Kingdom Hearts III: The Revival (Working Title)

Soushirei · Mar 3, 2007

Haha, you know, I never looked at it that way--but that's a valid argument.
I sort of looked at it like Riku being michievious, wanting to annoying the crap out of Sora whenever he could, hence the reference with the bucket of ice water. But now that I think about it, Riku does seem to be rather hyper in that scene.

XD, funny. I like it.

Inasuma · Mar 3, 2007

Yey. I just finished the chapter (finally).

I must say this is probably (so far) the best fan fic I've ever read of KH. ;)

Keep writing, damn you.

DarknessKingdom · Mar 3, 2007

Very nice fanfic. I'm no expert author when it comes to fanfiction, but this will do well and will attract alot of attention.

*currently waiting for the next chapter*

Ratchet · Mar 4, 2007

This is a really well written fan fic. I am enjoying every chapter. Please keep them coming.

Soushirei · Mar 4, 2007

Thanks everyone for the continued support.

Chapter Four will be up sometime on Tuesday, so expect something around that time. I'd also like to remind that I don't mind any inquiries for anyone who may have any regarding the fic (such as non-spoiler details about the work, general inquiries, etc). I have this thread subscribed so I'll know if people have responded and will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks, again!

DarknessKingdom · Mar 5, 2007

I have a question.

With the worlds that are going to appear in this fic, are they going to be based on just Square-Enix and Disney worlds? Or they going to be some Anime worlds? (eg, FMA, Bleach, Naruto)

Soushirei · Mar 5, 2007

From what I can tell you (since I only have a clear outline up till Chapter 10), most of the worlds are revisits of some already seen in the last two games, with little twists. This is sort of the same thing that happened in KH2 with revisiting old ones but doing new things. For the most part, it's strictly Square-Enix and Disney. I couldn't tell you for sure, but it's unlikely I'll be including characters/worlds created outside the game's franchise.

Right now, there is one original world that I have planned for Sora and co. to visit sometime during the second/final arc of the fic (i.e. Chapter 11-20), and this isn't affiliated with any series or game, but the appearance of the world might be influenced by some other games I've played (inadvertently, of course).

Thanks for the interest, DarknessKingdom. =D If you have any other questions, feel free to ask again!

Inasuma · Mar 5, 2007

So are you making your own world like TWTNW? That'd be extremely original. =D

Soushirei · Mar 6, 2007

Yeah, I'll try o_o.

I have a rough visual in my mind about how I want it to look in a basic sense, and it's heavily influenced by a few places in Twilight Princess, actually. However, when I have to sit down and make an outline for it, some original ideas will probably come up around then. I also will have to create some original chars associated with that world; it becomes a focal point sometime during the later half of the final arc.

--

Hey, everyone.

I know I promised you Chapter Four about two and a half hours ago, haha. But I actually woke up late today around 1PM and had to give some input on the basement layout of my house (since we're getting it finished this month).

I gave one last proof-read of Chapter Four, but it was sort of rushed so if you see any errors then try to correct them yourselves in your heads, haha.

-- Chapter Four --

“Kairi?”

“Who’s there?” Kairi called out.

Kairi scanned her surroundings, trying to take in her environment as best as she could. The room glowed fiercely with a blinding white light that caused Kairi to squint, shading her sapphire eyes with one of her hands in order to lessen the overwhelming brightness that invaded her sight.

“Over here, Kairi.”

Kairi turned abruptly in the direction of the voice that was calling out to her. Seated at the far end of a long silver table that lay before her, Kairi recognized a familiar face; a blonde-haired girl in a simple white dress.

“Naminé!” Kairi called out in surprise. “What are you doing here?” Kairi took another look at her surroundings, before releasing a regrettable sigh. “I mean… what am ‘I’ doing here?” she corrected herself.

Naminé smiled warmly at the young girl who stood across from her, gesturing Kairi toward the other end of the table. “Please, take a seat.”

Kairi nodded silently as she complied with Naminé’s request. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit frightened about her current situation. She had never seen this place before, and she certainly did not know how she managed to arrive in such a strange white room. “Naminé… what’s going on? Where is everyone?”

“Kairi, what do you remember about your childhood?”

“My childhood?” Kairi thought for a moment. “I remember playing with Sora and Riku all the time at Destiny Islands. We did everything together. There isn’t a moment that I remember when I wasn’t with them,” Kairi smiled happily, remembering the fond times she had with her two greatest friends.

Naminé’s tone lowered slightly. “Do you remember anything before that?”

Kairi blinked rhetorically, being unprepared for the question. “Of course not.”

“I see,” Naminé’s eyes softened, evident disappointment brewing in her eyes. After some reluctance to speak on both sides of the table, it would finally be Naminé who would look up to face her other self. “Kairi?”

“What is it, Naminé?”

“I’m sorry.”

Kairi was about to inquire about Naminé’s puzzling apology when her vision started to give in as the perpetual white brightness that filled the room soon started to fade back into darkness.

--

Kairi’s vision slowly recovered as she felt light creep back into her eyes, brightening her surroundings. However, the atmosphere she felt around her was far less suppressing than her dream, where she sat with Naminé at the silver table in that blinding white room. While her vision had not completely regained its focus, she could see shades of gold, white and brown, along with some defining smells of cherry wood and oak. These scents were more familiar to her; scents that belonged to Disney Castle. She soon realized that she was lying comfortably in some sort of bed it seemed, surrounded by silky and lacey fabric.

“You’re awake,” said a soft voice to her left.

Kairi turned her head toward the direction of the warm voice that called out to her, smiling fervently as she recognized the visitor who was seated in one of the chairs stationed beside her bed. “Sora.”

“How’re you feeling?” he asked in almost a whisper.

Kairi stretched momentarily before covering her head with the bed sheets. “I have a huge headache, but otherwise, I’m fine.”

Sora could immediately tell that Kairi was suppressing some embarrassment inside her regarding what had happened some few hours ago. She knew as well as he did that all the effort she put into hiding her condition from Sora and the rest of the group had completely failed—whatever condition that may have been. Sora didn’t know what was going on, but he was determined to find out.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sora’s voice began to gain some force.

Kairi bit her bottom lip, ashamed; she didn’t like it when Sora got angry at her. “I didn’t want any of you guys to worry…”

“Well some good that did you,” Sora argued. “You passed out in front of everyone, Kairi!”

“I’m sorry! It’s not like I wanted to!” Kairi yelled.

“Why are you apologizing!”

“Because you’re angry with me!”

“Kairi,” Sora whined in annoyance. “I’m not angry with you, I’m worried about you!”

Kairi didn’t bother to respond to Sora’s reasoning. It wouldn’t have done her any good. She knew he was worried about her, but that was precisely why she didn’t want to say anything. Sora had made a living just being worried about her all the time and wasting every ounce of strength and determination he had to keep her safe and secure. First, he sacrificed himself doubtlessly to retrieve her heart—which consequently turned him into a Heartless—something she was barely able to fix, and then he embarked on another dangerous journey to recover her from the grasp of Organization XIII. There was just absolutely no way she was going to allow him to come to her rescue again; he deserved so much more than that. Kairi would not be able to see herself worthy in Sora’s eyes until she was able to free him of this dangerous burden that she had continually imposed on him. She wanted to be of as much help to him as he had effortlessly been for her all these years. Until she could fulfill this duty, she would not give in to her selfishness.

Sora sighed in defeat. “I’ll go get you something for that headache,” he stated before rising from his seat; he wasn’t going to push this matter any further.

Kairi watched as Sora walked toward the door, still dressed in his white suit as he fiddled with one of his sleeves. He looked absolutely adorable as he tinkered with the buttons on his wrists, evidently finding them uncomfortable. She knew Sora was never really a person who could stand dressing so formally for a long period of time.

“Sora,” Kairi called as she heard the door to the room open.

Sora stopped walking. “Yes?”

“Sorry… for worrying you,” Kairi muttered.

“You’re not supposed to apologize,” Sora chuckled weakly. “For something like that.”

Kairi felt heat rise in her face at his reply. “Thank you… Sora.”

Sora smiled, closing the door gently behind him as he left. “Idiot,” he smiled solemnly, leaning against the back of her door. “You’re not supposed to say thanks, either.”

But Kairi was always like that, he thought. It was so unfair and to a point, it was one of the worst things about her that he resented the most. Why did she always try to take on the world by herself? Didn’t she realize already that he was more than willing to be there for her whenever she needed help? He was so sure that he had proven himself numerous times in the past; that he was capable of being relied upon whenever she needed someone to trust. Yet, she continually pushed him away. It saddened him a great deal whenever she kept these ‘secrets’ from him. He already decided to himself that as long as the Keyblade continued to be entrusted to him, it was neither his place nor his right to ask her to be his. He knew and understood this, so he thought that the least he could do was be the one to watch out for her, and give everything he had to ensure that she was safe from harm. Such a burden was something that he felt he owed to her. He did not believe it was fair to take that next step when he had nothing to give her except his life, a life that was continually bringing all that he loved into harm’s way. Until he could offer her something other than life-threatening danger, he too, would not give in to his selfishness.

Sora walked back down the large corridor of the Castle as he made his way back to King Mickey’s quarters. He rehearsed the sternest face he could muster by the entrance door, not wanting everyone to see his solemn disposition from his conversation with Kairi.

“Sora, what are you doing,” a young woman giggled as she approached him.

Sora jumped in surprise, turning to the side to see the taller brunette woman who had greeted him. “Aerith! You startled me!”

“Sorry about that,” Aerith held a hand to her mouth, giggling a little louder.

Sora’s eyes shifted from side to side, trying to calm his embarrassment. “Oh, are you busy at the moment? Kairi said she was having a headache, so I was wondering if there was anything you could do to help… a magic spell… anything at all?” Sora mumbled somewhat incoherently. The truth was he just wanted Aerith to leave before she got any more suspicious.

“Sure Sora, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks very much,” Sora bowed his head in appreciation.

After Aerith’s swift departure down the hall toward Kairi’s room, Sora turned his attention back to the King’s quarters as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment before grabbing the door knob. Whatever, he said to himself.

Everyone that was present during King Mickey’s initial meeting was still there, except the atmosphere bustled a lot more than it was a few hours earlier. Several conversations were going at once, leaving Sora the impression that they had finished hearing the rest of the story—which he would have to hear from Riku later—and had moved on to brainstorming a present course of action.

“Sora! You’re back,” Riku ran over to greet his friend. “How’s Kairi?”

“She’s fine, just has a little headache, that’s all,” Sora replied.

Leon and Yuffie spotted Sora at the entrance of the room after they took some curiosity to find out who it was that attracted Riku’s attention. They nodded to each other before heading over to settle their own inquiries.

“Kairi’s fine, Leon, Yuffie,” Sora smiled at the two of them.

“That’s good to hear,” Yuffie answered gratefully.

“Did she tell you anything?” Leon asked.

“About what?”

“About what happened? Did she see anyone? Hear anything?”

“Leon, what’re you talking about? She didn’t tell me anything,” Sora replied, slightly disturbed by Leon’s abnormal pestering. “I know she’s hiding something from me, but Kairi’s always been like that. I just hope it isn’t serious…”

Leon’s eyes diverted away from Sora’s direction as he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “It probably isn’t, don’t worry about it. Sorry for the weird questions.”

Riku was the first to grow suspicious about Leon’s disposition. Riku didn’t know Leon that long, but he always had the knack of knowing when a person was being sincere or not, and Leon definitely was not showcasing any degree of sincerity. It was probably a handicap that Sora knew Leon for quite some time, as it dulled his ability to suspect any inconsistencies and made it much easier to overlook the smaller details that gave so much away. Well, it’s not like Sora had much of a talent in that area anyway, Riku thought to himself.

“So, Your Majesty,” Sora asked. “What ever happened to Nemas?”

“No one really knows,” the King answered. “No one heard from Nemas again after Ansem and he cut ties. Given the nature of his research and the path it was spiraling toward, it was assumed that he died at the hands of one of his experiments. Of course, no one knows this for sure… and given today’s earlier events, I think it’s safe to say that Nemas is still very much alive.”

“Why didn’t Ansem stop him?” Cloud inquired from the corner of the room.

“Ansem was a scientist, not a warrior,” King Mickey explained. “With what tactics would he have used to stop Nemas? With what power? What strength?”

Sora looked down angrily. The King was right. They couldn’t put any of this blame on Ansem just because the man existed during a time when such research could’ve been stopped. What mattered was what they could do at this present moment, now that the understanding of the heart had developed far beyond Ansem’s expectations. Unlike the time of the late scientist, there now existed a great force of warriors who fought for the sake of the heart, and for the future of the multiverse; Ansem was not so fortunate to have such allies when it mattered the most.

“We could always check out Ansem’s Study back on Radiant Garden,” Leon suggested.

“You still keep that place operational?” Sora gave Leon a peculiar stare.

“The DTD is there after all, and we have to check up on Tron every so often,” Leon replied.

“Plus, Tron’s the one who monitors our town’s defense mechanism,” Yuffie added. “Maybe he has something buried in his archives about Ansem’s research with Nemas.”

Sora turned to Riku and the rest of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee as he gave an enthusiastic nod of approval. “It’s definitely worth a shot!”

“I’ll go make the preparations then,” Leon signaled to Yuffie as they both exited out of the room.

“You gonna stick around this time, Riku?” Sora elbowed his senior lightly in the gut, teasing.

“I guess I’ll have to, you know, to make sure you don’t mess up,” Riku backfired.

* * *

“How are preparations coming along, Ozma, Terra?” Nemas asked after his two loyal subordinates had taken to their kneeling before him.

“The lab assistants are proceeding on schedule with very little difficulty,” Ozma replied.

“You sure picked a nasty world for ‘dis scheme ya know,” Terra made a note to her master.

“Oh really? I thought it would be nostalgic for the young Key Bearer,” Nemas let out a small chuckle. “And besides, I thought the name was fitting for our plan.”

“That world is unstable at the moment, Lord. It might foil our plans if anything acts up,” Ozma stated.

“Don’t you worry about that, Ozma. You two continue on with your duties and leave such superfluous matters to me.”

“Yes, Lord Nemas,” Ozma and Terra nodded before taking their leave of the hall.

Shortly after hearing the entrance doors close, along with the echoing that reverberated from the stone edges, Nemas turned his attention to three figures that stood in the shadows just behind him. All three were dressed in the standard black raincoat that had now become commonplace among the community of the The World that Never Was, but it was evident that the three individuals before Nemas were not like the rest.

“You sure like to beat around the bush, Nemas,” one of the cloaked figures spoke, a large peony-coloured scythe hunched over his shoulders. “If we went out in full force, this would’ve been over.”

“That’s not what someone who lost to Sora should be saying, Marluxia,” Nemas turned his chair to face the new trio before him. “And I have much bigger plans than that of revenge.”

“There would have to be, since Ansem already kicked the bucket, by his own hand by the way. How pathetic,” the shorter female of the group rolled her eyes, tossing some of her blonde hair away from her face.

“But first I will need the assistance of another former Organization XIII member… now what was his name,” Nemas tapped his chin curiously. “The Key of Destiny, I believe was his alias back when Xemnas formed that frivolous group.”

Marluxia grunted disapprovingly. “You seek the help of Roxas? How absurd.”

“No need to spew harsh comments just because he was stronger than you, Lord ‘Graceful Assassin’ sir,” the Savage Nymph teased. “Is that why you excluded him from that Castle Oblivion operation? Afraid he would steal your thunder?”

“That ingrate declined my offer for the mission, it had nothing to do with me, Larxene,” Marluxia corrected. “And he was not stronger than me, how ridiculous.”

“Roxas never approved of the Castle Oblivion operation because he knew what the two of you were up to,” Nemas explained. “I will have to remember to thank him for keeping his silence on that particular matter, even if that mutinous operation did fail in the end.”

Marluxia snorted defiantly at Nemas’ words. “And just how do you plan to get Roxas to side with you?”

“Roxas is a Nobody. It is in a Nobody’s nature to ally himself with those of his kind.”

“And this time… I’ll show him how weak he really is,” Marluxia growled.

“My my, so full of spark today, aren’t we?” Larxene shook her head. “But that’s fine too; I always loved playing with that boy genius.”

“And what will you have me do, Lord Nemas,” the third figure—who had been silent the entire time—finally spoke.

Nemas turned his head toward the silent third figure, almost forgetting he was present. “Oh yes, you have some questions you want answered don’t you?”

“Yeah, who’re you, newbie?” Larxene snapped.

“Silence, Larxene,” Nemas retorted.

The unknown figure nodded his head. “Yes, I’d like permission to pursue my own course of action regarding this matter.”

Nemas stopped for a moment before releasing a small grin from his lips. “Permission granted. Just remember everything I told you.”

“Yes, Lord Nemas.”

* * *

It was an understatement when Leon told Sora that they had kept Ansem’s Study ‘operational’. It was practically renovated! While Ansem’s desk had been removed from its original location, all of his files and documents were stored away in several large filing cabinets that were stationed around the room. The large portrait of Xehanort that hung over the DTD information had been replaced with one of the true Ansem the Wise. It gained some nostalgic smiles from some, and solemn glances from others as the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, along with Sora, Riku, Kairi and King Mickey, began their search of Ansem’s Study.

The more Sora thought about it, the more clearly it became in his mind that whenever something regarding the heart and the safety of the worlds arose, someway or another, it would be Ansem that played a role. This couldn’t justify anyone’s complete condemning of the brilliant scientist, but it certainly did prove that studying such complex things like the heart would only result in chaos. The quest for knowledge and understanding could only go so far before the boundary of what defines human ignorance is put into question. No one would know if Ansem truly understood this limit that mankind should’ve placed on itself, but it was difficult to know if a genius would ever surrender to such an idea. Understanding what most couldn’t was what one often could call a genius; the refusal to test the limits of one’s understanding would only bring shame to a gift that one thought they were given.

Sora approached the master computer in Ansem’s backroom, sliding his fingers lightly over the keys as he tried to remember how to work some of the functions on the keyboard. Some of the steel buttons were cold as ice as Sora made contact with them; others were covered with thin layers of dust. Sora supposed that there wouldn’t have been much need to have accessed the DTD until now; Tron must’ve felt lonely. Finally, after giving the configuration a little more thought, Sora felt confident in his ability to operate the machine.

After completing the first few preliminary steps, a window prompted up on the screen, requesting a password. Sora smiled in response.

“Sora… Donald…” Sora muttered as he scanned the keyboard for the letters. “… Goofy,” he finished before pressing the enter button.

The password remained to be same as he remembered it, which Sora was glad for. It showed that Tron never forgot about them, just how they never forgot about him either.

The Master Computer is up and running! How may I help you?

“Hey Tron, it’s Sora,” the young protagonist greeted, somewhat shyly.

Sora! How are you?

“I’ve been great, thanks,” Sora smiled. “How have things been for you?”

Hmm, well what can you say about a program’s past-time? It is mostly comprised of checking over the database, and testing the town’s defense mechanism.

“Doesn’t that get a little boring?” Sora playfully slid his index finger across the keypad.

Programs do not get bored, Sora. We do not have the ability to reach a state of boredom.

“I suppose you’re right,” Sora nodded.

Where are Donald and Goofy? Those two people you travel with?

“They’re not here,” Sora replied. “They’re back at home.”

Oh? Is there something wrong?

“I have a favour to ask of you, Tron,” Sora scratched the back of his head, a little hesitant.

Of course, Sora. What is it that you need?

“I need you to search your archives for anything regarding an individual named ‘Nemas’,” Sora requested.

Will do. It will only take a minute. I have organized most of Ansem’s archives, so there are only a few sections left that have not been labeled.

“I’m counting on you,” Sora nodded before turning to see Riku and the others enter the room. “Tron’s searching the archives right now.”

“That’s good,” Riku answered. “We found something in his files, too.”

Sora’s face lit up in surprise. “You did?”

Riku made no effort to voice any clarification of his statement and instead tossed an aged torn-up manuscript in Sora’s direction.

Sora caught the object in his right hand, blinking curiously. “What’s…”

“A journal. I placed a marker on the page where you should start reading,” Riku explained. “It’s rather extensive so I suggest you read it now while Tron’s searching the database.”

Sora nodded somewhat absent-mindedly as he opened the book, flipping toward the middle where he saw a red string fastened near the spine.

Ansem’s initial doubts that Nemas’ research had been going too far, despite the assurance he was continually prodded with when Nemas spoke about the durability of the glass cage which he claimed to have built himself, began during a closing session that the two of them had in Ansem’s Study.

The two scientists were having a disagreement regarding one of Nemas’ experiments that he had carried out without Ansem’s permission. While Ansem was out of his manor collecting some field data, Nemas had apparently convinced one of their lab assistants to be a guinea pig for one of his new experiments. Nemas had broken one of their cardinal rules that entailed to never perform experiments on living beings.

--

“Nemas! You know you have to speak with me before you even think about doing something like that! That man has a family, you know!” Ansem exclaimed, insulted.

“What’re you talking about? I don’t remember being your subordinate, Ansem. You and I are equals in this research. I don’t need to report to you what I do!”

“I would never even think about doing something that drastic until I discussed it with you first and I would’ve expected the same courtesy from you, Nemas!”

“The assistant is still alive, isn’t he? He doesn’t even remember what happened! You’re overreacting over a procedure that went perfectly! I don’t understand,” Nemas looked confused.

“It doesn’t matter if it went well or not!”

“Ansem, look,” Nemas started as he pulled out a few table results that he had made sometime after the experiment.

--

The reports were astounding, Ansem had to admit. The tables showed that when the heart of a living person was used in their experiments—in comparison to those from already deceased bodies, the results were far more consistent and reacted far more effectively with the experimental indicators that were present during the procedure. Ansem had a difficult time finding some justification for Nemas’ course of action other than the morality (which hardly existed when it came to the dignity of science) of jeopardizing the lives of living humans. It was because of this that Ansem found himself arriving at a crossroad. He was a man with deeply rooted values and had respect for humankind, but he was also a very curious scientist and fervently desired to learn more about life’s secrets. Nemas was correct in his proving that using the hearts of living people would’ve provided a far more beneficial medium for solidifying theories, but would Ansem be able to bear the burden of knowing the risks he was imposing on his assistants?

Ansem had eventually condoned Nemas’ actions after many days of constant retaliation from the persistent scientist—which Ansem would soon regret. Nemas had agreed with Ansem that he would only perform his experiments on patients that had given their oral and written consent to be used in the procedure. Nemas had also agreed that these patients would only be selected from willing lab assistants, promising that he would never ask someone outside of the laboratory. It was under these conditions that Ansem had finally given in to his ultimate quest for more knowledge and allowed Nemas to continue his life-threatening experiments.

At first, Ansem slowly convinced himself that he had made a good decision letting Nemas continue his work because of the unfathomable success that followed. Nemas’ experiments had opened up so many new roads to discovery and lifted many of the previous roadblocks that usually would’ve taken the both of them weeks to solve—and even then, these solutions would be based off theory alone. But with the data from these newer, more sophisticated experiments, the two scientists possessed actual lab results that provided more factual information regarding many of the matters that they needed to address. It was a blooming success for the two geniuses, but it wouldn’t be long until another shift in perspective eradicated Ansem’s resolve.

Ansem had discovered that Nemas was conducting secret, unregistered experiments on his own after Ansem and many of their regular assistants closed the laboratory for the night. Ansem became aware of these after-hour procedures after he coincidentally came across some boxes labeled with materials that he knew neither he nor Nemas could’ve been using for their experiments. He also noticed that Nemas would always find an excuse to not leave with Ansem from the laboratory each and every evening, voicing gestures like “Go on ahead” or “I’ll catch up” as his goodbye. So one evening after they had finished up for the night as usual, Ansem had said his farewells to Nemas and a few of the remaining assistants before staging his departure from the laboratory. Ansem made it as far as the stairs before he slowly made his way to the one of the observatory rooms—which he left the lights off in as he took a seat in one of the chairs, silently observing Nemas’ actions behind a glass box shrouded in darkness.

It was maddening, the sorts of dark secrets that Nemas had been hiding from his partner regarding these underground experiments. Just how long had Nemas been doing these god-forsaken procedures behind his back? Ansem did not need much more than the observance of his keen scientific eyes to understand what it was his crazed-partner was up to. Nemas had moved on to more dangerous feats, which gained more redundancy when Ansem had tried to apply it to their original goal. In the old days, he and Nemas practiced the art of removing the heart from the body, leaving the empty vessel behind. Now, Nemas had begun to test this procedure in the reverse—for a reason Ansem did not know. Instead of the heart being removed, Nemas had perfected the art of removing the empty vessel from the body, while safely stabilizing the heart even though it had no container. It was another amazing display of Nemas’ genius as a scientist, but Ansem had been far too convinced of its immorality. Why was Nemas performing such experiments? What more was there to gain from performing the opposite, which the both of them had agreed was far more risky and would’ve proven to be less consistent in the results regarding the effects it would have on the heart. Ansem’s doubts furthered when he heard the screams and pains from the patients as the each procedure progressed and could tell that many of these patients were tricked and told false information about what the experiment involved. Ansem had thought the worst was over until he heard Nemas speak through the intercom to his assistants who were working inside the glass room; the coward still insisted on working outside the danger zone, while his faithful subordinates risked their lives performing these extensive procedures.

--

“Dr. Nemas, the experiment was another success,” said one of the assistants.

“Good,” Nemas smiled. “Move it to one of the holding cells in the lower basement chambers. I’ll start its analysis tomorrow evening.”

“What about the remains?” the assistant pointed to the original patient on the table, who was still conscious, but unable to move or speak due to the lack of a container. He could only blink his eyes.

--

“Get rid of it.” Sora gritted his teeth angrily, closing the journal forcefully.

Sora couldn’t believe that there was a person capable of committing such inhuman crimes against their own kind. While the wrongdoings of Xehanort’s Heartless as well as his Nobody were indeed testaments to the existence of such evil that threatened the multiverse, these were not among the actual living. One was a Heartless, and the other a Nobody. Nemas was a regular human being, yet he harboured such malevolent qualities that would lead his world down a path of ruin. Sora simply couldn’t understand.

I have completed the search you have requested from me, Sora.

Sora’s eyes lit up in response as he turned back to the master computer, typing in a few commands. “Good job, Tron! What do you have for me?”

There was only one document on the archives associated with the word you specified. I will bring it up on the screen now.

“Please do,” Sora nodded.

Everyone present slowly made their way toward the monitor screen as Tron queued up numerous amounts of images and information that flooded several different windows. After merely speed-reading many of the pages that flooded the screen, it became evident that this research had definitely belonged to Nemas. It had to have been since none of the data seemed to mention anything about the heart, or the effects of it. In fact, the data was completely foreign and was about something none of the individuals present had ever heard about.

“Reality Refraction Phenomenon?” Riku raised in eyebrow in confusion. “What the heck is that?”

“Tron, any clue?” Sora asked, being equally confused.

Based off of my comprehension sensors and logistics, the Reality Refraction Phenomenon is something like a catalyst that enables the ability to complete virtually impossible tasks. Something you users might call ‘miracles’.

“I don’t think I quite understand what you mean, Tron,” Sora responded.

“Tron, who was the user who filed this entry into the archives?” Leon inquired, his voice seeming a bit nervous.

Tron paused for a moment, scanning for the answer.

Nemas.

Leon’s reaction was subtle, but there was a definite hint of enlightenment that burned in his eyes, that all but Riku probably didn’t catch.

“What does that mean?” Sora asked again, still confused by the entire situation.

“Well, we all know that Ansem abandoned his research sometime after Xehanort and his subordinates rebelled. He disappeared from the world and became the notorious DiZ. We all know that story,” Riku started. “But if Nemas had made this entry into the archives, that means that he was still conducting experiments here—long after Ansem left the Study.”

“So you’re telling me that this psycho was actually here the entire time?” Cid scoffed. “And we didn’t know about it?”

“We didn’t even discover this secret lab until about 3 years ago, Cid,” Aerith responded.

“And that doesn’t change the fact that Nemas was still potentially working on his experiments during the days of Maleficent,” Leon noted. “Long before Sora even made a contract with the Keyblade.”

Sora crossed his arms, thinking intently for a moment. “So what should we do now? We have no idea how to track down Nemas.”

Sora was about to say more when a loud crashing sound was heard coming from the other room where they had been previously. Sora looked around for a moment, before narrowing his eyes. “Where’s Kairi?”

“She said she wasn’t feeling very well so she said she’d wait in the other room,” Aerith replied.

Damn it, Sora thought before he pushed past Leon and Yuffie, running over to the other room. Riku had caught on to Sora’s suspicion and was the next to follow his lead as the two boys sprinted away from the rest of the group. Eventually, the entire Radiant Garden Restoration Committee aroused its curiosity as they slowly followed the two younger males to the other room. They paused at the entrance, silent with apprehension as they gazed at the fallen Kairi who lay unconscious on the floor of Ansem’s Study.

Sora quickly ran to her side, cradling her gently in his arms as he inspected her body for any blemishes or cuts. He nodded to Riku who gestured to take her outside.

“I think… we’re done for today,” Sora looked at the others who waited uneasily by the room entrance. “We should head back to Merlin’s place.”

They all nodded in agreement.
Click to expand...

And there we have it.

For some of you who might be thinking "Holy crap, Kairi is one useless piece of crap, stop passing out". Please consider this phase of her development a temporary occurence, as she will change very drastically in Chapters 11 onward. Not much is being said about it now, but all of her blackouts will make sense later when the second arc begins.

Hope you all are still enjoying this fic and want to read more. ^^

Ratchet · Mar 6, 2007

The story just gets better and better. I have no doubt that I am totally hooked. Your writing style flows beautifully, and is carrying the story wonderfully. You really should be published.

Roxas · Mar 6, 2007

Godly, Soushirei.

I love you in a heterosexual way.

Btw, hi!

Soushirei · Mar 6, 2007

Hey, Roxas.

Welcome back, if that's correct to say so. =) And thanks for the comment.

Inasuma · Mar 6, 2007

Very nice job, Soush. I liked Ch. 4 a lot. =]

If KHIII was like this I think this would be awesome. Can't wait for the next chapter!!!

DarknessKingdom · Mar 7, 2007

I find Kairi's...condition quite interesting. Makes one wonder what really is causing this and is there a connection to Namine?

Maybe she is slowly unraveling Kairi's old memories, yes?

Anyway, great chapter. You bought back two members of the Organization and a newbie...should be intriguing what the next chapter will be on.

Soushirei · Mar 7, 2007

Yeah, Larxene and Marluxia always stood out from the Organization for obvious reasons. So I thought to include them--why not, after all.

As always, thanks everyone for your continued support. Chapter Five will be up on Friday.

DarknessKingdom · Mar 8, 2007

Maybe you should explain the ressurection of Marluxia and Larxene. If I am not mistaken, I remember that they were...'eliminated' by Sora in Castle Oblivion.

Soushirei · Mar 9, 2007

It shall be explained in Chapter Ten.

To put it lightly, I took the liberty of using the idea that 'not everything was as it seemed' with those particular Nobodies. Marluxia and Larxene were the two main Organization members that seemed to have a hidden agenda in relation to most of the other members present at Castle Oblivion, thus--and this is in relation to my story--they had some sort of 'backup plan' or 'insurance' in case something like what happened in CoM failed to be a success.

Although it wasn't mentioned in plain sight, but it will, Nemas is an expert on the nature of the Nobody. As such, only because Marluxia and Larxene were 'working for Nemas' in the shadows were they able to be 'ressurected'.

Chapter Five tomorrow. ^-^ Thanks for the support, as usual.

--

-- Chapter Five --

Kairi had still been fast asleep when Sora quietly entered her room—for the fourth time since they had arrived back at Merlin’s study. It had been a day since the young girl collapsed and each time Sora made time to visit, he hoped she would be awake so he could at least ask if there was anything he could do for her—of course the real question he wanted to ask—well, demand—was about the evident illness that had been causing her chronic fainting and giving him complete despair. He had become so angry with her, but worried at the same time about her health. He cursed inwardly at his emotional uneasiness as he plummeted into one of the chairs near her bed. He contemplated whether to yell at her the moment she opened her eyes or ask if she needed anything; she might be hungry or thirsty when she wakes up, he thought. He took a deep breath, annoyed with his own indecisiveness as he looked over at the bed’s night table.

Sora blinked curiously as he spotted Kairi’s sketchpad which hung lopsidedly by the edge of the night table’s surface. He also noticed it was open to one of the pages closer to the middle of the book. Sora reached over to grab it. Did she already wake up sometime earlier? Sora shook his head; that was impossible. Each of his visits had been spread in small intervals, leaving no chance for Kairi to wake up without him knowing. Sora shrugged off the suspicion as he quietly flipped through the pages, gazing intently at each of the drawings. The young Key Bearer couldn’t help but feel a little guilt as his eyes looked over the pictures; he didn’t know Kairi could draw so well—even though he practically saw her drawing in her sketchpad almost every day when they were back at Destiny Islands. He felt horrible that he never really paid attention to it until now; usually he was far more attentive to the things Kairi did or said. His face—which had originally been filled with a bright smile—soon faded into a shameful frown.

“Sorry, I know they’re not that good,” Kairi spoke softly.

Sora’s body bolted backward for a moment, surprised at the company of her voice.
Kairi giggled weakly. “Sorry. I thought you saw me wake up.”

“Of course I didn’t! I was too… distracted by your drawings—Kairi you’re really good!” Sora exclaimed.

“I probably have to thank Naminé for that,” Kairi smiled. “I didn’t really start noticing it until after she and I joined together. It’s a really weird feeling, watching yourself do something so well when you know you aren’t that good, yet your thoughts about it and the way you approach it are completely natural.”

Sora could only somewhat understand. “Well, she is you, Kairi.”

“Yes but…” Kairi’s thoughts drifted toward her hallucinations and her mysterious dream the day before. “I don’t know…”

Sora’s eye narrowed, understanding the look on her face. She was obviously reflecting on an experience that was troubling her. “Tell me, Kairi.”

She hated it when he did that, when he would put on that serious face of his and kindly coax his way in getting her to answer his inquiries. He only did that whenever it was about something she was hiding. Out of all the types of special treatment, it had to be that one! No, she wouldn’t give in, she thought. She wouldn’t accept the hand that was being stretched out for her, the hand that continually got beaten and scarred for her sake. Until her own hand was capable of healing its cuts and bruises, she would not allow him to have his way.

“It’s nothing, Sora, really,” Kairi shook her head, trying to reassure her concerned friend.

Sora’s face dropped, disappointed; she was going to give him the cold shoulder again wasn’t she? Sora had some small suspicions that maybe she was trying to get back at him for keeping his distance—which was catalyzed by Donald’s unexpected outburst at the pre-reception party, but another part of him took it as her hesitation to involve Sora with her problems. He couldn’t help but feel a little insulted at her reluctance to trust him with such matters. Was he not a good enough confidant for her?

“You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” Sora looked her over fondly.

Kairi felt her face heat up again, dodging his gaze. “What? You think I’m lying?”

“I know you’re lying,” Sora rested his chin onto his palm, his face void of expression.

“You can’t know anything like that!” Kairi retorted.

“Kairi, anyone who was feeling fine wouldn’t be passing out as often as you have over the past two days,” Sora explained. “I know that this has to have been recent because this sort of thing never happened when we were still at the Islands.”

Kairi remained silent. She knew there was some stupidity in denying the facts since she had blatantly demonstrated twice already that she wasn’t feeling her best. And both times after blacking out, Sora was the first person she saw when she woke up. She had to admit that waking up to see Sora’s face looking affectionately toward her all the time was something she definitely wouldn’t have minded being a permanent arrangement, but she also knew the amount of concern and worry it must’ve been giving him and she felt bad about it.

“Is it something that you can’t tell me?” Sora asked.

Kairi shook her head in slight disagreement. “I don’t really know what it is myself.”

“Could you describe it to me?”

Kairi sighed. She wasn’t sure what sort of effects regarding her dreams and hallucinations of Naminé would have on Sora if she told him, but she found herself finally giving in to young brunette’s charms as she sat up in her bed. “You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Sora nodded firmly.

Kairi took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before speaking.

“Lately, I’ve been seeing Naminé… in my dreams,” she began. “It’s only been now that they’ve become so intense. Before I would just hear her voice or see flashes of her face, but these were all easily forgettable after I wake up. But now I’ve started to see her while I’m conscious, like the day when we were at Disney Castle. She stood next to King Mickey, and seemed to want to tell me something but I couldn’t make it out.”

Sora listened attentively as Kairi explained about her experiences with Naminé. Of course, Sora had no knowledge that this was happening until now. He wondered if he might’ve caught on if he had paid more attention. The three of them had been a little more distant and more self-reflective since their return to the Islands and consequently paid less attention to the nuances that might’ve otherwise been more noticeable.

“Eventually, my vision starts getting flooded with all sorts of different images and words just ring through my ears with such overwhelming speed… I guess I pass out sometime after that,” Kairi blushed in embarrassment.

Sora placed a hand to his mouth, thinking intently to himself.

Kairi raised her hands in front of her. “It’s not painful or anything!”

“It’s not that,” Sora replied. “It’s just really strange that it’s happened all so suddenly.”

Kairi nodded silently.

Sora got up to his feet. “Yeah, I should ask Merlin about this.”

Kairi’s eyes widened. “Sora! You—”

“I think I hear Riku calling me from downstairs as well, I better see what that’s about!” Sora interrupted as he headed for the door.

“Wait! You said—”

“You should rest up some more! I’ll wake you up when it’s dinner time.”

“Sora, you traitor! I hate you!” Kairi bellowed from inside the room.

Sora didn’t mind the negative commentary that Kairi was aiming at him; in fact, he welcomed it as it confirmed the reaction he wanted to get out of her. He didn’t have the nerve to admit that he was feeling some discomfort from her storytelling, afraid that it might frighten her and stop her from continuing. The last thing she needed was to open up to someone who would just get all spooked out about the entire thing. Sora didn’t give her story much thought until he realized that he had experienced something similar. He had remembered hearing Roxas’ voice every now and then whenever he slept, but that was the only sole familiarity his experiences shared with Kairi’s. He never experienced any hallucinations and definitely no fainting incidents, but he was certain that at some point (on Destiny Islands, most likely), he and Kairi were experiencing the same phenomena. What he needed to find out now was what happened since the time they arrived at Disney Castle that triggered Kairi’s new side-effects. He didn’t lie when he said he’d talk to Merlin about the issue; he just never said he was going to ask about Kairi’s problem.

Once Sora guessed Kairi had fallen asleep again—due to the absence of the screaming that had been profusely leaking from inside her room—he departed for the stairs where he heard a pair of voices talking below him. One he could easily recognize being Riku’s, but the other required more deciphering—which would end up belonging to the calm, collected Cloud Strife. Sora was about to call out to the two older men but resisted the urge after noticing the somewhat serious atmosphere that surrounded the pair.

“I heard the stories from Sora, about this ‘Ansem’ of yours,” Cloud spoke.

“I’m assuming you want to know something about it,” Riku replied.

Cloud remained silent, his pride getting the best of him. He was finding it a little difficult to ask someone far younger than he about a subject that he thought he knew so well: darkness. Cloud had thought he knew the definition of such a thing in its most detailed description, but after a while he had begun to believe less and less about what he originally thought about it. Yet, Sora’s stories about Riku and the things he had experienced (and suffered) with darkness was more intriguing for the young blonde than it was sympathetic.

“This wouldn’t happen to be about Sephiroth, would it?” Riku asked.

“You know about him?”

“Only what I managed to overhear from Sora when he mentioned his journeys back home. Kairi was rather insistent on hearing everything, so every now and then you would come up.”

“I see,” Cloud looked down, somewhat disappointed that he would eventually have to explain some of the story to him.

“I think I understand though,” Riku turned to Cloud, his face stern. “You’re guessing my relationship with Ansem is similar to what you have with this Sephiroth character.”

Cloud nodded slowly.

“You’re probably right,” Riku agreed.

“I don’t quite understand it…” Cloud looked away, embarrassed at displaying his anxiety. “His memory never leaves me; his laugh, his stare, all of it.”

“You can’t get rid of him,” Riku stated.

Cloud looked up at Riku, giving him a peculiar stare—it wasn’t exactly the answer he was looking for. Riku seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder, instead of trying to give him some supportive advice. Cloud made motions to leave the room, taking some offense to Riku’s seemingly apathetic attitude toward his story until stopping short after Riku spoke again.

“You can’t get rid of what you are, Cloud.”

Cloud turned around to face Riku once again, but keeping his distance. “What?”

“Your darkness. We all have it,” Riku responded firmly.

“Sora doesn’t. He defeated it a long time ago,” Cloud argued.

“You and I don’t walk the same path he does,” Riku crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat. “We aren’t denizens of light like Sora is.”

“Then you’re saying to give in to my darkness.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Riku corrected. “If you aren’t afraid of the darkness that lies within, it will never conquer you. They say darkness preys on the weak of heart, but that also doesn’t mean a strong heart doesn’t have any darkness.”

Cloud remained silent, trying to take in what Riku was telling him. He had to admit that if he had not held Riku in such a high regard because of his experience with the dark side of the human heart, he wouldn’t have even given the blue-haired boy’s viewpoint a second thought and immediately regard it as completely irrational and highly ridiculous. But Cloud did have to remember that Riku was one who seemed to blend flawlessly with his darkness. He had even gained the ability to use his darkness for strength without letting it affect his conscience. Even if Riku claimed to be incapable of it now, he had been able to do it once before—and that was enough for the young Midgar protagonist; he had to accomplish what Riku was able to. By doing so, Cloud might be able to answer more questions about the hidden conflicts that lay within him.

It was after Sora noticed a small gap of silence between the two older men that he made his entrance to the scene, calling out each of their names in greeting to make his presence known.

“How’s Kairi?” Riku asked.

Sora recalled the last few moments he had with Kairi, holding back a chuckle. “She’s fine. She’s sleeping now.”

“She woke up? Why didn’t you call me?” Riku inquired.

“It was brief, we didn’t talk much anyway,” Sora replied, somewhat fakely.

Silence pervaded for a moment before the three young men directed their attention to the two pairs of feet that they heard rushing to the room entrance. Leon and Yuffie scrambled in, both of them panting with exhaustion as they hunched over. Sora and the others perked their heads up attentively, curious—and somewhat concerned—at what could have possibly made the usually composed Leon and Yuffie all disoriented and fatigued.

“What’s wrong?” Sora asked.

“The defense mechanism suddenly picked up some Nobodies from the north side of the city! We came here to see if you guys were all right,” Yuffie explained in-between pants.

Riku and Cloud rose to their seats, Sora joining them as he ran closer to the others. “How is the situation in town?”

“Most of the areas around the Square have been cleared already; it took us some time to get through to get over here.”

“We haven’t sensed any Nobodies around this place yet,” Cloud noted.

“With the three of us here, I’m sure we can handle those simple Nobodies if they tried to raid this area.”

“Wait a minute… where’s Kairi?” Yuffie spoke, after noticing the young princess was missing from the group.

“She’s upstairs sleeping…” Sora replied, some doubt rising in his tone as his voice trailed.

Sora’s doubts were confirmed and exploded into reality as the five warriors heard a window shatter from the floor above them, coming from the direction of Kairi’s stay-room.

Sora was the first—and the quickest—to dash up the staircase, materializing his Kingdom Key the moment he made it to the top. He felt his heart begin to race as his breathing quickened and became more ragged, partially due to the physical labour of climbing the long staircase as well as the anxiety that greatly increased within him. He felt his heart in his throat as he neared the room at the end of the corridor where he knew Kairi was supposed to be in. Sora did not know what to expect, but did not waste any time to ponder the idea as he savagely kicked the door open. His eyes traveled frantically across the room’s quarters, looking for any abnormalities when he spotted the shattered window at the far end of the room. Kairi’s bed was empty but the sheets were crumpled and ruffled across the mattress, signaling a struggle. Sora’s worry evolved into a small amount of rage as he vocalized a small snarl, charging toward the broken window.

They were simple Dusks, but they certainly had more resolve—and much more dedication to their task. Most Dusks would flounder and attack unpredictably after spawning. Sora noticed as much about their nature in comparison to those of Organization XIII. However, these Dusks were behaving on a much higher manner than what Sora remembered. It was incredibly suspicious, and made Sora more nervous about their intentions. Sora’s eyes finally locked with Kairi’s for a moment as he saw the crimson haired princess strike violently against her captors, kicking ruthlessly against their grasp for escape.

“They’re out around the back!” Sora yelled as loud as he could toward the bottom of the stairs before taking a few steps back away from the window. He had taken a good look at the ground a moment earlier and was certain it was something that he could easily land if he were to jump it. Sora wasted no time to ponder the matter any longer as his instinctive desire to rescue Kairi usurped all other priorities. Grunting a bit in recoil from the several-foot-high jump, Sora quickly got back to his feet and gave chase after the pack of Nobodies that he saw turning the corner toward the Bailey. What on earth could’ve gotten into the Nobodies? While it was true that they did act on a slightly higher manner than Heartless, there was just no possible way that they could coordinate and plan as well as they were without some sort of identity controlling them in the background. This uncertainty worried Sora’s conscience even more as he reminded himself that it was Kairi whom they were taking away. He had to hurry.

“Kairi! I’m com—” Sora cut himself off as his shoes skidded to a stop.

The commotion of fleeing and the ambience that echoed the trodding feet of the Nobodies suddenly went dead silent; an overwhelming contrast in atmosphere that caused Sora to stand completely still in shock. It took another moment for Sora’s vision to register a dark-cloaked individual standing in front of Kairi—who was now lying unconscious on the ground. Sora quickly observed his surroundings, puzzled. All the Nobodies had vanished from sight. It was unfathomable that such a large number—which Sora had seen turn around the corner just a second before—could completely disappear as quickly as they did. Sora had to assume one of two things: they ran away, or the dark-cloaked figure had made some intervention. Sora quickly summoned the Kingdom Key into his right hand, demonstrating his distrust for the man who stood several meters before him.

“What’re you going to do with her?” came Sora’s indelicate inquiry.

The cloaked figure looked up to catch a glimpse of Sora from under his hood. “Nothing in particular,” he replied. “I just saw this young woman being held captive by those Nobodies and decided to help.”

Sora’s initial doubts started to fade slightly as he began to slowly advance toward the man and Kairi. “You defeated these Nobodies? And how do you know what they are?”

“Sora!” Yuffie yelled from behind, Leon, Riku and Cloud tailing behind her.

Cloud and Leon took a step in front of Sora with their swords unsheathed, their eyes glaring toward the unidentified friend or foe that had Kairi lying unconscious by his feet.

“Who’s this?” Leon asked sternly.

“He said he defeated the Nobodies just now,” Sora replied.

“Please, put down your weapons,” the man waved his hand nonchalantly. “I mean you no harm.”

The cloaked man sheepishly removed the hood that covered his face as an act of his non-aggression. Revealed underneath were his azure-coloured eyes, with a tint of green lingering just around the pupil. His locks were a pale grayish silver, with a tint of lime, neatly groomed, with only long sections of hair hanging over the front of his face and down the sides by his sideburns. His expression seemed harmless.

“If you defeated those Nobodies then you have some degree of strength as a warrior,” Leon stated. “What business do you have in Radiant Garden?” Leon retorted. Radiant Garden was his home, a home that he had spent the last few years of his life trying to restore; anyone unfamiliar or unknown was definitely not going to leave his radar of suspicion until proven otherwise.

“King Mickey sent me to assist in your search for Nemas. His Majesty and I are old friends,” the man answered.

“I don’t remember the King mentioning you,” Yuffie poked her chin questionably.

“It was all very sudden,” the man started.

He said he was somewhat of a scientist himself, using the aftermath of Sora’s adventures as a basis for his research. The past two years had been filled with more than enough experimental scenarios to test many theories that had come up during his study. Naturally, he knew Ansem and even a bit on Nemas—scientists who studied the heart were few and would subsequently cause them to be in close relations. While he did not have much interaction with Nemas, King Mickey and Ansem were great confidants in past years. He was much younger than any of them, but his adequacy in the science of the human heart made him very much accepted in the field—a field consisting of less than a handful of experts.

“My research ironically led me back to the variables that I intentionally planned to overlook,” the man answered. “I have been studying Nemas’ work for the past six months, so the King highly recommended I impart the knowledge I learned onto you.”

Leon was about to question the man further until his gaze caught sight of Riku and Sora, who were desperately trying to bring Kairi back into consciousness. They were both looking over at her worriedly.

“Let’s… talk about this inside,” Leon glanced over at the three friends couched by the ground, taking into account that the two younger protagonists would probably like to take Kairi inside for a better inspection.

The man turned his gaze to Kairi as well. “You’re right, the young princess needs to be tended to. Let’s head inside then.”

* * *

“Grandma! Can’t you tell me more?” Kairi pleaded innocently.

“I would dear, but it’s very late. You should get some sleep if you want to grow big and strong like your father,” the older woman coaxed.

“I don’t want to be like Father!” Kairi retorted.

Kairi’s grandmother frowned in disappointment. “Kairi, you should be kinder to your father.”

“He’s never around and always tells me what to do!” Kairi whined indelicately. “He doesn’t care what I think.”

Her grandmother’s eyes softened. “Kairi… your father…”

The tranquility of the room ended with the ambience of a pair of tapping feet approaching the entrance of the room. A tall figure donned with a crimson coloured cape and glossy attire soon appeared before the two women, bowing politely while smiling earnestly at Kairi as he caught her eyes with his.

“Kairi, it’s getting late.” His voice was deep and resonant.

Kairi pouted, unpleased with her father’s incessant requests. “Are you leaving again tomorrow?”

Her father nodded lightly, knowing his answer was not the one she wanted to hear. He looked up at her grandmother. “Mother, will you take her to bed? I really have to be going.”

“Why did you even bother coming then! You were only here for a second!” Kairi yelled, her eyes watering up; the sight of her father was enough to upset her.

Her father smiled solemnly. “Because I like to see you, even if all you do is frown whenever I’m around,” he teased.

Kairi gave a sour expression, refusing to turn around to face her father.

The older man bowed once more, more formally this time before giving one last look at Kairi—who had her back to him. He then gestured a smile to his mother, “I leave her in your hands.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

* * *

“Your name is Glenn, you said?” Leon asked.

“Yes, I’m an Acadian Dragoon. I’m from another world, just like you.” He responded.

“Where did you gain the ability to venture to other worlds?” Leon continued his indirect interrogation.

“I have a friend who has the ability to slip in and out of time,” Glenn started. “You’d be surprised how connected time and space is.”

“Yes, then Glenn, could you please tell us what you know about Nemas now?” Sora inquired somewhat suddenly.

Sora hadn’t taken much interest in superfluous details as of late. Due to recent events, he found that there were only two things on his mind: Nemas and Kairi. Yesterday’s incident had effectively increased Sora’s suspicion of both Nemas’ motives and Kairi’s safety—both from others and the troubles that were causing her blackouts.

Yes, it had been a day since that night. In the heat of passion during the suspenseful chase, and the surprise appearance of Glenn, it was easy for all of them to forget how late it was as they all stood grouped together on the streets of Radiant Garden. Although Leon did suggest that they all talk indoors, Sora and Riku were far too concerned about Kairi’s condition to be in the mood for a serious discussion. Leon then agreed to hold off the topic until the morning; everyone nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I’m sure you’d like to know what Nemas is up to,” Glenn took a seat in one of the chairs situated in Merlin’s Study.

“You know what he’s up to?” Leon repeated.

“It’s all in theory of course, but it’s definitely my best guess.”

Naturally, the rest of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, including Sora and Riku, began to crowd around Glenn like a group of tourists gathered around a street show, eagerly waiting with interest to be appeased. They had slaved away for days with no success on the whereabouts or the intentions of Nemas; there had to be at least some degree of intrigue toward what sort of information Glenn possessed.

“Have any of you come across the term ‘Reality Refraction Phenomenon’?” Glenn started.

“Yes, we came across it in Ansem’s Study the other day,” Sora explained. “We don’t quite understand what it means.”

“Many philosophers of the past believed that our imaginations and our tight-grip on reason were the two things that governed what we were capable of doing. A philosopher named Décartes once said: “I think, therefore I am.” What this meant was that the only thing a human could know for sure that was real was himself, and that everything else is questionable. The fact that one is able to think and reason is proof of his own existence. However, the same could not be said about anything else. You can doubt that what you see before you is real; you can doubt that what entices your ears and lips are real; you can doubt that what you can grasp with your hands is real; the senses are merely interpretations of the environment around us, but are those interpretations real?”

“Hold on cowboy, you’re not making any sense,” Cid shook his head.

“An example,” Glenn began. “The way we see colour is by optical interpretation. Light hits objects and reflects it back into our eyes, and depending on the amount and the combination will determine the colour we see. When no light is reflected back to us, our eyes interpret it as black, and when all light spectra is reflected back, our eyes interpret it as white. But given this knowledge, does an object really have colour? Or is it just something our eyes interpret by light that reflects off it?”

“I still don’t get a single word you’re saying,” Cid grumbled.

“He’s saying interpretation can’t always be taken as fact, or considered real,” Cloud closed his eyes, slightly annoyed by Cid’s inability to reason it out.

“Exactly,” Glenn smiled at Cloud’s explanation. “The Reality Refraction Phenomenon that Nemas was studying has something to do with that idea.”

All except Cid, nodded in agreement.

In essence, the core of the Reality Refraction Phenomenon lay in the capacity of the human brain. A human’s limits lie in his imagination. Under this philosophy, it was believed that it was humanity’s engraved belief in gravity that prevented it from taking off into the heavens. The unrelenting confidence that lay in the subconscious of each human, saying that if he were to jump in the air—he would fall—chained them from the gift of flight. Of course, this sort of theory would prove incredibly dangerous if it were indeed true. Explosions erupting at the blink of an eye; moving objects with the flick of a finger; the possibilities were endless.

“There are certain exceptions to this principle as well, however,” Glenn shook his head. “It’s rather ironic, having restrictions for something that is based off theoretically limitless power.”

The first exception was that it was virtually impossible to control the minds of others. Nemas believed this boundary had something to do with Décartes’ perception of the individual mind being the only thing humanity can be certain of that was real. As such, bending the will of others would be impossible. The second exception was that one could not cause death on another by mere thought alone. Nemas initially had no explanation for this exception either and was by no means surprised by it when he came across it in his research. The third and final exception to the principle was that one could not revive those who had passed away. Nemas later hypothesized that perhaps both the second and final exceptions to the Reality Refraction Phenomenon were due to two factors: the first being that mystery of life could not be breached by the principle. The cycle of birth and death would always bypass the capabilities of any theory. The other factor was that the human mind could not fathom the thinking capacity required to inflict or deter death from happening, no matter how talented or gifted. It was beyond the scope of any human mind.

“Is Nemas… able to use this principle?” Sora asked worriedly. He was rather surprised why no one else had asked the question earlier, but he thought perhaps they were all reluctant to hear the answer.

“Thankfully, no,” Glenn replied.

Many sighs of relief echoed in unison.

“Unfortunate for most, you have to be born with this gift. It can’t be taught,” Glenn added.

“Certainly for a man so fascinated by it, that wouldn’t matter much would it?” Riku noted.

“Yes, that brings me to what Nemas has been up to,” Glenn took a deep breath. “He’s been trying to artificially imbue himself with this gift.”

The others remained silent for a moment, not sure what to make of Glenn’s response.

“Naturally, Nemas would need to experiment with those who possess such power and decipher what it was about them that enabled them to utilize such a skill. During the last few months before he went missing, he was conducting secret experiments during Ansem’s absence in the basement floor laboratories.”

“Yes, we read that in a report back at Ansem’s Study.”

“Nemas did countless experiments on all sorts of people in his quest to discover the secret behind the Reality Refraction Phenomenon. Of course, since there was no way to tell who possessed this potential or not, they were picked at random among his researchers—and sometimes, not even,” Glenn looked down, disappointed.

“That crazy *******,” Cid scoffed.

“He had only one success,” Glenn made note. “Despite the breakthrough in his research it had a disastrous ending.”

The patient’s name was Raymond Ferrington, a first year lab assistant under Nemas’ team. His main purpose and function in the lab was to prepare slides and prepare equipment for use for Nemas and the rest of his more advanced assistants when they were conducting their experiments. For the most part he was a well-to-do scientist who was very eager to learn and put effort into the few tasks that were asked of him. His father reluctantly allowed him to pursue his interest in science—more specifically the study of the heart, although he always believed his son’s place in life belonged in politics rather than science. But with much retaliation and from many personal requests from Nemas himself, Raymond eventually made his way to the laboratory scene.

It would be after a few weeks on the job that Raymond was approached by Nemas to take part in an experiment he was conducting. He said Raymond was the most promising candidate for the task and that he would most likely be the one to make his experiment a booming success. Raymond, a complete fan and devoted assistant to Nemas’ research accepted without hesitation, and felt incredibly overjoyed to be selected for the job. Knowing this, Nemas had intentionally left out any procedural details and never discussed the nature of the experiment; he knew Raymond would not make a fuss or even bother asking if he never brought it up.

“What happened to the experiment?” Sora asked, somewhat worried.

“To Nemas, it was a complete success,” Glenn shook his head again in disappointment. “I don’t know the details of the experiment; it wasn’t archived, but Raymond died that day, along with three other researchers who participated in the experiment.”

“What happened to Nemas after that?” Leon inquired, seeming to be slightly convinced by Glenn’s information.

“He went into hiding sometime after that, but with whatever data he compiled from Raymond’s experiment, which was later coined the Ferrington Incident, Nemas started on a new project,” Glenn looked up at the group, his eyebrows angled downward slightly.

Glenn could tell that the way he was presenting the information must’ve been affecting the group in a slightly more negative way than he would’ve liked it to, but to a point he felt it was the only way to have them prepared for any uncertainty that may make a turn for the worse later on. The paranoia was somewhat beneficial in this situation, and Glenn decided that making them worry was probably the best way to go.

“What was this new project?” Riku raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

“He’s building a weapon. A big one.”
Click to expand...

Yes, Kairi is unconscious again. Thankfully this time it isn't due to her vision attacks or whatever you wanna call it. Who knows, maybe this Glenn character knocked her out. *rolls eyes* I admit it's a little excessive, but I found it necessary for Kairi to be 'knocked out' in order to get some of those 'flash backs' into the mix.

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Ratchet · Mar 9, 2007

The plot is certainly intriguing and the writing consistently good. I admit I'm hooked and will be reading every chapter. :)

DarknessKingdom · Mar 9, 2007

Indeed...though I must say when Sora just said he was going to talk to Merlin about Kairi's condition, I didn't think that really suited him.

However, I suppose it could since you explained that the trio had changed quite a bit ever since they returned to Destiny Islands.

Nice work.

Soushirei · Mar 9, 2007

DarknessKingdom said: ↑

Indeed...though I must say when Sora just said he was going to talk to Merlin about Kairi's condition, I didn't think that really suited him.

However, I suppose it could since you explained that the trio had changed quite a bit ever since they returned to Destiny Islands.

Nice work.
Click to expand...

XD If it's any consolation, Sora never asks Merlin. It was actually him trying to cover up his anxiety about her story (which is described in the narration that followed that scene).

Log in or Sign up

Kingdom Hearts III: The Revival (Working Title)

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

Inasuma "pumpkin"

Premium

DarknessKingdom The Kingpin of the TV

Premium

Ratchet Bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong!

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

DarknessKingdom The Kingpin of the TV

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

Inasuma "pumpkin"

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

Ratchet Bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong!

Roxas OG

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

Inasuma "pumpkin"

Premium

DarknessKingdom The Kingpin of the TV

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

DarknessKingdom The Kingpin of the TV

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium

Ratchet Bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong!

DarknessKingdom The Kingpin of the TV

Premium

Soushirei 運命の欠片

Premium