bigshot. In this case, it's you."

"I wouldn't put it like that, but it somewhat works." Brain looks back to Ephemer. "Now, you were saying…"

"A-Alright." Composing himself, Ephemer properly begins. "When we became Union leaders, we all received a copy of the rulebook."

"...What rulebook?" Asks Roxas.

"It's something Master Ava and the other Masters made for us. Didn't you get-"

"Not Ventus," Roxas quickly reminded. "That's why I'm asking."

Shaking his head with a bit of sheepishness, Ephemer focused back on the topic on his mind. "Right… er sorry. Ahem, do you remember reading about Shift Pride?"

"You mean the part about Keyblade wielders fighting each other?" Brain questions. "Sure. Why do you ask?"

Roxas and his friends got some reactions out of this. "Wait. Keyblade wielders fighting each other? What for?"

"Didn't you read the book?"

"I repeat my earlier comment." No. XIII now deadpanned.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm still… ya know…"

"Isn't it just a friendly competition?" Brain chuckles. "I think everyone could use a bit of entertainment. Besides, it's not like we have much of a choice. It's in the book."

"For sparring or something of the like, sure." Says Sora, an uncomfortable expression for all to see. "But I don't like the thought of wielders turning their weapons against each other."

"Last time that happened it didn't end so well." Riku darkly said, feeling a pulse in his heart not of his own.

Namine sensed this and she placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, the islander looked at her with a strained expression but his eyes conveyed appreciation for her concern.

This got a look of approval from others in the room about such a concept.

Skuld was silent for a moment before saying, "I also disagree. Nothing good will come of it."

"Well, it's two against one." Brain looks to the 'leader' in the room. "It's up to you, Ephemer. You got Lauriam's vote in your pocket."

"Scuse me," Axel spoke up. "What exactly is this for again?"

"It's complicated. But it's in regards to the clashing of Keyblade Wielders. And the consequences that may come from it." Brain answered.

There was a moment of silence until Ephemer spoke once more.

"...We should follow the book." This got several reactions from the others in the room. "But we're not gonna be fighting each other. I don't want a repeat of the War."

"...Okay, I get it." Brain says vaguely.

"Get what?"

"People don't have to fight each other. They can fight other wielders' data instead."

"...Okay, you guys are really confusing me now." Says Axel. "What's this about Data? Are you talking about simulations?"

Brain clicked his fingers, pointing at the redhead. "Pretty much, yes. Thanks to the technology left behind, we're able to create all sorts of simulations to help us in our training as Keyblade Wielders."

The interest of the others was evident to see.

"...I would like to see some of that if that was possible." Xion muttered.

"Same." Sora was quick to agree.

"Ditto." Was Riku's contribution.

"I imagine we can still follow the rules without actually hurting one another." Brain looks over to Ephemer. "Right?"

The scarf wearer nods, earning some positive reactions from Brain and Skuld while Roxas and the others are a bit more confused.

"It's a clever plan and all… a little too clever coming from you."

Skuld sounded a bit offended when hearing that from one of her friends. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Instead of being offended, Ephemer took it in stride. "Well, I did get some help from Lauriam."

"Him? Why?"

"He gave me some advice about it before going off on his own."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "For what?"

"He's searching for someone close to him." Skuld revealed.

"Someone close to him?" Namine parroted, brows furrowing at such a thing.

This may be the Somebody of Marluxia but… the platinum-blond Nobody shook her head. She didn't want to dwell on this matter much as it has been on her mind since seeing Lauriam.

Brain speaks up. "It seems like a private matter, so let's not get involved. Not unless he asks us to."

"You're right." Ephemer stated.

"He probably has Elrena helping him out already." Donald says aloud.

"Might be why they're not here." Goofy surmised.

"Those two are quite close." Axel nods in turn. If they were truly like their Nobody counterparts, they'd be nearly tied to the hip.

"In any case, we can thank Lauriam for this solution. I wouldn't have come up with it myself." Ephemer smiled before it lessened slightly. "Too bad he's not here to take credit for it."

"You could probably tell him about it later." Brain assured.

"Was there anything else for this little meeting or was that just it?" Roxas spoke up.

"There was also…"

-Scene Cut-

After the meeting took place, most of the group opted to leave the central building and decided to go out and explore Daybreak Town.

Axel and Riku remained in the library and the Master's personal study, getting a better layout of what seemed to be the main building area of the town that the "Union" leaders utilized as their HQ whilst the rest of them were walking down the stony streets of this memory.

The rest were walking around this bizarre Memory World.

"This place is rather strange." Namine commented, looking around at the empty streets.

"What is?" Sora asked, walking slightly ahead of her with his hands behind his head.

"For a town that's supposed to be full of Keyblade wielders, it's… rather vacant."

"Remember what went on in some of the previous floors. Not many people would be present at all. Only what the castle apparently deems necessary." Roxas pointed out.

Goofy nods with him pondering slightly. "Like when we went to Axel's version of Hollow Bastion. We only saw the other Organization members before they became Nobodies."

Donald agrees with his old friend before pondering himself. "So would we only see the people we met earlier or would more be present later?"

"This just means we'd have to explore more while trying to find the exit." Xion commented.

"Question is: how many would we run into and how often? This town is vast. There's no telling how far the borders of the floor will be." Namine remarked.

With this in mind, they'll need to be careful and not get lost.

As they were walking through Fountain Square, they saw Elrena walking about with Chirithy by her side.

"Elrena, hey!" Sora called out to her.

The blonde and her little companion turn to see the others approach them.

She gave them a friendly smile and wave. "Hiya."

"We were somewhat looking for you." Riku said, making both tilt their heads.

"Somewhat?" Asks Chirithy.

"More like wanting to see some familiar faces." Namine clarified.

Larxene's Somebody nods before addressing the obvious. "Something you need?"

"Not exactly. We were merely curious where you and Lauriam were." The Memory Nobody said.

"Brain said he was trying to look for someone important and we assumed you were helping him." Roxas spoke up.

Elrena bobbed her head from side to side. "Well, your assumption was right. I am helping him find someone important."

"Who?" Donald asked.

Chirithy speaks up on this. "The most important person in his life: his sister."

The group took a moment to register what she just said, the expressions conveying clear surprise and for those who knew Marluxia, obvious shock.

"His sister?" Came the response from several of them.

Elrena nods with a somber look. "He's been wondering where his sister -Strelitzia- is at for a while now. She's missing."

"That's terrible." Xion muttered. "Were you two perhaps close?"

"Not in the same way as one calls each other friends." Elrena admitted with a shrug. "We've been in the same group a few times, really. We'd chat about missions when I see her every now and then, but I don't know her that well as she keeps to herself and on her own most of the time."

"Huh, good to know." Says No. XIII. "Anything else?"

"Lauriam convinced her to join the Dandelions a while back, but it ended up causing them to not see each other as a result." Elrena remarked. "Other than that, she left an impression that she's waiting for someone."

"Someone?" Namine repeated.

Elrena points to a specific building nearby. "She used to sit and wait on a rooftop here in Fountain Square. But that was a while ago."

"And what about Lauriam?" Xion inquired.

The one blonde with the antenna hair merely shrugs. "No clue where he's at now. He's off somewhere in town finding her."

"He really cares about her, huh?" Goofy said, a happy hum emanating from him.

"Well, duh, she's his sister." Donald all but snaps at him. "Why wouldn't he care for her?"

Elrena chuckled at the pair's interaction before drawing out a sigh. "I wish there was some way I could help further."

"You're doing all you can to help, Elrena." Namine assured, surprising herself at how easily she said this.

"I might know something." Chirithy says, garnering some looks. "I told Lauriam this, but if you want to help, I can tell you as well."

Some looks were shared amongst the teens and anthropomorphic knight and wizard.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"Strelitzia is indeed looking for someone." Chirithy revealed. "She's someone who didn't talk much, but someone she wanted to invite to become a Dandelion."

"And how would you know this?" Xion inquired.

"I'm friends with her Chirithy." The small creature answered, adding more surprise and confusion to those unaware.

"...Her Chirithy?" Donald said, making sure he heard right. "There's more than one of you?"

"Yes."

"But your name is also Chirithy." Goofy reminded.

"Yes." The puffball nodded again.

"How can others tell you apart?" Sora asks.

"Can we focus please?" Namine looked over to Chirithy. "What else did you tell Lauriam?"

"He asked about the timeframe when I last saw his sister. It was before the toll of the bells, which signified the Keyblade War." The little feline creature then waved her arms about. "And it was around here," she then walked over to a particular house once coming down a flight of stairs. "When I was chatting with her Chirithy did she suddenly hurry inside to check on Strelitzia. I haven't seen them since."

The group now stared at this specific house Chirithy stood in front of, taking in the small building.

"Is there something in particular about this house?" Xion asked, pointing to it.

Chirithy appeared to fidget nervously before answering. "When people go inside, they don't come out."

"They don't come out?" Goofy worriedly said.

"Sounds rather mysterious." Xion's eyes narrowed. "And dangerous."

"You sure that's just a tall tale?" Roxas asked with Chirithy shaking her head. "Anything else at all?"

"Shortly after everything, the announcement of the new Union Leaders came out. I recognized one of them: Skuld."

"Skuld?"

"Does she know anything about this?"

Chirithy merely shrugged. "No clue. But Lauriam was going to ask her, last I checked."

"Did Lauriam ever bother checking this house at all?" Sora said, pointing at it.

Chirithy shook her head. "He didn't. He wanted to go see Skuld right away."

Pondering slightly, Sora turns around and walks away.

"Where are you going?" Asks Roxas.

"Going back to the Master's room to see Lauriam." The brown-haired islander says. "He's probably heading back there now to see Skuld."

"Don't get lost along the way."

"Rather hard with where I need to go." Sora cheekily comments.

Sighing, Roxas relents to see his Somebody take off. "Alright. We'll stay here and check this place out."

"I'll go with him." Donald said, running off to catch up to his friend. Goofy followed a moment or two later.

They watched as the trio went back to the HQ of the Union Leaders of Daybreak Town.

Roxas turned back to the house that supposedly Strelitzia waited at and he… felt an odd sensation in his gut.

"Roxas?" Xion muttered, and he turned to her. "Everything alright?"

Before he could answer, Namine was already talking with Larxene's original self.

"So it's just us now."

Elrena nods as she enters the house. "There may be a clue."

"Since when did you ever bother about anyone else?"

Larxene's Somebody looked at her Chirithy with a narrowed glance. "Shush, you!"

Entering the building, the group began inspecting it as best they could. One thing to note about this house was how the lighting gave this place a more ominous feeling. Something that was quickly picked up on by the others investigating this house.

"This place gives me the creeps." Chirithy comments.

"Me too." Says Elrena.

"You sure this is supposed to be a home? It looks more like a storage building to me." Roxas observed.

"This place is really dark." Xion added on.

Namine saw a nearby switch and flicked it up and down a few times. "Lights aren't working."

Taking out her Morning Star staff, Namine focused her magic, and a light exuded from the tip.

"Nice thinking." Elrena praised.

Walking deeper into the building, they ended up hearing something. It was faint but it was hard to make out. Sounded electrical in some manner.

"What was that?" Xion tensely asked, the others seizing up a bit.

There was a pause, the electrical sound getting slightly louder.

"Is someone here?" Roxas said, his right hand twitching momentarily.

"Aside from us?" Xion asked, mirroring her friend's motion.

Suddenly, something happened before them.

"What the-?"

-Scene Cut-

In the Union Leaders' conference room, some activity was taking place.

At the far-off desk, Brain was still reading. More or less joining him in the task was Axel who was checking one book after another. Ephemer and Skuld were sitting at the table conversing on some subjects.

Riku was examining several items and what were gadgets and gizmos of some sort, his Omni-Tool active.

When he first showed it off, the other Keyblade users were quite interested in this astonishing device. No surprises considering how he, Sora and the rest of the gang reacted in a similar vein when Roxas first showed off his Omni-Tool.

Entering the room, Lauriam approaches his fellow leader. "Hey, Skuld, can I ask you something?"

She turns in her chair towards him. "Sure, what is it?"

There was a moment of hesitation before he spoke again.

At this point, Lauriam tells her and by extension the others in the room of what's going on with his sister. It was a bit lengthy, but he brought them up to speed.

"...And that is just about it." The Rose-haired teen finished up.

Digesting all of this information, Skuld gave Lauriam a frown. "I'm sorry I can't be of any help. This is the first I'm hearing about Strelitzia's situation."

"No, it's fine. Thanks anyway." Says the rose-haired teen. "My sister has such a good heart." His smile becomes tiresome. "I wouldn't be surprised if she accidentally got caught in the war trying to save this 'someone'."

"That'll be terrible." The ravenette said with a face that conveyed even more concern now.

"If I may…" The others look to Brain as he keeps reading through one of many books on the desk. "We know that until the bells rang, your sister was searching for this 'someone' to invite them to join the Dandelions." He flips to another page as he continues. "From this, we can deduce that your sister, who was already a member, didn't see them at Fountain Square during Master Ava's speech. And if this person wasn't there that day… there's a good chance they fought in the Keyblade War." Brain closes the book, gets up from his seat and walks towards the others. "And another thing. Your sister was hesitant to become a Dandelion, and yet not only did she join them, she desperately wanted this 'someone' to join too. Puzzling isn't it?"

This got the others in the room to ponder.

"I think… I may know who this person is."

The others look up at Ephemer with Lauriam speaking. "You do?"

"Someone who's not very talkative, someone who didn't join the Dandelions."

"Oh?" Axel looks at Ephemer. "You know who it is?"

"Yeah, a friend of mine."

Lauriam nods and ushers Ephemer to join him. "Alright, let's go."

"Want us to come with?" Asks the former Organization member.

"Nah. It'll be fine." Responds Ephemer. "Don't want to make him worried with so many tagging along. Just Lauriam and I will suffice."

Axel shrugged a that. "Have fun."

Ephemer and Lauriam depart from the room, leaving Skuld, Brain, Riku and Axel.

Riku was in the middle of putting a book away when he suddenly froze.

This didn't go unnoticed by Axel, the Nobody looked at the two for a moment to see if they saw this but it appeared they didn't. Turning back to the silver-haired islander, he leaned forward to quietly speak with him.

"You alright, Riku?" No. VIII softly asked.

Riku's brows were furrowed in concentration until he answered. "I sense… darkness. Somewhere in this town."

This caught the attention of Brain and Skuld, both sharply turning their heads in his direction.

"You sense darkness?" The former sharply asked.

Skuld was thrown off by such a statement. "How?"

"It's a trait I've picked up on a while back." Riku elaborated. "From some choices I'm not too proud of."

Brain ignored that last part, focusing more on what the islander said prior. "You mentioned you can sense it somewhere in this town, right?" Riku nodded. "Do you think you can pinpoint it?"

Riku shook his head. "I'll be needing to go out and search. The town is too big to get an accurate lock."

Brain pondered on this fact for a moment. "Splitting up wouldn't work. If you are indeed the only person who can get a sense on Darkness, you'll have to be leading the group."

"Should we go?" Skuld asked.

"Ignoring Darkness isn't something I'm comfortable with." The Fedora Keybearer stated.

"Whatever darkness there is… it's strong, very strong. And extremely unsettling." Riku went on.

"Let's not dwell on it any further than." Axel declared. "Let's find out where this Darkness is coming from."

-Scene Cut-

Within an isolated white room, surrounded by artistic renditions of a heart, a lone boy sat in a chair far larger than his frame.

He was slumped over, breathing in a rhythmic fashion when for the briefest of moments, he inhaled sharply and his head rose slightly.

His closed eyes cracked open by a small margin, revealing dark blue eyes as blank as can be. Yet there was a spark, a glimmer of consciousness and awareness there when just as quickly as he raised his head it drooped with his eyes closing.

Under his breath, he began muttering incoherently, his expression morphing into one of pain when it ceased and he slumped back, resuming his rhythmic breathing and rest.

In another part of the same Castle, a certain Nobody with two antennae in her hair halted in her tracks. She looked about wildly, perturbed by a bizarre sensation that washed over her when it left as quickly as it appeared.

She was thrown by this development and rather than shake it off, she opted to look into the matter herself. Whichever way she could.

-Scene Cut-

Walking through the streets of Daybreak Town, Lauriam was pondering a little on what he learned not so long ago.

Ephemer's friend and apparent source of some bits of information to his present issue cleared up several questions but left more in their place. However, it wasn't satisfying for what he desired at this time.

What Lauriam does need is more pieces for the puzzle he needs to solve. Not enough was present for him to work with.

"But where can I find more?" The teen who would be Marluxia pondered aloud.

Before he could further think on the matter, the young man spotted a number of now familiar faces.

"Lauriam." Elrena was the first to greet him, him smiling back at her.

"Hey. I was wondering where you were." The rose-haired teen looks at the people beside Elrena. "You guys hanging out or…"

"Lauriam. We were just about to look for you." Roxas said straight away.

"Did you run into Sora, Donald and Goofy?" Xion followed up.

Lauriam held a thoughtful frown, shaking his head. "I believe I missed them. Why do you ask?"

"You first." No. XIII said, throwing Lauriam off slightly.

Still, he answered all the same. "Well, I managed to uncover some things since I last saw you, Elrena and Chirithy."

"That's wonderful!" Namine happily said.

"We actually found something too." Elrena spoke up.

A pink eyebrow rose at this. "Oh?"

"We decided to check the one home out where your sister was last seen." Xion stated, pointing to said house.

Lauriam gazed at them intently. "And did you find anything?"

"It looked like a ghost." Spoke the girl Lauriam was most familiar with.

This drew a bewildered expression from the pink-haired teen as he looked at Elrena with a cocked brow. "A ghost?"

Roxas shook his head 'no'. "Not exactly. It was more of a hologram."

"Well, which is it? Hologram? Ghost? Apparition?"

The others can still recall how it looked. It showed Strelitzia's appearance of a bright auburn hair with bangs falling to her forehead beyond her eyebrows while the rest of her long hair is tied by two red ribbons. She has fair skin and turquoise green eyes and wore a white dress with black straps that fell to her shoulders, with a tied ribbon in the front along with matching sleeves and boots.

She wasn't alone in the hologram as she was carrying a Chirithy. And neither of them were looking so well.

"Lauriam… the hologram showed she was hurt and-" The brother didn't even bother to listen to the rest of their explanation, rushing past them and entering the one building investigated earlier. "Lauriam! Lauriam, wait!"

"Strelitzia!" He calls out, turning all over. "Strelitzia!"

The others came in moments after, seeing the frantic-looking Union leader.

"Lauriam, slow down a sec." Roxas said, placing a hand on his shoulder and lightly pulling him back. "We combed through this place top to bottom. We didn't see anything else. No reappearance of the hologram."

The rosette's desperate look took on a disappointed trait.

"However…!" Chirithy hops forward to the distraught Keybearer. "I remembered something. Something Strelitzia's Chirithy mentioned the last time we talked."

"What was it?" Lauriam asked, almost desperately.

"So… apparently your sister didn't know this person's name, yet wanted to invite them into the Dandelions." Elrena revealed.

There was a beat.

"...She wouldn't have a crush on this person, right?"

That was certainly the last question any of them would have expected to hear.

"Inviting them into the Dandelions just to be close to them instead of admiring from afar?" Lauriam pressed on.

One odd worry gave way to another with his brotherly instincts assuming the worst. If the affections were a factor, then this mysterious someone could've taken advantage of his sweet sister's emotions and-

"No. Nothing like that." Chirithy dissuades, much to Lauriam's momentary relief. "No, she merely wanted to invite them to save them from the War."

"You sure it was about the Keyblade War?" He asked with a skewed gaze.

Chirithy bobbed her head up and down. "Very sure."

Elrena adds her own thoughts on the matter. "Master Ava spoke about an oncoming war in her speech. Probably implies that, really. But I don't know any other war at all."

"So did that mean… do you think she was referring to the Keyblade War?" Namine guessed.

"If that's true, then how did Strelitzia know the war was about to happen before it began?" Xion asked, a slightly disturbed look in her eyes.

"Ain't that the million Munny question."

All the while…

In the Union leader conference room, several actions were taking place. More things are discussed between Ephemer and Skuld while Brain, Riku and Axel go over more books. However, during this time, the redhead was taking glances over to the fedora-wearing teen for some time now.

Taking notice of Axel's motions, Brain decided to speak up. "Spit it out, Axel. I won't bite."

The redhead turned to him in full, now leaning over his shoulder. "Sorry. I just noticed you hardly put down that book in particular at all. I was just wondering what you were reading about."

From all of the books Brain collected from this memory floor, Axel noticed he only focused primarily on the one in his hands.

"I knew Ephemer was curious, but you take the cake." Skuld says jokingly.

Axel smirked, taking a glance at her and for a moment the gaze lingered on her yet it went unnoticed. "I'm a man who prides himself on keeping on the up and up."

Instead of laughing along with her and Axel, Brain was more calm and less jovial. "I have a plan."

"Huh?" Came the response from others.

"What kind of plan?" Ephemer asked with a raised brow.

"We're still headed for inevitable destruction." Brain says, not seeing the utter confusion on their faces. "And I'm gonna change that."

"Change what exactly?" Axel now spoke, an indiscernible look on his face.

"This world is on a path headed for destruction." Brain pushes his chair aside to look towards the others in the room. "Changing thoughts and memories of the Keyblade War wasn't gonna make it work."

"Why would it be?" Riku asks rhetorically. "It happened. Something like that should at least be remembered, right?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. But it's not that simple. So I came up with a plan." The fedora-wearing teen smirks slightly. "I'm going to become a virus and overwrite the program that is this world's future."

Hearing this made everyone in the room freeze up as they didn't fully comprehend what they had just heard.

"...Excuse me, what?" Riku sharply said. "What does that mean? Become a virus? Overwrite the program of this World? How… what are you even talking about?"

Axel's eyes were shifting from side to side, deep in thought as he processed the words of Brain. What was he implying here?

This was a Memory World, likely stemming from Roxas but Brain just spoke of becoming a virus, likely in the literal sense, given the tone of his voice and "overwrite" the program of this World's future.

Did that mean… what was this memory?

Was this a memory or something else entirely?

Now that he thought about it, a Memory World like this, why hasn't the Organization made themselves known here?

A place like this was too big of an opportunity to pass up yet not once since their arrival to this bizarre World did Axel nor Riku pick up on the presence of the other Nobody's in the Castle.

Darkness was one aspect but the scent of a Nobody was always distinct and Riku told him the only ones his scent detected belonged to Axel, Roxas, Xion and Namine respectively.

Something was off, he could feel it. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he had missed a part of the conversation.

"I just don't understand it." Ephemer said in clear frustration. "Why would the Dandelions need to be saved from the Keyblade War if we're doomed from the beginning? What is our point in being here?"

"Maybe that's something we need to uncover for ourselves." Brain declared.

As if the universe decided to throw them a bone, a pair of holograms appeared in the room in a glitchy manner, causing the others to step back in surprise.

"What the-?"

Looking at them, the "guests" to the memory floor inspected one of them wearing an Organization coat with the hood drawn up. The other wore some pink and white garments with a silver fox mask.

"Master Ava?" Ephemer whispered.

Axel and Riku's attention was more focused on the one wearing the black cloak.

"Who's that?" The former intently asked.

"I think…" Skuld took a moment to consider it. "That's the Master of Masters."

Just as she said this did the two holograms began speaking to one another.

"What's ▄ in the last ▄ of the Book is gonna ▄." The Master of Master's hologram says from his desk. "The entire world will be lost to ▄."

"But Master, isn't there anything we can do?"

"Well, that's what brings me to ▄ role. You might just be the only ▄ of keeping light from ▄."

Ava's hologram was approached by the Master of Masters' as she said, "Hope?"

"Yes."

"Master, what is it you ▄ me to do?"

The taller hologram pats Ava's head affectionately. "Don't get in any battles, forget the ▄ of Unions, find Keyblade wielders with ▄. And create an ▄ organization." He soon walks away. "Then, like the seeds of a dandelion, let them to another world." He turns back to face Ava. "They will keep the light alive."

"...You really think that… I'm right person for ▄?"

"Ava, ▄' the only person for this." He says seriously before waving his arms rather dramatically. "And , after all of that, you'll choose the ▄ Union Leaders."

The fox head perked up. "Union Leaders?"

"When all's said and done and only the Dandelions are left, they'll need to lead the Unions." The MoM said, wagging his finger.

"Is there a ▄ to ▄ the Unions?"

"Of course! ▄ rid of them would be like ▄-poohing all your hard work! Besides, other than the ▄ new Union leaders, no one else is going to know that the world… well, you know."

"What?"

"There's no point for ▄ to carry around knowledge of such a ▄ event. I want everyone to start over in a world with a clean slate- well, to their knowledge of course."

"You can do that?"

"Apparently so." The Master of Masters pulls out a sheet of paper and hands it to Ava. "Here, take a look at these ▄ names. They're your new recruits. Make ▄▄ Dandelions, and ▄ the time comes, teach ▄ roles."

"Why is ▄ one circled ?" Says the hologram of Master Ava.

"Jackpot! ▄ wielder gets ▄▄ free copy ▄Book ▄phecies!"

"The Book?"

"▄▅▂▃, it's a great ▄ don't you think?" Says the Master of Masters. "Oh, and it's also needed to shape the world into ▄ it's supposed to be."

And like that, the holograms disappear.

"What's going on? What were they talking about?"

Before Brain could speak up, he started to notice the surroundings starting to glitch out in an odd manner. Static filled the air as many gears and furniture were beginning to fritz.

Everyone in the room was looking around, panicking.

All but one.

"What's happening? What is this?" Said a new voice.

Everyone turned to see a worried and freaked-out Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Sora?" Riku said. "Where are the others?"

"I came here looking for Lauriam to tell him something but we got lost. This place is confusing." Sora said in aggravation.

"No time for that, answer the question," Donald began hopping up and down as more glitches appeared around them. "What is going on right now?"

"So it has finally begun." Brain spoke up, voice unusually calm and collected.

This drew the attention of all in the room as the fedora-wearing Keybearer made his exit from the room.

"Oi, oi, oi," Axel irritably said. "And just where are you going?"

"To the control center." Brain answered.

Riku took charge, stopping Brain just as he was about to exit the room.

"We're coming with you." The islander declared with a stern tone.

Skuld was surprised by this. "But you guys can't! You're not-"

"No, this is an emergency." Brain cut her off. "We'll have to overlook the rules. I need all the help I can get to get to the control center. Won't be an easy way up to get there if it's any indication."

As if on cue, Heartless appeared in the room they stood in. Primarily a Flappy Bug swarm as they fluttered about with a splash of Box-Bug variants skittering on the floor.

"What the-" Skuld instinctively summoned her Keyblade as did the others with their Keyblades and weapons respectively.

"How did they get in?" Ephemer said in alarm.

"No time for questions." Axel declared, already throwing his fiery Chakrams. "Brain, lead the way to the control center."

"Right, this way everyone." Brain said, leading the charge just as more Heartless appeared in their path.

Outside the tower, everyone else was in the fountain plaza area when Heartless suddenly appeared around them.

"Heartless." Xion immediately said, summoning Seashell Resonance into her hand.

"Was wondering when these idiots would show up." Roxas commented, Oathkeeper appearing in his hand.

"Um, guys… what is that?" Namine nervously spoke up, pointing to the tower at the center of the town.

Their heads all turned and their faces turned into that of bewildered alarm. Right above the tower that was the HQ of the Union Leaders, clouds had above it, and… what could only be best described as a literal glitch storm was crackling like thunder above and around the tower.

"Is that normal?" No. XIII asked, Lauriam shaking his head immediately.

"No, most certainly not."

"We have to get over there!" Xion declared.

As soon as she finished that statement, a Heartless lunged at her with the puppet Nobody instinctively slicing the Heartless in two.

"We have to take care of these bastards first." Roxas stated, twirling Oathkeeper around before slashing at several Heartless at once.

"What about the others?" Elrena worriedly said, conjuring her own Keyblade.

Roxas, Xion and Namine were internally surprised but kept their features schooled, despite them glancing at her Keyblade.

It was still a surreal thing to see the original versions of Marluxia and Larxene possessing Keyblades of their own. For Lauriam, he possessed the Divine Rose while Elrena had Olympia.

Shaking his head, Roxas refocused on the Heartless, conjuring a quick Gravity spell that flattened a few that were swiftly destroyed by Namine conjuring lightning bolts.

"They can take care of themselves." Roxas confidently said. "Right now, these guys come first."

Lauriam and Elrena nodded and with the Nobody's, they fought off the small army of Heartless that had them surrounded.

The five of them fought off the creatures of Darkness, Namine, Xion and Roxas displaying a high degree of teamwork whilst Lauriam and Elrena showed off their own skills with their Keyblades.

The Heartless kept on coming, however, making them frustrated.

"Geez, we don't see them all this time and now they have to make up for lost time." Roxas groused out, decapitating a Heartless, its body and head vanishing a second later.

Namine looked over at the glitch storm hanging above the tower and her eyes widened slightly at the increase in glitching frequency as it was now around the building and making its way down. She even saw a few glitches a few feet away from their vicinity.

"Guys," Namine called out to them. "It's looking like it's getting worse."

"We've noticed." Lauriam grunted, irritably glaring at a Neoshadow that was in his face before he destroyed it.

"We don't have time for these bozos." Elrena shouted, throwing her Keyblade up to summon a cascade of lightning.

"We'll have to clear a path." Xion spoke up, holding her Keyblade up and concentrating on her magic. "Roxas!"

Seeing her posture, Roxas immediately deduced what she was doing and after a quick infusion of Light into Oathkeeper, he threw his Keyblade into a Strike Raid.

Xion did the same and the two Keyblades joined together into a swirling mass of power and death for the Heartless. Their weapons expunged beams of light mixed with wind and water that tore through the Heartless, leaving a sizeable gap in their ranks.

"Amazing!" Lauriam praised. "Looks like we have our exit."

"Hurry!" Elrena said aloud.

With the pathway clear, the group rushed on to get back over to the tower to rejoin the others. Hopefully by then they will get some answers with what's going on.

-Scene Cut-

Back with Vexen, the mad scientist of the Organization was still typing away at multiple keyboards, trying to unveil the static fog that prevents him and the others from seeing just what was transpiring in the Memory World currently occupying their "guests". But no matter how many attempts, methods, angles or whatever word one could use to describe Vexen's work, he was still met with failure and rejection.

It was starting to make his usually well-kept hair have strands begin to poke out.

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this?" The Replica of Riku commented in apathetic bemusement. "Is this really bothering you that much?"

Vexen shook his head, quickly running his hand through his hair to try smoothing it out.

"You wouldn't understand, Kirux. You're not a scientist."

The Riku clone rolled his eyes. "Really? What gave that away?"

His response came in the form of Vexen resuming his rapid clacking of keys, making Kirux sigh.

"Alright, seriously, I'm no scientist but at least try to explain it to me." He said in clear annoyance. "What's so special here?"

Vexen kept on working but answered all the same.

"The data that I keep accumulating from the Memory World is unlike anything I have ever studied." No. IV stated, momentarily looking at a chart that glitched and vanished. "Grah! And therein lies the issue. This data keeps coming in corrupted, incomplete or… in a manner I've never seen before. Every time I try cataloging, studying or storing it away for later, it either deletes itself, corrupts, mutates and then vanishes only to be replaced by something else entirely. There's no consistency, no rhyme or reason. I had to seal off the rest of the systems from the Memory World lest they risk corrupting all the data the Organization has already accumulated."

"...Have you bothered turning on and off the system-?"

"THAT DOESN'T WORK!" Vexen snapped back.

"I think it would with all the built-up RAM."

No. IV gritted his teeth, angrily clenching his fists only to turn away, appearing to pucker up his lower lip.

Kirux didn't even know how to respond to such a face. He'd never seen his creator make one such as this.

"What the hell am I supposed to garner from that?" Kirux argued. "So, will you do it or not?"

Vexen was silently brooding to himself when his head hung low, almost appearing to be ashamed.

"I… I tried unplugging and plugging it back in." He whispered as quietly as he could but his creation heard it all the same.

"Oh my God, you are such a drama queen." Kirux exasperatedly said, throwing his arms up. "At least you admit it."

"Doesn't fix the issue at hand." Vexen bitterly retorted, turning back to his work. "The only way I could best describe what is happening is… this Memory World is not… I can't fully give a proper means of description. Displaced? Erratic? Yet all intentional…"

"Would there be a particular source that's causing all of this in the first place?"

"Yes… but also no." Vexen stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kirux irritably asked, now getting even more fed up with the lack of answers.

"The floor scanned a person's mind, their heart into creating its layout. We've seen a particular overlap on the Hollow Bastion layout with the Keyblades chosen with No. XIII and the spare with how they perceived the Superior being there."

"An overlap?" Kirux repeated, now frowning in thought. He held a long, contemplative look until coming to his own conclusion. "Is there anyone else in this Castle aside from us and those idiots?"

The Chilly Academic regarded his creation with a raised brow, silently inquiring what made him come to this conclusion. Kirux had no answer, leaving Vexen to ponder on his words.

After a while, the Riku Replica picked up on Vexen's change in expression.

"It was just…"

"You thought of something, didn't you?" The clone said inquisitively.

"Perhaps… Perhaps not."

Back within the memory floor… that's been frustrating Vexen to no end…

"Where were all these assholes hiding this whole time?" Axel snipped, throwing his chakrams for them to spin around him rapidly to create a whirlwind of fire, burning and turning to ash any Heartless unlucky enough to get caught in this attack.

"Whoa uh… haven't heard that kinda talk before." Ephemer said with a nervous chuckle.

Axel couldn't help but snort at that. These kids supposedly came from a Keyblade war yet their ears were still delicate, it seemed.

"How much farther to the control room?" Riku asked, firing a Dark Firaga from his hand, incinerating a dozen Heartless at once.

"Not far." Brain said, smashing his Keyblade into the head of a Soldier, destroying it.

With the pathway clear once more, the group pressed on with Brain leading the way.

Going up the rather unusual elevator, given it was a large gear-like platform, they got to the higher floor where they saw a room full of turning gears and glitches all over the walls and ceilings.

"Uh…" Sora nervously said. "Is it supposed to be this bad?"

"I don't think it's supposed to be happening at all." Donald tacked on, looking around warily.

"Hopefully we'll find the cause of this soon enough." Skuld murmured, greatly put off by what she was seeing.

"This way guys." Ephemer said, going over to one of the walls of the gear room. The glitching subsided momentarily, giving him the chance to open a peculiar doorway with his Keyblade. The tip of his Keyblade lit up and shot a beam into a keyhole within one of the gears in the wall and the wall disappeared a moment later, revealing a hidden room.

It was spacious. Probably just as big as the conference room, if not larger. Lining the walls were a plethora of monitors with various equipment underneath.

"This is the control room." Brain said.

On the monitors…

"Wait a second, are there security cameras placed all over this world?" Axel noted, seeing how there seemed to be screens conveying almost every part of this memory world.

"More or less." Ephemer comments. "There are some blind spots."

"...Let me rephrase that: where don't these cameras cover?"

Stepping further into the room, the present "guests" explored a little with curious glances. However, there were things that caught their eyes.

"Hold on…" Sora perked up, going up to one of the screens. "I know those places."

"You do?" Skuld said in surprise.

"Yeah. The city outside of the palace, the cave, the throne room… Agrabah?" Sora murmured.

He wasn't the only one to recognize the familiar locations displayed on the screens.

"Ain't that Olympus Coliseum?" Riku pointed out.

"And isn't that the Queen's courtroom at Wonderland?" Goofy remarked.

"How are you monitoring these Worlds? How is that even possible?" Axel asked. There were many questions now flowing in his head as he was seeing several other worlds he's traveled to prior to leaving the Organization.

As this conversation went on, Brain ignored it and focused on working overtime at the central console. His fingers practically flew across the keyboard as he was rapidly typing out a series of commands left and right. His hands were practically blurring if one were to look.

"Oi, Brain, What are you doing?" Riku asked.

"Trying to manage to halt the infestation." Brain responds with. After several moments, he ceases typing as he breathes out a brief sigh of relief. "I think it'll be fine for the time being."

To emphasize this point, some monitors showed live footage of what's happening around Daybreak Town. The glitches all about began disappearing like it was never there at all and everything was fine in the world.

"Phew." Ephemer murmured, placing a congratulatory hand on his friend's shoulder. "Nice work, dude."

The black-haired teen shot him a smirk. Before he could say or do anything else, Axel was now on the other side of the fedora Keybearer and was giving him a piercing look.

"Alright, Brain. Start talking. What is all this?" Axel said, gesturing to all the screens. "How can you see other Worlds from here?"

"I wanted to ask how you knew about those Worlds myself since you seem to know them." Brain retorted.

"You first, then we'll talk." Riku said, making his friends turn to him with the teen silently conveying for them to just go along with what he was saying for now.

Sora and Axel then glanced at each other and both nodded, looking back at Brain.

"Ok, I'll explain as simply as I can." Brain situates himself at the one table filled with books and other equipment. "Before the Keyblade War, in the world we call Daybreak Town, we were able to visit worlds from the future via the Book of Prophecies. It was like a pop-up book of sorts. It projected the future of worlds—Worlds that currently existed." He soon clears the surface before placing the books down one by one and having them be touching. "Technically, you didn't have to rely on the Book to get to these worlds, since they were all connected to Daybreak Town by land. You could've visited the present versions of these worlds if you'd wanted to."

"I'm sorry, what? Future Worlds?" Axel said, his mind trying to work out what he just said. "And… you could go to these "future Worlds" through a Book?"

"The Book of Prophecies, yes." Skuld confirmed.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku and Axel all shared similar looks of stunned disbelief as their minds worked out what they just heard.

"Are you telling us that you guys can time travel?" Sora stressed out in a shocked manner.

"Well, it wouldn't have been that easy." Ephemer said with a small change in his face conveying his own uncertainty of the matter. "The worlds are bigger than we can possibly imagine."

"...I feel all so very lost right now." Sora admitted and Riku patted his friends back sympathetically and understandingly. This didn't make much sense to any of them save those who knew about it.

"Still trying to wrap my head around this myself, actually." Skuld sheepishly admitted.

At this point, the fedora wearing teen resumed his little lecture. "Now, after the Keyblade War, the worlds all broke apart from each other; they were no longer connected." Brain separates the "connected" books as this was said. "It was written in the Book that would happen, so all the worlds had been recreated as data in preparation to ensure that even without the Book, the worlds and their futures would still be accessible through a virtual setting. With me so far?"

"More or less." Riku said with a shrug.

"Not really." Sora and Donald admitted at the same time.

"Much like before the war, we Dandelions have continued to visit these worlds by way of the virtual Daybreak Town." Brain picks up a pair of books and stacks them on top of each other. "From the real Daybreak Town, we make our way to the virtual one, and from there, the world of our choice. Still with me?"

A "so-so" gesture was given by a few people with hesitant nods from others.

"I-I think so." Says Ephemer. "Please, keep going."

Brain nods before separating the little pile of books in his hands. "Question: Is the Daybreak Town we're in right now real or virtual?"

The guests of the memory floor wanted to say the obvious given their circumstances but needed to play along a bit more. However before either of them could speak, Ephemer gave a response. "It would make the most sense for this to be the real world."

"Right? But there are things happening here that shouldn't be."

"... So are we in the virtual world?" Goofy questioned, clearly unsure of it all.

The answer that they got didn't help with alleviating any of the confusion.

"I wish it were that clear." Brain sighs out. "Like Ephemer said, this should be the real world and yet those glitches are obviously a phenomenon that belongs to the virtual one."

"Then what's going on?" Donald impatiently asked, jumping up and down.

"Remember at the beginning I explained that this world is like a portal connecting to the future of worlds that already exist? That was the case until now. Somehow, it's connected to a place that doesn't exist in this world or time."

"What? How!?" Ephemer exclaimed.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know if this is all part of the plan or what." Brain crosses his arms. "All I know is that we know practically nothing about this new location."

"You and me both." Axel mutters, a sentiment shared with the rest of his friends. Not in regards to this "new location". Just the utter bewilderment of the entire situation and memory world they were in, a whole laundry list of questions that they need to write down by this point.

"I see." Skuld says hesitantly.

Brain walks over to the central computer and looks at the monitor. "I also know that the glitches started appearing once we connected to this place. It's impossible to completely sever the connection, but I did manage to stabilize it. We'll have to poke around to get some answers. It's the best way to find out what's going on."

If this is the case, the "guests" need to find the exit to this place soon or else they'll be trapped here forever.

"Alright, I'm in." Ephemer speaks up.

"I thought you might say that. While I appreciate the gesture, the leader should stay in case something happens." Brain looks over to the other Union leader and the guests. "I think one of you guys should scoop things out."

"Sounds fair. It's just like any other mission."

"Exactly."

"But it's too dangerous!"

"Nothing like we've handled before."

"All you need to do is secure the route, and I should be able to stabilize it so we can come and go as we please from this end. That way, the others will be able to join you later."

"Sounds simple enough."

"Question: who should go?"

"I should go." Ephemer says to Brain. "After all, you said I should stay, but I'm the leader so it's my decision to go."

"...If you must." Brain goes to the one console and begins working it. After a series of keystrokes, a portal appears nearby. It looks like a Dark Corridor, but it was more of a Light variant. "I've got the coordinates set. It's unstable, so you need to go now!"

Ephemer ran into the glitchy corridor. Some moments later, the portal disappeared from the control room.

"And what of us?" Riku asked.

"I need you all to help me out here."

AN

Hey everyone. Boy howdy, it has been a long, loooong while, hasn't it?

Well, what can we say other than this was… a bit of a weird chapter or rather, a hard one to do to a degree. Weird and hard.

First of all, we've been away for a while from here cuz Infinite Wars took up so much of our time, with the closing of Season 3, there's that.

We tried working on our other stories as frequently as we could but IW consumed our time.

Second, this was a hard arc to do because holy shit, it's Kingdom Hearts people. More importantly, Union X. Which means we need to watch a looooooot of lore and cutscene vids, even after we trimmed them all down.

Jebest4781: In the end, aside from doing a lot of compilation of what to do on this next segment of the story, we needed to filter out a lot and properly figure out what was necessary to use and cut out. Most of it was easy… the hard part was actually coming back onto this with the drive to write.

FMW: We basically needed the rest away from this story because when we started it, Jesus Christ, we fucking blew through the events of ME1 in a matter of a few weeks, literally. After that, it's been a sorta slow period cause we have other stories but we knew this period in between with KH2 and ME2 being the main point to strive to as the next big part of the story may take some time to get to. There's a lot of other stuff and setup we need to do to get there and going through this portion of the story is one we knew we would have to drudge through. And that creates lack of motivation.

Jeb: Hopefully 2024 will be a decent year to get back into the other stories and pop them out easier. Fingers crossed.

FMW: We have greater confidence that once we get around to finishing Castle Oblivion with… several other key chapters to write after this one, we can finally hop into ME2 and KH2 proper and go nuclear like we did when we first started this story.

Thanks for being patient everyone.

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