nsem growled softly, running his fingers through the tresses of his locks. A migraine was building in his head. First his identity was compromised. Now the computer was on the fritz. What was to happen next? He leaned into his crossed fingers, elbows propped on the fat, half-moon desk, a sigh bellowing from deep in his lungs.
Through the walls of the castle, the springtime calls of birds melodiously tempted him. Give up! They cried. Let it go! Come outside!
His research would be the death of him, he determined. He adjusted himself, wiping the edges of his golden beard down. A glance was spared to the hearts floating in their containment chamber, glimmering softly with radiant promises. The pages of his notebooks were filled with rambling and frustration, weighed down by cups of coffee and spare popsicle sticks. He leaned back, facing the ceiling, and let out a garroting groan, tightly shutting his eyes, "What now...?"
Fate was quick to answer his question. Footsteps echoed in the hall, Ansem braced himself for any possibility. The door opened, an a disgruntled face with a sour expression entered the room, changing the atmosphere from awful to utter dismay.
Ansem's brow tightened hard, "I told you not to disrupt me, Charles."
"This is going nowhere Master." Charles sneered. A young lad, barely twenty-five with a scraggly excuse of a beard lining his square jaw. He had sharp, dark dagger-like eyes and short, dark hair tied into a tight topknot. The uniform of their scientists seemed baggy on his unusually skinny body. His hands slammed onto the desk, disrupting stacks of papers and jiggling glass tubing, "This experiment is a folly. Why even attempt something this dangerous? We have no idea what someone affected so deeply by darkness will be capable of."
Ansem bit his tongue, maintaining patience, "We are close to finding answers, Charles. We cannot stop this now."
"This is wrong! That man…that Master of Masters…what do we even know of his intentions? He could be plotting our downfall with this!" He exclaimed, balling his hand into a fist.
"We already infused it with the Subject X infusion, per request. You do know she is an infant, correct? She will have no worldly clue of her origins. This is simply a test, to see how light can work alongside the darkness."
"You will destroy us all."
"Charles, I understand you are worried." And he had every right to be. He was fresh into marriage. Karen had recently given birth to their first daughter. Their plans were already beginning to fall apart. Any day now, there would be cracks forming in their foundations. It was hard enough dealing with the fact that Xehanort had created heartless of their former students and guards.
Ansem rubbed his temple, "But please. Have some faith in my process. This may well be a beginning to discovering how we can truly balance the light and the darkness. No need for Kingdom Hearts. No need for shadows to take over."
"Ridiculous! This will take years. And that man of all people to clone! Why him? You know what he's done. Even Ienzo..."
The mention of their smallest student left the room quiet. Charles continued with a wince, "You know what he's trying to do! Even now he plots against us! If they get hold of this girl..."
"First the King, and now you." Ansem nearly balled his fist but remained stoic, "Fine. Do what you want with the girl. But I warn you now, your attempts to prevent the inevitable will only hasten your worst fears."
Charles' eyes widened with realization. He hadn't began to think things through if he had gotten his way. The implications were immense. He gnashed his teeth hard, swiping his arm out, "You're a fool. You'll see. I'm keeping your kingdom safe! And the Realm of Light. We can't have another incident. Now after…"
A recollection of events filled his eyes. Seeing his comrades fallen at the hands of that man. He had nearly been torn apart from his own heart. Now the beings lurked in the shadows, beginning their plotting.
His shoulders bristled, raised to his ears. Ansem the Wise said nothing, only gazing on in with intense focus, his countenance difficult to interpret.
There were no more words. Charles gave a final scoff, turning around and opening the door. He took one last glance back, ensuring Ansem would not change his stance. Indeed, he remained at his desk, bowing his head in defeat.
Charles felt rage still bubbling in the darkest corners of his soul. His heart bounded against his ribs, slamming over and over as his pulse screamed in his ears. Dark bags had formed under his eyes, his skin sallower. He shut the door and entered the hallway, back arched and gaze focused ahead, vision nearly tunneling. It would be the last he saw of his mentor.
Within Radiant Garden's confines, the remnants of the last experiments remained in their confinement chambers. Hearts floating in tubes. Shadows ready to burst. Any day, Charles knew that the walls of their home would crumble and fall to the darkness. Getting rid of the strongest shadow here, the infant girl, would resolve much of that grief, if not stop the oncoming destruction ahead.
She had her own dedicated room. It was almost like a nursery. The walls were painted soft pink with gentle white outlines. Pictures of castles made of simple shapes were lovingly detailing its otherwise blank space. Ansem's eyes had sparkled the day he announced his success, like a proud father. So much hope had been placed into this creation. Even a plaque labeled the door: Our Future.
The artificial womb sat at its center. It was a strange device. The membrane over its surface was thick, unable to be perceived through a haze of odd fluid. Tubes and monitors displayed various developmental milestones and possibilities. It could transform into a cradle when the time was right. A soft, egg-shaped chair sat among the dozens of plush animals.
Despite all this, her name was still yet to come.
Charles felt his hands shaking, a watering forming at his eyes. It looked almost exactly like Maymie's room. Something persisted within, worming its way onto the surface, coaxing him to type his password out on the security lock.
The artificial womb began to beep. It was three days until her arrival date, intended to be August 20th. He confirmed access and stepped back as something within churned, sputtering. The fluids drained, the machine itself began to lay flat. The cover exposed, and within lay the tiny, sleeping girl with dark skin and fuzzy, dark hair. She was swaddled already, protected.
Charles felt sweat bead down his neck as her eyes opened, exposing the damning yellow orbs. She cooed as she reached up, and he felt his finger being grabbed by her small yet terrible strength. Tears began to spill from his eyes, gripping the side of his face. "Why…why do you have to be…so small…?"
He sobbed as his head crashed to his chest, saying a silent prayer as he began to connect his own portable machine together. It had been something they had developed together, a way to tear hearts apart in the last-ditch effort to stop the Heartless, compared often to a self-destruct button. Something once upon a time, only Keyblade wielders could ever do.
Through his sorrow, he kept his mantra going. "This is for the greater good. She is a threat to all of us. You saw what happened to the others. It will happen again. Nothing good can come of this. I have to put a stop to it now."
He attached the device to her chest as she giggled and kicked away at the blanket. "While she still cannot be affected by light or darkness. The time is right. Please forgive me, little one."
Just as he flipped the device on, a pang of regret wracked his every nerve. Her heart, a red jewel, floated out so effortlessly. One by one the pieces began to break from it, like red crystals, until they piled into his hands. When it was done, she still moved but her eyes had dulled. She made much less noise.
He could feel the intense power, raw and unfettered within these shards. Each one of them alone was so capable of such great destruction. Charles froze, realization hitting him. He was unsure of what to do now, biting his lip with intense thought. "What now…?" He begged, trying to fish for an answer in a sea of insecurity.
There was a slight tug of thought. There were two friends, close colleagues of his. Damien and Emerald Hallow, another freshly married pair.
Damien was hot blooded, a brotherly bond had quickly started between the two. Emerald was blank-faced, but still had a talent in the ways of magic, incorporating it into her own studies of the heart.
They were two of a few who agreed to be alongside Charles once he graduated from his studies and created his own laboratory in the distant future. He would entrust two of the shards to them. But what of the other five?
"I'll scatter them to the remains of the Realm of Light. Let them go into the confines of space. Then, there shall be no more worry of any close connection."
But there remained the actual body. She was still living, and still needed care. A grim potential entered him. "My brother, Kenji." He simply told her. "You can live with him and Rose. They have been…having difficulties starting a family. I will start there."
He scooped up her poorly moving body, the form crying softly as it was brought into the comparatively chilled air. Charles watched her languid movement, clutching her tight as he tucked her into his white robes, making his way to the hangar.