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minijenn · 5 years

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Keys to the Kingdom Chapter 8

Yayyyy! Back to workin on my baby and of course I come out of the gate with an angstfest chapter like this. I am SUPER proud of it of course, as it is pretty original and pretty plot relevant I must say (even if not a TON happens in it but sometimes that’s ok.) So I won’t keep you from it any longer. Enjoy!

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/184403091549/keys-to-the-kingdom-chapter-7

Chapter 8: Lazy Afternoon Streets

Taste, what a bittersweet, All my, all my life

Sora stared down at the small, yet surprisingly complex device—properly known as a Gummiphone—he held in his hand, his thoughts filled with all of the many points that had been brought up in the call that had just come to an end. The discovery of the Gummiphone itself, which had been packed away into the new set of clothes the Keybearer was now wearing, had effectively been the gateway to a whole host of pertinent information for the otherwise momentarily directionless trio.

First was the introduction to the phone from Chip and Dale, with the pair of engineers detailing its various functions and features that would no doubt make it a very useful tool in the trio’s upcoming search for the thirteen Keys. From there, however, the call had been intercepted by Ienzo, an apparent former member of Organization XIII who had then gone by the name of Zexion. Neither Sora, Donald, nor Goofy recognized him, despite Ienzo’s claims of them meeting once before. Still, the researcher had made sure to assure them that, regardless of his former ties to the Organization, he, and the few other former members working alongside him, wished to offer whatever help they could to their side instead now. Naturally, the trio was somewhat suspicious, maybe even a bit distrustful of their motives. But if someone like Axel could turn away from the Organization and try to set their past wrongs right by aiding the cause of light, who was to say that Ienzo and his friends couldn’t as well?

Furthermore, the information and research Ienzo had provided them with was quite intriguing indeed. It was a revelation that Sora had largely already known: the idea that his heart wasn’t entirely his own. After all, he was already fully aware that Roxas, or at least whatever remained of him, resided far within its depths and that he had for quite some time now. But even so, the reminder of this fact had sent the Keybearer’s mind reeling with a myriad of thoughts and feelings concerning his Nobody. His Nobody, whom he had never really gotten a chance to know or befriend, but had always wanted to. His Nobody, who, by all accounts, couldn’t even exist as his own person so long as their hearts were tied and tethered together as tightly as they currently were.

And it was those thoughts that lingered the most persistently in Sora’s head even after the call concluded and Donald and Goofy still remained by his side in the immediate aftermath of it. Only a small beat of silence permeated the Gummi Ship’s cockpit as the phone’s screen turned black, though Sora was quick to fill it as he voiced his newfound devout resolve to his companions. “I have to find a way to help Roxas,” he said, not glancing up as he spoke much more sternly than he usually did. “The others are following Aqua’s heart, so I’ll follow Roxas’ heart!”

“Well, gawrsh, Sora, ya know we’re up for anything ya wanna do,” Goofy said with a small, if not somewhat befuddled smile. “But aren’t we supposed’ta be lookin’ for them Keys?”

“We can look for them on the way!” Sora insisted brightly and he meant it. After all, looking for the Keys was their primary mission, and an incredibly important one for the sake and safety of practically every world in existence. But for Sora, saving his lost Nobody, figuring out a way to let Roxas be every bit as real and alive as he was, was almost every bit as important as claiming each and every one of the thirteen Keys was. “What do you guys say?”

“You heard Goofy,” Donald concluded with a knowing smirk. “We’re with you for anything you wanna do!”

“That’s right,” Goofy agreed as Jiminy also readily nodded from his spot on the armrest of Sora’s seat. “Trust the guidance that your heart gives ya, Sora. That’s what Master Yen Sid said.”

“So, where to?” Donald asked, eager.

Sora briefly smiled between his companions, more than happy to know that he had their support on this endeavor. And while he wasn’t entirely sure, he liked to believe that Roxas would also be quite thankful for their help too. “Oh, that’s easy!” he grinned, standing as he swiftly summoned his Keyblade and aimed it towards the vast expanse of stars before them. It was as if he could feel Roxas’ heart stirring within his own, telling him exactly where he wanted and needed to go. And Sora knew beyond any doubts that he owed it to his Nobody to follow that call to wherever it might lead. “To Twilight Town!”

The top clock tower provided the very best view of Twilight Town by far. The structure rose so high above the sunset soaked city streets and buildings that it gave a perfect prospective of just above everything below it. Which was why it was no wonder that the group had long since singled that lofty perch out as their favorite spot to unwind and relax at the end of their usual lazy, carefree summer days. This particular evening was one such example, likely one of the last chances they’d get to come up here as the summer vacation was soon set to come to its expected end.

Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas all swung their legs out over the edge of the tower as they sat and enjoyed their sea salt ice cream, all four of them trying to ignore the unanimous sense of disappointment their shared in their missed trip to the beach. Even so, the evening was warm and peaceful and quiet, enough to set all of them at ease. Well, most of them.

Roxas was the only one of the group who hadn’t touched his ice cream since they’d climbed to the top of the tower. He usually enjoyed the sweet yet salty treat immensely but today his thoughts were elsewhere, awash in worry and confusion over the strange, practically unexplainable events of the past few days alone. The bizarre white creatures, the hooded thief who had made off with their hard-earned beach munny, his persistent dreams of that brown-haired boy he didn’t know but who seemed so very familiar; all of these things just had to be connected. But as to how, Roxas hadn’t the faintest idea.

“It’s melting.” Olette’s voice broke him out of his swirling thoughts. Sure enough, his ice cream was dripping, though he hardly cared as he glanced over at his friends, seeing that they were enjoying their own treats in peaceful silence. As if they believed nothing in the world was wrong at all when something clearly was.

“…Sorry…” Roxas muttered, still rather guilty that he had ended up ruining their long-sought after day at the beach.

“Cheer up already!” Hayner urged in his usual blunt way.

“That was definitely weird though…” Pence noted, referring to the thief none of them had seen save for Roxas.

“Strange…” Olette agreed with a nod.

“You said it,” Roxas sighed absently as he looked out at the impressive expanse before him. He closed his eyes for a moment, finally taking a bite out of his ice cream. It had indeed started to melt a little, but it was still just as delicious as it ever was, even if the flavor almost seemed bittersweet in a way that he couldn’t quite place.

“Its been awhile since we’ve all hung out like this, huh?” he asked with something of a small, sad smile.

“Well, we’ve all had our share of drama lately,” Axel shrugged, narrowly skirting around what all three of them were surely thinking. “By the way, I just remembered,” her turned slightly towards the pair sitting alongside him. “Did you know you should be checking your ice cream sticks?”

“Really?” ____ asked, leaning forward slightly.

“Yeah,” Axel glanced down at his own half-eaten bar. “Once you finish your ice cream, see if the stick says WINNER.” He took another bite of his own treat, only to find a blank stick below it. “…Not that I’ve ever seen one myself.”

“So… what happens if you win?” Roxas asked, curious.

“I’ll tell ya… that’s… a good question.”

“What, you don’t know?”

“Well, its gotta be something nifty if you’re a WINNER, right?”

“Hm… I guess…”

Hearing the amusing banter between the pair was easily enough to elicit a light, fond chuckle out of ____, who soon broke into the conversation as she glanced out towards the sinking sun before them. “Wow…” she said, aptly amazed by the view. “The sun’s beautiful today…” Roxas and Axel joined her in admiring the bright, yet fading glow, a sense of contentment mingled with hints of longing settling upon all three of them as they took it in. “I’ve seen a lot of sunsets, but today’s puts them all to shame,” ____ noted warmly, yet sadly, almost as if she knew something the other two didn’t. Which, as they’d eventually come to find out, she most certainly did. “If only things could stay like this forever…”

“Say…” Roxas spoke up, filled with a sudden, impulsive idea inspired by what ____ had just said. “What if we all just… took off?”

“What?” ____ asked, confused as Axel also raised an eyebrow at him.

“If we ran, I bet we could always be together,” Roxas smiled, hoping that such a plan could somehow work, as lofty and impossible as it might have seemed.

“But… we have nowhere to run…” ____ shook her head.

“…Yeah…” Roxas sighed, realizing that such a dream was far too good to ever really be true. “I guess you’re right…”

“What’s important isn’t that we hang out with each other every day,” Axel interjected, his expression unreadable as he stared out at the sunset.

“As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, we’ll never be apart, right?” ____ finished, her tone sweet and hopeful. “We’ve got it memorized, Axel.”

“Good,” Axel nodded, finally smiling, if only slightly.

“I’ll have these moments memorized for a long time…” ____ said softly, almost to herself. “Forever…”

“Me too,” Roxas agreed, as if it was a vow to both of his best friends. A vow to hold onto all of the warmth and happiness these simple moments they shared together contained for as long as he possibly could and perhaps even after that. “Forever…”

“Hey, Roxas?”

“Roxas?”

“Ro_as?”

“Sora?

“Sora!”

“Huh?” Sora flinched, blinking rapidly as he snapped back into the present at Donald’s impatient call. Slightly disoriented, the Keybearer glanced back towards the clock tower, remembering that they had just arrived in Twilight Town, though he couldn’t really recall much immediately after that. That is, save for the coupled memories he had just somehow seen.

“You’ve been starin’ up at the tower for an awfully long time now…” Goofy noted with clear concern. “Did ya see somethin’ up there?”

“W-well, yeah! I saw-” Sora stopped short as he finally looked away from the tower only to glance down at his own hands instead. And when he did, he was quite shocked to find they were clad in a pair of familiar black gloves, his arms covered by the telltale long sleeves of a dark Organization cloak. He nearly started at this until he happened to catch sight of his reflection in one of the nearby shop windows, only to find that it wasn’t his reflection at all.

It was Roxas’.

“Sora?” Goofy stepped in front of his view of the window, still clearly worried as Donald shared his concern. “Are you ok?”

Sora didn’t answer right away, instead holding his hand up once again only to find that it was his once more. His reflection, however, still wasn’t, as he briefly leaned over to look past Goofy to look at it, only to find Roxas still staring back at him instead of himself.

“Y-yeah…” the Keybearer breathed, somewhat unsteady as he shook his head and took a small step back. He gasped, startled as he backed into another building, still seeing Roxas reflecting in the glass in place of himself, mirroring every bit of confusion he currently felt. “I… I’m fine,” he lied, knowing that this wasn’t fine, that something was wrong, that he had no idea what was happening to him or why or how to make it all stop or—

“You don’t look fine,” Donald spoke up, sending Sora a rather suspicious look. And indeed, he didn’t as his usually tanned skin had paled considerably, his forehead covered in a thin sheen of noticeable sweat as he pressed up against the side of side of the building, breathing heavily all the while. Rare was it for either Donald or Goofy to see Sora in such a rattled, shaken, almost frightened state, especially in a moment of relative calm such as this, but whatever the reasoning behind it was, it was clear he had no intentions of revealing it.

“W-well, I am fine,” he insisted as firmly as he could, even if his voice still wavered as he said it. “I’m fine,” he said again, trying to convince himself this time as he properly stood, refusing to so much as glance at any reflective surface as he tried his best to press on ahead.

Of course, neither Donald nor Goofy were entirely convinced, but they both knew better than to press Sora any further on something like this. And sure enough, for the most part he seemed to be bouncing back just fine from whatever had happened to him as he led the way down market street towards the tram common, with the pair soon deciding to join in step behind him.

“Gawrsh,” Goofy said in a somewhat haphazard attempt at changing the subject. “You know, we forgot to fill Master Yen Sid on everything else that happened in Olympus. Should we go back?”

“What, you mean about Maleficent and Xigbar?” Sora asked, more than glad to discuss something, anything else.

“And about what really happened when those Heartless attacked at the temple!” Donald huffed, sending the Keybearer a critical glare. “Which we were about to tell him until you stopped us and made us lie to him about it!”

“It wasn’t a lie!” Sora retorted, though he was quick to recant as the magician’s disapproving scowl deepened. “O-ok, maybe it sort of was. But that doesn’t matter! What happened back there really isn’t as big of a deal as you guys like to think it is.”

“Well, shucks, call me crazy, but you nearly losin’ yourself to darkness does kinda seem like a big deal to us, Sora…” Goofy frowned, his tone nowhere near as harsh as Donald’s, though there was still a sense of admonishment to it.

“I-it was an accident, ok?!” Sora said rather defensively. “And neither of you have anything else to worry about because I’m not going to let it happen again. Which is why we don’t have to tell Master Yen Sid o-or Riku, or anyone else about it, ok? Heck, same goes for all the other stuff that happened in Olympus. The others already have enough on their plates as it is. Why go stressing them out? The three of us know how to handle a couple of old adversaries, right?”

“Hm… yeah, I guess…” Donald hesitantly agreed.

“But doesn’t that thing Pete said bother ya?” Goofy asked thoughtfully.

“About the black box?” the magician chimed in.

“Come on, we’re talking about Pete here,” Sora deadpanned, casually hanging his hands behind his head. “That means its probably no big deal.”

“I don’t know…” Donald said, still clearly apprehensive. “Maybe we should-”

“Oh cool!” Sora suddenly interupted as the trio stepped into the town’s open market, with the usual trolley slowly making its rounds throughout it. “The trams are still here!”

“Sora, it hasn’t been that long since the last time we were here,” the magician pointed out as the Keybearer excitedly ran on ahead a bit.

“Well, it feels like it has,” Sora noted, glancing back at his companions.

“Maybe you’re feelin’ what Roxas feels ‘cause he misses home,” Goofy suggested.

Sora stilled at this, instantly realizing that this could not only easily be true, but could possibly explain the strange sights and feelings he had been experiencing ever since they arrived in Twilight Town. Briefly, he looked down towards a small puddle of water on the ground beside him, and as he caught another glimpse of Roxas’ reflection in place of his own, his heart suddenly ached with what was undeniably a pang of genuine homesickness. With a desire to be a part of the world that was filled with memories he treasured so dearly once more.

“I-I… I saw Roxas in the sleeping worlds, actually…” Sora said to his companions, knowing that this would be much easier to explain to them than what was happening to him now. Largely since he had no idea how to explain any of it himself. “It was like…” he trailed off briefly, fully setting his sights on his Nobody’s reflection and wishing that it was more than just that alone. “It was like I was seeing into his heart for the very first time…” Of course, he omitted the fact that he was practically feeling exactly the same at that very moment as he had during his brief encounter with Roxas in the sleeping worlds. Sad, hopeful, remorseful, and most of all, absolutely overwhelmed by memories and feelings that he knew weren’t his own, but he still knew were precious and important all the same.

He had seen Roxas’ memories then and he was seeing them now. Perhaps being in a place like Twilight Town, where Roxas had spent so much time and had so many connections to, was stirring them up within his heart or perhaps it was something else altogether, but all the same, Sora knew that was the best explanation he could think of. On one hand, it was a reassuring sign, one that could possibly lead them to some sort of clues on how to help Roxas, the very thing they had come here to do. But on the other hand, Sora couldn’t deny that it all still unnerved him. In a way, it felt like he was walking around in someone else’s shoes, even if they were still very much his own. Each and every glance he saw of Roxas’ reflection filling in place of where his own should be was like a grim, urgent, almost painful reminder that his heart wasn’t entirely his own, that Roxas was still trapped inside of it, that he needed to find a way to save him and why hadn’t he saved him yet, why was it taking so long, why was Roxas apparently not allowed to be his own person when Sora was and why had this not bothered him this much until now?

Sora took in a tight, shuddering breath in an attempt to silence this racing, almost frantic train of thought as he placed a hand against both his head and his heart. He quickly turned around to face his companions, throwing on a quick, fake smile to set them at ease as he voiced an innocent enough assumption. “So… if Roxas feels something, then that means we must be in the right place.” Donald and Goofy nodded their solid agreement with this theory, helping to set Sora at ease, even as he looked down at his Nobody’s reflection once again. “Don’t worry, Roxas,” he said, hoping to assure not only Roxas (if he could even hear him at all), but himself as well. “I’m gonna find you. I promise.”

“Do you seek our liege?”

That voice, unidentifiable, yet undeniable as it was, reverberated through his entire body, its stark familiarity resonated deeply at his core. Sora gasped, stumbling back as if the voice itself had physically struck him. Which honestly wouldn’t have been that surprising considering all of the other oddities he had been experiencing lately.

“What is it?” Donald asked, noticing Sora’s sudden shock just as much as Goofy had.

The Keybearer had only just managed to open his mouth to answer before an all-too familiar clamor filled the air behind him, heralding the arrival of a group of unmistakably dangerous creatures. “Nobodies!” Goofy exclaimed warningly as him and Donald quickly called upon their respective weapons. Likewise, Sora spun around to see a sizable horde of writhing, wriggling Dusks materialize out of the darkness as they so often did. And despite the fact that he was still rather disoriented and on edge as a whole, it didn’t take long for Sora to summon the Kingdom Key and fall in step in battle alongside his companions.

Dusks were a common, predictable type of foe, one that the trio was more than accustomed to dealing with by now. Which was why it fortunately didn’t take them too long to cut their way through the swath of Nobodies with few problems. All the same, throughout the fight, Sora couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off even more than he had originally thought, a feeling that he finally voiced almost as soon as the very last Dusk had been vanquished.

“What was that voice…?” he wondered largely to himself as the trio took a quick breather after the skirmish was through. “I know I heard it…”

“A voice?” Donald exchanged a confused glance with Goofy. “I didn’t hear any voice.”

“You sure it wasn’t the wind?” the captain asked with a fretful frown. “Or somethin’ else?”

“I’m… pretty sure…” Sora trailed off, quickly realizing that he wasn’t actually sure. In fact, he really hadn’t been sure of anything at all since they arrived here. But the one thing that he was certain of was that Roxas’ heart, however hidden away inside his own as it might have been, was indeed reacting to being back in Twilight Town. It was as if Roxas himself was showing him his faded memories, signaling him with his constant yet distant reflections, sending him a message that he regrettably, frustratingly, had no idea how to interpret. “What are you trying to tell me…?” Sora whispered so quietly that his concerned companions could barely hear him as he looked towards a nearby window bearing his reflection. Or rather, for Sora at least, Roxas’ reflection, which of course, only mimicked his own words right back at him, providing no answers, no clues, nothing.

Aptly bewildered and easily worried by the Keybearer’s odd behavior as they were, Donald and Goofy were more than poised to ask him about it. However, before they had a chance to, another peril was beginning to course its way through the market, with a familiar young trio trying their best to outrun its dangerous onslaught.

“Where’d they come from!?” Hayner shouted, leading the way as Pence and Olette trailed right behind him.

“L-let’s get the ice cream later!” Olette cried, narrowly dodging the attacking shadows trying to nip at her heels.

“What?” Pence shouted, trying to hear over the noisy din of the screeching creatures. “Hold up!”

Sure enough, the trio soon rounded the nearby corner, finally coming into Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s view as they fearfully fled from an unseen threat. “Hey! Hayner, Pence, Olette!” Sora called out to the trio in bright greeting, quite glad to see them. However, his excitement was quickly vanquished as soon as he spotted what they were running from: a thick swarm of Heartless, shadows darting through the thin streets and corridors by the hundreds, clustered together by sheer darkness alone.

“W-what is that?!” Goofy exclaimed, alarmed by such a terrifying congregation of monsters.

Likewise, the Twilight Town trio was equally horrified, though their dread was set to ease almost instantly as they happened to spot the group already prepping themselves for battle against the Heartless. “Heeey! Sora!” Hayner shouted, waving frantically to the Keybearer and not even bothering to stop as they all hurriedly rushed past him. “Hello! And Goodbye!”

“Go!” Sora called out after the group, summoning his Keyblade as they went to seek safety. “We’ve got this!”

Donald and Goofy also called upon their own weapons, all three of them watching with ready anticipation as the horde of Heartless raised itself high above them with the intent of crashing down upon them in full, violent force. Fortunately, the trio had the wits about them to dodge this heavy attack, scattering briefly before reconvening to strike the rampaging group of shadows at any open opportunity. Together, the creatures were certainly a formidable force, but a single strike to their impressive numbers proved effective in taking several of the weaker Heartless that composed them out at once. Working well between Donald’s faced-paced casting and Goofy’s tight wall of defensive blocking, Sora decisively cut straight through the swarm with his Keyblade, essentially cutting the entire force clean in half. With the horde as split as it currently was, the Keybearer and the magician tag-teamed on launching as many fire spells as they possibly could at the two remaining halves of the whole, whittling down the Heartless even more as the captain provided them with ample cover while taking out any lost stragglers. In the process, the struggling shadows got plenty of hits and scratches in against the trio as well, though they were easily ignored in favor of taking the marauding creatures out as quickly as they possibly could. And sure enough, that’s exactly what they did as they powered through and tore their way through the last large swath of Heartless that tried to ram into them, countering its rushing attack with a unified, well-timed strike of their own. Unable to keep itself together any longer, the horde quickly fell apart, the few remaining Heartless deciding to make their hasty retreat back into the shadows, lest they face further obliteration at the hands of Keybearer and his companions.

With the threat of the Heartless finally defeated, the scattered townsfolk quickly returned to the now-safe market, falling back into their usual commerce and business with tentative ease. Likewise, Hayner, Pence, and Olette soon filed out of their hiding spot, though they were all careful to take a close look around to make sure the shadows were truly gone as they properly met up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

“Nice fightin’!” Hayner grinned, playfully mimicking the Keybearer’s swings. “Thanks, Sora.”

“Hayner, Pence, Olette! It’s been ages!” Sora exclaimed warmly as he ran up to them.

“What?” Hayner raised an eyebrow. “It hasn’t been that long.”

“Ya see?” Donald pointed out, reminding Sora of what he could hardly forget. That Roxas’ feelings and thoughts were echoing so strongly here. Perhaps even stronger than his own thoughts and feelings were.

“Donald! Goofy! How are you?” Olette greeted the pair with a bright smile.

“Howdy there, Olette,” Goofy grinned back with a wave.

“We’re good,” Donald nodded heartily.

“So if you guys are here,” Pence cut in, curious as ever. “Does that mean weird stuff’s going down again?”

“You kidding, Pence?” Hayner asked, hands on his hips. “When have we ever seen a tornado of shadowy blobs before?! It’s not ‘weird’. Its unprecedented.”

“Hm… I guess it is,” Pence mused. “The creatures from the last time were bright white. These things must be new. Man, I can’t wait to get sluthin’ on them!”

“We’re already done with the school project, silly,” Olette interjected with a chuckle before she turned back to Sora. “Whatever’s going on, you wouldn’t be here unless you had a good reason.”

“Which is…?” Hayner asked, expectantly.

“Well, actually,” Sora began, a bit hesitantly, though he had no real idea where that hesitance was coming from. “We’re… looking for Roxas.”

The Twilight Town trio exchanged an intrigued, though ultimately uncertain look. “Roxas?” Olette asked, tilting her head.

“That’s funny…” Hayner said after a moment of thought. “I don’t know any Roxas, but the name sounds familiar.”

“Maybe we bumped into him somewhere,” Pence guessed with a shrug.

“Uh… that’s one way to put it…” Donald noted as him and Goofy exchanged a somewhat pitied frown. Likewise, Sora felt a beat of genuine sadness echo through his heart upon hearing that they didn’t remember him, barely even knew who he was, when he remembered them, recalled every bit of the time they had spent together, however fabricated and falsified as it might have been, as if it been the realest thing in all the worlds. It made sense that they wouldn’t, but even so, the truth of it still stung all the same.

“Actually,” Goofy spoke up, addressing the trio. “Roxas mighta been friends with another version of ya.” At this, the captain pulled a photo out of his pocket, one that they had received quite some time ago, but had made sure to hang onto ever since, and presented it to the group.

“This photograph…” Olette started softly as Hayner took the picture so they could further inspect it.

“Yeah, we’ve got the same one,” Pence agreed, pulling out their own copy of the photo. Sure enough, both images were almost exactly the same, depicting the three of them, posing in front of the gates to the old mansion. Familiar to be sure, though there was one key difference between them. Namely that Roxas was present and smiling right alongside the trio in one, and in the other, he was glaringly absent.

“Oh yeah!” Hayner exclaimed in sudden realization as he looked between both photos. “The other Twilight Town!”

“Its like one of those ‘spot the difference’ puzzles…” Pence noted, also glancing over the images a second time. “Except really easy.”

“I guess in that town, we’re friends with this ‘Roxas’ person,” Olette assumed and Sora had to practically resist the urge to nod insistently when she did.

“Sora, let us help you track Roxas down,” Hayner said as Pence and Olette chipped in their eager agreement.

“R-really?” Sora asked, surprised, but more than glad to hear it.

“Sure,” Hayner nodded as he looked down at the photo once more. “He seems like a pretty cool guy.”

“Yeah, he is,” the Keybearer smiled, his heart warmed in more ways than one by the group’s willingness to help someone they didn’t even really know. And while he wasn’t entirely sure, Sora couldn’t help but also think that Roxas himself was quite grateful for their aid when he caught yet another glimpse of his Nobody’s reflection, only to see it finally smiling back at him.

“Great, then let’s all go ask around town,” Pence suggested, largely since none of them really had any concrete leads so far. “If alternate-us knew Roxas, then maybe alternate-other folks did too.”

“Sora, maybe you three should go to the place in the photo,” Olette added, handing the first picture back over to Goofy. “It’s the old mansion. The three of us will cover places in town while you guys can look for clues over there.”

“Ok!” Sora nodded, more than ready and resolved to start piecing together some way to help Roxas. “Thanks. Oh! By the way, I almost forgot; I got this phone thingy that takes pictures!” He pulled the Gummiphone out of his pocket, remembering that Jiminy had detailed photography as one of its many, many functions, most of which he didn’t quite understand just yet, though fortunately using it to take pictures was an easy enough concept for him to grasp. “Wanna snap a quick photo while we’re all here?”

The others were all quick to hop on board this idea and in no time at all, they had all set up in a collective group pose near one of the market area’s wide brick walls. However, it only took a moment or so of them all holding said pose before Pence pointed out something the rest of them had happened to overlook. “Uh… wait. Who’s taking it?”

Of course, none of them had really considered such a small, yet important fact, so the decision was made just as simply: by drawing straws. The results ultimately landed Donald with the task, though he was rather set off by having to stand out of the photo, even as Goofy volunteered to step out alongside him. Even so, the magician fumbled around with the Gummiphone, grumbling angrily to himself all the while before finally making his frustrations quite known to the group posing before him. “Grr… why do I have to take it!?”

“Hey, tough luck,” Sora shrugged, keeping up his casual pose. “You drew the short straw.”

“It’s ok!” Goofy chuckled, working to diffuse his friend’s anger as he so often did. “I’m sittin’ outta the photo with ya, Donald.”

“Then you take the photograph!” Donald huffed, shoving the Gummiphone into the captain’s hands. Of course, Goofy agreed to do so much more easily than the magician had, even as Donald stomped over to join the others, striking a still-clearly petulant pose as he did.

“Everybody smile! A-hyuck!” Goofy grinned, holding up the phone to snap the photo. Despite the slight bickering beforehand, the actual process of taking the picture was quick and easy, and soon enough, the entire group was gathered around the Gummiphone, admitting the memento together.

“Wow, that came out great!” Pence exclaimed as Hayner and Olette nodded their satisfied agreement.

“Gawrsh, ya know, it sorta reminds me of the other picture,” Goofy noted, briefly pulling out the photo featuring Roxas and the Twilight Town trio once more. The two photos, while quite different, were certainly comparable on some level, though Sora in particular could not deny the contrasting senses of both connectedness and longing as he looked between them both. Connectedness to the friends standing by his side right here and right now and a longing to be with the friends he was lost to and had lost once again. And strange as it might have been, the Keybearer felt oddly compelled to do something about them both.

“Hey, maybe once we do find Roxas, we could take another picture with all of us, together,” Sora suggested with a small, hopeful smile.

“Oh, yeah! It’ll be like both pictures combined!” Pence chimed in just as eagerly.

“I like the sound of that,” Olette nodded warmly.

“Sounds like a plan,” Hayner agreed. “But if we ever wanna take that picture, we gotta actually get Roxas here in the first place. So for now, we’d better start asking around. You guys start by checking the old mansion. We’ll catch up.”

“Got it,” Sora said, just as resolved as ever to do what he could to help Roxas out. The Twilight Town trio seemed to share that resolve, each of them carrying the same noble mission as they parted ways: to find a way to bring Roxas back to the life he should have had, the life he deserved, no matter what, or where, that way might be.

All throughout their relatively brief trip through Twilight Town, Sora found himself bombarded with even more of Roxas’ memories and emotions at practically every twist and turn along the way. His surprise and shock with the phenomenon had largely worn off by now, to the point that he had come to anticipate it, perhaps even appreciate it as it gave him deeper insight into the life and personality of his Nobody that he had only ever seen brief glimpses of before.

It was for that reason that he paid close attention to the scattered memories that filled the sunset streets, more or less ignoring Donald and Goofy’s casual conversation as he trailed behind them slightly. Sora knew he wanted to save Roxas; that was an understatement if anything. But the chance to get to know him better, even in a rather indirect way like this, then that was something he wasn’t about to pass up. True, it was still rather disconcerting to pass by mirrors and windows and not see his own reflection following alongside him, and he couldn’t deny the spark of unknown fear that ran through him whenever he happened to look down at his attire and catch a peek of Roxas’ black Organization cloak instead of his own new clothes. But for the most part, Sora did his best to ignore all that and focus on Roxas, his memories, and whatever message he might have been trying to communicate to him through them.

Passing through the rest of the tram common had allowed him glimpses into warm summer days, odd jobs meant to earn them munny for the beach, heading to the shop to buy ice cream after a long day of hectic missions. Even just passing by the sandlot showed him the Struggle, taking Seifer down a peg to claim the trophy and its gemstones they had all split up to share, Axel showing up to bring him back to the Organization he had willingly, angrily abandoned. But most of all was the clock tower, a place so special, where the three of them always came together at the end of every day to talk, laugh, and sometimes just think. It was where ice cream was enjoyed, sunsets were watched, secrets were shared, feelings hurt and friendships built and repaired. It was where they had always come back to, where they had connected the most. In a way, it almost felt more like home than anywhere else.

In just about every single memory of the clock tower that Roxas had to offer, Sora found that Axel was usually the most prominent face to appear. He had shown him the ‘icing on the cake’, had brought him out of the initial quiet revere of his early existence, had taught him about fun and friendship and all the feelings they’d supposedly never get to know as Nobodies. But just as reoccurring as Axel was in these memories, there was another figure, a girl, he presumed, though her face was always obscured completely by the shadows of her hood. She was also part of the Organization, her and Roxas its youngest, newest members, both of them capable of wielding a Keyblade. But no matter how many times she showed up within those memories, Sora was never, not even once, able to garnish her name. It was if it had been silence, wiped out, the only thing remaining of her being her voice alone, and even that was distant and faded compared to everything else within Roxas’ memories.

Still, every time she appeared, something deep and visceral stirred deep within his heart, in a way that felt decidedly different from the frequent slight pulls he felt from Roxas. Occasionally, he’d catch the briefest of flashes of her, the real her, her bright blue eyes, her raven black hair, her kind, playful smile. But they were all so quick and fleeting that they offered nothing really substantial about who she really was at all. For a moment, he almost thought he saw her standing in place of where he had grown used to seeing Roxas’ reflection instead of his own. But just like seemingly everything else about her, all too quickly she was gone, dimmed, faded.

Forgotten.

The barrage of memories finally started to slow down as the trio began carving out a path towards the mansion through the town’s underground conduit. Apparently, Roxas hadn’t spent too much time down here, or at least that’s what Sora assumed. The usual way to the woods had been sealed up since their last visit here, forcing them to wander through the mazelike sewers to get there. Despite the fact that he halfheartedly joined Goofy in laughing over Donald’s near constant-complaining about the smell, Sora’s mind was just about as far from the present moment as it could have possibly been. Instead, his sights were trained on the water they were walking through, Roxas’ reflection staring back at him through it, and the countless memories he had seen thus far. Admittedly, he was half tempted to tell his companions about what he had been experiencing, even though he knew he was the only one seeing and feeling it all. And ultimately, that exclusivity was exactly why he decided against telling them; after all, if Donald and Goofy were still awash with concern over his recent slip into darkness, then what would they possibly think about something as alarming and inexplicable as this?

Eventually, the trio did manage to make it out of the conduit and into the quiet, open forest that lay just on the other side of Twilight Town’s tall walls. Much like the town itself, the dusk-covered woods were calm and quiet and featured a path that directly to the mansion they were heading for. Like earlier, Donald and Goofy set out ahead first, and though Sora was set to follow them, the moment he took a single step forward into the woods, a new voice entirely suddenly echoed through his thoughts.

“Come…”

Sora briefly stopped at this, caught off guard by the sudden, almost aggressive pull on his heart, one that felt so different from the usual gentle tug he suspected had been coming from Roxas. For a moment, he wondered if this new, rather unwelcome spark of feeling was somehow coming from his Nobody’s scattered memories, until the strange voice itself confirmed that its words didn’t come from Roxas’ past. Instead, they were for him, here and now.

“Sora…” it spoke again, its indiscernible tone barely over a wavering whisper. Yet for as soft and deceptively gentle as it was, its beckoning sound carried an unnaturally commanding sway that, for one reason or another, Sora was completely helpless to resist falling under.

“Come join us…” it called and he did as it said, thoughtlessly following the persistent pull on his heart as it practically dragged him onward. His hands had fallen slack at his sides as his steps remined slow yet steady, his expression empty and his eyes wide yet dull and unfocused as he stared straight ahead yet saw nothing at all. “Sora…” Each time it spoke his name, its intangible reigns of control seemed to tighten around him more and more, pushing away his own thoughts and feelings and replacing them with nothing but cold, quiet obedience. Everything other than the voice, the pull, and wherever they both were leading him faded away, including his own two companions as they continued on the path ahead, completely unaware that something was gravely wrong with the Keybearer behind them.

“So, do ya really think we’ll find any clues that could help us help Roxas at the mansion?” Goofy asked Donald with casual curiosity.

“Who knows?” the magician shrugged truthfully. After all, their entire stint here in Twilight Town on a whole was based largely on the mere speculation that it could led them to Roxas, though thus far, they’d yet to find anything resembling a concrete solution. “What do you think, Sora?”

The pair briefly glanced over their shoulders at their young ward, though almost as soon as they did, they were quick to stop short. Not only did Sora strangely not give them any sort of reply at all, but his stiff, distant manner was more than enough to garnish immediate concern from them both. “S-Sora?” Donald started, though he received no response as the Keybearer spared neither of them so much as a single glance, instead heeding only the voice and the voice alone.

“Darkness is calling out to your heart, Sora…” it said, its tone smooth and falsely comforting. “You must let it fill you so that you may become the vessel you are meant to be…” Unable to properly act on the voice’s command, Sora instead simply continued following its lead, incapable of doing or thinking anything else, even despite its sinister, ominous message. All the while, Donald and Goofy watched with mutual worry as he finally walked past them, completely lost to whatever trance he seemed to be under.

“Uh… Sora?” Goofy ventured apprehensively, hurrying to walk alongside the Keybearer as Donald did the same. “I-is somethin’ wrong?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?!” Donald asked, slightly frustrated by Sora’s continued silence, which showed no signs of breaking anytime soon. “Normally we can’t get you to be quiet, but when we want you to talk, you won’t say a word! Figures…”

“Say, come to think of it… you’ve been sorta outta it ever since we got here…” Goofy mused rather fretfully. “I know you said you’re fine, but… are ya sure there isn’t something you’re not tellin’ us about?”

“Cause if there is, you know better than to keep it a secret from us!” Donald exclaimed crossly, though it was clear his scolding came from a place of immense caring. “So… spill it already! And snap out of whatever it is you’re staring at already! It’s creeping me out!”

Despite his companion’s earnest urgings, Sora still didn’t speak a single word, his gaze still fixated straight ahead as he continued walking, slowly as ever, through the woods ahead. Before, Donald and Goofy had only suspected something was off, but now there was no doubt. To confirm their developing worries even more, Goofy tentatively reached a hand out, placing it firmly on Sora’s shoulder in a somewhat meager attempt at halting him, only for the Keybearer to completely ignore the gesture and easily pull right out of his grip. In his continued frustration, Donald was more direct in his approach, grabbing Sora by the hand and planting himself steady in the hopes that would finally be enough to stop him in his tracks. Of course, it wasn’t as the Keybearer simply pulled his otherwise motionless hand away, knocking Donald back onto his tailfeathers and setting him off even more than he already was.

“What’s going on?!” the magician shouted hotly as Goofy hurried to help him up. For a moment, the two continued watching Sora, his back turned to them as he listened only to the voice that seemed to whisper all around him, though it always seemed its loudest and most important when it echoed from within the depths of his own heart.

“You know what it is you must do, Sora…” it assured as softly, deceptively as ever as its tight, almost painful pull practically forced his heart forward. “And if you do not yet, then soon you will. You are the thirteenth, the last, but most important piece of them all…”

“For without you, the Kingdom cannot come…”

Donald and Goofy were just about to make another attempt at breaking through to Sora, though they were immediately halted as a large, varied group of Nobodies materialized among the trees straight ahead of them. A shared startled shout instantly rose from the pair as they summoned their weapons and prepared for the oncoming fray, though they stopped short when they noticed that Sora was making no such effort to do the same. Instead, he merely continued walking, his blank, empty manner still unchanged, even despite the danger he was heading straight towards.

“Sora, look out!” Donald warned, taking the liberty of firing off an ice spell to knock back a Dusk that managed to skirt too close to the Keybearer. Despite this, Sora didn’t so much as even flinch, still not calling upon his Keyblade or making any attempt at all to defend himself, much to Donald and Goofy’s mutual alarm.

“What’s the matter with him?!” the magician exclaimed, gripping his staff tightly as he fended off another Nobody from afar.

“Garwsh, I don’t know, but l-look!” Goofy pointed to the horde of Nobodies just as Sora reached them. For the briefest of moments, it seemed as though the creatures were more than set to attack the defenseless Keybearer, and yet, right before they could all rush towards him at once, they stopped. In fact, they even seemed to slither back, away from Sora as he passed through them, as if he wasn’t even aware of their presence at all.

“T-they’re… not attacking him?” Donald wondered, beyond baffled at this point. Likewise, Goofy was also quite confused, his shield raised as he stepped forward a bit to test if the Nobodies really were standing down for some reason. However, the creatures were quick to snap back into their usual aggressive ways upon turning their attention away from the Keybearer and back towards the captain and the magician. The pair gasped fearfully as the entire horde rushed for them, completely ignoring Sora, who did the same to them as he continued following the still unseen, still unknown pull on his heart all the while.

“Sora, snap out of it already!” Donald shouted past the Nobodies amidst casting spells at them left and right, even though he could already feel his energy draining quickly from the sudden barrage. “We need your help over here!”

“Y-yeah, please!” Goofy essentially pleaded, looking past the Nobodies to the Keybearer as he continued walking away from them silently. “Like we said before, we’re a team! Which means we all gotta stick together, no matter what, Sora!”

Unbeknownst to either of the pair, Sora’s otherwise steady pace finally slowed somewhat upon hearing this pertinent reminder, one that nearly worked in returning some of his lost lucidity before the voice and the pull both worked together to quickly snatch it away from him once more. “Sora, you must come…” it urged with a newfound hint of hostility in its still quiet tone. “Follow the call as it leads you towards the darkness… and then, at long last can your heart truly be set free…”

He scarcely even understood or even really heard whatever disturbing promises the voice was offering him; in fact, the only thing he was allowed to know was that he had to heed its call, no matter where or why it might be leading him. And with each forcibly guided step he took, the further away he got from his endangered companions as they struggled to break past the line of persistent Nobodies before them if only to reach him before it was too late.

“Sora!” Donald shouted desperately as he frantically casted heal after a particularly nasty cut from a Dusk.

“Sora!” Goofy echoed just as tightly, trying his best to ward off the trio of Nobodies pressing hard against his shield.

“Sora!” the voice shouted for the first time, its pull snapping heavily, agonizingly upon his heart with all of its malice, hatred, darkness, trapping him, taking everything away from him and leaving nothing behind at all, until-

“Sora!”

“R-Roxas?!” Sora gasped, finally stopping dead in his tracks upon hearing his Nobody’s unmistakable, strangely warning call from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Instantly, his senses and autonomy rushed back to him in full force, finally allowing him to think and see and feel the unknown, absolute anguish flooding his heart completely out of nowhere. The pain and shock of it was almost enough to send him collapsing to his knees, but instead, he only barely managed to haphazardly summon his Keyblade, digging its tip into the ground so he could lean against it for support. His vision was spinning as he stared at the ground, breathless as he tried to piece together exactly what was happening. And yet, try as he might to recall something more, the only things he could remember from the past several moments alone was a voice that said nothing his memories held onto now and the thankfully fading pain that still lightly pulling against his heart, vying for control it no longer held over him anymore.

Sora was all too quickly broken out of his confused, racing thoughts upon hearing a round of frightened, strained cries behind him. Startled, the Keybearer turned to see Donald and Goofy, still heavily beset by a crowd of Nobodies that showed no signs of thinning out any time soon, despite their best, if not futile efforts to oust them. And even though his chest was still aching from the resounding pain, Sora didn’t hesitate to finally join his companions in the ongoing fray.

Needless to say that both the captain and the magician were more than relieved to see the Keybearer suddenly cut through the wall of Nobodies forcing them back. The Keyblade’s initial swift swing was more than enough to take out several of the Dusks at least, though Sora didn’t stop there as he also cut down several of the outliers of the group. Even amidst the ongoing battle, Donald prepared himself to angrily call Sora out for his earlier unresponsiveness, though Goofy was quick to quell his anger for the time being, allowing their young companion to steadily wipe out the rest of the Nobodies while they took a much-needed breather.

Of course, that didn’t mean that after the fight was over, everything was so easily forgotten. For just as soon as Sora finished dispatching the last Dusk, both Donald and Goofy practically pounced on him with their barrage of countless questions and concerns.

“What happened with you?!” Donald demanded first, stomping his foot down petulantly. “We get attacked and you just walk away?! Are you nuts!?”

“I-I… I didn’t… I wasn’t-” Sora stammered, not knowing how to even explain what had just happened himself.

“Are you ok, Sora?” Goofy asked with much calmer worry, placing a comforting hand on the Keybearer’s shoulder. “Is there somethin’ ya maybe need to tell us about?”

“No. No ‘maybes’,” Donald interjected firmly before Sora could even get a word in edgewise. “There is something you aren’t telling us about and it needs to stop! Something’s been up with you ever since we got here and you need to explain it, right now!”

“I… I don’t know, I-” Sora cut himself off, shaking his head as he reeled to frantically find a comprehendible answer that made any sort of sense. But that was exactly the problem; whatever had just happened to him made no sense whatsoever, and he was especially hard pressed to figure out some way, any way to put it all into words. So instead, he decided to go with a much simpler, much more safer route instead. “I-I’ve been seeing Roxas’ memories!” he exclaimed sharply, his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides as he blurted it out. It was only really half the truth though, since he was fairly certain that whatever trance he had just been trapped in had nothing to do with the deepening connection he had been feeling to his Nobody since they had arrived.

“Whaaaaa?!” Donald and Goofy both asked in instantly intrigued unison upon hearing this.

“What do you mean, ‘seeing his memories’?” the magician asked somewhat suspiciously.

“I mean… I’ve been seeing his memories,” Sora shrugged, unsure of how else to put it. “All over town, I’ve just… its just…” He sighed, somewhat frustrated at how difficult this was to communicate when it was still so strange to him as well. “Its almost like his memories are just… lying around everywhere and they keep coming to me from all over. A-and its not just that! I keep seeing him in my reflection too. I know this all might sound kinda crazy, but… I think he might be trying to tell me something.”

“Golly, like what?” Goofy asked, fascinated by this new development.

“I… don’t know…” Sora admitted, crossing his arms. “B-but whatever it is, I feel like it could help us save Roxas somehow! Or at least I hope it could…” he muttered that last part, not entirely certain of that fact himself. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his Nobody was indeed trying to get some sort of message across to him through his scattered memories. It was figuring out exactly what that message was that was going to be the hard part.

“So is that why you just spaced out on us like that?” Donald asked, still somewhat cross over the matter. “Because you were seeing one of his memories?”

“Y-yes!” Sora exclaimed, largely without thinking. Another lie, yes, but it was much easier than the alternative was: actually trying to figure out the truth behind the dark, whispering voice he’d just as rather forget. “Yes, that’s… exactly what that was.”

“Well, it musta been a pretty important memory if ya were so caught up in it like you were,” Goofy noted. “What was it about?”

“It was about…” Sora began, trying to come up with yet another convenient lie, despite the fact that each one he told to the pair was filling him with more and more pressing guilt. He wasn’t a fan of lying to anything begin with, but to withhold the truth from Donald and Goofy, his two trusted companions and some of his closest friends, was practically unthinkable. Which was why he was half tempted to actually change his tune and tell them the truth in whatever way he could. And yet just shy of him making the choice to do so, he stopped, halted by anxiety or dread or something else altogether, and fronted another quick fabrication instead. “I-it was about Roxas going to the same mansion we’re headed to! W-which means we’re probably on the right track, so we might as well get going there instead of standing around here, right?”

Donald and Goofy exchanged a somewhat dubious glance at this, but ultimately they both seemed to accept it, much to Sora’s mingled relief and guilt. “If you say so…” the magician mused before turning back to the Keybearer, wagging a warning, chastising finger. “But next time something like that starts happening to you, you’d better tell us! You had us worried sick!”

“Yeah, Sora, you don’t have to hide anything from the two of us!” Goofy chimed in warmly. “Specially not somethin’ like this. Even if it sounds like it might be a doozy, you know we’ll always be here to help ya with whatever it might be!”

“Y-yeah…” Sora smiled halfheartedly, rubbing his arm as he looked away from the pair, almost as if he was ashamed to make eye contact with them, which, admittedly, he was. “I know…”

“Now come on!” Donald urged somewhat impatiently as he led on. “Let’s get to that mansion before anything else can go wrong!”

Goofy chuckled his agreement to this as he followed after the magician, Sora falling in line not too far behind them. With the scrutiny of his companions finally off him, the Keybearer took another moment to think back on the disconcerting, if not downright horrifying events that had just unfolded. Indeed, the pain within his heart had mostly subsided, though it still thumped with the constant tug he had felt since arriving in Twilight Town, one that he knew came from Roxas and not from some other unknown, unwanted external force. But whatever had ensnared his heart in that moment had been a far cry from the comforting familiarity of his Nobody. It had been cold, uncaring, unquestionably agonizing as it stilled and silenced every single part of him into obeying whatever it was it had to say, forcefully dragging him towards an unknown fate all the while.

He couldn’t even begin to guess who’s voice it might have been or how it had managed to engulf him in such tight control to begin with, but all the same, it frightened him. To think that this unknown, no doubt malicious force had the power to take such quick and steady sway over his body, his mind, his heart so easily was more than enough to set Sora on edge as he feared losing himself to its demanding pull all over again.

But then he remembered who had been the one to break him out of its hold: Roxas. Sora had no idea how, but his Nobody’s call had been able to do something to set him free, to wake him up from whatever spell he had been put under. Whatever Roxas had done from within the depths of his heart, it had saved him. And that was a favor that Sora wasn’t about to let go unpaid.

And yet for as strong as his resolve to help his Nobody still was, the Keybearer couldn’t help but shudder as his thoughts turned back to that mysterious voice one last time. This time, he focused less on the leeching pull it had forced upon his heart and more on the words it had spoken. He wasn’t able to remember much of them other than its near constant beckoning for him to follow it. But out of every other dimmed, faded, forgotten statement it had said, there was one thing had remained, one claim that still sent his mind practically spinning in confusion and worry each and every time he thought about it and whatever it might possibly mean, if it even meant anything at all:

“For without you, the Kingdom cannot come…”

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