"Second Star On The Right", Kingdom Hearts/Last Remnant

[cephy]

Title: Second Star On The Right
Author: Cephy
Media Creator: llyse
Word Count: 11,450
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts, The Last Remnant
Pairings: Riku/Sora/Kairi and David/Rush very strongly implied
Rating: Teen
Warnings: End-game spoilers for TLR
Summary: A Keyblade Master's work is never done! Sora and his friends have arrived on a new world with the intent of saving it from an insidious darkness threatening its heart. But first, they must win the trust of the local lord and his people, and find the clues to send them down the right path.



Disembarking for the first time on a new world was always a bit jarring-- there was a moment right after his foot touched down, a moment of disorientation while some part of him adjusted to the world around him. Donald's magic or the keyblade or something in his own heart getting itself settled, he didn't know exactly what or why. The only part that really mattered was making sure it didn't take him off guard like that one time when he lost his lunch-- Riku hadn't been there for that one, thank goodness, but he would never let Sora live it down if he did it again.

When the moment passed and the ground firmed up underneath his feet, Sora glanced down at himself-- to find nothing changed this time, which was both a relief and a disappointment. Disappointment, because the vampire thing had been kinda fun; relief, because being half-fish had got old really fast. There was something to be said for blending in, sure, but most of the time he was pretty okay being left in his own skin.

He looked around to find the others, then-- and stopped, staring, blinking slowly as his brain caught up to his eyes and realized that some things had changed after all. Riku and Kairi had similarly stunned looks on their faces-- they looked normal, at least, but Donald and Goofy--

At least, Sora assumed the two others standing with them were Donald and Goofy. They were sort of dressed right, anyway. The way the little frog-faced creature looked down at itself and squawked sure sounded like Donald, and the shield on the arm of the big, fish-tailed guy was the very same as the one Goofy had picked up two worlds back.

"Well gawrsh," the big one said in an unmistakable accent, eliminating all doubt. "This is diff'rent."

He was definitely okay with still being human this time around, Sora decided. Because those bodies looked like they would take a lot of getting used to. And he said that having once changed into something that cleaned itself with its tongue. He just hoped that whatever his friends had become, it was common enough on this world that they wouldn't draw any more attention than usual--

That was the point when he realized that they were standing in the centre of a big, open plaza, and that there was a crowd slowly beginning to form around the five of them. Not hostile-- not yet, he thought darkly-- but definitely curious, full of pointing fingers and murmuring voices. Too interested in five strangers-- unless, Sora realized with a sinking feeling, they had all seen the moment when the ship dropped them down. Which they would have, since it was a big, open plaza.

Great.

"Guys," he said quietly, "maybe we should just-- go and regroup somewhere for a while? Somewhere not here. Like, now."

Riku's eyes were darting around restlessly, trying to watch everything at once through the screen of his hair. "Sure, I'm game."

The others nodded an uneasy agreement, so Sora made a move-- and found himself blocked by another big fish-man that came out of nowhere. "Crap," he hissed, seeing more and more bodies forming up in the circle around them.

He tried on a smile though-- it had worked in the past-- and clasped his hands casually behind his head. "Excuse us?" he said hopefully, taking another step forward.

The gathered crowd didn't move. For whatever reason, their eyes were turning angry.

"What the hell have we stepped into this time?" Riku muttered at Sora's back. Kairi was at his other side, Donald and Goofy behind her-- all facing outward in a defensive posture, which wasn't something any of them had expected to be doing so early in the trip.

"Maybe things are worse off here than they looked from the ship," Kairi suggested softly.

Someone pushed through to the front of the crowd, someone with a piece of wood held tight in both hands like a club. "Whoa, whoa, okay," Sora said, eyes wide and hands held up and away. "That's going a bit far, don't you think?"

"Why," Riku said in a sharp undertone, "couldn't we have dropped down in a deserted alleyway? Or a nice, quiet cornfield. Or anywhere without an angry mob."

"You say that like I did it on purpose," Sora griped back.

"You never know, with you."

"Hey!"

Hedged in, the five of them backed up slowly until they were braced against a wall-- more defensible, and Sora wasn't arguing, especially with more weapons appearing in the crowd. When one person took a sudden step towards them, it was engrained instinct as much as conscious choice that had him summoning his own weapon to defend himself, though he really didn't want to hurt anyone.

The appearance of three keyblades in the formerly empty hands of their quarry caused a ripple of noise through the crowd, and resulted in the appearance of even more weapons. The people's faces definitely looked angry now, or at least-- determined. Some of their hands were white-knuckled around their makeshift weapons, but they still came forward.

And then, just when things looked like they were going to get really ugly-- one man's hand lifted as if to throw a heavy stone-- two new people marched onto the scene. A woman in blue with a cutting voice, and--

Sora's eyes went wide as he stared. No, he thought, he took it back. He did wish this world had changed him. He wished it had changed him into that, because having four arms would be massively cool.

The two new arrivals, obviously figures of some authority, got the crowd under control with a few pointed orders and judicious use of the armoured soldiers they'd brought with them. Once the mob was pushed back to a reasonable distance, though, the newcomers turned and basically took their place, forming a loose ring with blades held at the ready.

"Drop your weapons," the woman demanded. Her sword wasn't lifted but it was in her hand, and it looked comfortable enough there that Sora didn't want to find out what she could do with it. The big cat-man didn't even bother drawing his weapons, just stood at the woman's shoulder with both sets of arms folded forbiddingly.

Sora exchanged a quick look with his friends, then nodded. Goofy threw down his shield with a clatter that was echoed a moment later by Donald's staff. Sora banished his keyblade, feeling it settle back somewhere in his chest, waiting, and he felt the echo a moment later as Riku and Kairi did the same with theirs.

The woman recoiled at that, then surged forward with a tight expression. "What trickery is this?" she demanded. "Throw down your weapons where we can see them."

"They're gone, honest. Look--" Sora lifted one hand very slowly and recalled his keyblade, the hilt falling warm and comfortable into his grip. Still moving slowly, he bent and put it on the ground, and used his toe to slide it over-- only to have it vanish right out from under the woman's hand when she bent to retrieve it. "It's not any kind of trick, it's just that no one can use them but us, all right? And we wouldn't have used them at all, except to defend ourselves," he added with a pointed look toward the remains of the mob still gathered around.

The woman's expression was still suspicious, but it was-- different somehow, when she straightened up again. She exchanged an unreadable look with the cat-man before beckoning them forward. "You will accompany us to the castle."

Another gesture had the soldiers falling in around them, as guard or escort or both. "Nice of them to give us an invitation," Sora heard Riku mutter behind him, followed by Kairi's answering sigh.

They were ushered through the city and into the castle at its center, eventually ending up in an audience hall draped with blue and red. There was another little frog-guy like Donald and a big fish-guy like Goofy waiting for them there, who fell in on either side as the rest of the soldiers dropped back. Taking a deep breath, Sora took point and led the way towards the throne at the room's far end.

The woman went ahead of them, and bent to speak in the ear of the guy sitting on that throne. He looked young-- probably no more than a year or two older than Sora himself-- but his eyes looked much older, somehow. Kind of sad at the edges. And everyone in the room was tense and wary, on edge. Sora wondered grimly what their reasons for it were, and how much of that was the sickness already taking hold.

"Who are you?" the guy on the throne asked in an unfamiliar accent.

"Name's Sora," Sora said, pointing to himself, then turned his finger to each of his friends in turn. "That's Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy. We didn't mean to cause any trouble in your city, honest," he added, hopeful.

The man looked at him steadily. "We shall see about that," he said. "I am David Nassau, Marquis of Athlum," he introduced himself in turn. "How do you come by your Remnants?"

Sora blinked. "Our what?"

The Marquis' hard stare narrowed. "From all accounts, you appeared out of thin air on the exact site where the Valeria Heart once stood, and you conjured your weapons from nowhere. The last time someone entered my city by unknown means, it resulted in the death of one of my Generals and the theft of the Valeria Heart, so I do not believe anyone would question my right to have you all imprisoned until we are certain you pose no threat. However, I am offering you a chance: if you have discovered some way to recall Remnants, I demand you tell me how."

Sora, having caught on to one part of the speech and admittedly tuned out most of the rest, turned excitedly to his friends. "Valeria Heart, guys, did you hear that?" he enthused. "That's got to mean something, right?"

"Sora," Donald hissed, just as the cat-man took a step forward with something like a growl in his voice.

"The Lord David asked you a question."

"We don't know anything about Remnants," Kairi said, stepping up. "I'm sorry."

"But your weapons," the woman started to protest, only to stop when Kairi shook her head.

Kairi brought both arms up and summoned her keyblade. Despite her slow movements, and despite her looking probably the least threatening of the five of them, every soldier in the room still went for their belts. Kairi didn't flinch, just held up her blade on both flattened palms for inspection. "It's a keyblade," she said. "I suppose it might be something like your Remnants, but it's not the same."

"Keyblade," the frog-man echoed thoughtfully. He hopped forward to take a closer look, and then looked carefully at each of them in turn. Eventually, he turned and nodded, and the rest of the room relaxed somewhat. "Some of the oldest texts speak of a keyblade," he added, after. "I always assumed it was a Remnant, despite some discrepancies in its description."

"But it is not?" David persisted. "You are certain, Pagus?" And when Pagus shook his head, the Marquis' shoulders sagged minutely, his lips pressed thin. Sora thought that he seemed very tired all of a sudden.

Pagus turned back. "Why do you speak as if you do not know what a Remnant is?" he questioned them. He sounded more curious than hostile, which was probably a step in the right direction.

"Because we don't?" Sora tried on a grin. "We're, uh, not really from around here. At all."

"Where, then?"

"Uh," Sora stalled. He usually avoided explaining as much as possible, because sometimes people had disbelieved them in really spectacular and violent ways, and he liked to avoid that sort of thing. Most of the time, something about the keyblades seemed to make people want to trust them even without all the facts, but that was becoming more and more unreliable with the way worlds were going lately, and it was better not to count on it.

Also, with the way the Marquis and his four attendants were staring him down, he didn't really think they'd be getting out of this without an explanation, and a really good one at that. "Okay, look," he tried. "Have you noticed strange things happening in the last, say, year or so?"

That was met with an open snort from the woman. "If you count the vanishing of the Remnants, Duke Hermeien coming back from the dead, the Third Committee refusing to be eradicated, and endless swarms of Jhana as strange," she said wryly, "then yes, perhaps."

"'Jhana'," Riku echoed sharply. "I don't suppose those are little black things with yellow eyes?" It wouldn't have been the first time they'd discovered people calling the heartless by a different name. And though this world didn't seem gone enough to have started randomly spawning Shadows, it was a good question to ask.

"No," came the answer, with enough honest confusion accompanying it that Riku's frown relaxed again. "The Jhana are bestial creatures. They have always been a nuisance, but now-- they have never had quite this little regard for their own survival, before. The Silver Falcons have been working non-stop for months just to keep them in check, and they've called in most of the mercenaries from the surrounding cities to help. We'd likely be there ourselves, if we didn't have Athlum to care for."

The woman gave a bewildered shake of her head at their continued blank looks. "You're really not from around here, are you," she asked, as though she might actually be starting to believe them.

"Not even close," Sora laughed. "Okay," he started again, "this'll sound really crazy, but hear me out. We're not from this world. When we showed up in your city, that was when we came down from our gummi ship-- kind of like a boat that sails between worlds." He took a deep breath and went straight for the truth. "See, there are a lot of worlds out there other than this one, and each of them has a heart. And a little while back, a lot of those hearts were nearly lost in darkness. You probably don't remember when it happened; most people don't."

There was a very skeptical look in the eyes of his audience, so Sora hurried on. "Everyone thought for a while that everything had gone back to normal, but just a little while ago we found out that there was this-- this sort of sickness left behind when the worlds were restored. A dark virus, or something, that'll just grow and grow until it drags the heart back down into darkness again."

In some ways, Sora thought, it wasn't as bad as the times where people were actively trying to destroy the universe. It didn't move as quickly, anyway, which gave them time to work out a way to stop it, and it was a lot more predictable without a person's mind behind it. But in the end they still had to go world to world by gummi ship in order to fix things, and that took time.

Kairi took over, speaking with the quiet surety that came from knowing hearts inside and out. "No one noticed that this was happening right away because the symptoms aren't obvious at first. But whatever touches the heart of a world also affects the hearts of its people. They become listless, angry, aggressive or depressed. They do mad things without any reason. They start wars. Eventually, the sickness does show on the world itself as it enters the final stages, causing all sorts of disasters-- earthquakes, floods and storms, that sort of thing."

They'd seen those late stages, just once-- the first time, before they really understood what was going on-- and it had ended in a world-wide war while the ground literally shook itself apart beneath the feet of its people. Sora would never be able to forget the sight of the ground splitting open to spill out darkness, thousands upon thousands of heartless following that initial wave. All they'd been able to do at that point was lock the world behind them, as securely as they knew how, and move on.

After that once, when it became apparent that they weren't going to win, they left before the end.

"In any case," Sora finished, "the heart of your world is infected with this sickness, and that's why we're here." He gestured over his shoulder at his friends, and straightened his shoulders. "We're here to stop it."

The faces around them still looked skeptical, but there was also a hint of consideration. The Marquis exchanged unreadable looks with his Generals, then stood. "I don't know whether your story can be true," he said. "It is-- certainly hard to believe. However, on the chance that the threat you speak of is real, we will investigate further. You are welcome to stay here at the castle so that we may speak on this matter again."

And so we can keep an eye on you, Sora filled in easily. Still, they definitely could have had a worse start. He nodded acceptance, and saw the others doing the same.

"Emmy," David said, and the woman took a step forward.

"Yes, my Lord." She turned and gestured for them to follow her. "This way."

Emmy led them to a suite of rooms a few floors up; Sora wandered in with wide eyes, staring openly. He'd stayed at King Mickey's castle, once, and a few other castles besides-- there were a few princesses who still thought of them as friends, after all. Athlum's castle was still pretty awesome in comparison, mostly because it was so big and open. There were at least three bedrooms that he could see coming off the main sitting area, and a balcony leaning out over a garden.

As Sora poked his head into one of the bedrooms, he was distantly aware of Emmy and Kairi talking behind him. "You fight with this keyblade like a sword?"

"Kind of," Kairi answered. "It's not entirely like that, more-- it's the power of the keyblade itself doing the damage, most of the time, rather than the actual blade."

"Ah, I had wondered how you managed the teeth on it." Emmy considered for a moment before speaking again. "Could I request a demonstration?"

Kairi seemed startled for a second. "Like-- sparring, you mean?" Her surprise lingered while Emmy nodded, then finally shifted into a smile. "Sure. It would be nice to practice with someone other than those two lumps," she added with an impish grin at Riku and Sora.

"Hey!" Sora protested dutifully-- but it was true that Kairi's style was different from both his and Riku's. And though she'd done a great job of taking what they taught her and making it her own, it would do her good to maybe get some pointers from someone built more like her.

Sora saw Riku catching Donald and Goofy's eye and nodding them after her as an honour guard. Not that she needed it, and she'd kick their asses if they thought she did, but it still didn't feel right to have anyone going off by themselves just yet. Donald and Goofy must have thought the same, because they fell in step in Kairi's wake without comment.

And then there was nothing to do but wait, until the Marquis made up his mind about them or something else happened. After he'd finished exploring all there was to explore in their suite, Sora was left leaning back in the window seat, kicking his feet, watching Riku prowl restlessly through their rooms and wishing he'd gone along with Kairi and the others just for something to do. He was pretty sure that if he decided to go wandering around on his own, someone would have something to say about it, and he didn't want to get people mad when they were just maybe starting to believe them. But man. He'd never been good at the waiting part.

When the knock came, they both answered the door eagerly.

They were led by a page to a big library, where they found Pagus ensconced at a table covered in books. The cat-man was leaning against a wall behind the table, and the Marquis himself stood nearby, turning to watch their approach. "Come in," David said.

"I've been brushing up on my keyblade mythology," Pagus explained at their curious look, giving them what Sora was pretty sure was a smile. "Which is disappointingly sparse, but enough to lend some credence to your tale."

"What does it say?" Sora asked curiously, leaning over the book Pagus was currently reading. The open page was filled with some faded, scratchy writing, which Sora probably wouldn't have been able to figure out even if he wasn't looking at it upside down, but he gave it a shot anyway.

"It is vague, in the way that mythology usually is. But it does say that in times of great peril-- peril from an unknown source, of course, but one that strikes for the heart-- then, one among the people is chosen to bear a keyblade and lock away the darkness."

Sora and Riku exchanged a look, remembering a certain door and the darkness behind it. "I suppose that's a pretty good summary, yeah."

"I am curious how you obtained your weapons," David asked.

"It's more like they chose us."

David took another step towards them. "May I?"

Sora shrugged. "Sure." He summoned his keyblade, laying it flat on the table with one hand still on the hilt so it wouldn't vanish.

David bent over it, dared to reach out and run a finger along the spine of it. "It is more elaborate than I would have imagined."

Sora blinked, and looked down at his blade-- then really looked, seeing the many crossing struts of Ultima. "Oh, right. That's not really-- well, here." He detached the keychain so that the blade reverted to its base form, plain gold and steel. The gathered Athlumians sucked in startled breaths.

"How in the world--"

"Keychains," Sora explained happily, holding up the little piece of metal. "Lets us modify the keyblade depending on what sort of enemies we're facing." He dug in his pocket for the few he had on him, laying them out on the table, snapping a few on and off to show the effects. He couldn't carry them all anymore, he just had too many, but he also had his favourites, so. He nudged Riku until Riku huffed in defeat and emptied his own pockets, too.

The more he talked, the more the Athlumians seemed curious instead of suspicious, so Sora was happy to keep talking. At the same time, though, the longer he talked, the more Riku went kind of narrow-eyed and loomy. Which Sora couldn't really figure out at first. After a while, though, once he was paying attention, Sora noticed the way his friend kept watching the Marquis, and the way David occasionally watched Sora himself, sidelong and intent.

Sora looked back and forth between them until he couldn't take it anymore, and then he thumped Riku's shoulder. "Don't be a dork," he muttered.

Riku just gave him a quick glare and went back to watching the Marquis suspiciously. So Sora rolled his eyes and flashed an apologetic smile towards their hosts before tugging his friend aside. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"The last time I saw someone watch anyone that closely," Riku said in low tones, arms crossed over his chest, "it was just before that jerk Corneo tried to kidnap Kairi and make her marry him."

Sora gaped. "I really don't think that's going to happen here," he eventually managed, voice strangled. "And besides, as if I'd go running off and leave you." He got a disdainful sniff in response but a faint flush and a pleased smile that Riku probably thought he managed to hide.

David looked like he was trying to stifle a smile when they came back over, and Sora winced when he realized that the Marquis had probably overheard every word. "Uh," Sora started, but cut off when David just shook his head, a little wistful.

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable," he said, mostly to Riku. "You remind me of someone," he then added to Sora, "that's all. Someone-- very dear to me, it's true. He had some of your enthusiasm, and you certainly share the same determination to make things right. He was lost to us when the Remnants vanished," David finished with a quiet dignity that didn't quite mask the grief in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Sora said awkwardly.

David nodded his acceptance. "We have all lost some of those dear to us, it seems, in these difficult times," he said. "And though the obvious path is to accept the loss and move on-- I cannot seem to do that. It's been the better part of a year and it doesn't seem to be fading.

"I have noticed changes in those around me, as well," he went on. "Torgal has grown much more suspicious and withdrawn of late-- you're acting more like Allan than yourself, some days, my friend," he added to the cat-man.

Torgal bowed his head, and Sora noticed that he didn't deny it.

"Pagus here sometimes acts as though all his years are hanging like weights around his shoulders; Emmy has too much difficulty maintaining the confidence that should be her birthright. I have seen the signs of decay in us even if I did not know its cause. Is this the result of the disease you spoke of?"

Sora nodded. "Things will keep getting worse, too. Unless we can stop it."

"And you believe you can do this?"

"We have on other worlds. Not all of them," he had to admit. "Sometimes we were too late, or we just couldn't find the heart to fix it. It happens. Sometimes it's like-- like a world doesn't want to be saved." There had been places where every face was closed and suspicious, where no one had helped them and they simply hadn't been able to make any headway, and eventually had to simply leave before the world began its final descent into decay, so that they wouldn't get caught in it. It had been hard, every time-- leaving all those people behind never seemed to get any easier, even if there was nothing they could do to avoid it.

David nodded slowly, his eyes distant, then nodded again more sharply and seemed to rally himself. "Well, that is not us. I am not so proud I will turn away help when it's needed."

Sora nudged Riku until his friend glanced over, then gave him a covert thumbs-up. Riku rolled his eyes and elbowed him in the side.

"Allow us a little more time to collect our information and discuss amongst ourselves. Pagus," David added, turning to his General, "keep looking for anything that might prove useful. Torgal, if you would find Emmy and Blocter and ask them to join us." He turned to his two guests. "I'll have the noon meal sent up to your rooms. After, we'll talk more."

The Generals saluted; Sora kind of straightened his shoulders along with them, automatically. He and Riku followed Torgal out the door when he gestured them forward-- Sora darted glances at Torgal as they walked, and wondered only a little idly if he could get Donald to pull an extra spell and get him upgraded. He certainly had enough keychains to equip every hand, after all.

They found Kairi and Emmy in the garden. Donald and Goofy were sitting together a short distance away, half drowsing in the sunlight-- Sora couldn't blame them, they'd been pushing themselves extra hard to keep up with not just one but three keyblade masters. The girls weren't sparring anymore, though the light sheen of sweat on Kairi's face and the way Emmy's swordbelt was close to hand meant they were probably at it not too long before. They were talking quietly, all the earlier suspicion apparently resolved, but Sora supposed that being the only girls in a host of boys would give them some ground in common.

There was a third girl with them, too. He didn't know who she was, but part of Sora recognized what she was on sight-- he'd seen enough princesses of heart to know one when he saw her. It was equally obvious that she wasn't holding up too well under what was happening to her world's heart, because she looked pale and tired, with dark circles under her eyes and a heavy slump in her shoulders.

Torgal and Emmy vanished after summoning a page to see them back to their rooms-- Sora thought he could probably find his own way back, but the looks on the faces of the others when he opened his mouth to suggest it made him stop before the words were out. While they were waiting for the page to arrive, therefore, Sora and Riku filled their friends in on what had happened. "There'll be food upstairs," Riku finished. "You want to come back up with us?"

"I can wait a little while. I'd like to talk to Irina a bit more first." Kairi shared a smile with the third girl, then turned to give her boys a pointed eyebrow. They didn't push the issue. A princess was usually the most reliable way to find a heart, after all, so there was a good chance that Kairi could get some useful information from Irina if they gave them time to talk, princess-to-princess.

"Just so you know," Kairi murmured as they were leaving, "the little guys are called qsiti, the big ones are yama, and Torgal is a sovani. We're actually called 'mitra' here." She smiled with too much innocence, the expression ruined by the laughter lurking in her eyes. "Try not to insult anyone by mixing them up."

"Hey, that was not my fault. Why do you guys always act like this stuff is my fault?"

Kairi laughed as Riku half-dragged Sora away.

There was indeed a meal waiting for them in their rooms, as promised-- cold meat and fruit on platters, fresh crumbly cheese, all of it entirely awesome after too long eating the freeze-dried stuff on the gummi ship. Sora cheerfully stuffed himself with the enthusiasm of one who knew it probably wouldn't last.

The same page later led all five of them to a smaller room just off the big audience hall, a room that featured a single long table and a variety of armour and weaponry and banners on the walls. Sora, enthralled, turned a few full circles to look around before taking a seat with the rest.

"We are agreed," David announced, "that we will assist you so long as you're on this quest. I can only assume you are searching for-- how did you put it? For the heart of this world, so you may effect a cure to this dark illness you speak of." He waited for their answering nods before continuing. "So where is the heart likely to be?"

"We don't know, exactly" Sora admitted. "It's different in every world. Though you said 'Valeria Heart'--"

"The Remnant that formerly guarded our city. Long since lost to us."

"Oh." Sora deflated. "Well, then, we really don't know."

"Of course not," David said with a twist to his mouth. "We wouldn't want this to be too easy for us."

"There should be signs, though," Kairi stepped in to say. "Clues. Sometimes written down, sometimes just-- people's feelings about a certain place or object."

"Pagus," David said, turning to his general, "have you come across anything in your readings that might give us a start?"

"Not yet, but I will keep looking."

"I can help," Riku offered. "I might have a better idea of what we're looking for."

"Thank you," David said with a nod. "We might also send discreet messages to Chairman Ghor and to what remains of the Academy. They may have resources that we do not."

"I'll see to it," Pagus said.

"In the meantime--" David left it hanging, turning to Sora with an eyebrow raised. "I would typically suggest field reconnaissance at this point, but--"

"No, that's not a bad idea," Sora said, frowning thoughtfully to himself. "We could do a few sweeps around the city, see if anything pulls us in a particular direction." He looked at Kairi, who nodded. "You take west, I take east? Full circle, then back here?"

"Sounds good."

"Torgal, Emmy, Blocter," David addressed each of his remaining generals in turn, "you will accompany them."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Not that I mean to doubt your abilities, or your intentions," he added at Sora's surprised look, "but you are unfamiliar with our world. I would hate for it to surprise you in a nasty way."

With a rueful grin, Sora remembered a few other worlds and the surprises they'd found there. "Appreciate it."

The next day, after one of the best sleeps he'd had in a long time-- their room had a nice, soft bed big enough for three to stretch out comfortably, and walls to block away Donald's snoring and Goofy's sleepy mutters-- Sora ventured out into the countryside with Donald and a small party of Athlumian soldiers led by Torgal. Kairi, with Goofy looming over her, waved at them before trekking off in the opposite direction with her own armed entourage.

Sora spent the better part of the day hiking through the fields and woodlots surrounding the city, just far enough out from the walls to be away from the city's influence, putting out feelers and hoping to pick up some kind of trace or clue. It was a pleasant enough way to spend the day, really. Torgal proved remarkably patient with his questions, but if he was really hundreds and hundreds of years old then he probably had to be a pretty patient guy.

He saw what David had meant by surprises, too, as the first group of strange monsters leapt at them out of the long grass. Sora freely admitted himself impressed by the way Torgal and the soldiers just plain wiped them out, working together smooth and easy from long practice and taking full advantage of the creatures' weak points.

They walked a full circle around the city walls and back to their starting point. Kairi and her party met them back at the doors to the palace; she and Sora exchanged disappointed shakes of the head, which they later had to repeat in response to David's questioning look.

"But it's way too early to give up hope," Sora insisted. "The hearts of worlds are good at hiding themselves." Which was good, even if it did make things harder for them, because otherwise the heartless would have taken them all right off the bat. And if this world's heart had already been taken once, before they'd opened up Kingdom Hearts and put things right, then it would be extra wary now. "We'll try a bit further out tomorrow. Something will come up, you'll see."

The next day, Sora trudged back into the city feeling dusty and tired, but a little more hopeful at the same time. It hadn't been much, but he'd felt a little twinge at one point during their sweep, like something tickling at the edge of his heart. He figured they were still too close to the city and all the hearts inside it to get a really sure fix, but still--

Kairi met them at the gates again. "East?" he asked her, and grinned when she nodded. "Looks like we know what we're doing tomorrow, then."

They left early the next morning, both of them together, moving eastward until the sun was high overhead and the city had disappeared into the rolling hills behind them. Sora and Kairi took point by some unspoken agreement, leading the way; they eventually ended up at the peak of a low cliff, staring into the distance with identically intent expressions. Sora was distantly aware of the rest of their parties forming up a loose, defensive ring around them, but he was too distracted to wonder about the local monsters as he stared off into the distance. Listening with his heart, and maybe-- just maybe-- getting a glimmer of a response.

"There's definitely something over that way", he eventually said, raising one hand to point-- waggling it back and forth as he tried and failed to pinpoint the feeling further. "Whether it's the heart or not, I don't know, but it's bound to be a clue, anyway."

Kairi's senses were a bit sharper than his, and with her help he narrowed the direction down enough that one of the soldiers could take readings against the sun and jot down some notes. After one last, lingering look, Sora nodded, and they all turned around and started the long trek back.

It was definitely a more hopeful reception this time when they burst into David's throne room and asked him to send for his court cartographer. Sora waited impatiently for the man to interpret their notes and plot it out-- a little arc of lines spreading from the dot that was Athlum. It didn't look like much, but it was still more than they'd had before. "So what's that way?" Sora asked.

"Blackdale, and the Ivory Peaks," Emmy recited, tracing the lines on the map. "Ghor. Elysion."

"Isn't Elysion where you said that Ark thing was?" Riku asked Pagus, who nodded.

"It was, once. But the Ark is gone now, along with the other Remnants."

"Hunh," Riku said. He met Sora and Kairi's looks with a certain amount of excitement in his eyes, and Sora grinned back at him. They'd long since learned to listen to each others' hunches, after all; more often than not, those feelings were what set them on the right track.

"So what's this Ark?" Sora asked as they piled into the library later. It was just the three of them again, their hosts having their own duties to attend to, and Donald and Goofy gone to send a progress report to the King.

"You know as much as I do," Riku replied. He sorted through the piled-up books and eventually pulled out a few. "Let's find out."

They each grabbed a book and settled in. Sora was fighting the urge to fidget in his seat by about the third book, shooting dubious looks at the high stack still to go. It wasn't that he didn't want to be there, really, or that he thought the research wasn't worthwhile; it was just that he could never shake the feeling he should be out doing something instead of hanging around poking at books. And he'd never liked having to sit still.

Still, when Riku gave him a quick glare and a pointed look, Sora sighed and forced himself back into it, flipping pages and chewing absently at the corner of his lip. He wasn't sure how long they'd been lost in that peculiar kind of quiet that lived in libraries, when Riku finally broke it.

"Guys."

Sora blinked his way out his current tome; Riku slid a book across the table towards them and pointed to a particular passage. "I can't believe I didn't see this before." The manuscript under his hands was old, painstakingly illustrated with faded inks. Some kind of encyclopedia of Remnants, or something like that, which Riku had thumbed open to the section talking about the Ark.

Just above the first paragraph, marking the space, was a little drawing of a key topped by a crown.

"A keyblade!" Kairi said happily.

The text itself didn't say anything really useful, as they found out when they eagerly read on-- just hints and riddles about some place called the Sacred Lands. But there was that little key, which Sora ended up coming back to over and over and just staring at, convinced that it was the clue they were looking for.

Unfortunately, when they pitched the idea to the others over the evening meal they were met with closed expressions and a lot of sidelong looks. "If that is your solution then we may as well give up now," Torgal said. "As we told you, the Ark is gone. The Sacred Lands are sealed."

"Are you sure?"

"If there was any Remnant left in this world, we would know about it," David said quietly. He gestured towards the audience hall. "We have a device which once showed the location of all Remnants throughout the world. We have been monitoring it regularly, yet it has produced no readings since that day." He shook his head. "I'm afraid your hopes are for naught."

Sora shook his own head, feeling stubborn. "So long as you're willing to try," he argued, "so long as your hearts are willing, then there must be a way. There wouldn't be any hope left if it was really locked up for good. So your hearts, yours and your people's, can lead us there."

"I believe him," Irina said quietly from the side. "I think we should try."

David looked at her, questioning with his eyes, and when Irina tipped her chin up and didn't look away, he sighed. "Very well," he said. "From your stories, you seem to be adept at accomplishing impossible things; why stop now?"

"Awesome," Sora said, grinning. "We'll head out right now if you'll give us a map--"

"You'll wait until tomorrow morning, when you're adequately prepared and rested, and we will accompany you," David corrected dryly. "Athlum has pledged you its support, after all; we will see you through this to the end, one way or another."

Sora blinked. "Okay, that works too."

Irina caught at Kairi's arm as they were filing out again, pulling her aside and bending in close. She looked even worse than before, Sora noted with a pang; she looked somehow frail in ways that had nothing really to do with her body. Sora hung back, trying not to look like he was waiting, and saw Irina clasp hands with Kairi, like a blessing, before turning and slipping out another door.

Kairi came up to him, smiling sadly, and shook her head. "She won't be able to come with us," she said. "She's sicker than she looks."

Sora winced. "Crap." He looked after Irina. "Guess we'll have to move fast, then, hunh?"

The trip to Elysion took just under three days of hard travelling, pulled in a glorified wagon by a huge lizard-thing that moved way faster than it looked like it should be capable of. The trip was-- educational, at least, in that they got an idea of just how far gone the world really was. The Ivory Peaks were overrun with monsters, and all of the trees they passed showed a rust-red blight on their leaves. Typically, Sora thought grimly, when the disease's effects started to physically show like that, it was getting dangerously close to the end. David's city was in really good shape, comparatively.

In Elysion, they followed in the impressive wake of David and his generals as they arrowed through the crowds. The Marquis' authority got them right past the guards standing watch over a barred set of doors on the city's upper level.

"This was the Ark Gate," David said quietly, voice echoing in the corners of the large, dimly-lit room beyond the doors. "You see?" He walked over to the round platform in the room's centre, and held out a hand for a moment. Nothing happened; he turned back and spread his arms helplessly. "The Ark is what allowed passage to the Sacred Lands from this place; without it, this is simply an empty room."

"Hunh." Sora paced a circuit of the chamber, then went to the centre and summoned his keyblade. He simply held it for a while, his eyes closed, feeling. After a few minutes of reaching, he opened his eyes again with a frustrated sound. "There's something here, still-- like an echo, or something, maybe. But I'm not from this world, it isn't talking to me."

And at that, he had an idea. He looked at David, standing just a few paces away. "Hey, could you hold out your hands again for a sec?"

Arching an eyebrow, David did, instinctively closing his grip when Sora shoved the handle of his keyblade into them. "What--"

Sora put his hands over David's on the keyblade's hilt. "Okay," Sora told him, "just close your eyes and think about finding the way forward. If you concentrate, your heart should show us the way."

Not surprisingly, David looked startled and a little uncomfortable, standing there with Sora at the center of what had been the Ark Gate. Which was typical, really; most people just didn't understand the power that hearts really had. Eventually, though, David followed Sora's example by closing his eyes, his head bowing as a faint frown of concentration creased his forehead.

Sora, for his part, just focused on giving power to the keyblade, willing it to follow David's direction. He was distantly aware of Riku and Kairi moving to flank him, their own blades out and ready. He had a sense of something building as he reached out again, and then--

There was a mighty flash as the connection was made, and when it faded they were somewhere else. The Sacred Lands, Sora hoped, even though it didn't look as impressive as the name made it sound. They were all scattered around a big, round room very similar to the previous one, dimly lit, all grey stone and nothing much else.

And they weren't alone, either. Someone was waiting for them there-- or something, Sora wasn't sure which was more appropriate. It looked mostly like a man, at least, young and dark-haired, sitting on the stairs and just starting to get up when they arrived. But his body was shedding bits of green light, and the image of him sometimes jumped like a bad recording, flickering in and out of focus.

The Athlumians obviously recognized him. Sora heard Blocter and Emmy both give startled exclamations when they spotted the new guy; Pagus' mouth gaped open slightly, and even Torgal's ears twitched backwards in surprise. David was shoving his way forward before Sora had even finished getting his feet under him, going right up until he was standing just a few paces away from the stranger.



"Rush," David whispered, his expression a strange mix of hopeful and stricken.

The stranger's face lit up in a brilliant smile.



David reached, only to flinch back again at the spit of green sparks that flared up between his hand and the new guy's arm. "Sorry, sorry," Rush quickly said, wincing himself as David shook his fingers out like he'd been shocked. "There's something not quite right here, anymore. I think it's affecting me."

A few things became clear to Sora just then, seeing the look on David's face and remembering all of the explanations partly given. This Rush was their lost companion, the one that David had been mourning-- and he was a Remnant. He had to be, despite no one ever telling them that Remnants could look like people; Rush was practically resonating with the energy that was floating around this place, like a heart without a body to hold it in.

"Why are you here?" David asked.

"Oh come on," Rush said easily, "I've been looking for a way back ever since we were split up. Though I've gotta say, I'd mostly given up on this place. Kind of felt like something was calling me here today, though, so-- here I am." He gave a self-deprecating shrug and grin.

"So-- why are you here, anyway? Not that I'm not happy to see you," Rush added, glancing at David again. He was still standing as close to David as he could, eyes moving all around the circle but always coming back. "But from the looks of things, I don't really think you came all the way here just for me."

All eyes went to Sora, so he took a deep breath and launched into the short version of the explanation. When he finished, Rush looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, you know," he said, "I think I knew that already. There's something here, something-- it feels kind of like another Remnant, just-- more. I can feel it, like I'm connected to it somehow, and I think it's what's making me be like this." He held up his arm to demonstrate. "It could be the heart you're looking for. A little while ago, it pulled in all the other Remnants that were here, kind of-- absorbed them. I could resist it, but most of them couldn't." He looked momentarily pained, haunted. "It was a really strong pull."

Kairi was nodding. "I've been thinking for a while that Remnants might have been born from the heart of this world," she said. "If that's the case, then the heart might have called them back to give itself extra energy to fight the illness. Or at least buy it some more time."

"And maybe because you're, y'know, a person, you were able to hold yourself together?" Sora added.

"So far, anyway," Rush added ruefully, looking down to his hand and the green bits flaking off it. "I've been kind of wondering how much longer-- well." He cleared his throat. "But hey, you're here to fix things right? So let's go."

David held up a hand. "Rush, if you were able to endure, then does that mean--" David looked hard at Rush, who nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah, he's around here somewhere. I've seen him a few times, but only from a distance." Rush gave them a weak grin. "Maybe he's avoiding me, hunh?"

Sora glanced in mild concern between them. "Who?"

"Let us hope you do not have to find out."

Sora blinked, waiting, but that was apparently all the explanation he was going to get. "Okay, then," Sora started, and took a single step towards the door only to be stopped by David's uplifted hand once more.

"Before we go any further, we should prepare ourselves to fight-- it's impossible to tell what we may encounter from this point on. You may be used to fighting individually," he added to Sora and his friends. "But with this many of us, deciding beforehand who will support whom tends to save on confusion in the midst of battle. We typically set ourselves into formations of five or less; would you prefer to stay together, or--"

"If we're splitting up, we should probably have at least one keyblade per group," Riku said, shaking his head. "Just in case."

David nodded. "Fine." He looked at them all with a critical eye. "Three formations. Sora, Donald-- Rush," he went on, "with me. Pagus, Emmy, you stay with Kairi and Goofy." He then looked at the remaining three, who were eyeing each other consideringly. Blocter was giving the other two a wide, toothy grin, and Riku was wearing the smirk that sometimes made Sora want to duck and cover-- when it was directed at him, anyway. "I suppose I don't have to tell you what to do," David finished dryly.

Sora had worked the math as well, and had worried for a moment when he realized that there would be one group of only three-- but seeing Riku, Torgal and Blocter standing next to each other, practically oozing confidence, Sora had to smile. Even one person short, anything would have to be nuts to tangle with them. It was a good fit all around-- David had a tactician's eye.

So Sora moved forward next to the glowing Rush, with the familiar support of Donald at his other shoulder and David himself on the far side. They went up the stairs and through the door, out onto the hazy paths beyond. The way forward had probably been perfectly clear at one point or other, from the looks of what structures remained, but entire sections of the place had vanished into a vast kind of emptiness, more the possibility of space than anything more defined. Like a thick kind of fog that never quite gave up the vague shapes hidden inside it. Rush ended up having to lead them when things were the least distinct, pushing through towards the sense of darkness and power and the unmistakeable essence of a heart.

The further they went, the darker it grew around them-- not a true darkness, Sora didn't need Riku's nose to tell him that, but a kind of dim fading that reminded Sora of the moment before a storm broke. Rush was glowing green pretty much constantly by that point, and leaving a trail of glittering afterimages in the air behind him when he moved. It didn't seem to hurt him any, which Sora was grateful for, but he did get more and more tense with each step they took.

Surrounded by vague emptiness, Sora had pretty much given up on what his eyes were telling him and focused on following his feelings instead. So when a vague shape showed up in the path ahead, at first Sora didn't really register what he was seeing. It looked like a man, tall and blond and flickering red the way Rush was green, a man who turned slowly to look at them as they approached. He'd had both arms spread wide, like he was trying to hold back the darkness, but he dropped them to his sides when their party came to a halt a defensible distance away.

"You," David said, and the new man met his glare easily. "Are you here to try and stop us, then? It didn't go well for you last time." At his side, Rush flexed both fists, making them flare up intensely green.

The stranger made a faint, irritated sound and shook his head, turning away from them again. "The thing you seek is there, just ahead," he said, voice deep and low. "I will clear the way, and strengthen the heart as much as I can. You were strong enough to defeat me," he added, grudging, "perhaps you can defeat this, as well."

Sora saw all of the Athlumians frozen in similar expressions of shock. "Why are you helping us?" David asked after a moment.

The stranger didn't answer; surprisingly enough, Rush was the next one to speak. "He's not doing this for us," he said slowly, realization creeping across his face. "He still doesn't give a damn about humans, I'll bet. But every other Remnant that ever existed is part of the heart, up there, and they're going to die right along with us if that disease wins. So he's still up to his old tricks, really. Am I right?" he challenged.

The stranger turned his head just enough that the corner of one eye was visible, fixed hard and red on David. "Remember this," he growled.

He spread his arms again-- and the red flickers around him intensified, brilliant and blinding. The shape of man vanished entirely into the light, and the light itself flared once before dissipating outward in a flash.

When it faded, Sora didn't think it was his imagination that the gentle light of the heart around them was brighter than it had been before. "Who was that?" he asked, awed.

"An old enemy." David hesitated as if about to say something else, then shook his head. "Let's not waste this chance," he finished instead, and the rest nodded.

They pushed onward, and if their trail ahead seemed to be marked by a faint, reddish glow, no one remarked on it.

Sora knew the moment they reached their destination, because there was a swing and a dip as the world around them shifted-- he staggered as a stone floor materialized beneath his feet, and blinked as the hazy fog was replaced by harsh yellow lamplight. Just like that, between one breath and the next, they were in a vast, windowless room that reminded Sora of just about every dungeon he'd ever been in.

"Here we go," Riku muttered from one side. And, seeing the shape of a man that quickly coalesced in the center of the room before them, Sora couldn't help but agree.

For a moment he thought that the man in red had come back to help them again-- only Sora quickly realized that this new figure was wearing different clothes, something elaborate and probably expensive for all that it was ragged and torn at the edges. His eyes, when he opened them, were ringed in black, and as he called a huge sword of some kind out of the air he gave them an arrogant smirk that seemed common to every villain of Sora's acquaintance.

"Hermeien?" Emmy exclaimed in shock.

Blocter groaned. "Not again. Won't he ever stay dead?"

"Don't be fooled," Riku said grimly. "It's not really him. It's just a representation of the disease in a form that we can relate to."

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah," Riku answered, nose wrinkled with disgust. "I can smell him. Nothing but darkness there."

"All right, then," Sora said. And charged, with Rush a glittering blur beside him.

He wasn't entirely surprised when his initial strike didn't land, the still-smirking form of their enemy vanishing right out from under his blade. He whirled instead to lash out behind him, catching the edge of Hermeien's leg as it rematerialized there. He heard the creature give a low hiss, echoed when Rush's swing on the other side connected as well. And then their friends were all around them, striking forward with fierce cries. Sora backed up a bit and cast a firaga when he had the opening-- saw it come bubbling up out of the ground instead of hissing through the air, though either way it made their enemy wince back. Sora couldn't help but grin in the backwash of heat.

The creature shook off the first wave of their attacks, though. It gave a low, rattling cry, and the shadows at the edges of the room writhed. "Crap," Sora muttered, then raised his voice. "Guys! Heartless incoming!"

"On it," he heard Riku call back, and then the low murmur of his friend's voice giving the rest of his team some pointers on how to fight something that would steal your heart right out of your chest if you gave it an opening.

With Riku on the lookout for heartless, Sora was pretty confident in turning back to Hermeien instead-- he and the others had to fight a battle on two fronts every now and then, as the odd Shadow scuttled in to flank them, but it could have been worse-- a lot worse. He and his party struck from one side, Kairi and hers from the other, and they slowly whittled bits of sickly grey off the almost-human shape before them.

For a while, Sora thought they might actually make it without too much trouble. Hermeien's human body was staggering in place, beginning to waver in and out of focus under their strikes-- but then the man bared too-sharp teeth and lifted an arm, and Sora realized that he should have known better. There was always one more rally, as the darkness grew desperate and drew in its power.

Sora tried to call a warning, but he wasn't sure anyone heard; Hermeien's call pulled down a curtain of pure darkness that rolled over them with the force of a tidal wave. Sora went down, choking, and couldn't even cry out when he faintly heard the sounds of other bodies falling to either side of him.

He gasped in a breath when a hand settled on his shoulder, though, a grip that stung, forcing back the shadows-- it was a hand that glowed green, and Sora followed the arm attached to it up to the determined face of Rush. "I can't hold it back for long," Rush said, sounding strained-- and Sora could see how his shape was being eaten away at the edges, a flurry of green vanishing into the void. "Can you--"

"Yeah," Sora gritted out. He firmed his grip on his keyblade, took a deep breath, and nodded.

Rush flashed brilliantly, blurring forward into a run, with Sora right on his heels.

He had enough time to see Hermeien's startled face in the pale green wash before he was bringing his keyblade crashing down on it.

The shape of Hermeien shattered with a scream that wasn't like anything human. "Now!" Sora shouted, hoping that he was heard-- for a moment there was no response, and his heart sank. But then out of the shadows came a beam of light, pure and true, flaring from the tip of Kairi's barely-seen keyblade. Another beam came from the other side, lighting up Riku's determined glare. Both of his friends were moving forward, one inching footstep at a time.

Sora jumped back, aimed his keyblade, and reached into his heart for the strength he needed. The three beams of light met in the midst of the mass of darkness that had been Hermeien, and flared outward into a ring that contained it all. Sora gritted his teeth and kept pushing, closing the ring in bit by bit until their power burned the shadowy stain out entirely.

Light flared around them, blindingly bright, as the heart of the world rallied and pushed.

Sora came back to himself blinking away spots and sprawled out on the ground somewhere in Elysion, with all of his friends scattered around him. He could hear voices shouting, which worried him for a moment-- but the people of the city were staring at the sky instead of at them. Maybe they had seen some sign of the fight, or of the heart when it sent them out; maybe they thought it was their long-lost Remnant come back to them.

Sora blinked away the last afterimages, then pushed to his feet with a whoop, grinning at Blocter as the big yama lifted his weapon and gave a victorious yell of his own. Sora's grin gave way to a yelp when an elbow dug into his ribs, but when faced with a Riku looking fierce and pleased he couldn't bring himself to be too upset. And Kairi was beaming at them both, and their new friends were looking at each other with a fresh kind of energy in their smiles.

Riku's eyes drifted over Sora's shoulder, widening, and his smile softened at the corners. He gave Sora a pointed look and a nod, and Sora turned to see-- Rush, looking solid and human, on his hands and knees a short distance away. There was a green glow lingering in his eyes, though it faded a little bit more with each of Rush's surprised blinks.

David was sitting just inches away from him, staring at Rush in shock and growing realization. Slowly, David reached out like had before, only this time when his hand touched Rush's arm there was no spark of energy to force him away. David's fingers curled into Rush's sleeve and stayed there.

Heedless of who was watching, David pulled Rush into a fierce hug. Rush's hands fisted in the back of David's jacket as he returned it, murmuring something too low to be overheard.

Sora's eyes might have got a little prickly at that point, but he wasn't about to admit it.

They slipped away to a more distant part of the city before the locals' shock could wear off and their questions start. The adrenaline rush of victory couldn't last forever, after all, and they were all going to be exhausted when it finally left. After a quick consultation they found an inn to rest at for the night, leaving the return trip to Athlum for the next day.

Sora didn't have to do much dragging to get Riku and Kairi to go right up to sleep-- given how heavy Sora's feet were starting to feel, he figured the others had to be feeling the same. Just before he shut the door behind them, though, Sora caught sight of David and Rush moving towards one of the other rooms together, their heads bent very close, their fingers entwined.

Smiling softly to himself, Sora let the door latch with a quiet click. He moved across the room to pile onto the narrow bed, curling in close with the others under the blankets.

They arrived back in Athlum in the early afternoon, when the market was busiest and the sun was cheerfully high overhead. Their entry to the city was accompanied by an unexpected clamour as people noticed Rush. He was obviously fairly well-known among the cityfolk, even if Sora was pretty sure they didn't know the full truth about him, and they all looked pleased to see him again.

Word of their return apparently spread quickly ahead of them, too, because when they reached the town square they were met by a much-improved Irina come pelting through the streets to throw herself at Rush, followed by an older man and woman with enough family resemblance to make their identities obvious. Sora couldn't quite stop grinning from that point on.

He loved happy endings.

They reached the place where the Valeria Heart once stood, where Sora could vaguely sense their ship's transport waiting for them, and it was with a quiet sigh of reluctance that Sora drifted to a halt with his friends at his back. Their new friends didn't notice right off, getting a few paces away before looking back at them. They looked puzzled at first, but realization was quick to come.

"Won't you at least come to the castle and rest tonight?" David asked. He was still standing close to Rush, like he couldn't quite bear to move away, and Rush was obviously content to let him stay there.

"No," Sora said reluctantly, "we should go. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get to the next world that needs help."

David wasn't the only one to look disappointed at that, but the expression in his eyes said that he understood. "So what will happen now?" he asked.

"Everything won't magically get better all of a sudden, if that's what you mean," Riku warned. "Your monster problem should settle out, and people will stop having their emotions affected by the sickness. But you'll still have to deal with all of the fallout from the rest of it the old fashioned way."

"We can do that," David said firmly. "It's what we've been doing all along. At least now you've given us a chance of succeeding."

Sora shrugged, grinning. "Just doing our jobs."

"Still-- thank you. You are most welcome here if ever your path brings you back," David said.

"Heh," Sora replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks."

"Oh hey, here," Rush said suddenly, rummaging in a pocket. "I think I'm supposed to give you these." He held out three new keychains-- greenish crystals in a heavy gold setting. They looked like-- looked like the thing hanging around Rush's neck, actually.

"What do they do?" Sora asked, reaching out eagerly.

Rush shrugged. "Guess you'll have to find out." And they grinned at each other. Riku looked back and forth between them with a dubious expression, then shook his head while Kairi hid her smile behind her hand.



They said their farewells-- Sora oofed as he was enveloped in a bearhug from Blocter. He staggered a bit as he was released, then waved one last time and turned away. He closed his eyes as he got close enough for the ship to grab him and take him away-- felt the pull and snap as the world reluctantly gave them up.

When he opened his eyes it was to the vast array of stars on the other side of the gummi ship's viewscreen, and Sora smiled. One more win for the good guys, he thought.

"So," he said out loud. "Where to next?"