The update took a while, I know. But it wasn't without some new info for you guys.

Now that I'm back to writing KH content, I've been coming up with new ideas and new ways to expand this AU. When I canceled "Warriors", I had already planned to take some of the plot points that I had come up with and implement them here. But this is different. Rather than that, I've come up with two (maybe three) new stories that fit into this AU.

Also, a bit of a surprise. To all of my readers who also read "Warriors", do any of you fine guys, gals, and all other pals remember Skyler? Well, while I won't spoil anything else, I will say that she's coming back. How? You'll have to wait to find out. (this is the part where I was gonna make another Marvel reference and say like "Sky will return in "blank story"", but maybe another time haha)

Anyways, enough rambling. Let's keep going.

Chapter X - Kingdom Hearts

Play: Sacred Moon - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Kirux was not allowed to leave the castle during his recovery time, but he didn't go without trying to sneak out. There were multiple days when he would try to summon a corridor to leave, but he would always end up right back in his room at the castle.

He didn't know if the other members were manipulating his corridors or something, but nothing he did would get him out of that room or the castle in general.

Although he was not able to leave the castle, he did still have free reign of it all. The library was at least well stocked with material that could keep him entertained. Occasionally, he'd run into Luxord skimming over books about card games and strategies. While Kirux wasn't "friends" with him, he was always up for an interesting conversation. Kirux didn't forget to thank him for treating his injuries, as well.

Another bright side was Xion. To her word, she was at his side whenever she wasn't out on missions. She would check his injuries, do whatever she needed, and then they would spend their time chatting together over sea-salt ice cream. Xion would tell him about the missions she went on and whatever may have happened at the clock tower that day with Roxas and Axel (who also did come check on him on days when he didn't leave his room). It wasn't the same, but it was better than nothing at all.

It had given him and Xion time to grow closer as friends, and for that, Kirux was thankful.

…

Eventually, the three weeks were finally up. Kirux woke up that morning feeling great, the best he had felt in a while.

As he walked through the halls, his mind raced through various thoughts. What kind of world he'd be going to see, how nice it would be to finally go back up to the clock tower with his friends.

And most of all, what would happen if he had run into Riku again?

It was then that his grin faded, and his walk slowed.

The whole ordeal with Riku was still fresh in his mind. From their fight (which had hardly felt like a fight due to how badly Riku had beaten him) up to the end, when he had been sent away again.

There was only one thing that Kirux just couldn't understand. Despite everything: the fact that he was his doppelgänger, their whole fight, and Kirux's general apathetic nature towards him and his objective, Riku still wanted Kirux to work with him.

And that was the part that Kirux could not figure out, not now and not anytime before in the last few weeks.

That didn't even answer the other questions he had. What did Roxas and Xion have to do with this "Sora" character? Better yet, who was Sora, and what made him so special? Yeah, he was supposedly the "chosen" Keyblade wielder (according to Riku), but Roxas and Xion both had Keyblades. What made Sora so special?

Kirux had way too many questions and not nearly enough answers, and yet all Riku probably would give him is a "you wouldn't understand" if he wanted to ask anymore. Not that he would, given their last encounter.

But by the time his head was wrapping itself around these thoughts again, he had reached the Grey Area and smiled when he saw a familiar face, one that had become his favorite familiar face.

...

...

...

When he walked in, Xion immediately ran up to greet him.

"There you are. I've been waiting for you to get off your butt."

"You were the one who kept me in that place for the last three weeks. If anything, it's your fault."

"Watch it, or I'll tell Saïx that you haven't fully recovered yet."

"Hehe, please don't."

Xion giggled at him as they approached Saïx, who remained in his normal place, staring into the night sky. The two of them reached him, and he didn't bother to turn and face them.

"It is good to see you back on your feet, Kirux. Have you fully recovered from your injuries?"

Kirux nodded, "Yep, I'm all revved up and ready to roll."

"Good. There's been a development in Hollow Bastion. I'm sending the two of you to investigate it."

And just like that, Kirux's mood immediately soured, "Not again..."

Saïx finally turned his head, "You will not be investigating the castle this time. There is a new area I need you two to look into."

He put his arm up and summoned a dark corridor, continuing, "Proceed through here and take the closest lift. From there, move forward until you reach your target. It will be marked with an emblem."

With that, he waved his arm towards the corridor.

Kirux and Xion looked at each other, the former shrugging lightly before entering the corridor together.

Stop: Sacred Moon - Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Play: Hollow Bastion - Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

Kirux and Xion exited the corridor to the sound of the howling wind. When Kirux took the time to examine their new surroundings, he noticed that they were at the castle of Hollow Bastion.

Only this time, they were in a different area. Somewhere that not even he had been.

"Huh, this is a new part of the castle."

"A "new" part?" Xion questioned him.

He turned to her, "Believe it or not, I haven't been up here before. At least, not to this part of the castle."

He looked around, seeing a lift gate and an opening in the wall nearby, "Looks like we just haven't taken the lift up here yet."

Xion walked over to the ledge with him, looking out over the horizon, "Well, Saïx said to take the closest lift. Should we head over there?"

"That would take us right back into the castle though. He said we're investigating somewhere else."

He then looked along the ledge and saw a lift tower to their left. The blue light on the top was shining brightly.

"That's probably the one we've gotta take. I am curious about where it's gonna take us, though."

The two of them walked over to the tower, and Kirux reached up and touched the light on the lift. The color changed to yellow, and soon a lift appeared for them.

Kirux motioned for Xion to enter, saying "Ladies first".

"Did you teach yourself manners while you were on bed rest?"

"Hey, I've always known manners."

The two stepped onto the lift, and it soon was moving along its rail.

...

...

...

Kirux watched as the lift took them away from the castle, watching as it grew smaller and the lift took them away.

"You know," he said, leaning against the railing of the lift as Xion gazed into the distance, "You said last time we were here that you wanted to explore the areas outside of the castle. Well, looks like your wish was granted."

He turned towards her, as she had her arms resting on the railing, with her chin laying on top, and was looking off into the distance.

She gave him a "Yeah, I guess,"

It was at that point that Kirux found himself...staring at her. Much like he had been when the two of them first met, he seemingly could not take his eyes off of her.

"Damn, she's pretty..." he thought to himself.

And he immediately changed that thought to "looks pretty...tired. Man, she must have not gotten enough sleep last night."

With that crisis averted, he said, "You guess?"

"I wanted to go out there, but not because Saïx told us to."

He stood up straight, sliding his hands into his coat pockets, "Whaddya mean by that?"

"I wanted to go explore the world, just to...y'know, explore. Day in and day out, we go to worlds, do our jobs, and go back home. Don't you ever want to just walk around and meet some of the locals they tell us to avoid? Learn more about the worlds we go to? Just...do more than work?"

She looked over at him, "Do you get what I'm saying?"

For a second, Kirux wished that she had not looked at him, because all of those thoughts were starting to come back.

"She's so...man, pretty may not be enough to describe it."

As much as Kirux didn't like it, he couldn't get rid of these thoughts of...whatever it was. Maybe he should ask Axel about it later.

For now, though, he just shrugged and said, "I guess so. If you want, then...maybe one day, we can do that. It doesn't have to be here. We can go wherever you want."

After hearing that, she smiled at him, saying, "Thank you. I'd like that a lot."

"Ahhhhhhhh she needs to stop doing that."

...

The lift finally reached its destination, stopping on the side of a cliff of blue rock.

Kirux was the first to step off, with Xion immediately following behind him.

"Is this place what he wanted us to investigate?"

Xion shook her head, "I don't think so. Remember, he said it would be marked by some sort of emblem."

"Well, in that case, let's get going. It can't be too far."

And with that, they set off.

...

After a good while of walking through blue rocks and cliffsides, they reached a small clearing with a curvy road leading down to a river. The river flowed to the castle that they had just left.

Kirux looked down the road, examining it and the river as far as he could see. And then, he looked to his side and saw an emblem on the side of the cliff.

It was in the shape of the Organization's logo. Kirux grabbed it, ripping it out of the cliffside.

"Well, we found the emblem, but..."

He looked around again, "I don't see anything of importance here."

"That's because you aren't looking well enough."

Xion stepped up and pointed out, "Look, you see that?"

Kirux looked again, this time to where she was pointing.

And he saw them. Boats, on the riverside.

"Are those...boats?"

"Yep. Looks like they're being used to head into the castle."

"But...by who?"

Xion crossed her arms, "I'm not sure. Maybe there's a camp nearby?"

"Probably, but..." he said as he looked towards the sky, "It's gonna get dark soon. We should probably head back home for now. Let's come back tomorrow and do some more scouting."

"Okay."

Stop: Hollow Bastion - Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

As Kirux and Xion were walking through the halls, they ran into Roxas and Axel.

"There you two are. We've been looking for you." Axel said as they all converged together.

"Huh? What for?"

"The big boss is calling for us to the Altar. Says there's a big announcement. Now come on."

Despite their confused looks at one another, Kirux and Xion followed the two of them to the top of the castle.

Once they had arrived, they noticed all of the other members were there, including Xemnas. They were all gathered together.

At one point, Kirux leaned over to whisper to Xion, "What do you think this is about?"

She whispered back, "I don't know. We're about to find out."

...

...

...

Finally, Xemnas spoke, "My fellow Nobodies, rejoice...for this is a momentous occasion."

He lifted his head towards the sky, "Look to the stars..."

Play: Organization XIII - Kingdom Hearts II

They all looked at the stars, and they finally saw it.

Something new had appeared in the sky. A large, heart-shaped moon now loomed over the castle. Its light gazed down at them all.

Kirux could only stare in awe as Xemnas's speech began, "The time has arrived."

He put his arms up, "And at long last, we see before us the great collection of hearts. Hearts full of rage...hate...sadness...and bliss. Shining down upon us is the crystallization of all hearts - Kingdom Hearts."

"There, in the sky, hangs the promise of a new world," Xemnas continued, as he lowered his arms and turned back to the rest of the members, "My friends! Let us gain further power, to conquer the human heart, and reclaim it as our own. Let us remember why we are here and what we hope to achieve. Hearts shall be gathered, and made our own. Hearts shall never again have power over us."

Xemnas finally finished his speech and turned his gaze back to Kingdom Hearts. Over time, the members would all disperse.

But not Kirux. He continued to look into the sky.

"Kingdom Hearts...gathered and made our own..."

...

He put his hand over his chest, "If I have to fight to gain a heart of my own, then..."

He clenched his hand, "I'll give it everything I have. For my heart-to-be, and my friends."

Kind of a lackluster ending and chapter, if you ask me. I hope you all will enjoy it though.

Hope you all are excited about the new content I have planned. I'll see you all soon.

Until next time.

-Broncozfan623