Chapter Twenty One: Sorcerer

Ansem Report 14

So rarely have I had time to contemplate, over the years I came ever closer to Kingdom Hearts.

But this moment of observation is as opportune as any.

Slowly my hold over the boy grows stronger, perhaps strong enough to survive an encounter with the princess of heart.

The empty husks bear no real threat to me, even as they grow their power.

And the one who defeated me with the keyblade is blind to the true scope of what is happening in this world, as well as its history.

I only need to call true heartless here in these memories. When they gather, I can use the power to reveal this castle's true secret.

Kairi breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the heartless in the marketplace burnt to a crisp. She wished she could have gotten right to catching up with her long lost friend. Unfortunately, Heartless didn't care about that, even in these memories. Still, Kairi had gotten good enough to handle the small fry easily enough, she turned to the pots in the corner and called out, "Alright, the coast is clear."

Peeking her head out from cover, Naminé slowly walked towards her. "Thanks Kairi. You're," she fidgeted for a moment before smiling and settled on, "pretty good."

"I've still got a long way to go." Some of the magic that Sora had learned with the keyblade was beyond what any of them had imagined on the islands. Still, she had to wonder exactly what Naminé had learned from her long journey. But then again, there was a bigger question behind all of that. "Speaking of a long way, how did you get from Destiny Islands all the way here?"

Naminé glanced to the side as she answered, "It's a long story. Years long." She folded her hands behind her back as she considered the best way to put it. "For now, let's just say I'm here because of who I am."

Kairi winced, and then asked the other question on her mind, "Did any of our parents know?" She remembered for years in the whispers of town hall, people asked about Naminé. Just as they wondered about Kairi's real world. Though once she vanished, nobody wanted to talk. Did Naminé leave the islands herself? Was she taken? Did she have a choice?

It brought to mind her own distant memories of her long lost home.

"It isn't something easy to guess. To be honest, I couldn't believe it either." Naminé sighed and looked down at one of her hands, then over to Kairi with a sad smile. "I'll tell you later, okay? When we're safe."

Kairi sighed and began to nod. "Yeah. Let's get to one of those warded rooms so we can figure this out." Whatever it was that Naminé found out, Kairi could tell it weighed heavily on her friend. It would be a lot easier to unpack when they didn't have to worry about heartless hanging over their head. So she began to walk further into the city of Agrabah

Naminé quickly jogged up next to her. "That's fine. Maybe you could talk about how you got here?"

Kairi chuckled and shook her head. "Same as you. It's a long story. It just started with me wanting to know where I came from, and Sora and Riku thought it'd just be a fun trip."

Naminé pursed her lips before asking, "How are Sora and Riku?"

Another complicated answer if Kairi wanted to get into the details. But at the very least, she knew what was important. "Right now, I know they're here, and they're in trouble."

Naminé shook her head with a sigh. "I guess some things never change." As the two of them reached the gates of Aghrabah's palace, Naminé came to a stop in the sand. "Do you," she began to ask as Kairi looked back at her, "do you still feel the same way about Sora?"

"Wait, what?" The question brought Kairi to a stop as she slowly turned to face Naminé "I mean, that's odd to just up and ask out of nowhere."

Naminé looked down to the ground, taking a step back and shuffling her feet in the sand. "Sorry. Over the years, I keep thinking back to us on the island, and I remember how happy you looked together and…"

Kairi nodded slowly, It was a simple question about how things were between them. Honestly, she could just answer with a yes or no.

But one word wasn't enough for how she felt about Sora now. Not after he had shown just how far he would go for her. Not after all the years they grew up together.

And especially not after she had seen what he had drawn in the cave. A wish that she had echoed in her heart

"It's different now," Kairi admitted as she slowly smiled. Warmth coming to her cheeks as she added, "I think it's changing for the better."

Naminé nodded, still not quite meeting her eyes. "I really do think you two deserve to be happy together."

While the sentiment was flattering, Kairi had to wonder what brought on the question from Naminé in the first place.

Then one idea came to her. "Is there someone who makes you happy Naminé?"

At the question, Naminé made a squeak-like gasp as she looked back at her. "M—Maybe? I'm not sure."

Kairi couldn't help a giggle, as she was fairly certain that there was someone in particular prompting Naminé's question. "Is it anyone I know?"

Naminé shook her head, though a smile was beginning to grow and her cheeks were growing pink."No, he's not."

Kairi leaned closer, asking, "Can you tell me his name?"

Naminé glanced around before nodding. "His name is—"

"Excuse me for interrupting this pointless conversation." And like that, the fun mood came to an abrupt halt. Kairi spun to face the speaker who seemed to be watching the two of them from the walkway above. Jafar extended a hand as he commanded, "But I'm afraid I must ask you to accompany me, princess."

Naminé moved behind Kairi as she held her keyblade in front of her and glared back. "Well, I'm afraid you're about to be disappointed."

From the rooftop of the palace gates, Zexion pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched the scene below. "As far as plans go, the depth of this one is disappointing." Jafar began by calling forth heartless, the group of shadows and thieves circling around Kairi and Naminé.

As one of the heartless' blades was parried by Kairi, Axel shrugged from his seat on the edge. "Okay, it's simple but effective." He pointed to Jafar cackling from his own seat as he spouted something about the Cave of Wonders and a lamp while Axel explained, "By getting Jafar's attention on Kairi, we let his memory go off the autopilot of 'Get the Princess of Heart'. He drops in heartless, keeps them busy, and we wait for the right moment."

Roxas leaned forward from their vantage point, eyes on Naminé as she retreated to a corner of the square for safety. Fortunately, the Heartless weren't as interested in her as they were in Kairi. Who called down a barrage of lightning all around.

Zexion watched the fight far below with a frown as the heartless dissolved before the electric attack, drumming his fingers on the parapet. "Assuming Naminé takes such an opportunity to rejoin us. The princess herself is capable enough that such an opportunity to leave unnoticed will be slim."

Axel held up a finger with a wink as he pointed to Jafar as he vanished into a dark portal of his own. "But we know they'll be guided to the Cave of Wonders."

Zexion's eyes widened before he relaxed and nodded with a smile. "Where there's plenty of secret passages there we can use to make an escape." He crossed his arms and looked out to the horizon as Kairi and Naminé began to run back to the gates of Agrabah. "Not a bad plan at all."

Roxas nodded, following most of Axel's plan. Even so, he was more focused on keeping an eye on Naminé and Kairi. Doing his best to keep track of them before they disappeared into the alleyways and alcoves of the city. Into some dark passageway—

His train of thought came to a screeching halt. "What if Ansem shows up?"

Axel waved a hand and chuckled, "We worry about that if he shows up."

"Well, start worrying." Roxas pointed to one shadowed passage in the distance. Ansem was watching Kairi and Naminé from the darkness. He glanced over to the three of them, smirked, and then vanished into the shadows.

"Yeah, that's something to worry about alright." Axel scratched the back of his neck as he conjured a dark portal. "Let's get to the Cave of Wonders before Ansem—"

"Sounds good!" Roxas ran in once the portal materialized. Darkness howled around him though the cloak kept it at bay. Somehow it seemed worse than the other times they used the portal. As if it was trying to eat away at him both inside and out. It was a pain unlike anything he'd experienced before.

But for Naminé's sake, he could bear it.

He stumbled out into a stone hallway, torches illuminating the chasm to one side of the hall. Axel jogged out from the dark portal and picked him up from the floor. "Kinda antsy today, Roxas."

Zexion sighed as he walked out from the portal."Remember, we must remain discreet and secretive against our enemies. If you go out in the open, we will only be able to assist you from the shadows as long as the princess is present."

Roxas called the keyblade to his grip as he began to watch over the caves, "Then I'll make up the difference myself."

Naminé wished she could have freely enjoyed the ride out from Agrahbah on the magic carpet with Kairi. Even with Jafar threatening to steal Genie's lamp from the cave of wonders, Kairi somehow found it within herself to smile during the carpet ride over. Unfortunately, her mission continued to weigh on her, and time was running short. Kairi had already managed to defeat the darkness possessed cave, and now the two of them had begun to descend into the depths.

Steadying herself on the wall lest she trip and fall into the depths on the other side of the passage, Naminé reviewed her options. She knew that this Jafar wasn't a real threat to her. If she wanted, she could manipulate the memory directly and have him leave her and Kairi alone, no questions asked. But she needed some kind of distraction, some way Kairi could be kept busy long enough for her to make contact before escaping. Though there were plenty of secret passages higher up along the hallway walls, she had no way to reach them. The only way out was down below where the underground river ran.

Though honestly, she wished she didn't have to do any of this. Having to lie to Kairi after she had treated her like a friend turned the pain in herself into something torturous. Even if the current plan was somewhat better than what Marluxia and Larxene first had in mind, Kairi didn't deserve to be lied to.

Of course, she wasn't sure lying would help her get a chance to hold Kairi's keyblade when they were still in danger. If they weren't fighting heartless, then the weapon was dismissed out of sight. The only idea she could think of to get her hands on it was waiting until they found a safe room to try and convince Kairi to let her see it. Unfortunately, those weren't so easy to come by in the middle of the world like this. And the Organization might do something drastic to keep her prisoner.

The worst part was that she could feel her own keyblade was so close now that she had seen Kairi's. But it still seemed out of reach. What was she still missing? She couldn't help a momentary mutter of, "Where is it?"

"Looking for something?" A bit too loudly, it seems, as Kairi had stopped to look back at her.

Naminé began to glance around the cave of wonders before shaking her head, "Just keeping an eye out for heartless." It was a little flimsy, but as good of a reason as any.

"For where there is light there is also darkness." Only for a familiar voice to cause terror to set in.

Kairi pulled out her keyblade in a flash as she began to tremble. "It can't be! You're dead!"

"Darkness never truly dies." From the dark end of the hall, stepped out Ansem, his arms outstretched as he greeted with a smirk, "So good to see you once again princess."

Kairi grimaced for a moment before her eyes widened and she thought aloud, "Wait, if you're still alive," Then she began to call out to the figure, "Riku! Riku are you still there!?"

He simply chuckled and began to call darkness to his hands. "You waste your time. I have re-established control over the boy, and your voice will not—!" But then he began to choke on his words, darkness fading as he began to stumble. "No! How can you still resist!?"

Another voice spoke as Ansem's form began to flicker. Each time it vanished the body was almost replaced by Riku's as he growled out with each change, "You. Won't. Hurt her!"

"But I can still call on others who are more than willing!" Darkness began to radiate off Ansem, and soon Darkballs coalesced around Kairi and Naminé.

"Hide! I'll take care of them."At Kairi's shout, Naminé nodded and ran behind one of the pillars. Yet that one word stuck with her like a piece of ice. Hide. That's all she seemed to be able to do ever since she woke up in Castle Oblivion. To be at the mercy of the strong while her friends fought to help.

She could hardly stand it.

Kairi was batting away the Darkballs well enough, each slice of the keyblade pushing the creatures back as she leapt through the air. She tried to get closer to the struggling Ansem. But in a flash, almost all of the heartless teleported to defend their master. Kairi began to pelt them with bolts of ice, the heartless trying to slow her advance.

"Guardian," Ansem managed to growl as a dark figure manifested behind him. He pointed a finger towards the two of them, and commended, "Capture them!"

As the guardian rushed forward, Kairi aimed with her keyblade and shot a pearl of light into the crowd of heartless. The explosion vaporized the Darkballs in an instant, and caused Ansem to step back, reeling at the light.

But the guardian was phased only for a moment, dodging Kairi's keyblade at the last second. Swiftly slithering along the hallway floor, it moved past Kairi to the pillar where Naminé was hiding. It pulled it's fist back ready to demolish the stone column as Kairi lept to strike its back. "No, Naminé!"

"NAMINÉ!"

A familiar voice that shouted her name was the only warning before someone in a black cloak jumped from one of the passages above. Just as Kairi struck the guardian's back Roxas brought his keyblade down on the heartless. It groaned in pain before retreating back to Ansem.

For a moment, Roxas and Kairi stared at each other as they both caught their breaths. Naminé was almost certain that Kairi whispered something as she saw Roxas' face.

'Sora?'

"You come to face me again so soon after our last encounter?" Ansem chuckled as the guardian rose behind him. Pulling back its arms, the guardian sent a wave of magic towards the three of them. Kairi and Roxas held up their keyblades to block, but the magic sent them flying back. Kairi was knocked against the wall, while Roxas tumbled towards the edge leading further underground. "If you are this foolish, then I shall end your misbegotten existence!"

"No!" Naminé cried out and ran towards Roxas, holding out her arms in front of the Guardian. "I won't let you hurt him!" She clenched her eyes as the heartless advanced, raising it's fist. She tried to think of something she could do. Anything! Some kind of magic or power.

As she closed her eyes, she saw it again. Kairi's keyblade.

Her keyblade.

She reached out to it.

Why did she seek it?

That she could have the strength to protect the one she loved.

That she could stand by his side.

She wanted it with all her hear—

A flash. A clash of steel and shadow. She felt something in her hand quake against the impact. She opened her eyes and saw it. A keyblade identical to Kairi's own. But instead of the color that came with the vines and flowers entwined around the blade, it was a mix of black, white, and grey. As if it was taken from an old photograph.

But even so, as it held back the Guardian's blow, she knew it was real. Naminé pushed back against it, and managed a small bit of distance between her and the heartless. Not a lot of space, but it was enough for her to start casting balls of fire against it.

Kairi looked at her in amazement as the Guardian retreated back to Ansem. "Naminé? You've got a keyblade?"

She glanced back to Roxas who began to smile as he managed to get to his feet. "I knew you could do it."

Those words finally made Naminé realize what she was able to do. She really had it. A keyblade of her own! Though it was a bit strange that she hadn't needed to touch Kairi's keyblade, she couldn't bring herself to care. Not when she was able to do this.

"Impressive." Ansem's voice spoiled the mood as he began to float forward. "Perhaps you can surpass my expectations after aaaHGH!" His speech came to an abrupt end as a pearl of light from Kairi caused him to seize up. Pointing her keyblade at him, she shot a beam of light at Ansem and again he began to flicker between the image of himself and Riku. "Light?! You dare try to contain me!?"

Kairi struggled to maintain the magic, crying out,"For my friends, I'd dare anything!" Yet as she spoke, the beam began to flicker, as if the spell would break at any moment.

"Then perhaps," Ansem struggled to retort as he lifted one of his hands, "you should choose which of your friends matters more!" In a flash, he managed to fire a bolt of darkness towards Roxas and Naminé. Though she was able to block it, the blast knocked the two of them into the depths of the cave.

She winced as she heard Kairi call her name as both of them fell. Even though she didn't really lie to succeed, she was still used to hurt someone who cared.

The two hit the river with an echoing splash. Both of them managed to right themselves and tread water. Roxas floating over to her once he had gotten his bearing and asking, "Are you alright?"

"I'd say you're more than alright!" The sound of darkness and Axel's voice got their attention as they looked to the walkway where he and Zexion had appeared. Axel kneeled down and offered a hand to them. "Gotta say, you had me worried there. But you managed to pull it off! Congrats Naminé!"

"Indeed," Zexion spoke with a smile as he helped get both of them out of the water, "With this power in hand, we can unequivocally call this mission a success." Reaching into his pockets, he offered Naminé the black coat she used to arrive through the dark corridor. "Naminé, if you would prepare for our departure?"

She quietly nodded as she took the robe and began to put it on. She just knew that she would be wearing this outfit a lot more in the coming days. One more number added to the Organization.

But as Roxas glanced over to her with a lopsided smile as Axel conjured the dark portal out, that rumination weighed less on her. "Thank you for looking out for me."

Zipping up the coat, she smiled back at him and answered. "And thank you for believing in me."

Roxas couldn't help a spring in his step as they walked into the portal back up. Seeing Naminé call upon a keyblade of her own made him proud. Maybe now she could really be treated with the respect she deserved.

But as they arrived in one of the rooms with the crystal ball, Roxas's hope faltered at the sight of Larxene slowly clapping with a bored look on her face. "Well whoop-de-doo! She figured out how to get a keyblade. Finally, some good news!" She stopped her fake applause and pointed to Roxas with a grin. "Now for some bad news. We want to evaluate you."

Roxas could tell that whatever she had in mind was going to be far from pleasant as he asked, "Evaluate me? How?"

Rolling her eyes, Larxene groaned and shouted, "You're supposed to fight Kairi rucksack! Can't you remember the only thing you're good at?!"

While the concept was simple enough to him, the test didn't sit very well with Roxas. Kairi had fought to keep Naminé safe, and from what he could tell, she made her happy. He definitely didn't want to hurt her any more than he had to. Honestly, he didn't want to hurt her at all.

If Larxene was considering any of this, she didn't show it as she conjured another dark portal. "If you can't give the princess a run for her money, then you have no hope against Sora." As Axel and Zexion stepped forward, she held out a hand before they could say a word. "And Marluxia's decided you aren't getting help this time."

Axel clicked his tongue and shook his head with a scowl. "Sorry. Can't go against Marluxia's orders."

Zexion looked to the portal and then to Roxas before answering firmly, "For what it's worth, I believe you have a chance."

Just a chance, huh? For much of his mission, the odds were against him. What was one more risk? He walked towards the portal leading back down.

"Good luck, Roxas."

Only to stop at Naminé's words, a smile came to him. If it was for a chance to see her again, he'd face whatever was ahead. He began to answer, "Th—."

"Don't blow it." Unfortunately, Larxene wouldn't let him get one word in before sending him into the darkness again.