(This is a two-topic mini-plot of sorts. Not really the kind of thing to make a whole plot about, but just two topics. It will relate directly to Kingdom Hearts 358 Over 2. One person is to join here, and Adri has said that she will join in the next thread, "Mystic Moon," on another path of a different character who does not intersect with Sora's own.)

A lone figure looked around the library of the Old Mansion beyond the woods. Ansem the Wise, also known as Darkness in Zero, had had a laboratory below this area, plainly visible by its stairs behind him as he looked through the books. They didn't seem to be giving a lot of information on anything he'd missed out on. If not here, perhaps in the laboratory computer below.

Sora had wandered the worlds for some time. Nothing really seemed to help him, it seemed. He was trying to move forward with his life, to help the Interferences. Still, deaths did haunt him.

Jake Derestion's demise wasn't one that affected him too much, as much as he hated to admit it. He had spent six weeks with him, yes. But the War was basically all they had done together. The other two noted deceased, however, did cut deep.

Gregory Zivaku had been his traveling companion for a very long time. Sure, he was closer to Riku and Kairi, the latter far more than he regularly admitted openly. But Greg was a close friend. Dead and separate from the woman he loved, the woman he had literally died for several times. It still cut him deep. He knew he could go to the [i]Redemption,[/i] their Gummi ship, if he could find it somewhere out there, that it would be in space. But if he knew his angelic friend, it would have been bequeathed to the demigoddess, regardless of relationship status. He assumed he could still go on board, but had to think of other things first, the living.

As Sora turned the page of this book, he heard something from nowhere, a familiar voice. [i]What's the point in looking through old books, then? Nothing really changes here unless a new game is gonna come along.[/i] That voice within his mind was caustic, irritated even. The emotional capacity of this Nobody never failed to amaze the Keyblader, but he sighed nonetheless.

Joumae's death had caused more grief to both him and Roxas, his Nobody and counterpart, the Key of Destiny and number XIII of the now-defunct Organization XIII. He had been a good friend, though sarcastic to the point of annoyance. Still, Alexander Karsath had moved on, it seemed. So should he.

The Kingdom Hearts protagonist had to look forward for now. What better place to do so but in a scientist's archives of his native universe?

====

It was a long shot, and he knew it. The idea that the dilapidated mansion would hold any more secrets after all this time was more than a little absurd. If the Nobodies hadn't already torn it apart searching for Sora in the last year, then waves of Interferences touring the area would have finished the job.

Or maybe not. Alexander Karsath was short on leads, and Ansem the Wise [i]had[/i] made his base here once...

The Original Interference pushed open the main doors to the mansion, then took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Things already looked grim. He hadn't really noticed the first time he'd come here - what with his grim determination to find Sora - but this place was just... dark and dreary. Once again, the game didn't do it justice.

He made his way up the steps, having already decided on a course of action before coming here. The most likely place for any information to be kept here would be in the library and the hidden computer room. The White Room was another choice, but the only information there was what Namine had drawn, and those pictures had already been deciphered. So the library it was.

Full of energy and determined, Alexander shoved the doors to the library open... and stopped. The last thing he'd expected to see - his old companion, Sora - was here sifting through the books.

Alexander smiled. "Hey, buddy! Good to see ya!"

====

Sora looked up from the book, putting it aside. He waved, forcing himself to take a smile as his expression. He wasn't exactly in the best of moods. After all, the last they'd see of each other, the last he'd see of [i]any[/i] Interference, for that matter, was on his home world, with Alex, Victor, Isaac, and Shiro. "Hey."

He looked back to the books, hoping Alex didn't notice that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Fat chance of that, yes. "I'm trying to get caught up on anything going on. Anything at all. I've been....away for a while, after all. I'm thinking of just going down to that basement over there," he pointed to the high-tech way down, "in a little while. Maybe something's on his computer. I've seen a few things about Castle Oblivion and things going on there, but based on what you said about the adventure I forgot about, I probably wouldn't remember it when I got out anyway."

He looked back to his old companion.  "So, you know anything new? Any recent stuff going on I haven't heard of? I haven't really got much since we left Destiny Islands but some training to get back into gear."

====

Alexander suddenly felt terrible. Holy [i]crap[/i] Sora was depressed. In a way that didn't really fit Sora at all. Going for such a lighthearted greeting was apparently the last thing Sora wanted.

It boggled the Interference's mind. This was the guy that had kept him going when times were tough during the first and second adventures. Seeing one of his heroes and best friends so bummed out was - wait, didn't this whole thing describe someone [i]else[/i] he knew...?

This was ridiculous, Alex thought. Why were so many of his friends crumbling before his very eyes? There were probably many different reasons, yes, but the timing was impeccable.

Still, seeing Sora in such a state finalized things for him. From now on, when his friends were being depressed, he was going to be the most [i]sickeningly cheerful person[/i] he could possibly be.

So, keeping a genuine smile on his face, Alex nodded and replied, "Oh, the usual. Interferences running around, bad guys that need stopping, you know."

He turned toward the bookshelf and regarded it thoughtfully. "Actually, I came here to do a little digging myself. See, I'm trying to figure out how to restore some worlds after they were destroyed, and I couldn't help but think back to your first adventure, when you guys closed the Door To Darkness, and I was thinking..."

An ingenious thought crossed his mind just then. "Say, there's an idea," Alexander remarked, grinning. "Maybe we can help each other out!"

====

(Alex, gotta say I facepalmed at the Original Interference's adherence to sickening happiness. Made me laugh, though.)

Sora couldn't help but smile a little at the nonchalance of Alex in his explanation of the goings on. Some things never really changed. He assumed the villains were stronger to be a challenge, but at least enough of them were alive to keep going.

He realized he had to keep moving. It hadn't been long, for him at least, but the Keyblader knew that Alex was taking the deaths in his life rather well. He likely knew about more death than Sora did, in his games to fight the Apprentices and out of them. While Sora was depressed, he couldn't let it show too much. So he just let himself smile a bit. Not that Roxas would follow suit too quickly, but still it was progress.

"Sure. Not really sure on what I'll find, but we could check the computer down there." He pointed back to the way down to the basement. "I've got word on some Replica stuff. I think I heard a bit about it before, but this might have something I can use."

He closed the book, putting it back where he found it. "Maybe we can find out some things about Ansem's research into the heart. Something to really help us get what's coming next, if there's some other kind of enemy out there besides the Heartless and Nobodies. Well...aside from the Golems that come up."

With that thought, he went to the stairs. He'd mourn later, in private. "And who knows? Maybe it'll help you with your next adventure, whenever that is."

====

[size=1](Success!)[/size]

Alexander 'hmm'ed and nodded with each point Sora made. He had actually gone to Ansem's study in Radiant Garden with the same idea in mind, but... well, things ended up getting in the way.

As Alex followed Sora down the stairs, he said, "Yep. So anyways, I was thinking about the Door to Darkness. The End of the World is still on the map, so it's still gotta be there, right? I figure that if we can replicate what you guys did back in your first adventure, we could restore more worlds! Maybe even reduce the Heartless population while we're at it."

Man, he felt so much more energetic around Sora. Just being near him, remembering the good times they had, made him feel chatty and confident.

It was a shame that Sora was so down in the dumps right now. To hear him talk - wanting to know if there were even more enemies out there, as though such a thing would be goddamn [i]inevitable[/i] for him - was just the strangest thing to experience. In fact, Sora taking time out to do any major [i]studying[/i] was a surprise.

That was how it had been, now that he thought about it. Alex had been the information guru, while Sora provided his trademark leadership and initiative. But things appeared to have changed since then. Perhaps too much.

He decided to get his mind off that topic. "So, uh... you were talking about Replica or something? I'll admit, I actually don't know too much about that..."

====

Sora grinned a bit again. "Yeah, I guess we can." He just ignored Roxas' comment about how they would have to destroy the darkness in every single heart to get rid of the Heartless, however. The fatalism was not helping.

The younger Interference walked the way down to the computer room below. As he walked, he spoke. "Roxas told me to do the research. Said, and I quote, 'you have to stop being such an idiot and help out instead of doing nothing while he's out there.' Kind of called for, but--"

[b][i]I said stop talking about me like I'm not here![/i][/b] The shout made Sora wince.

"...Anyway," the Keyblader assumed Alexander would understand why he winced based on experience long ago. "I got a bit of info on them. Roxas said that he heard a little about it from Naminé and her explanations about Victory Everstrong. Remember her?" He thought for a second. "Haven't seen her since Beast's Castle. That was...forever ago. Maybe that Umiyuri mouse person from Radiant Garden can help. She seemed to know a lot."

Roxas just sighed. [i]Sora, we've been over this. I don't think she's from--[/i]

"So, here we are," Sora interrupted the inaudible Nobody as he came into the room. "Maybe we can get some information from this."

He looked down the hall. "Saw a chest near the pods back there, but someone already got to it. Dunno what was in there, but maybe we'll find out." With that, he went back to the computer, typing into it.

Only then did he realize something.

He rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Um...I don't really know how to work this thing. Pence did it last time, and....well... that thing with Stitch before...."

(Yep, someone got the Ultima Recipe. It'll turn up later on. Might as well get Sora a bit of an upgrade, considering that his current use of Drive Forms is...not the safest [okay, that's entirely my fault].)

====

As Alexander listened, a few thoughts crossed his mind. First of all, he had obtained one of those Valor Shard things from Joseph during the meeting on the [i]Archangel[/i]. Joseph had mentioned being able to use it to hear people's inner counterparts. And yeah, he hadn't responded well to the idea, but... Roxas was an exception.

He hadn't expected Sora to bring up Umiyuri, of all people. It felt pretty weird for him, considering that he had [b]just[/b] recently helped her overcome Papaeyra.

When Sora gave up on the computer, Alex let out an amused sigh and got into the chair. The first thing he realized when he got there was that this was unlike any computer he'd ever seen. Several holographic keyboards - only one of them with anything resembling "qwerty" - rested below a ludicrous number of monitors, all constantly running information.

What was the deal? Ansem's computer back in Radiant Garden might've been complex enough to contain a Tron-based world inside it, but at least its main interface wasn't [i]impossible to read[/i].

He reached for the only familiar keyboard and started pressing buttons randomly. By sheer luck, the central monitor opened up into something resembling DOS. He quickly typed in "help", and a list of commands appeared on the screen. Alex memorized the most crucial ones (Wait, there was a specific command to open doors and turn on the virtual teleporter?) and looked back to Sora.

"Alright, I think I got it. Just tell me what you want."

[size=1](Since you're probably in control of the exposition in this scene, feel free to write for Alex when Sora tells him to do something on the computer. It should save time and posts.)[/size]

====

(Huh. So you've managed a way for him to have the ability to hear other people's internal voices without making it have to carry over to the fic itself. Clever, even if Joseph helped it along.

And okay, then. It's mostly in the form of lists, anyway.)

Sora nodded. "Okay, there's a few things from this." He took out a white sheet of paper, the mouse-eared seal of the King on its back. He held it out to Alex, who read the King's words. Roxas also read it aloud within Sora's mind.

[i]I wanted to tell you right away, about memories from the past that sleep within you, and about the pieces that will tie you to your future.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, the truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts.

Sora, you are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting, and you're the only one who can end their sadness. They need you.

It's possible that all your journeys so far, have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events. And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened.

-Mickey[/i]

Alex could more or less figure out what it meant, though not who it meant. "So....you want to figure out about these people, then."

Sora nodded. "Roxas said that some answers might be in what the Organization was doing before we beat them."

Alex shrugged. It might have been somewhat of a long shot, but extrapolation back to Ansem's work might be possible by using the Organization's. Considering how completely incomprehensible his computer was in this case, that wasn't exactly out of the question. "So, what in particular?" It was probable that he had some of the needed information on this system.

"Hm..." Sora rubbed his chin in thought. He....really hadn't thought all that far ahead. Maybe what he was reading about. "How about Castle Oblivion? That Replica Program?"

Alexander called up some data, first the former. Several files came up, one under the other.
[list]
[*]Organization XIII
[*]Replica
[*]Sora
[*]Riku
[*]Naminé
[*]World Properties
[/list]
The first group was not really what they needed. They knew what they had to about the Organization itself, and DiZ probably had more information than they would ever need.

The second was interesting. Probably what they would need.

The third and fourth were....creepy. Sure, Sora was a subject here, as was Riku. But entire files on them?

Okay, enough of that. Naminé seemed to be an interesting topic, surely, but what was on her here was not necessarily what they needed to know. They could ask her what she knew another time. The properties of the world were a subject for another time as well.

Both thought the same thing. Sora spoke again. "Let's look at the Replica stuff."

Up came the file....and up came a list.
[list]
[*]Properties

[*]2. Riku
[*]3. Everstrong, Victory
[*]4. Vexen[Failure]
[/list]
So Victory was really a Replica. All right, that explained a few things about her. Not a lot, but some things. Riku was likely from the forgotten journey, from how Alex seemed more or less nonchalant about him.

The Lockshield Master moved to select the Properties file, but saw something strange.

Roxas saw it at the same time. [i]...Hang on a second....[/i]

Finally, Sora.

"If there's numbers two on," he said, stating it aloud. "...where's number one?"

(Thankfully, I'm not up for writing over forty-four Vexens down.)

====

(I only know what you're talking about because I skimmed through the manga on a whim. ::))[/size]

That... was definitely a conundrum.

It was starting to come back to him. The Riku Replica... He was Vexen's little experiment gone awry during the events at Castle Oblivion. Apparently, it hadn't been unique - there was a whole Replica [i]program[/i] that the Nobody had been running. You wouldn't get that from playing Chain of Memories, though...

The Organization's secrets... A Replica unaccounted for... The lore had to be hidden in a specific game.

"Three-hundred and fifty-eight over two days," he groaned as he came to the realization. "The prequel game to Kingdom Hearts II. One I haven't played just yet."

He sighed and put a palm to his forehead. "From what I've heard through the grapevine, the events of the game had to do with some kind of secret fourteenth member of the Organization. And..."

Alexander paused, and tentatively reached for the Valor Shard in his pocket. [i]Roxas[/i], he thought, trying to open up a mental channel of communication with Sora's Nobody. [i]You were the main character of [/i]358/2 Days[i]. It started with your birth and followed you though the whole year leading up to your reunion with Sora.[/i]

====

(And [i]I[/i] only know what I'm talking about because Umi told me about it.)

Roxas was surprised that Alex could hear him at all. After all, as he had said, Joumae had ceased to exist through a completely different method than "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" had from Riku. More "reintegration" than "expulsion." Still, he did his best to avoid showing the shock in his voice. [i]I...didn't think I was that famous,[/i] he said, trying to get the attention off of him. [i]Wouldn't have thought that a game would be based on me in particular. First time for everything, I guess.[/i] In actuality, large swathes of that year were a blur for him, fuzzy if not a blank. He knew the members from one to twelve pretty well, or well enough to get the idea about their personalities in the case of the doomed group (aside from Axel, of course) that had gone to Castle Oblivion. He had run away from the Organization for....some reason. And something about ice cream. Yeah, ice cream with Axel. And a seashell. Something about a seashell.

Sora was confused, but allowed his Nobody to muse still.

[i]I can't remember a fourteenth. When were we ever more than thirteen?[/i]

Sora thought for a few seconds. "Maybe...Naminé has the answers? If you don't remember, it might have to do with her use of memory, right?"

Roxas had a different idea for multiple reasons. [i]Sora, let's not get caught up with Kairi and Naminé right now. I [b]really[/b] do not want to be yelled at for the moment. Seriously not in the mood.[/i] Whether or not the last sentence was serious was debatable. [i]Only other options I can think of would be maybe a name of this missing Replica from this computer. Or going to the old Castle to see what we can find there. Knowing them, they probably have some sort of database.[/i]

"Is that [i]really[/i] a good idea?"

[i]I'm [b]your[/b] Nobody. When was the last time you had a genuinely good idea?[/i]

"...Point." The Keyblader looked to Alex. "So, what do you think?"

(If you choose the computer, it just flips on with the name Xion, and even that name is corrupted, the rest just not there.)

====

"The old... castle?" he asked aloud. He suddenly looked extremely nervous. "You're not talking about The Castle That Never Was, are you?"

Alexander stood up and looked Sora in the eye. "Sora... That's part of why I'm here. Why I'm looking for this information. It didn't even occur to me that it was possible, but [i]someone tore apart the artificial Kingdom Hearts[/i]. It fell out of the sky and crushed the city and the castle beneath it. And all of those hearts... they're breaking off in chunks, completely defenseless against the darkness that would snatch them up again."

The Original Interference broke eye contact and starting nervously pacing. "A bunch of Interferences had a meeting on Joseph Fischer's mecha-ship, the [i]Archangel[/i]. He's coming up with a way to deal with the... millions and millions of Heartless being born at The World That Never Was, while I agreed to look for a way to restore the worlds that the Heartless destroyed."

Alexander took a deep breath. Yeah, they joked a lot about the apocalypse of the week, but this one really bothered him. Being the Lockshield wielder made him feel personally responsible for this task. And especially because other game universes (one in particular) were being consumed by the darkness.

He eventually got back into the chair. If the Castle was out, they'd have to look for the missing Replica on the computer for now. On a whim, Alexander decided to look inside the "Properties" folder.

For a moment, it looked like the screen had exploded. But it the screen had been filled with line after line of complete nonsense characters. At the bottom of the screen, there were messages about data access violations and stack corruptions and other computer jargon.

In all the garbled data, there was only one piece of it that made sense. In the very beginning of the string of characters at the top left of the screen, there were four letters.

"Xion?" Alex muttered, pronouncing it incorrectly as "zee-on."

====

(Since Alex knows about the state of TWTNW, one topic will be skipped. This "plot" will be restricted to just this one thread, though the two groups (one to be seen in my next post) will not meet.)

Roxas was shocked by the news about The World That Never Was. [i]Who could be stupid enough to....?[/i] He just sighed. [i]Okay, I'm not even surprised anymore. Someone managed to [b]break the moon[/b]. We have officially reached a level of stability [b]so[/b] low, we'll need a submarine to get back to normal.[/i]

Sora quite literally jumped back when he saw the mass of corrupted data come up on screen. That was....different. He shook his head, hoping he didn't look too embarrassing from his reaction, and walked back to the console again. "Hm....maybe it's...."

[i]Sora, is it [b]really[/b] important?[/i]

That was a good point. "...Right. Anything you can think of, Roxas?"

[i]Doesn't ring a bell. And with an RTC shot--[/i]

"RTC?"

[i]'Return to the Castle.' I can remember bits and pieces of my time there. Seems like there's a few blanks.[/i]

"...Ah." The Keyblader thought for a moment. "Maybe....is there anywhere else we could look around here? I mean, the name could be something we can use, if we ask around."

Roxas would have rolled his eyes, had he been a physical being. [i]Sora, Naminé was involved, most likely if I can't remember. If I can't, and the Restoration Committee forgot you existed for a year, what are the odds others will remember this Replica whoever?[/i]

Another point. "Well....we could try that White Room you told me about, Roxas."

[i]Fine, fine. Have it your way. Maybe we'll find something about this...however you pronounce it.[/i]

====

Sensing that their intention was to search elsewhere, Alexander closed out of the current applications on the computer and left it at the main screen. They now had a name to go with Sora's Replica mystery: Xion.

The Organization's number XIV.

"So 'Zee-on' - or 'Shee-on', whatever - was a Replica. One that the Organization allowed into its ranks right after Roxas." Alexander stepped down from the chair and glanced thoughtfully at the other displays around the room.

"The question is, whose Replica was she?" he asked aloud, glancing meaningfully at Sora (and Roxas within). "And while Roxas's memory may be full of holes by default, why has [i]everything ever[/i] forgotten her?"

Then Alex noticed something. "Funny I'm assuming it's a 'her'... I guess I know a little bit more than I thought."

====

Sora did not question why Alex would think of a specific gender for this Replica. Anything was possible. Maybe he did have rudimentary knowledge of this game for which the Keyblader had been in a coma for most of the time in. "I dunno. Maybe something's in what there is about Replicas?"

[i]Twilight Town to Sora: The Properties folder just spat that out at us,[/i] the Nobody muttered in annoyance. [i]I'm pretty sure Ansem's computer files will be far too hard to cut through with just our--I mean Alex's computer skills. You still had one more book to look through before Alex got here. Maybe that one has the info you'll need? Or something to help, if nothing else. Anything at all. All I know is that the people whose memories Naminé manipulated were all connected to Sora here in some way or another. So it's probably someone's from either the fights against Xehanort's Heartless or from Destiny Islands.[/i]

Sora was a bit annoyed. "You can talk about me like I'm here."

[i]See what I deal with every other day?[/i] Roxas didn't really care if he made a point. [i]That book...seems familiar. I remember it from the Castle. But seemed kind of ordinary overall, so it's not Vexen's or Zexion's.[/i]

The Keyblader shrugged, starting toward the stairs back up. "Well, that's something I guess."

====

(Adri can send in her character now.)

[i]Tram Common[/i]

Naito Zivaku was lost.

Granted, he had not been here often. Only once, and Jasmine was there with him, the first time he saw her. Was Matt right? Possibly, if Isaac's word was anything to go on. But he couldn't be certain at the moment. He had come here to get some gear, something to help him to survive more.

He wouldn't use his magic too much. That was a major difficulty, and he would not let it...

Finally, the young man found a Moogle. Elmira, the name was last time. Looked like the same being, but then again, all of the Moogles looked similar to him. He hoped that wasn't offensive.

Without anything else to go on, the time traveler headed over.

====

Alexander followed Sora up the stairs almost silently. Sora had perused this entire library? [i]Sheesh.[/i] Yeah, he'd probably just skimmed through most of them, but that was still a lot of books. And... Sora, just... Sora.

Though he had to comment on one thing. "Y'know, that 'talking about someone in the third person' shtick is getting old. In any conversation with three people, [i]someone[/i]'s gonna have to use the third person at [i]some[/i] point. Going on and on without ever addressing you is one thing, Roxas, but jumping on him for referring to you in the third person even [i]once[/i]?"

Then he chuckled nervously. "Sorry, had to get that out there."

====

[i]'That'll show her.'[/i]

That's what Kalas thought as he wandered the Tram Common, Lucifer in tow. The half-winged boy and his pet had arrived not too long ago, mainly to confront Audrey about what happened last time. But the girl wasn't home at the moment...but she left the door unlocked. So, he set up a little 'surprise' (read: trap) for when she would come back.

Kalas grinned to himself. Ah, the thought of payback never felt so good.

[i][color=fuchsia]'Was that really necessary, Kalas?'[/color]

'Unless she got rid of those pictures, do you really expect me to let it slide, Xelha?'[/i]

The Ice Queen's sigh echoed in his mind, but otherwise dropped it. Kalas shook his head; there were times where he was happy to speak with Xelha, and there were times where he wanted her to leave him alone. Unsurprisingly, this was one of the moments for the latter.

As he walked, Kalas caught sight of the Naito not far away. He frowned as he noticed the boy; he hadn't seen him since Silent Hill (and he REALLY did not want to think back on that world). He seemed to be busy, so the protagonist just shrugged and--

Oh, there went Lucifer again, running up to the pseudo-god. As he reached him, the demon dog suddenly pounced at the boy and started slobbering all over his face.

Kalas palmed his face. "Damn dog..." He really needed to train him not to do that. Still, he headed over to get the dog away from Naito.

====

Sora shrugged. "Well, I had to say it once. He says it all the time."

Roxas was silent for a few seconds as the boy came up the stairs. His tone was flat when he spoke. [i]That is, by far, the stupidest excuse I have heard in my short life. Quit while you're behind, Sora.[/i]

Another shrug. He tried. "Anyway, Roxas, I didn't look through everything. I only had one boo--"

Now annoyance was back. [i]All right, I want to find out what's in that book because it looks really familiar, okay? Happy now?[/i]

A sigh. Sora looked to Alex. "He's been like this for a while. Taking deaths kinda hard."

[i]And you're not? Don't act like I'm--[/i]

"Here we are," the Destiny Islands native cut him off. The Keyblader came to the last book on the desk. It was small, maybe a diary of some sort. "What about this thing do you remember, Roxas?"

If a Nobody could be irritated, the Key of Destiny was. [i]Open it already.[/i]

Without further delay, he complied. The first entry, labeled "Day 7," said it all, as he let the book fall open.

[i]It's been a week since I got here. Saïx told me to keep a diary, but he said nobody would check it. What am I supposed to write about?
Today they told us to go to the Round Room, where we met ______________, ________. Was I like that when I first got here? I think I was. But I don't remember too well.[/i]

Even with the blank, truly just a space with nothing there rather than a line, the subject, if not the name, was clear, as was the handwriting to one of those present. And with those things, the identity of this journal.

[i]This...this is my diary. I remember now.[/i] A pause. [i]Let's see what's in it.[/i]

(Alex, you can pick a few entries out of [url=http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Roxas's_Diary]this[/url] for Alex to look at. Pick any ones you think would give hints of what Xion is like.)

=====

"H-hey!" the angel laughed. "St-stop it!"

One second, Naito was standing, going to get to the Moogle. The next, he had been tackled to the ground by some kind of dog thing, the slobber all over his face as Elmira laughed, hovering nearby. Sure, he had been surprised and scared at first. But on seeing the dog's attitude, he couldn't help but laugh.

He didn't like some animals, but Naito did like dogs. He just had to get it off of him, as he tried to push the dog-being off.

====

At any other time, Alexander might've made a comment. But he fell into reverent silence. Here they were, in front of an important piece of lore. What luck they had to be able to peruse this valuable item, right here and now, even if there were holes in it.

"May I?" he asked respectfully. When he got the book, he started flipping through it, scanning each page while looking for relevant information. He let Sora (and Roxas by proxy) read over his shoulder.

Roxas' life in the Organization was laid out for them in mostly legible handwriting. Each entry was just a few sentences at most, summing up a day's events with a few poignant statements. Alexander kept skimming:

[i]"Day 9"

I still don't get what a "heart" is. But apparently, it's a vital piece of who I am - so I've decided to cooperate. If I collect enough hearts, I can complete Kingdom Hearts. Then I'll be whole.[/i]

Holy crap. He'd been right. The Organization had used Roxas to collect the majority of the hearts for their artificial Kingdom Hearts! Suddenly, things made sense. No wonder there were so many hearts in that moon! And when Roxas abandoned the Organization with only a handful of hearts to go, the Organization must've planned very quickly to manipulate Sora and Alexander to collect the rest for them.

[i]"Day 24"

I teamed up with ____ again today. We finally talked a little—___ even said my name for the first time.[/i]

He started skimming faster. As fascinating as that was, they needed more information on Xion. The name, any mention of a fourteenth member, and descriptions of interacting with said fourteenth member were suspiciously blanked out of the book. At least, he assumed that was what had gone missing.

[i]"Day 25"

Today was my third day with ____. I've gotten to know a little more about her. That's right—she's a girl, with black hair, and ___________ just like me!

I took ___ out for ice cream afterwards, but I'm saving the WINNER stick. Axel deserves a reward when he gets back. ____ wants to have ice cream with us from now on. Maybe we'll be _______.[/i]

This was starting to look like the Universal Failsafe Law as it had applied to Erica, except a lot less subtle. Normally, this girl should've vanished from all memory, of all existence - with causality rearranging itself to fit around the missing person. But someone must've held on. Something must have clung as tightly as it could to the barest threads that remained, so that the new memory would at least be rough around the edges.

[i]"Day 96"

Today's mission was with ____, in Beast's Castle. I tried loaning     my _______, and ___ had no problem using it. That meant I had to _____ _______ __, but we got the job done.

Afterwards ____ remembered how to ______ ___ ___ _______, so I guess we're out of trouble. When we were done, we all had ice cream together.[/i]

Alexander stopped. Very slowly, he closed the book and assumed an intensely thoughtful look. The pieces were there. The clues were all there. And if they fit the way he thought they did...

====

Thankfully for Naito, Lucifer got off right after he started to push him off. The Mauthe Doog sat there, looking at the angel as he panted happily, as if still asking for his attention. Though he stopped when he heard his master's yell of, "Lucifer!"

Lucifer's ears flopped, giving a small whine and pouting slightly. Nonetheless, he trotted back to Kalas' side without argument. Kalas shook his head and sighed.

"We really need to do something about that..." he muttered to his dog, then turned his attention to Naito. "Sorry about that, kid. Lucifer's a bit...friendly with people." Understatement, but true for the most part.

====

(Ah, yes. Day 96. Home to the immortal Wooden Stick of Roxas.)

Sora's eyes widened at the revelations they had received thus far, though he too did not say a word. So [i]that[/i] was why Kingdom Hearts was so big in The World That Never Was! It wasn't all his and Alex's faults after all.

Okay, technically it WAS mostly Sora's fault, but that was arguing semantics.

Alex was right about the gender of this Number XIV also. But from the looks of things, the deletion of her memory was incomplete. Maybe Naminé could answer why.

Roxas piped up again as the book was closed. [i]Hey! I'm still looking at that![/i]

Sora nodded silently, opening again to Day 96. He kept skimming more.

[i]"Day 117"

Today it was me and Xigbar. Axel and ___ went out on their own mission.
Xigbar told me that ___ and me are "exceptional"—you know, like, special Nobodies. Because we can ______________?
Work dragged on late, so I didn't make it up to the clock tower. I wonder if ____ and Axel made it.
Those pictures started flashing through my head again on the mission. The boy in red...What's it all about? Maybe when Xigbar called me "special" he meant "crazy"...
Seriously, though, is ____ experiencing the same thing? It feels weird to ask.[/i]

"Hm..." Sora thought for a second as he kept looking. 'Special.' The Organization seemed to be solely focused on constructing Kingdom Hearts, so maybe that meant the use of the Keyblade.

He continued. There were more entries about different things that were done with the strange blank that was likely Xion, and ones about Axel and other members. Things Sora recognized from his time fighting the Organization, and others he did not. There was one entry, Day 152, which Roxas had him go fast by, since it would likely lead to banter that he did not want to engage in.

[i]"Day 172"

___ failed her mission and now she's in a deep sleep. I thought they were lying to me when they told me, but I went to see her, and she really was just asleep. I left a seashell by her pillow, just like she did for me.
Saïx hates her. I don't know why. Maybe he knows more about her than the rest of us do.
Those pictures flashed through my mind again on today's mission (the same boy in red as usual). I guess he's been to Wonderland. I'm still trying to figure out what it is I'm seeing.[/i]

Now it was Roxas' turn to think. So [i]that[/i] was the seashell thing. The "boy in red" was likely his other.

The two read the last few entries in succession.

[i]"Day 353"

Axel let ___ leave the Organization. Like he wanted her to go.
She's a puppet? A mirror that reflects me? He's talking nonsense. I can't trust him anymore.

"Day 354"

I don't understand the Organization. I don't understand Axel...I understand myself least of all. Why do I keep coming back to the castle?
Me and ___ are special, connected by "Sora." If she's a puppet, maybe I am, too.
I don't know what I am.

"Day 355"

I have to know who I am...
I am DONE WITH THIS

"Day 357"

I'm going to set Kingdom Hearts free and find my way to Sora. I'm going to get ___ back. The three of us will have ice cream together again—I know it.[/i]

And that was that. Sora stared at the last page for several seconds.

So she had been connected to him. The connection was him? She was a mirror that reflected Roxas, a puppet? Maybe...maybe she was a Replica of Sora, if those were the right cases. It wouldn't be the first time his Replica had been female.

So she had left the Organization, causing Axel and Roxas to drift apart. He had mentioned a cold reaction to the Flurry of the Dancing Flames before he had left, but not why. Now they knew.

And he had come back, likely why Riku had fought him, if he read the "mysterious figure in a cloak" stuff right.

[i]C-close it,[/i] stammered the Key of Destiny at last. [i]I...I've seen it now.[/i]

The young man nodded, closing the book. He took out an etherspace pouch he had from since he had left, out of one of his pockets, and prepared to put the diary within, so they could talk with Kairi and Naminé about it eventually.

After a few seconds, before he was ready to put it in, he spoke, knowing Roxas' silence was unlikely to end on its own. "...I think...I think she was my Replica. Like Victory." His words were soft, the surprise of these quick revelations getting to him.

===

Naito was still chuckling as he sat up, wiping off his face with the back of his hand. "Please don't worry about it, Mister Kalas. He's a good dog." He looked at the Mauthe Doog as he stood up again.

"Um...that is a dog, right? Or some form of it at least?"

====

"Just Kalas, please," Kalas said with another sigh. He then looked to Lucifer and started scratching him behind the ears. "And yeah, Luce is a dog. Demon dog, but still a dog."

Said demon dog leaned into his owner's hand, one of his hind-legs thumping. This only lasted for a few seconds, however, before the Baten Kaitos protagonist turned to Naito again. "So what're you doing here, kid?"

====

"[i]Your[/i] Replica?" Alexander asked.

Okay, that had been the same conclusion he was coming to. Everything they'd looked at so far was leading up to this connection, and Roxas' diary came close to proving it outright. But that explanation still left a few questions behind.

"I don't think that explains why she was removed from everything and all memory, though," Alex pointed out. Then he slapped his forehead. "Wait. Dammit. Of course: Freakin' Naminé. Only she had the power to add and remove whatever she liked [i][b]and[/b][/i] affect everyone connected to you."

The picture was starting to come together. "The facts add up... That whole year, she was working on your memory. She needed Roxas to merge with you so she could finish repairing your chain of memories.

"Maybe the same thing... if Xion possessed part of you... if that was what they needed to make a Replica of you... Maybe she had to merge Xion as well, but doing so meant removing her from everyone else's memory?"

====

Sora nodded. That made a lot of sense.

Roxas, on the other hand, felt guilt. Or he might have. He wasn't sure what "guilt" felt like. Like "fear" and "happiness." Being with the Organization kind of messed with his concepts about such things. As far as he or Naminé knew, they only felt what their others felt. Nothing more, nothing less. Didn't explain the changes in personality, though.

The Keyblader's words shook him to reality. "But...why is there anything left at all? If nobody remembers her, wouldn't there just be changed entries to make up for her loss in them?" The thought seemed to make him sad, if his tone meant anything. Being forgotten forever must be terrible.

[i]Naminé,[/i] the Key of Destiny said. [i]When we've talked, she seems to feel guilty about the past. At least about Castle Oblivion. She might have kept a hold on Xion's memory for herself, since she couldn't bring herself to destroy her completely, even to revive you.[/i]

Again, Sora nodded. "We'll have to ask her about it, I guess." His words were still soft. The whole thing was still a shock, and depressing.

[i]Might as well get it over with. If we can get anything out of here, anything at all from here, I think it's best if we either kept moving or headed out. Still have a Heartless problem bigger than usual, after all.[/i]

=====

(Oh, thought I'd mention that this is between "Warming Up" and "Path to Hades".)

"Okay, sorry, Kalas," he said, smiling slightly still, though frowning at the "kid". "Well, I was just going to go over to this here shop," he looked to Elmira, who still chuckled slightly. "Need to be ready for things to come, after all."

"Hey, kid, kupo!" the Moogle still hovered there. "Got some new stuff from an old friend, kupo!"

"Huh?" He still was annoyed with the "kid" name, but would let it slide. "Friend? Any way you could say a name?"

"His name is of no importance, kupo," the Moogle said with that same smile. "These things called Gears he wanted to sell, but couldn't, kupo. Wanted to swin--help people, and can for you if you want, kupo."

(Adri, if you want a weapon for Kalas, I guess you can get that also. I can send you a list of each Gear and the weapons associated with them (except not Keyblades). But we both know what Naito is gonna get.)

====

(Since we discussed this over Mibbit, sure, let's go with that)[/size]

"You don't say..." Kalas couldn't help but think it over for a minute. If Naito was here to prepare...he pulled out his Magnus deck and looked them over. He still had a long way to go before he could get back to where he was before, as well as finding the rest of his abilities in these worlds. Maybe it was time for him to prepare too, at least while he was collecting some old cards of his.

Putting the deck away, Kalas turned to the Moogle and asked, "Hey...think you might have something of interest for me, too?"

====

That seemed to settle the Replica mystery. Nodding, Alex said, "I agree. Take the journal and let's get moving on."

Though he sounded a little concerned when he said that. Now that's he'd helped Sora solve the Xion mystery (or at least get him pointed in the right direction), he didn't want to part ways just yet. After all, he'd come here for a reason, and Sora was his best shot to get some help on his dangerous mission...

As Alexander stepped out of the library, he looked back at Sora and said, "So... can I get [i]your[/i] help with something? I have a few... concerns about this run on the Door to Darkness I'm planning on making, and... since you were there, I'd like you to clarify a couple of things."

====

Sora nodded as he exited as well, finally sliding the diary into his bag and putting it back in one of his many pockets. Anything to get his mind off of the destroyed Replica for the moment.

It had been more than a year since he had seen the End of the World, seen Kingdom Hearts open and envelop "Ansem", Seeker of Darkness. Still, after all of this time, not a pretty sight as far as worlds go, though not as bad as some of the M-rated worlds he had been to afterwards. And if the Heartless were back in force, it was probably getting bigger. Sure, Alex had probably played his first adventure on his own. But he had lived it, knew it personally. Best to say anything he could to help out.

"Yeah, I'll help. Wha'd you need, Alex?"

=====

The Moogle's red ball bobbed as he nodded. "Of course, kupo. You doesn't just mean him, but any customer who can use it, kupo."

Naito walked up to Elmira then. "So, can you show us those Gears, sir?"

"Just Elmira, kupo. And yes, kupo." The shopkeeper then took out a large box from the store window close to him, hovering to get it down to the ground, and opened it. Inside were many rectangles of different sizes. Some were one rectangle, other more than one together. They seemed to all have black portions, with a colored area at one end to identify them.

Elmira pointed to each of the types in turn. "Skill, Technical, Duel, kupo. One set, kupo. Loaded, Chrono, Phantom, kupo." He continued like that, stopping for a "kupo" after each set of one color. Lift and Nimble. Wild and Ominous. Valor, Fearless, and Prestige. Crisis and Omega. Hazard. Rage. Champion and Ultimate. Pandora's. Casual and Mystery.

Only one slot was left empty, though Naito did not ask why. Perhaps someone else had bought it. He looked at the Gears...and a pale gold, somehow somewhat silvery light came from his hand, touching one of the Mystery Gears. It was as if it was calling to him, knew what he needed. The part-god knew better than to argue with such a thing, knowing that he had pretty much no idea what he was doing. Any of these would work, would have some kind of aid for him.

"Um...I'll take one of the Mystery Gears, please."

"Seven hundred munny, kupo."

He handed it over, not realizing that it was highly overpriced as far as the Moogle knew, and reached down for the Gear. As it touched his hand...

...it was gone. It was as if it were never there.

His eyes widened at the disappearance. Where was it? He had just paid for it! "What just happened?!" he shouted at the Moogle. Had he lied to him?

"Dunno, kupo," he said, shrugging as best as he could. "Disappearing things when you touch them happens, kupo. Wait a bit, and you'll see what to do however it is, kupo."

(Yep, no Zero Gear. I'd keep the signature weapons to their owners, after all. Not that you were gonna pick that anyway, Adri. We can have them find out how to summon them in my next post. Then the battle(s).)

====

Kalas blinked twice; the first time when he saw the the light going from Naito to one of the Gears, then again when it just disappeared. He then shrugged and said, "Plush-thing has a point. You'll probably summon it back."

With that said, the blue-haired hero looked through the rectangles, mumbling to himself. Which one, which--hello, what do we have here? One of the Valor Gears seemed to be vibrating slightly as Kalas held his hand out. It slowly lifted from its place, but then went back down when he pulled his hand back.

Not the weirdest thing he'd ever seen, but it did earn another blink from him.

"...how much for that?" Kalas asked, pointing to the Valor Gear again.

====

"Well..." Alexander mumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to formulate what [i]exactly[/i] his issue was. Heck, he probably knew the event just as well as Sora did, so why was this bothering him so?

"Okay, so, you went to the End of the World. Plunged into the deepest darkness until you found the Door to Darkness. When Ansem opened the door, it released the hidden light within the heart of darkness and obliterated him, but the Door still needed to be closed because there was a great outpouring of darkness right on the heels of the light, so..."

He paused to catch his breath.

"Then you guys went up and closed it. You, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi on one side, and Riku and Mickey on the other. Then, once you'd actually[i] closed[/i] the door..."

He stopped. It seemed this was the thing that was bothering him.

"When... When the Door to Darkness is sealed..." he said slowly, "there needs to be a Keyblade on both sides doing the sealing, doesn't there? And that means... that someone has to take the plunge on the other side."

====

By the end, Sora knew exactly what Alex was trying to tell him. He knew that someone would have to take the plunge, would have to be trapped within the Realm of Darkness in return for closing the Door to Darkness. A sacrifice to save the Realm of Light.

The younger boy looked to the older, answering the question by not answering it. "We saw the Door to Light in there, remember? On that beach! Even if someone was stuck in there, we could get them out. there's--"

[i]Sora,[/i] Roxas knew his other was grasping at straws. Best to just let him know the truth about it, as far as he knew. [i]I'm pretty sure that wasn't the Realm of Darkness, where you were after the Organization fell. Close, I think. But not quite there. I was there before.[/i] Knowing Sora was listening, he continued, not allowing him to object for the time being. [i]Xemnas wasn't the Superior of Darkness. He was the Superior of the In-Between. His element had nothing to do with Darkness as it was. You saw him using light and darkness in his attacks.[/i]

"What do you mean?" the physical Keyblader asked, on the edge of his figurative seat.

[i]I mean, he probably brought you somewhere else. Not the Realm of Darkness. I'm not sure if it would be as easy to leave the real thing unless using extraordinary circumstances. Even after the battle in Radiant Garden, Riku might have had a hand in us getting out of there. Or Maleficent, given that she wanted us to get rid of the Organization also.[/i]

So he was essentially saying that it was hopeless? Sora wouldn't have that, frantic. "No! There's gotta be some kind of other way! We can find something. Somewhere! The King and I could get that Door closed, but there's gotta be some kind of other way to do it! We can find some other way, anything!"

=====

"Five hundred munny, kupo."

Naito was trying to focus on summoning the Gear once more to his hand. Anything. He had to use it, it had to be there to protect him, or at least to help him to protect others. His eyes closed...

...and opened in a large, gray room with bluish symbols on the walls. There was a wall-encompasing window at the end that the astonished time traveler was looking at, several silvery-blue pillars behind him marking the way back to a door of some sort.

Someone stood at the window, in a black coat, with the same color on gloves and boots. The skin was unusually dark, the long blue hair was mostly tucked into the back with the hood down as he--if the body structure could assume gender--stared at the enormous, yellow, heart-shaped moon outside.

"Hello, sir?" Naito asked when he could bring up the courage, scared by the sudden change in scenery. "Could you please tell me where I--?"

The man turned, part of the way, about an eighth turn with his body and more with his head, showing the glowing yellow circles that it had for eyes. A Heartless, perhaps? Wait, there were sentient Heartless?

His ears were pointed, though not by much. The hair came down in twin bangs on either side of his face, partially hiding an earring stud in one ear that was darker than his skin. On his forehead was a lighter patch of skin in the shape of an X, as if a scar. The scar reached halfway up the forehead and slightly below his eyes, crossing just above the bridge of his nose.

The man stared at Naito for several seconds, saying nothing. He then turned the rest of the way around, reaching across his body with his right hand and gripping nothing. Chain-like threads of...nothingness, as some might call it, twisted in his grasp, and a weapon formed from a flash of silver energy, forming into the shape of a large, dark, axe-like claymore that he held backhanded, one with a symbol similar to that on the walls making up its entirety, the entire thing very dark. He held it back in a ready battle stance.

It was then that Naito realized that he had no weapons. His Lunar Sabers were gone, his flashlight as well. He was frantic. Sure, he could likely augment his power with the moon above them. But how, with no weapon to speak of? Looking around frantically, he saw what he needed. It wasn't his usual type, but he had to use something, anything.

It was another claymore, just like this man's, a man who was getting ready to charge directly at him. The base of the blade was decorated by a stylized, red, black, silver, and yellow rocket ship, the handle a pale pink, while its pink pommel was curled, a stylistic representation of the “exhaust” coming from the rocket ship. The main blade was white with thick, blue edges, the tip circular and decorated by a yellow crescent moon.

He had to use it. Had to fight somehow, as the man ran at him.

The young man dove at it, and the battle began.

(Note to Adri: Naito is really just standing there in front of the Moogle, speaking to nothing with his eyes closed. You can probably make an Anti-Luxord to make the fight as similar to the Anti-Saïx here in the Addled Impasse, yet in the Havoc's Divide instead, or maybe even the Proof of Existence if you feel like it. Go nuts, and you can use the Kingdom Hearts Wiki description of "Castle That Never Was" and the appropriate area if you'd like.)

====

[size=1](I've got both that and the page for Luxord's boss fight. This is gonna be fun.)[/size]

Kalas sighed, fishing out 500 munny to pay the Moogle. That was all he had, too. "Guess we're gonna hunt somewhere for food tonight, Luce."

Lucifer whined, flopping his ears. Kalas forked the munny over, then held his hand out. The Valor Gear practically flew out of the box and into Kalas' hand. The minute it met his clutch, it disappeared like Naito's Gear. Unlike the quarter-god, the one-winged boy wasn't worried about it.

Speaking of, he took one glance at Naito, who seemed to be talking to himself with his eyes closed. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Weird kid..." Still, he had the right idea. Kalas held his hand out in order to summon his Gear, or so he felt, and then closed his eyes...

~*~

When Kalas opened his blue eyes, he was no longer in the Tram Common in Twilight Town. Instead, he was in a white and gray area that looked to be part of large white castle. The area was sloped and looked like it lead to a steep drop downwards. The darkened sky showed that this area was outside the castle.

But what caught Kalas' attention was the clear view of the heart-shaped moon. It made him think back to that mess with the alchemist saint. He was there when the moon broke down and crashed into the city. He would have questioned why it was back now, if it were the same moon, but he left it. Seeing that was enough of an answer to where he was now.

The only issue was that while he knew [i]where[/i] he was, he didn't know where he [i]was[/i].

Kalas turned away, about to make his way toward the archway that most likely led into the castle. However, he stopped as he finally took notice of the figure standing before the archway, blocking his path. It was a man with short, very light blond hair and facial hair. He was garbed in a coat that reminded the boy of that illusionist bastard, except it was all black and zipped closed, matching gloves and boots seen. In his hand was a deck of cards; for what reason was unknown.

But the most distinctive feature about this man was his deeply dark skin and glowing yellow eyes. They were almost akin to a Heartless...a humanoid one, perhaps?

Kalas scowled, taking a stance. He knew whoever this was obviously wasn't friendly; he had a feeling that a battle would commence. "Who the hell are you?"

The man didn't answer, standing there in silence. After a few moments, however, he threw the cards out, suspending them in the air for a bit before they hovered away. The man then took a stance that didn't really seemed suited for battle.

And then he spoke, his voice slightly accented and a light baritone, "The first to run out of time is the loser."

Kalas smirked; this was probably gonna be an interesting battle. Bringing out his gray Wing of the Heart and his grandfather's winglet, he reached into his pack to pull out the cards that contained his sword and reverse blade dagger...

...except he wouldn't. The smirk was wiped off instantly as he realized that his Magnus deck was gone. He was left not only without weapons, but abilities as well.

"Ah crap..."

That was all he muttered when the battle, or rather the game had started.  The man re-summoned the deck of cards, all of them hovering around him, and seeming to change in size.

"A challenge, is it?" The cards then temporarily disappeared, and he held his hand out, an orb of dark energy appearing. If Kalas hadn't been too busy worrying over the fact that he was useless in the battle, he would have felt a subconscious reaction to respond to. Instead, tendrils of the same energy surrounded him and struck him where he stood.*

Kalas cried out slightly as he dealt with the minor damage. But then he jumped back as the man leapt forward, the cards flying out to attack him. With a flap of his wings, the Baten Kaitos hero flew in the air in order to get away from the cards constantly being swiped at him. With nothing to fight with, he had to resort to avoiding these attacks until he could find anything to defend himself with.

A stroke of luck finally came as he finally found something. Another deck of cards hovered in the battlefield below. They were different in coloration from the ones that were attacking him in that it was orange with a white border, a thin, black outline separating them. In the center was a white symbol that resembled a diamond with a semi-circle chunk taken out of the side points, a thicker outline surrounding it. The cards were rectangular in shape, but with two indentations in each of the longer sides, creating a ridge.

Looks like he had to play fire with fire, fighting with cards instead of having them as support. Kalas dove for the deck, reaching out to grab at it. Once the cards were in his clutch, he threw some out in an attempt to clash with the opposing cards. A success; the cards he aimed for had dissipated away, leaving the man open.

The game was on now.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAKujSco4fo[/youtube]

[Remaining time gauges: Kalas: a little chipped away, Anti-Luxord: full gauge]

[size=1](*I felt starting the battle the Data Luxord way felt better than the other. Starting the battle/game as a die feels too unspectacular even for Kalas)[/size]

====

So that pretty much confirmed it. Though there were still a few foggy details about the whole ordeal.

"Sora, Roxas..." Alexander said slowly. "I think that beach we saw after fighting Xemnas... [i]was[/i] some kind of Destiny Islands in the Realm of Darkness." He took a deep breath. "That's the whole reason I think this crazy plan is even [i]possible[/i]. If someone gets trapped in the darkness, they might still find the Door to Light. But no..."

His expression perfectly serious, he placed his hands on Sora's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "[i]You are the one who will open the door.[/i] Do you remember that? From your first Awakening? Sora, it was [i]your light[/i] that opened the door from within the Realm of Darkness. Not me. I... I can only show the path to the door."

Alexander finally let go.

"Sora... I have to ask a serious favor of you. I'm about to do something very, very risky. There's a whole lot I don't know about this, I have to find a few more answers... but when I do, I'm going to lock the Door to Darkness from the inside. It'll be dangerous, but I have to hope that I can find my way back to that beach. Back to where the Door to Light is. And I'll be counting on you to open it for me."

====

Sora did not need to say how bad of an idea he thought this was. Out of sheer curiosity, and probably also a desire to cut off the Heartless invasion via The World That Never Was, he was going to sacrifice himself in the hope that Sora could bring him back.

They had opened the gate to other worlds in the Realm of Darkness after the fight to save Radiant Garden. [i]Not[/i] seal the Corridor. Granted, considering that was where the Corridor was [i]coming from[/i] on other worlds, that was more or less reasonable.

Alex was set on it. He was going to do what his heart told him he had to, just like Sora would. What choice was there?

He nodded, sighing in resignation. "I don't know when I'll know when to do it, but I'll do my best, Alex. Just be careful, okay?"

[i]For argument's sake, we'll keep trying to find another way to close the Door,[/i] Roxas said. [i]If if all else fails, try to send out a message, Alex. Anything, to tell that you're still there and ready to get out. Kairi could do it across Realms, yeah. I don't know if the same thing can go from Darkness to Light.[/i]

The physical Keyblader agreed silently. "If you find any other way--and I mean [i]any[/i]--that are better, just consider it, alright? I think Kairi helped us that time on that beach."

=====

Grabbing the claymore, Naito fell on his chest, sliding along the ground around it as he kept a hold. He jumped to his feet as quickly as he could, the weapon surprisingly light in his hands, and the blade of the dark cloaked man’s collided with his hilt.

This was not Naito’s chosen weapon by a long shot. His father had tried to teach him some close combat, as did his mother. However, he had always fallen back to his sabers. Never a bladed weapon like this one, more awkwardly held in two hands as he tried to find a suitable stance for it, blocking blow after blow as he was progressively forced back. He had to use the moon had to try to use his powers.

But how? He couldn’t attempt that, couldn’t use too much for fear of repeating what had happened once before. He did not know this man, nor why he would attack unless he truly was a humanoid Heartless (which he doubted; those probably didn’t exist anyway), but would not risk using too much strength. Not that he knew if it would do any good.

Finally, the being stopped the slashes, jumping high into the air. Naito could barely react, only just summoning his wings before the weapon smashed down on his chest, slamming him into the hard floor. Though in pain, he managed to pick himself up, his fear becoming anger. He couldn’t use his power. How could he do [i]anything[/i] to protect anyone if he couldn’t even use his own strength? He had to use a weapon he had no experience with in order to fight this man?

He held the claymore underhand as the blue-haired man came at him again. A red miasma formed before his very eyes as his rage increased.

It was time to fight back.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt5D-1IaryQ[/youtube]

====

As the game progressed, Kalas and the black cloaked man had continuously attacked with their respective cards. The one-winged boy had found that while he was flying in the air, he could attack with his deck surrounding himself in an upward spiral of cards as he span, and then end it with a two-handed diagonal swipe downwards, with a large card held in each hand. This had given him an advantage, since he could fly.

However, even as he managed to land some hits, the blond man had leapt away from some of his attacks, summoning more cards to float and attack on their own. Kalas had destroyed a few, but had to fly away as some of them had suddenly exploded. That was going to prove annoying to him, he thought.

In the midst of the fight, Kalas decided to try something different. He held his arm back, and then threw his deck as hard as he could. They flew in the air, striking some of the opposing cards, and then struck the man, knocking him back. The cards then turned and flew back into Kalas' hand.

...What? Did you expect him to fail in that attempt?

Kalas smirked to himself, proud of that successful trick, and then flew in again. As quickly as the blond man had been knocked back, he was back on his feet instantly. By temporarily turning into a card, no less. And then, like before, he began to conjure up an orb of dark energy, repeating his last remark.

Before Kalas would attack again, he had caught the subconscious trigger this time. He decided to trust his instinct, and activated the trigger.

[u]Begin Game[/u]

The orb was gone, and four large cards had appeared behind the man. They all had black X'es on them, but in a matter of seconds they would change. One by one, a red O would appear in thie place, before quickly moving to the next card.

The man's question was simple as he stood confidentally, "Do you know the rules?"

Kalas frowned as he watched the cards. From the looks, he had to choose the card with the O before it would change. He had to time it right; who knows what will happen if he lost. Taking a breath, he held his hand out and picked the card...

...right as it changed back to an X.

"Oh f--"

The curse was cut short as darkness surrounded him. Then, in a poof, Kalas found that he couldn't move his arms, legs, or...any part of his body, really. Yet somehow, he managed to hover away from the man before he sent his cards to attack him again.

It took him a moment before he realized: he had been turned into a card.

[i]'Damn it...'[/i] Kalas thought to himself, as while he was in this state, he couldn't really speak. Again, he had been rendered useless. He continued to float away to avoid the attacks until he could change back, whenever that would be. He had to be careful the next time he got the chance to begin that game again.

[Remaining time gauges: Kalas: cut down by a fifth, Anti-Luxord: very nearly tied with that]

====

Of course, it wasn't just curiosity and The World That Never Was that was inspiring him to take on this dangerous mission.

There was also a very important friend he needed to help... One that he was willing to brave the Realm of Darkness for.

Alexander took Sora and Roxas' advice very seriously. "I will," he said in reply to all of them. He wasn't going to perform the deed until he was truly ready. He could probably use the Valor Shard to send a message out if necessary.

And... considering how dangerous this was going to be - he was putting his very heart on the line, after all - if there was any other way, he'd love to see it. But somehow, Alexander doubted that an alternative solution would fall into his hands anytime soon...

Alex suddenly wasn't feeling so confident, but he gave Sora a weak smile anyway. "Thanks, Sora. I really appreciate it."

Wanting to change the subject in a hurry, he said, "Alright, let's get going..."

====

(Think there's anything else to do, Alex? If not, we can just finish up this part of the thing.)

Sora nodded, starting for the door that would lead out to the main hall. He saw the lack of faith in the older Interference's eyes, but couldn't bring himself to just say to "think positive" at the moment. Though he would put on an act for his friend, he still was upset by the relatively recent events.

He opened it, stepping through, but pushing it to allow the Original through as well. "So...where to from here? I kind of...don't know how to get to the Realm of Darkness usually. It just kind of...happens. But you'd know that."

Normally, he would have found it a bit awkward that Alex knew his entire first adventure without having been present for any of it. But after all of this time, some of these things just became run-of-the-mill.

=====

The red-black miasma still covered his vision as Naito charged forward, slashing repeatedly. Every attack was fueled by his incredible rage, his hatred for his inabilty to fight efficiently. That wasn't to say he was actually hitting, in many cases. Again, this not being even close to his weapon of choice, he was bashing at the man again and again, about half of his attacks blocked.

Then the attacks came back. First, he performed two, identical downward slashes in a diagonal motion. Both had immense speed as well as power, but the determination of the time traveler allowed him to force them back for the most part, though they did cause minor damage despite his imperfect guard. He saw the last attack coming, and his ethereal wings propelled him skyward. Just below him, the assailant was ending his combo by leaping forward with an even more powerful diagonal slash.

Naito slashed at him from behind, again and again with the claymore in his hands. If he stayed back, he could win this. He had to know how to use this weapon, but training would come with time.

Within a few hits, he stumbled forward, damaged somewhat by the strikes. He turned, though, and Naito thought he could hear something.

"Say your prayers..."

The voice confused him, the fog lifting as he calmed, confused by this voice. Rage was gone, and he was reliant on just his strength rather than possible augmentation once more.

The man held his hands out to his sides, a silvery blue light shining around him as he looked to the sky outside, to the heart-shaped moon.

Alert, though not fueled by anger, the young man gripped his weapon tightly in his hand, almost grabbing it with the other to add strength at the expense of speed. He declined to do so, however, not knowing if he could change too much in that way.

There was a flash, and the entire body was covered in a blazing blue aura, the possible Heartless turning to face him. Those eyes, once faintly glowing, were far brighter, something akin to, but not quite rage seeming to be behind them.

[i]"I will leave you with nothing!"[/i] And the man charged, slashing at the ground as he did so. With every strike, a wave of blue energy erupted, seeming similar, but not quite identical to the Zivaku's own lunar magic.

One of the strikes smashed into him, sending him flying across the battlefield as he cried out in pain. the impact with a wall stopped that, as he slid down it, weakly getting to his feet as he picked up the claymore again. And so, he did the only thing he thought he could in the face of this chasing berserker, his wings re-emerging from a momentary dispersal.

Naito Zivaku flew for his life around the arena.

====

Alexander didn't answer for a while, but then said, "The End of the World's shown up on the map, growing larger every day. If the Heartless are gathered there, that's where the Door to Darkness should be."

The Interference gave Sora a pat on the shoulder. "Anyway, thanks for your help, but I think this is where we part ways. I've got a little more... [i]research[/i] to do, a couple of leads to follow. It's been good catching up with you."

Guessing that Sora was heading back into town, Alexander made his way back toward the Save Point in the White Room. He waved goodbye as he climbed the stairs, then left in earnest.

====

Avoiding attacks while being a card really wasn't as easy as it looked. Especially when the man you've been fighting decides to change his pattern. As he neared, he went in a 360 spin, his cards surrounding his legs, before it was followed by a narrow spray of cards forward. It was then ended with an upward spiral of cards.

Kalas would have been thrown in the air with the last attack. He wasn't, thankfully, as he had changed back then, countering the cards with his own before they had gone in a wide spray forwards. The man was knocked back, but like before, he was back on his feet within a second by turning into a card himself. How [i]he[/i] can manage, Kalas didn't know or bother to want to. He just wanted out of this damn place.

He had gone airborne once more. At the same, the blond man had leapt at him and performed his own aerial combo. Spinning leap while being surrounded in an upward spiral of cards, and then a two-handed diagonal swipe with two large cards. In other words, it was no different from the one Kalas had done. The half-winged boy caught this, and countered it with his own. He then attempted to throw his cards at the man, but more of his large cards were summoned to protect him.

The man landed back on the slope. Once again, dark energy began to gather in his hand. And again, there was the subconscious trigger. Kalas would have done something to avoid it, but being the stubborn young man that he was, he activated the Begin Game command once more. He wasn't going to lose this time.

The four cards appeared behind the cloaked man once again, changing from X to O across like before. Kalas kept a closer eye this time, staying focused. He had to be quicker than before if he didn't want to be a card or anything else. So he whipped his hand out again, right as the card he picked had changed...to an O.

The damage was done, but Kalas didn't stop there. He had sent the wide spray of cards twice before performing the usual aerial combo. He tried to attack again, but then the man had sent two cards spinning and flying at him, knocking him away.

"Look closely."

There was a burst of thorny threads of...whatever they were. Three cards stood in its place: one blank, one that looked like a fireball symbol, and the last with the man on it. They went face-down on the ground, shuffling their way before lifting back up around Kalas, faced away so he would not see which card was which.

Kalas grunted as he looked at the cards. If only his Guardian Spirit comment to Xelha had been true; she could probably help him with this. But, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't reach her now. Thus he had to rely on his own luck, rotten as it was.

So he picked a card, flipped it...and was nearly pushed off his feet from a small explosion. See what I mean?

[Remaining time gauges: both tied to almost a half]

====

Sora waved his goodbye as well, Roxas talking to him.

[i]Well, all the more reason to see them at some point,[/i] he said, not really wanting to do so. [i]For the record, leaving was entirely your fault. Nothing on me.[/i]

The Keyblader didn't even bother to object at the moment, saving it for later. Instead, he went the same way Alex had, heading on his way out via the same save point.

===

(After this, one post from you, one from me, and one more from you should be enough for finish it up.)

[b][i]"All will be lost to you!"[/i][/b]

Naito was scared out of his mind.

The man kept coming, somewhat slowly but very powerfully, slashing at the ground as he came closer and closer. Every time he hit the ground, another blue shockwave came up. They seemed to have gotten [i]stronger[/i] recently, definitely not a good sign. Naito had to keep flying past him to get to the other end of the area.

This was not a good fight at all. He had no skill with his weapon, and was being chased around by a veritable [i]lunatic[/i]. Not his best situation ever. He swept by this crazy man, dipping low for a slash to disrupt him...but was caught off-guard as he swung up, slamming him hard against the ceiling before he smashed back into the ground once more, groaning as he picked himself up.

Luckily, the man had to keep running to the other end before he could come around for another go. This gave Naito time to stand up, watching the next time around...

Not really gonna happen, looked like. The man jumped into the air, raising his weapon. With a feral roar, he threw it as hard as he could, aiming directly for Naito!

The boy acted on instinct, diving forward to avoid it and the shockwave that accompanied it, then rolled aside to avoid the oncoming man as he charged again. Though injured somewhat by the shockwaves, he managed to rise once more, ready for the next throw, if it would come to it.

Luckily, it did. The next throw came, and Naito was ready, dropping his claymore as the man jumped skyward once more and hurled it at him.

He acted on instinct, his wings coming out. It came toward him, hurtling at the speed of the throw...and he snapped his arm out to catch it before it hit the ground again, gripping the hilt with the blade up, showing strange added spikes. As he looked at the man, he appeared to also have much less organized hair himself. He would only have one chance at this, due to both weight and the strength of this berserker.

Naito Zivaku turned with the catch, allowing it to carry him in a full three-hundred-sixty degree circle before releasing.

The change in momentum, added to a bizarre physics of this world that kept this man airborne far longer than he should be, allowed him to send the claymore flying right back at the man, hitting him dead in the chest.

The light dissipated from the man, the weapon, his eyes, and his hair returning to their neutral state, as the young man picked up his own claymore again, flying up to meet him. He attacked in a panic. The first three strikes were backward flips, sending the ex-berserker back up toward the ceiling as he had been falling. the last attack was a tornado slash, spinning around wildly in midair and hitting the man several times before sending him to the ground.

Again, Naito was angry, anger born of his panic. It was time to finish this.

====

The second pick was better than last time. Kalas had flipped the second card and revealed the blond man, reverting him back from the card state. The one-winged boy attacked with his cards the minute he did, only for the man to leap away, sending more cards flying at him. Kalas flew away from the cards...only to see that the man had turned into a card again, with two more blank cards and two more trap cards.

This time, Kalas kept a closer eye again. As the cards shuffled on the ground, his eyes followed the one he felt was right. Once they started to circle him, he watched the one card closely, making sure he didn't lose sight of it. He acted on instinct then, and flipped the card. For the second time, the man was revealed.

However, the minute he reverted back, he sent an upward spiral of cards, knocking the boy in the air. Kalas grunted, but caught his balance in the air. He was getting tired of--

"Look closely."

Kalas looked up...in time to see a pyramid of cards, the blond man at the top. His face faulted; how in the [i]hell[/i] was he supposed to keep track of that? The cards tumbled down and began to shuffle once again. Kalas shook his head and kept his eyes on one card once more before they lifted and circled him again. He flipped it...only to be knocked back by the small explosion. The winged boy quickly recomposed himself, flipped another card...another explosion.

For a moment, Kalas just lied there. Then he growled, got back up, and readied his cards as he panted. "I...am really...sick...and F***ING TIRED OF THIS!"

And then he threw the cards out. There were a few more explosions made, some cards simply obliterating, but one had hit the man dead on, once again reverting him back and this time knocking him off balance. Kalas didn't stop there; he kept attacking with his deck nonstop.

Their battle went on as normal, except the man in the black coat summoned more cards to attack and shield him. This had to end soon.

[Remaining time gauges: Kalas: ebbing down to a third, Anti-Luxord: a little past half down]

====

A red-black miasma again formed around Naito's head as he hovered in the air. That rage boiled within his blood, not directed at anything in particular. If there had been any others in the area, it was difficult to tell whether or not he would attack them as well. The good news was that, in this crazed state, he was actually competent with the claymore in his hands.

It manifested on the weapon itself as well. where the rounded yellow moon once sat at the tip, a white rabbit head sat instead, with large red eyes and pink inner ears. A yellow aura was also present, a vertical bar about halfway up the shaft that turned to a spherical one around the rest of the top.

That man below was still dazed, standing up and summoning his weapon to him in a flash. He jumped up to attack Naito as he came down, his attacks wild, but more controlled than the berserk state. The sideways slash was blocked with a vertical hold of the younger man's claymore. The upward-diagonal one was similarly negated perpendicularly. The last attack was a powerful downward swing, but this time the teen reacted.

On the swing, Naito deflected the blow with an upward-diagonal slash of his own. Forcing the weapon aside, he followed up with a sideways attack, knocking the man back as he was kept in mid-air by the combo reversal. The time traveling, enraged Interference didn't let up, dashing forward on his wings of energy with a feral roar and finishing with a three-hundred-sixty degree spinning slash again. He followed the yellow-eyed man as he was sent flying backward toward the ground, and tackled him, forcing him straight into the ground with a crash and a stab to the chest in the process.

But Naito was not done by a long shot. Not long after landing, he slashed nearly straight up, sending the opponent up to his eye level  before performing another slash in a downward-diagonal pattern, making the black cloaked individual parallel with the ground. The young man stepped to the side, doing another of his spinning slashes to send the man flying before ending with a, upward diagonal attack.

By the end, this blue haired man, dazed beyond comprehension, was standing, staggering, at the window, the moon between Naito and him. He could still leave him, still have mercy and let him have him go.

No dice. Naito held back his claymore with both hands, letting the moon power this maneuver. And he swung.

[b][i]"Moon Wave!"[/i][/b]

The wave of silver light, wide as his slashing arc, caught the strange man in the chest, propelling him at the window...and shattering it, sending him straight out into the distance. Light shone from the impact point, from the man, as he sailed into the distance...and disappeared, the waved continuing onward. Inside, his weapon similarly dissipated

But the rage didn't stop. Naito screamed at the top of his lungs, looking for something, anything else to kill. He had to make them pay, show he wasn't a kid, show them all what he could--

[i]What in the name of Mother Amaterasu am I [b]doing[/b]?[/i] The boy froze, terrified once more and forcing out the rage of his strikes, the weapon itself turning back to normal as the dark red fog faded. "No, no... I can't use that much power, I..."

The arena began to fade, began to disappear entirely. His vision was becoming blurry, the weapon twisting into threads of dark chains, Nothing Threads, and disappearing. The battle was over. And the voice called, so similar to that man's.

[i]Bunnymoon.[/i] The name of the weapon? Would be appropriate.

And so he went, leaving behind the remnant of this bewildering arena, this Addled Impasse that he had never previously seen.

All went white.


(Okay, next one from you should be the end, and I'll cover their awakening if you want.)

====

Time was running out for both fighters (or is it players?). Kalas did his best to avoid the many cards coming for him, as well as countering the blond man's attacks. Some had hit him, but more cards were obliterated with each chance he got. He had also activated the Begin Game command a few times, each time successful since he knew how to go about it. In time, more damage was done to the man than himself. The JRPG hero grinned to himself; luck was on his side in this fight.

[Kalas: down to a quarter, Anti-Luxord: about an eighth left]

Or so he thought...

"Look who's on top of the game!"

That was all the man said as his cards returned to his hand, and then he threw them all out. The cards scattered all over, covering the arena. Before Kalas knew it, the man had disappeared into his cards. He grunted, whipping his head back and forth to make sure he wouldn't be caught off guard. It wasn't long before he heard the man's voice again, right behind him. "Scatter!"

Kalas turned, but then quickly flew away to avoid the cards being thrown at him. He had tried to throw his own cards out, but the man had disappeared again. In a short time, he had reappeared and threw more out before disappearing again. Kalas held up his own to defend himself. He had to catch the man off-guard somehow--oh crap, he was spinning with his cards now. The winged boy flew a bit higher in the air and threw his cards out again. Unfortunately, they were deflected by the spinning cards. Kalas grunted again, but then flew away as more cards were thrown at him.

He had continued to avoid the cards, until finally, the blond man was in clear shot. Kalas closed in, ready to attack...

[i][color=fuchsia]'Kalas -- 's going o --'[/i][/color]

That stopped him instantly. Kalas looked up, blinking. [i]'Xelha? Can you hear me?'

[color=fuchsia]'-- can but -- ere are y -- can't se --'[/i][/color]

The voice of the Ice Queen stopped right then. Kalas grunted, turning frantic right away. [i]'Xelha? Xelha! I might need your help!'[/i] No matter how much he tried, he couldn't reach her voice again.

Because of that setback, a giant card had flown by the winged boy, snapping him back to the fight. More giant cards had appeared around him, closing him off. Even if he were to try flying, they would still block him off. Kalas turned to find the man standing before him.

"Do you know the rules?"

Ah hell, how was he supposed to...wait, he could see in his mind's eye four cards contantly changing between X'es and O'es. Maybe it was like before; he had to catch the O before it would change. So he waited, and mentally caught one as it changed to an O. Wait, the other cards were still changing...did he have to catch them all? Well, he had to hurry; time was running low. Kalas took a deep breath to relax, and focused on getting the other three.

O.

...O...

...come on, focus...it was rapidly changing; he didn't want to turn into a card again, or anything else...

...X--no wait, O.

Success. The cards all shrunk down and flew into Kalas' hand, combined with his own deck. He grinned, and then threw them all out, attacking his opponent not only with his cards, but the man's own as well.

[Kalas: ebbing away past the quarter mark, Anti-Luxord: very nearly depleted]

The man was now down to his knees. Kalas smirked to himself again. Looks like he won this--

A dark aura then surrounded the man. In an instant, a large card was summoned right in front of him. The smirk wiped off the half-winged boy's face. What the hell was he doing? He tried to throw his cards out...right when he was hit by an energy blast that came [i]right[/i] under his feet. Kalas yelled out as he was once again knocked off his feet, but the man didn't stop there. Two more cards appeared in front of him, and the next thing Kalas knew, he was bombarded by more energy blasts, with one final, more powerful blast throwing him back in a violent heap.

[Remaining time gauges: both now very nearly depleted]

Kalas groaned as he slowly stood back to his feet. His health was dangerously low now, and he had very little time left. The blond man simply stood there, not making another move. It was as if he was waiting for the boy to finish this game.

"Don't squander your time."

The Baten Kaitos protagonist glared, panting slightly. Again, he had enough with this. He prepared to attack again, when something clicked in his mind.

[i]Jackpot.[/i]

Once again, there was the subconscious trigger to activate this. Having nothing else to fall back on, Kalas had activated it. A brief flash had took him, along with threads of dark thorns. Kalas looked up, and grinned once more. "You're history."

Like the man had done, Kalas summoned a large card before him. The card kept alternating between an X and a flashing symbol that he couldn't really make out. Not trusting the X one bit, the blue-haired hero had picked the flashing symbol. Again, like what the man did, a few energy blasts had trailed down the close distance. The man didn't even flinch; he just stood there until the final blast had erupted below him, throwing off his balance.

[Kalas: Still with a few seconds left, Anti-Luxord: completely depleted]

One last time, Kalas had smirked. He had won. "Game, set, and match."

The blond man didn't move, just laying before the slope. But then he lifted himself only slightly so that he would look up at the boy. A smirk crossed his face as he said his last words.

"You play the game quite well..."

And then he vanished, his deck of cards gone with him.

The arena began to fade around him right after. Kalas looked around, before his vision started to blur. The deck of cards in his hand had twisted into the dark thorns, the Nothing Threads, before they disappeared. And then he heard a voice.

[i]Death.[/i] Was that the name of the deck? He would ask why, but he most likely won't get an answer.

And he flew off right then, what was left of the arena, the Havoc's Divide, left behind. And finally, his vision turned white.

====

When Naito opened his eyes, he was back in the Tram Common. However, his location was a little different. Rather than in front of Elmira, he was nearer to the potions shop, the owner seeming a little annoyed with him, if the gaze meant anything.

The young man looked around, and saw the Moogle, who seemed to be ignoring him. "Um, hello, sir? Why did I move?"

Elmira gave him a look, speaking under his breath. "Having the crazy guys who talk to themselves standing in front of my shop isn't good for business, kupo. No offense, kupo." He then went back to ignoring.

Naito looked back to the potions shop, where he saw Kalas, who had been close to him, probably also pushed here by the Moogle. Though a bit annoyed, Naito was still shocked by the battle he had undergone, not really minding the slight rudeness of the shopkeeper. Had the blue haired man experienced something similar?

The teenager looked to his right hand, thinking of the weapon, the Bunnymoon. A claymore, a weapon he had never used...making him so angry he could kill something, giving him the skill to do it. What happened next surprised him further, solidifying that he hadn't hallucinated, at least not entirely.

Nothing Threads danced along his fingertips, around his entire hand, and spread, a silver light forming to the weapon, to the teen's shock. It finally completely manifested, held backhand in his right grip.

Rage skirted the edge of his consciousness. Was it just this weapon, not the situations he had been in?

Not wanting to cause too much damage, Naito thought hard. He wanted it gone. Wanted it to just go away, to make sure he didn't hurt anyone he didn't want to.

And it was. Nothing Threads swallowed it along with more light, and the strange claymore ceased to exist.

The young man looked to Kalas, confused and shocked. "Did....did something happen to you, too?"

====

Kalas blinked his eyes open, shaking his head. He was a little disoriented; it felt like he had been napping in the middle of the street. He looked around for a bit to see that he had been moved, and although that annoyed him a bit, he too was thinking on the battle that--hey, where'd Luce go?

[i][color=fuchsia]'Kalas, what happened?'[/i][/color]

Another blink as he heard Xelha's voice run through his head. [i]'I...I don't know, Xelha...was I really in that place, fighting that one guy through some game?'

[color=fuchsia]'I don't know. I was trying to reach you, but something was holding my power back.'[/i][/color]

...that was enough for him to know. He had heard her voice trying to come through to him during the battle. If it really happened...Kalas looked down at his hand, thinking on the deck of cards that helped him through that. The Death deck, it was apparently called. His world was run by cards, even using them for battle, but not like he had used those cards. It was so odd...

The minute he thought about it, the Nothing Threads surrounded his hand, startling him. As they spread, a light formed into the cards, and shortly, the Death deck had manifested in his grip. Kalas stared at the cards, spreading them out. He ran a hand through them, but then winced and pulled back as they cut his fingers. Yeah, this was proof enough that it really happened. He would have to practice with these later. He thought again to desummon them, and sure enough, the Nothing Threads swirled around the deck, and then it disappeared.

Kalas turned to Naito then, having caught the odd-looking claymore before he desummoned it. "Yeah...was in some weird place, fighting this one guy with those cards..." He shook his head. "It was a game, apparently...I dunno how to describe it..."

====

Naito nodded, not needing to know. At least he knew what he had gone through...kind of. He explained himself.

"I was fighting this guy with a claymore like mine. He...he was kind of tough, but his weapon...my weapon..." He looked down, scared and embarrassed.

"It causes untold rage apparently. I....I don't know how to control it. This is a last resort, I think. But I...I think I can use it right when that activates." He thought to himself, however, fearful. [i]Or does it use me?[/i]

The young man shook his head, just looking to Kalas again. "Anyway....I was going to get the last few things. Just stocking up on my potions, then I'll be going. What about you?" He didn't say "Mister Kalas". Not that he didn't [i]think[/i] it, but he didn't say it just then.

Elmira called from afar. "If you're going to buy more, come over, kupo! I have more than he does!"

The other storekeeper grumbled, but didn't object too much, wanting, as the Moogle competition had, to have the crazy men away from his shop.

The boy nodded, looking to Kalas. "If you want, go ahead, sir."

====

Kalas frowned as he listened to Naito's explanation. A weapon that causes rage...truthfully, the thought scared him, too. He had enough problems when it came to the Angel of Darkness; he wouldn't want anything to channel that kind of rage. Plus, with this kid wielding something like that...well, let's just say he knew the saying 'beware the nice ones' and leave it at that.

He didn't comment on any of this, however. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders to Naito and told him, "Actually, I was only here to grab a bite to eat." And plant a trap in Audrey's home, but the younger boy didn't need to know that. "But since I wasted my munny on buying a new weapon instead, I'll probably take off after I find Luce, wherever he ran off to." A pause. "And don't call me 'sir'. Seriously."

====

The young man rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry...force of habit." He started for the Moogle, scanning his stocks. Using a lot of his munny he had brought with him, the boy bought several potions and ethers, as well as one or two elixirs. Spending so much time between meeting Interferences Heartless-hunting really paid off.

Naito looked back to Kalas, waving goodbye. "I'll see you, then. If you see my uncle, tell him I say hi, all right? And if you get any news on my dad, Gregory."

Without waiting for a response, he was off, jogging away, out of earshot. He had his equipment, and a new weapon besides. People this would be enough.

(And I'm out. Thanks for the help. Hope you had fun.)

====

[size=1](Yeah, that was fun. I'll finish it off here.)[/size]

Kalas just...stared at where Naito ran off. He had never been told this before. That kid was Greg's son? And that Isaac guy was his uncle? How in the hell...

"I'm...not even gonna ask..." he muttered to himself. It was probably too complicated anyway. Instead, the blue-haired hero walked off in search of his demon dog companion, all the while speaking with the Ice Queen.

[i]'Still, it really would have been great if you helped me out back there. It would have been like old times.'

[color=fuchsia]'I understand. If I could have gotten through, I would have.'[/i][/color] There was a pause after that. He knew she could feel what he was now. [i][color=fuchsia]'...You miss Crystal, don't you?'[/i][/color]

The former spiriter sighed. [i]'...Yeah, I do. It just...feels different without having her around. I've been used to having her help me out for two years. And everything we've gone through...'

[color=fuchsia]'I know, Kalas. But you've been doing really well on your own. I know you'll get back your lost experience soon.'[/color]

'...I hope so, Xelha. I really hope so.'[/i]

With another sigh, Kalas just kept walking. But before he could brood any further, he heard Lucifer barking and turned to see him running over to him.

"There you are, Luce," Kalas said, kneeling before the dog. "Where'd you go off to?"

The Mauthe Doog responded by placing something on the ground before his master. Pieces of munny, enough to count 200, and a few cards. Kalas recognized them to be Magnus cards; a few attack cards, and his next finishing attack.

One minute ago, Kalas had been in what I'd like to call 'angst-mode'. Now, he had brightened up instantly and said, "You got all of this while I was out?"

Lucifer barked in response. Kalas grinned, picked up the munny and the cards, before standing back up and ruffling the dog's fur on his head. "Looks like we're eatin' tonight after all. You especially deserve somethin' special, Luce."

Another bark, this time in excitement. The half-winged boy started down the street then, his pet demon dog following. All in all, this turned out to be a good day for Kalas. Payback, a new weapon, returning skills, and now enough munny for lunch.

Now if only he could fathom how the hell Gregory and Kynthia managed to have a kid before the former died...