#kh fics

“Thank Naminé…” Sora whispered to himself as he found himself slowly slipping out of yet another one of Roxas’ memories. In a sense, it was like waking up from a distant, yet nostalgic dream, blurring the fine line between memory and reality just as much as his own image tended to blur between himself and his Nobody. Despite the fact that he had largely grown accustomed to this nearly constant flux in and out of a past that wasn’t even his, Sora couldn’t deny that it still felt rather disorienting, perhaps even a bit deceptive. For as he stole another glance up at the window of the stately, yet silent mansion before them, he found that, unlike what Roxas’ memories had shown him, Naminé was—unsurprisingly but still disappointingly—nowhere to be found.

“Did ya say somethin’, Sora?” Goofy asked, glancing back at the Keybearer.

“Hm?” Sora shook his head, finally fully grounding himself back into the present. “Uh… no. I was just… um…” He trailed off, finding himself at an odd loss for words. Something that had been happening more often than usual, he realized.

“Did you see another one of Roxas’ memories?” Donald inferred curiously.

“Y-yeah!” Sora nodded. “Well… at least that’s what it was this time…” he muttered to himself, briefly recalling the ominous voice that had pulled against his heart mere moments ago.

“What do you mean this time?” the magician asked, aptly suspicious as he happened to overhear the Keybearer.

“Oh, uh, nothing!” Sora said, forcing a calm laugh to allay his confused companions before quickly changing the subject back to the mansion before them. “So… what do you think, guys? This place is even creepier than I remember.”

“Well, they do say this mansion is haunted…” Goofy noted as Donald cringed with clear fear at the very thought.

“Haunted, huh…?” Sora repeated, largely to himself as he looked up to the large window once more. He was hardly superstitious in light of everything he’d seen and experienced, but as he thought back to that sinister voice and the frightening affect it had on him, he couldn’t help but wonder if those ghostly rumors maybe held some merit after all.

The already on-edge trio was even more set off the moment something happened to lightly skim the Keybearer’s shoulder from behind. Sora nearly summoned his Keyblade, Donald and Goofy likewise loudly panicking alongside him as they all quickly spun around, only to find an equally startled Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing behind them.

“Yeesh…” Sora huffed, suppressing a sigh of relief at seeing the trio of familiar faces as opposed to the alternative. “Thanks for the heart attack!”

“Oh what?” Hayner smirked. “Did we scare you guys?”

“Not a chance!” Donald retorted back, shaking his first admantly.

“Our bad,” Olette chuckled, aptly amused.

“So, how’d it go?” Sora asked the trio collectively. “Did you get any leads?”

Their otherwise playful manner fell into disappointment at this as they shook their heads truthfully. “Nope, ‘fraid not,” Pence admitted fretfully. “The asking around town thing was a total bust.”

“Yep, looks like this old mansion is our only hope,” Hayner added, looking to the mansion. The others all turned to do the same, each of them carrying the same resolve that the answers they were looking for could be held somewhere inside.

“You guys ready?” Olette asked, eager to continue their search.

“Another Twilight Town awaits!” Pence chimed in boldly.

“Yeah,” Sora readily agreed, already taking the first step towards the mansion. A small burst of warmth filled his heart as he did, one that unmistakably came from Roxas himself. Almost as if he somehow knew just how far they were all willing to go to find a way to bring him back to them. And it was that warmth, that feeling of bright, expanding hope that they both seemed to share, that prompted Sora onward further still, determined to do exactly that.

Since the collective group knew exactly where they needed to go, they didn’t waste too much time checking most of the mansion’s otherwise empty, dust-settled rooms. Instead, they all made a beeline for the basement, its clean metallic walls a far cry from the rest of the old mansion’s dilapidated state. Now bereft of its original purpose, the computer room was also just as quiet as the rest of the abandoned building, save for the occasional idle beep and blip from the several-screened machine tucked securely inside it. A machine that, at least as far as any of them knew, was just about their last resort to finding their first and possibly only clues to helping Roxas.

“Here we go!” Pence exclaimed excitedly, rushing to the computer the moment he saw it. Since the others knew full well this was his area of expertise, they all congregated around him as he took charge in operating the rather complex machine. “The password was… uh… ‘sea-salt ice cream’, right?” He tapped the phrase in, which, just as it had before, granted them access to whatever data the computer had stored. “Ok, I’m in. Now let’s get that transporter working…”

Since Pence was already largely familiar with the process, opening up the transporter that would lead the way to the alternate Twilight Town should have been easy. However, what none of them were expecting was for the computer to flash red, emitting a blaring warning alarm almost as soon as the attempt was made. “Oh man…” Pence frowned as the computer’s main screen was overtaken by an error message. “The transporter’s been protected….”

“Protected from what?” Sora asked, aptly confused.

“I guess from us?” Pence ventured a guess. “We can’t use it to get to the other Twilight Town.”

“Why not?” Hayner cut in, clearly annoyed by this sudden roadblocked. “It worked before! We sent Sora there!”

“Well, that was then and this is now,” Pence shrugged.

“And… there’s no other way?” Olette asked, frowning.

“…None that I know of…” Pence admitted, tapping a few more keys on the computer, though to no avail. A general sigh of clear disappointment rose up from several members of the group upon hearing this, all of them quite dejected to know that they had come all this way only to be met with nothing. In fact, they were all just about ready to turn around and head back to town, or at least they would have had the Gummiphone not happened to ring at that exact moment.

Still not entirely familiar with the device, Sora fumbled somewhat as he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it, only for Ienzo to pop up on the other end of the line. “Hello, Sora,” the researcher greeted amicably. “You wouldn’t happen to be standing in front of a computer, would you?”

“Huh?” Sora raised a surprised eyebrow. “Well… yeah. But how’d you know that?”

“I was tinkering with Ansem’s computer,” Ienzo explained. “You know, to decrypt the code that was left in it? And I noticed that someone had logged in from another terminal. I figured it might be you.”

“Oh, yeah! The log terminal!” Sora exclaimed, putting on a front of understanding, which of course, Donald was quick to call him out on.

“You don’t know what he said,” the magician correctly inferred, cross his arms.

“Oh, and what, you do?” the Keybearer retorted in a dry whisper.

All the same, Ienzo happened to overhear this bout of bickering from the other end of the line and let out a small, amused chuckle before posing the group another question. “So if it wasn’t you, then… who did log in?”

“Oh, hi there!” Pence chimed in as Sore handed the phone over to him. “This is Pence. I’m the one who logged into the computer.”

“Good,” Ienzo nodded, allayed. “As long as we know it’s a user that we know we can trust.”

“Yep. But… we’re kind of stuck here,” Pence said, glancing back over at the secured computer. “One of the programs is protected so… I can’t run it.”

“Which program?”

“Ugh! The transporter to the other Twilight Town!” Hayner snapped, frustrated at how slowly the conversation seemed to be going. “It’s the only way to find Roxas. You gotta help us!”

Ienzo seemed quite surprised to hear this news, the implications sending his scientific mind practically reeling as he mulled over it. “Another Twilight Town…? And a ‘transporter’? Okay… a virtual town inside the computer, made of data… Fascinating! Maybe I can do something to help… Pence, let’s get a network set up; that way we can try to look into this on both ends of the spectrum.”

Pence agreed and the two got to work on doing just that, exchanging information in order to connect the two computers together despite the span of worlds standing between them. Despite how well versed both Pence and Ienzo were when it came to the tech they were working with, it still took quite a bit of time to get everything completely set up on both ends. At least an hour had passed with very few updates given, which was why it wasn’t too surprising that in that amount of idle time, Sora had nodded off more than a few times, much to Goofy’s amusement and Donald’s annoyance. Still, it was something of a relief when, after what felt like ages to just about everyone else, Ienzo finally announced that the lengthy process was at last complete.

“Ok, sharing is enabled,” the researcher confirmed, effectively snapping Sora out of his most recent bout of standing slumber.

“Oh! Were you able to fix it?” the Keybearer asked, eager to hear any new developments.

Ienzo didn’t provide a clear cut answer at first as he instead opted to explain exactly what him and Pence had just accomplished. “Now that our two computers have been successfully networked together, I can take control of the terminal there and change the privileges. So in a sense… yes, we did fix it. Or at least allowed some form of progress to continue.”

“And Roxas?” Sora pressed, largely not caring about the specifics so long as it all could help his Nobody in some way.

“Yes. For the virtual world to be completely realized, Ansem the Wise would have included Roxas’ full data in the construction. Meaning, somewhere on your machine, there’s a log of that data that-” Ienzo stopped short, noticing that Sora looked more or less completely lost in all the technicalities on the other end of the line. Which was why he decided to finish explaining in a much more simpler route to grasp. “Uh… basically, we can decipher Ansem’s code more quickly and we can analyze the virtual Twilight Town while we’re at it.”

“Ohhh, ok! Great!” Sora smiled, more or less understanding, though he was still admittedly confused by how it all worked. Still, the researcher’s upbeat tone alone was more than enough to convince him that there was a chance that this could work after all. “I can’t computer so… do that.”

“Glad to know you’re following along,” Ienzo smirked knowingly. “Don’t worry. We’ll handle it. Chip and Dale will be helping me out here on this end. I’ll call you back as soon as we know anything more.”

“Thanks,” Sora nodded, genuinely grateful for the help all around. In a way, he did feel somewhat inadequate when it came to looking for answers in this way, given his relative lack of experience with computers and data and research and the like. But it was still a relief to know that there were so many others who had decided to join him in his cause to help Roxas, from Donald and Goofy, to the Twilight Town trio, to even Ienzo and his crew afar off in Radiant Garden. Certainly, Sora hoped, with so many people working together towards the same goal, there was no doubt that they’d find a way to bring Roxas back in no time at all.

“Oh, before I forget—a bit of troubling news,” Ienzo continued, his tone turning grave. “It’s about one of the Organization’s former members. You knew him as Vexen—but to us, he was Ansem’s apprentice, Even. He was recompleted like the rest of us, but hadn’t regained consciousness yet. Then, sometime after Lea left, Even vanished. Aeleus and Dilan—the two you knew as Lexaeus and Xaldin—went out to look for him, but… he’s just gone. And I’m starting to worry.”

“You think he’s on their side?” Sora asked, remembering Yen Sid’s warning that the Organization would likely be seeking to fill out the rest of their ranks in any way possible.

“I think it’s a real possibility,” Ienzo said earnestly. “He’s a devious researcher. You should be careful.”

“Got it. Thanks again!” Sora bid the researcher farewell as the call came to an end, making sure to keep his warning in mind for future reference.

“Oh no!” Hayner suddenly gasped in apparent alarm as he turned to Pence and Olette frantically. “We got work! I totally forgot!”

“Really?” Pence asked as Hayner already got a head start in hurrying out of the room. “But what about all this?”

“Hey, both are important! We’re gonna need some cash to go to the beach. Also, don’t forget the pretzels. Gotta buy four now,” Hayner grinned, especially as Pence began counting out, confused.

“Ooh, I get it!” he exclaimed in realization, knowing that Hayner had the idea of bringing Roxas along with them. An idea that both Pence and Olette readily agreed with for whenever their long-awaited day at the beach finally did arrive.

“He’s thinking ahead,” Olette chimed in with a wry smile of her own.

“Later, Sora!” Hayner said as he took his leave, Olette going to join him.

“Bye, Donald! Goofy!” she waved to the trio fondly as they all returned the farewell.

“See you guys!” Sora called out after the pair as Donald and Goofy also offered their own goodbyes.

“Oh, and since I’m manning the computer here,” Pence began, remaining in his seat as he glanced back at the duo. “You guys are in charge of earning my share!”

“No pretzel for Pence!” Hayner teased, sticking his tongue out as him and Olette ran out of the room.

“Hey!” Pence shouted after them, ignoring Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s shared amused laughter. All the same, he made sure to assure the trio that he’d continue working on digging up what he could glean from the computer, collaborating in tandem with Ienzo all the while. And with that, the trio was quick to realize there wasn’t really anything else they could do at this stage but wait for any new information to be uncovered that could help further their cause. It was somewhat disappointing, for Sora in particular, to know that there wasn’t much help any of them could provide right now, but at the very least, the effort to help Roxas had been kickstarted. The mission to bring him back into the existence he deserved to have was well on its way. And for now, simply keeping the comforting idea that this could soon be more than just a distance hope in mind would certainly suffice.

By the time they left the mansion, Sora had noticed that the usually steady tide of Roxas’ memories flowing in and out of his heart had gradually started to slow to a crawl. Even as they emerged from the derelict building, he found that he was met with essentially none of his Nobody’s memories whatsoever, to the point that even the light pull that had been more or less guiding his heart since they arrived seemed to have completely faded out. And yet, alarmingly enough, what wasn’t gone was the same dull, persistent pain that had sparked in his heart when he had been trapped under the influence of that still-unknown voice. A pain that only seemed to amplify tenfold when the trio was stopped in their tracks by the arrival of a figure they were all too familiar with.

“So, you think you can bring Roxas back?”

Sora practically choked on a gasp, his heart suddenly seizing up with so much sudden agony that it nearly knocked him to his knees. Donald and Goofy noticed his wavering swaying as he clutched at his chest in a weak, yet desperate attempt to stop the swelling pain. Neither of them had the faintest idea as to what could have possibly been afflicting their young companion, but all the same, they were quick to support him on both sides as they all turned to see exactly who was standing right outside the mansion gates behind them.

“Ansem!” the captain and magician exclaimed, largely since Sora was still far too breathless from the pain to do so himself. Yet that pain only seemed to spark once more as a dark corridor opened up right beside the seeker of darkness, making way for yet another one of the Organization’s leading members to arrive.

“Xemnas!” the trio shouted in unison this time, collectively startled and set off upon being met with two of their most dangerous adversaries at the same exact time.

“Roxas should have never existed in the first place,” Xemnas began coldly, cutting right to the chase. “What you seek is impossible.”

Sora jolted at this, filled with a sense of righteous anger at such a dismissive claim overtaking the pain still pounding through his heart. “Y-you’re wrong!” he retorted boldly, forcing himself to stand upright without Donald and Goofy’s help, as much of a struggle as it was for him. “Roxas does exist! His heart’s inside my heart!”

“His is far from the only one,” Ansem said vaguely, ominously even.

“And in the unlikely event that you do manage to separate the two,” Xemnas continued just as evenly. “Where is it you think you can put his heart?”

“W-well… Roxas used to live in the other Twilight Town , right? So, m-maybe… we can…” Sora trailed off, instantly regretting his knee-jerk idea before he could even say it out loud.

“So, you understand the shortcomings of your ‘brilliant’ plan,” Ansem assumed, arms crossed. “The other Twilight Town is just data. Any existence Roxas might have there would ultimately be an empty one.”

As much as Sora didn’t want to say it, he couldn’t deny that this claim was absolutely correct. Ienzo had said that Roxas’ data was likely contained within the digital Twilight Town, which meant that it would have very well been possible to find a way to set Roxas himself up within that world. And yet, as stable of an idea as it was, it was far from satisfying. Sora didn’t want to see Roxas stuck in a disconnected version of the world that was only barely real to begin with; he wanted to see Roxas brought back into the real world, to reunite with the real people who likewise wanted to see him return. He wanted to truly meet his Nobody, not just in dreams or data or distant memories, but face-to-face for the first time. And, simply put, just throwing Roxas into the alternate version of Twilight Town would accomplish anything but that.

“Hm… Ansem and Xemnas used to be part of the same person, right?” Goofy spoke up, seemingly going off on an entirely different tangent altogether. “But look, now they exist separately just fine. If they can do it, then I don’t see any reason why you and Roxas can’t find a way.”

“Oh, yeah!” Sora exclaimed, instantly allayed by this vote of confidence. Sure enough, it had to be true; if their foes could accomplish such a seemingly impossible feat, then certainly him and Roxas could too, right?

“Yeah! You tell ‘em Captain Goofy!” Donald chimed in his support as well. Ansem and Xemnas, however, were unphased by the trio’s newfound excitement.

“In that case, by all means,” Ansem nodded, surprisingly calm.

“Nothing would please us more than Roxas’ return,” Xemnas said, keeping his sights trained on Sora in particular. “After all, freeing him from the depths of your heart would at last allow us to fully lay claim to our thirteenth member.”

“You wish,” Sora scoffed harshly, still trying his best to ignore the persistent sting ringing through his heart. “Roxas will never answer to you again!”

“Still so blind,” Xemnas shook his head with almost something of a knowing smile. “We are no longer interested in having Roxas as a member. In fact, he is one of the only obstacles standing between and our true final vessel: you, Sora.”

The ripple of shock that struck the trio upon hearing this was sharp and swift. In fact, it might as well have pierced Sora clean through the heart for the amount of intense anguish that rushed through it, so immense and powerful that he could hardly bear it. And yet, instead of crumbling under the crippling strain, he remained standing, as if frozen in place by all of the frightening thoughts and feelings running through his heart and mind all at once. However, he wasn’t really pressed to provide much of a reaction to this disturbing claim, as Donald and Goofy did more than a suitable job doing so in his stead.

“No way!” Donald shouted fiercely as both him and Goofy stepped in front of Sora protectively. “Sora would never be a part of the Organization!”

“That’s right!” the captain admantly agreed. “And we would know! We were there to help save Sora from becomin’ one of Xehanort’s vessels!”

“A valiant effort, that was ultimately for nothing,” Ansem countered before addressing Sora directly. “You can feel it, can’t you? Already the darkness is starting to take a hold upon your heart. And through that darkness, soon you find yourself helpless to resist the master’s call to join our ranks as the vessel you are destined to be.”

“Call…” Sora repeated softly, his eyes widening with the dawning, horrific realization. “That voice… I-it was…”

“It very well could have been,” Xemnas interjected knowingly. “Or… perhaps it was the shadows of your own heart, urging you towards the proper path. Either way, you would do well to heed it; resisting its command will only delay the inevitable.”

At that very moment, the pain coursing through Sora’s heart spiked yet again, and this time, it was fully enough to send him collapsing to his knees, even despite Donald and Goofy rushing to fret over him worriedly. “N-no…” he began weakly, glaring up at Xemnas and Ansem with as much defiance as he could muster. “I don’t care what you try to do to me, I’m not about to lose myself to the darkness!” At this, the Keybearer began to stand, struggling somewhat, until Donald and Goofy helped him rise to boldly, brazenly face their foes once again. “So you can just go and tell Xehanort to find himself another vessel because it’s never going to be me!”

The captain and the magician smiled proudly to their young companion upon hearing his resilient proclamation, both of them glad to know that he hadn’t lost his verve against enemies as dangerous as these. And yet, even despite Sora’s courageous show of determination, Ansem and Xemnas hardly seemed to care.

“If that is what you believe, then you are free to struggle and suffer until your heart can no longer bear the weight of the freedom you’re so desperately trying to cling onto,” Ansem concluded, his tone disapproving and icy.

“But keep in mind that if you truly do want to bring Roxas back, the only way is for you to give your heart up for his,” Xemnas added, presenting a disparaging truth that Sora knew all too well. “Which means that try as you might to resist the darkness, calling upon its power is your only hope for releasing his heart from your own.”

By this point, Sora’s hands were clenched so tightly into fists that they were practically shaking, his anger towards this pair and their callous claims, especially when they came to Roxas, rising by the second. “You really think I buy any of that?” he asked challengingly. “I don’t need the darkness to help Roxas or anyone else. I’ll find another way instead, you’ll see.”

“Go on then,” Ansem remarked with the slightest of mocking grins. “But remember: the shadows are never out of reach if you need them.” At this, the seeker of darkness nodded to the space behind the trio, where, as if on cue, a sizable group of Heartless was arising from the grass, ready to attack. Xemnas swiftly added onto the monstrous horde, calling upon a swath of Nobodies and creating an aptly dangerous force that was already deadest on besetting the trio before them.

Sora stole a brief glance away from the creatures to the duo that had summoned them, noticing that they were getting ready to take their leave instead of confronting the trio in battle themselves. “Enjoy whatever fleeting time you have left to bask in the warmth of the light,” Xemnas began, already calling upon a dark corridor for their retreat.

“For soon enough, you will stand in the depths of darkness alongside the rest of us,” Ansem finished with a dark, goading grin.

“Now… set your heart free,” both of them proclaimed just as they disappeared into the darkness from whence they came.

“Wait!” Sora shouted after them, summoning his Keyblade in the hopes of catching them before they could get away. They still managed to, however, as the Keybearer’s attention was quickly diverted back to the horde of Heartless and Nobodies his companions had already started to engage in combat.

“Sora!” Donald called warningly, narrowly dodging a wide swing from one of the several rampaging Dusks.

Seeing that his companions could clearly use the help, Sora hurried over to join them, though even as the battle properly began, he couldn’t really shake his own immense desire to prove the malicious duo wrong. “It’s not darkness,” he muttered to himself as he entered the fray, feeling the pain in his heart finally, thankfully dissipate altogether. “Not if it helps him!”

And with that, the Keybearer threw himself into the fight alongside his companions, taking the force of Heartless and Nobodies head on. Despite their numbers, the creatures were a small obstacle at best, and hardly any of their main focus with their thoughts still unanimously on their alarming encounter with Xemnas and Ansem mere moments ago. The implications of their cryptic statements were discouraging, downright frightening in some instances, but of course, the trio only found time to properly discuss them once the monsters they had left behind were fully cleared out. And, once they did manage to successfully oust the Nobodies and the Heartless alike, that’s exactly what they did.

Donald and Goofy were the first to reconvene after the fight was through, though they were quick to turn their already fretful attention over to Sora instead. He stood apace away from them, his back turned and his expression unknown as he stared off into the twilit forest ahead, lost in thought over everything they’d just heard. As worrying as what Ansem and Xemnas had said concerning him had been, the Keybearer was far more focused on what they had said about Roxas. He refused to believe that the only way to help his Nobody would be to play right into the Organization’s hands. There had to be some other way, and even if he had no idea what that way might be, he was willing to do whatever he could to find it.

“Herc said…  ‘with all our hearts’…” the Keybearer muttered to himself, finding more meaning in the hero’s inspiring words now than ever before. “Okay. Then all my heart it is. I’m getting Roxas out.”

“B-but aren’t ya worried about what they said?” Goofy asked, aptly apprehensive. “About… y-ya know?”

“A-about you being a-a… a vessel?” Donald finished, just as worried.

Sora paused at this, glancing back at his companions to find their expressions awash in dread and concern solely for him. Concern that he couldn’t help but appreciate, especially given the circumstances. “N-no,” he shook his head, his hand lightly skimming over his now-calm heart. “No, I’m not. They probably only said all that stuff to try to psych me out or scare me, but its not gonna work. And besides, its like you guys said; you and Axel and Riku and the king all saved me, so there’s no way that whole ‘vessel’ thing could be true, right?”

Donald and Goofy exchanged an initially uncertain glance at this, neither of them entirely sure when they considered all of the odd happenings that had been going on since this new journey began, to Sora in particular. And yet, when they met their young companion’s bright, reassuring smile, their worries were quickly put to rest. After all, if Sora had begun to fall victim to the sway of darkness as Ansem and Xemnas had claimed, certainly he wouldn’t be able to maintain his usual upbeat resolve. His confident, carefree smile was proof enough for them that he was still himself, and that was something that both the captain and the magician hoped would never change.

“Well… ok…” Donald relented somewhat halfheartedly. “But still, you need to be careful, Sora. Especially if the Organization really does wanna force you onto their side.”

“Which is why, if ya start noticing that anything’s wrong or off, ya gotta promise to tell us about it,” Goofy asserted with a rare stern sincerity in his tone. “That way, we can help keep ya safe from anything the Organization might try to do to ya!”

“Oh, come on, you guys, nothing’s gonna happen,” Sora assured lightly, though he was quick to recant his casual manner upon seeing the gravely serious expressions his companions shared. “B-but… ok. I… I promise.” The Keybearer looked away as he said this, knowing that he had already largely broken this promise by not telling either of them about the voice or the pain that had both pressed so viciously upon his heart.

If their brief encounter with Xemnas and Ansem had confirmed anything for Sora, it was that the voice somehow taking complete control over him had been no random happenstance. The pair had hinted that it could have very well been Xehanort himself, but even then, the Keybearer wasn’t entirely convinced that was the case. As for what the voice had truly been, he still wasn’t sure, but he was resolved against the idea that the dark duo’s claims of him being the supposed thirteenth vessel were anywhere close to correct. True, he had nearly fallen victim to such an alarming fate during his and Riku’s exam, but in the end, Xehanort’s plans for him had ended in failure, or at least that’s what he’d heard since he had been largely lost to relentless slumber at the time. Still, Sora firmly believed that his friends’ courageous, selfless efforts to save him had been successful in the end. Any evidence or claims to the contrary were likely nothing worth worrying about whatsoever.

Or at least, he hoped they were nothing, because the alternative was absolutely unthinkable.

With Heartless and Nobodies and the like still out and about as they were, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had decided the best course of action would be to return to town to warn Hayner and Olette of the lurking danger. They did so, meeting up with the pair amidst their job of hanging posters up around town and urging them to stay on their toes against any lingering threats that may lie in wait around the area. And with that message relayed, the trio realized that their time in Twilight Town had just about come to an end. After all, they still had yet to begin their search for the Keys in earnest, and as far as any of them could tell, they weren’t going to find any of them here. Still, they all made sure to solidify their shared resolve one more time to continue working towards helping Roxas, even if all they could really do for now was wish and hope for his eventual return. And while it perhaps wasn’t the quickest or most direct way of bringing that return about, at the very least, it was something.

Still, as the group began exchanging their fond farewells and parting words, they were completely unaware of the fact that they were being closely watched from above. Ansem and Xemnas stood atop a nearby building, more or less unseen by any of the oblivious townsfolk below as they observed the Keybearer in particular with careful, confident scrutiny.

“He still believes that his heart is safe from the influence of darkness,” Ansem sneered, crossing his arms as he looked down at Sora condescendingly. “Pathetic.”

“His heart is strong, to be sure,” Xemnas mused more evenly. “But in the end, his naiveté is bound to be his downfall, if not his obvious weakness for those he cares for most.”

“Well, that should be an easy weakness to exploit, huh? Especially when you think about just how many ‘friends’ that kid seems to have.”

The pair turned at this, unsurprised to see a dark corridor open up on the same rooftop they were are as Xigbar stepped through it to join them. Neither Xemnas nor Ansem offered him much of a greeting as they instead turned their focus back to Sora, not noticing the freeshooter’s almost cocky smirk as he did the same. “Still, aren’t you making it a little too obvious?” he asked the pair, having witnessed their earlier encounter with the trio from afar.

“We were instructed to guide him,” Xemnas said simply. “To point him towards his proper place among our ranks, no matter how long his… ‘recruitment’ might take.”

“Oh, so it really is him, huh?” Xigbar asked, still smirking. “And I thought Xehanort was just pulling everyone’s leg by dropping all those hints. But I gotta say…” The freeshooter took on a faux thoughtful look as he kept his sights trained on the unwitting Keybearer. “He doesn’t really look the part…”

“He will,” Ansem assured. “In time.”

“Hmph, well, you two seem confident that he’ll just fall perfectly into place,” Xigbar mused dryly. “But let’s not forget how many times Sora still managed to rain on our parade. So what’s the plan for when he ends up slipping through the cracks and figures out some way to keep his heart out of Xehanort’s reach?”

“He won’t,” the seeker of darkness concluded. “And if he does find a way to waver from the path we lay, we destroy him.”

“But in that case… we’ll have to find ourselves another vessel,” Xigbar pointed out. “Oof, the old man would not like that. He seems pretty deadest on Sora in particular for some reason. Wonder why that is…?”

“The reason is not important,” Xemnas rebuffed succinctly. “What is important is that the process has begun. Try as he might to refuse or resist, there is nothing Sora can do to protect his heart from the tide of darkness already overtaking him.”

“And once that tide inevitably tears his heart apart,” Ansem added, as they all looked back down to Sora once more, their dark intentions for him clear. “Then we’ll be there, to pick up what’s left of the broken pieces…”

At this, the rooftop trio finally took their leave, allowing the still unaware group below to continue on their journey, wherever it might take them next. However, there was still yet another pair of eyes focused on them, this time from an even higher vantage point: the clock tower itself.

From this lofty height, one of the telltale black cloaks of Organization XIII had just been thrown, discarded by its most recent ex-member who was more than ready to cast off any sort of association to the group and to its leader in particular. Still, his newfound independence didn’t mean he didn’t have his own agenda in mind. For as he caught sight caught sight of the Keybearer leaving town far below him, he felt a spark of all too familiar warmth burn in his heart, a warmth that he hated and craved all at once. A warmth that would help him claim what was rightfully his, once and for all. “There you are…” he said darkly, not even having to question if he had picked out the right face in the crowd. After all, his was nearly exactly the same. “Looks like I’ve finally found you… Ventus…”