Chapter 5: Ansem

The castle looked even bigger close up than from above it. I definitely wouldn't want to cross the guy that lived here.

Two guards stood at the foot of the door to the inside. Both looked like humans I wouldn't want to mess with or else I'll get a lance in my face.

"Do you think the people here will be able to help me, Sora?"

Sora looked over at me with a smile of reassurance.

"I'm sure they will," Sora said. "They're practically our best bet at this point."

I still couldn't help but gulp as we drew closer to the guards. Usually, I'm using stealth or disguise when I wanted to get in somewhere. But through the front door with nothing, it made me nervous.

"Who's this?" the long haired guy with the lance questioned, pointing his weapon at me.

"Dilan, this is Sly. He's a friend," Sora explained. "We need to speak with Ansem the Wise."

"It's on urgent matters," King Mickey added. I forgot the king knew this wise person. And, truthfully, you can't say "no" to a king affiliated with your ruler.

"Urgent matters? Well, if it's that important, I'm going to have to trust you, Sora."

With that said, the two guards then proceeded to step aside from the castle's door.

"All of you may enter," Dilan, the long haired man weilding the lance, said.

The doors opened slowly. We all go in and I stayed close to Sora just in case.

"This is an unusual, new companion of yours," a creepy voice commented. Nearby was a long haired man and a younger, dark haired guy with bangs over his right eye nearby. Both of them wore lab coats.

"Here to see Ansem, Even," Sora said.

How wise is Ansem really? I need to get a lead on Yen Sid soon, otherwise my home may be gone.

"You wish to speak with Ansem, you say?" the dark haired guy said. "For what reason would that be, if I may ask?"

"It's a bit of a long story, Ienzo," King Mickey replied. "However, to keep it short and simple, it's extremely important that we speak to him as soon as possible."

"We can tell by the looks on your faces that this is a rather urgent matter for all of you," Even, the long haired man, said.

"In that case, we'd be happy to escort you to Ansem if you'd like," said the younger male, Ienzo.

"We'd greatly appreciate it," his Majesty said. "Thank you."

The two led us down a tall hallway. Eventually, we came to a study. An elderly man in robes and slight greeting blonde hair was seated in the center with a pen in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other.

"Visitors, Our Lord," Even announced with a bow along with Ienzo.

"So that is Ansem, Sora? I'm guessing you've known him for a while."

"Yep, that's definitely him, Sly," Sora said. So, that man's the one and only Ansem the Wise I've been hearing about, huh? I could tell by just looking at him that he does give off a vibe of intelligence.

Ansem looked up from his work and for a split second appeared to meet my eyes. He truly had an air of wisdom around him.

"Pleasure to see you, everyone," he greeted. Wow, even his voice sounded wise.

"Hello, Ansem," King Mickey greeted. "We came here because we need to get to Yen Sid's tower. We were hoping you would have an idea on what the key to the tower might be."

"If you need to see Yen Sid, it must be urgent. Might it be related to this man here?" He must be meaning me.

"My name is Sly," I greeted.

"Sly? An interesting name. Not a name that would be common in the nearby worlds."

"That's why we need to see Yen Sid, Ansem," Riku replied. "Sly is not from any of the worlds any of us had previously discovered." Ansem looked a bit surprised.

"Surely, you don't mean... he could from the outside?"

"The outside?" Goofy questioned.

"Not meaning worlds that are not this one specifically. I'm into research on this and I found something very mysterious."

Ansem stood up - wow, he's tall for an elderly guy - and went up to a cabinet and pulled out a file. For the first time since I got here, I realized I couldn't read the written language in these worlds. I'd never seen words like them before.

"The worlds you have been to... are just a small fraction of our universe." The wise man handed the file to King Mickey. "I've theorized that these worlds are within a barrier that keep them closed from the thousands of others."

"So there are even more worlds?" Sora asked.

"Many more, Sora. More than can be counted. I suspect that possibly, Sly is from a world outside of the barrier. That is why you had never encountered his world before." All this talk about barriers made me think of the crazy dimension adventure and how we had to go through barriers in time and space to different universes.

"Do you think Yen Sid will help me get home, Ansem? Last time I was home, a Heartless attack started, and that worries me."

As soon as I mentioned the Heartless, I noticed Ansem's body tense up a bit. Is he also familiar with the Heartless?

"The Heartless have appeared in your world, Sly?" the wise man asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, and I have been told that if we don't hurry back to my world, the Heartless will use the opportunity to destroy it. That's why we need to go to Yen Sid's Tower."

"Yen Sid will be someone to seek. I have only made a small breakthrough to the discovery of the barriers. So with that, it's as far as I can help."

Heartless... Traveling through space... and time... I really need to get home and see if good old Mother Earth is hanging in there!

"Um, Sly?" I heard Sora call. I looked at him for a moment before noticing the glowing from my satchel. I reached in and pulled out two things: the committed card and the strange jewel. They seemed to be reacting to each other or something.

What is going on with this jewel? And how could Sora have found one so similar?

I looked at everyone else in the room and needless to say, the expressions that they were making on their faces pretty much looked exactly like the one I was making. Even Ansem himself had a look of surprise on his face.

"Uh, are these things supposed to be glowing like that?" I asked out of confusion. This is getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"The card possibly, but the gem," Kairi answered.

"I believe you have already brought the answer to what you're looking for," Ansem said. I could hear the slightest hint of humor in his voice.

Was it me, or did I feel a tingle in the hand that was holding my cane? Not that I was able to tell anyone before Sora summoned his Keyblade. My card lifted itself from my hand and was floating in the air. The tip of Sora's Keyblade glowed and he looked like he was in a trance for a moment. When I looked up, I could swear that I saw the thin outline of a keyhole and the sound of something unlocking.

A moment later, the card came back down to my hand.

"There! We now have access to Master Yen Sid's tower!" Sora announced. He seemed unaffected by the trance.

I said, "Then let's get going. We don't have much time."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. I may not have known what just happened, but what I do know is that we can't waste any time getting to Yen Sid's tower. Who knows how long we have until the Heartless manage to destroy my world.

"Sly," Ansem called. "I will suggest that you and Sora be careful."

I could tell by Sora's face that he was just as confused as I was.

"Inhabitants of worlds in different barriers aren't supposed to cross paths unless it is an urgent purpose. So Heartless should not be in your world... unless the barriers were damaged."

"Damaged?" I didn't like the sound of that.

"The Heartless must've sensed the hearts of the worlds in your respective barrier and spilled into it. That's how the Heartless got there."

That didn't ease me that my gang would be alright for a little longer.

"Go. Meet with Yen Sid and find your way home."

"Thank you for your help," I replied.

"When I get home, I'm probably going to need your help getting rid of the Heartless, Sora."

"You can definitely bet that I'll do whatever I can to help your world out, Sly! In fact, all of us will!" Sora said with a beaming smile on his face.

In response, I gave Sora a smile of my own. It was nice knowing that him and his friends were willing to help me chase away the Heartless from my world once we got there.

I could tell from a single look that every one of them was very powerful and had the power to defeat Heartless.

"Alright, back to the ship everyone," King Mickey ordered. As we started filing out of the study, I had to scratch the back of my right hand. Why was it slightly itching like this, like something was being burned onto my fur?

End Chapter