Chapter 21

CHAPTER 4 TWILIGHT TOWN THE GUMMI SHIP ZOOMED THROUGH THE OTHER SKY. “It’s over there this time!” Donald called, peering out the ship’s window. They could just see a planet in the distance. “Say, isn’t that Agrabah?” Goofy remarked as he tried to discern it. The desert and palace looked familiar. “I wonder how Aladdin and Jasmine are doing,” Sora said, also casual, as he looked down at the desert world. The Gummi Ship slowly descended to Agrabah. This place was called the Corridors of Darkness. Stairs and more stairs and pitch-black gloom. It was connected to all the different worlds…and closed off from them. Riku walked and walked. “Help! Please!” At the shriek from behind, Riku whirled around. It was the second time he’d mistaken that voice for someone else’s. “Naminé…” She flung herself at his back and clung to him. He pulled away for a moment as he moved to face her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. She bowed her head for a moment, then raised her eyes to meet his. “Please, Riku—you have to help Axel.” “What happened?” Naminé’s clear, bright blue eyes reminded Riku of her…of Kairi. “The organization is after him.” She hung her head again. “He made sure I could get away.” Pursued by the organization—he had expected that, more or less. If he’d been branded a traitor, they weren’t going to let him off lightly. “I can’t do anything to help him,” Riku said. “Why not?” He didn’t have a good answer for her. Why couldn’t he help Axel? If he decided to, he ought to be able to do something…but what good could it do to help a Nobody? “Is it because Axel’s a Nobody? If so, then why were you willing to help me? Because I’m Kairi’s Nobody? Because if I’m gone, Kairi will be incomplete?” “Naminé…” She was facing downward, her shoulders shaking. He drew her close and held her. “Axel’s heart is hurting,” she said. “I thought Nobodies didn’t have hearts.” As soon as Riku said it, he doubted his own words. Did Nobodies really lack hearts? What about Naminé? And Roxas? As DiZ had told him, those two had both come into being in a special way. Did that mean that they were different? The members of the organization were also unique among Nobodies—that was obvious. But was that all there was to it? “Axel’s heart says he’s lonely.” “How?” “I don’t know.” Naminé shook her head. “I don’t understand it, either.” Maybe he needed to have another talk with Axel. Riku let out a small sigh and bent down to look Naminé in the eye. “Who’s after Axel?” “One of the men from the organization… He was listening to us.” She picked her words carefully. “What were you talking about?” “About…Kairi.” She said the name softly but clearly. Riku’s shoulders tensed slightly. “I’ve wanted to meet her. I thought that I had to, and I asked Axel to take me to her. But…the man from the organization heard me, and he tried to capture me. Axel held him off so I could escape.” The story poured out of her, and then she raised her head, realizing something. “…Is Kairi in danger?” Riku nodded. “We won’t let the organization take her. Besides, Axel told you to run, didn’t he? He’ll be fine. If nothing else, he’s fast.” He gave her a hint of a smile, and she returned it, just a bit, as if he really had managed to reassure her. His breathing was ragged. I’ve never had to run like this before, Axel thought. “…Ugh.” He pushed back his hair and looked at the moon that hung in the unchanging night sky. The neon lights stung his eyes, but the huge bright moon shone through even their blinding glare. The moon was a heart. The very thing he could never have. In the end, he hadn’t been able to find anywhere to go. So here he was, back in this city of glowing skyscrapers. If I’m trying to get away from Saïx—from the organization itself—what am I doing here? The truth struck home—Nobodies had no place where they belonged. “Now what do I do…?” he muttered, his face still upturned to the distant moon. A heart. Maybe the answer was closer than he thought. Suddenly he felt something brush his leg. “Wh—whoa!” Axel jumped. It was a big yellow dog. “Hey, what’re you doing here?” The dog looked up at him, tail wagging wildly. “Are you all alone?” As if in reply, the dog made a single tiny bark. “Look, I don’t have time to play.” Axel gave it a pat on the head and began walking away between the buildings. There was somewhere he had to go. Naminé’s wish was to meet Kairi. He didn’t know what would happen if they did meet. But something would happen—that much was certain. Sora and Kairi. Roxas and Naminé. If Naminé got to meet Kairi, maybe something would happen to Sora—to Roxas. He wanted to bring them together. “Hey, don’t follow me, okay?” He turned and shook a warning finger in front of the dog’s nose. It barked again. The animal almost seemed to understand him. He’d never had a conversation like this with a dog before—or anything, for that matter. Axel cocked his head, and the dog copied him. “Look, I gotta go.” Axel opened up a dark rift in space and plunged into the blackness. The dog tilted its head again and plopped down in front of the closing portal as if to wait for him. All of it disgusted him. Saïx looked up at the skyscrapers, tracking Axel’s presence. He wanted a heart more than anything. But what could he do to get one? Here he was, yearning for a heart so badly, while Axel had managed to gain one without doing anything at all. The blue-haired man had been the very first to join the organization after the founding members. He should have been special. The way number 13—Roxas, wielder of the Keyblade—was special. Axel was not. And yet… He remembered what the witch Naminé had said. Axel seemed lonely. The man himself had denied it, but she was absolutely right. Axel was lonely. He’d lost Roxas. Lonely. Didn’t that mean he had a heart? How had he gained one? Why only him? Was it an effect of his contact with the boy, or was there something else at work? He had no idea… Saïx’s searching gaze fell on a yellow dog, and he paused. The dog turned to him with a full-throated bark. He scowled, crinkling the scarred skin between his eyebrows, and lifted his hand to open a Corridor of Darkness behind the dog. If something was in his way, he would just get rid of it. The dog checked over its shoulder and, for some reason, began excitedly wagging its tail, then bounded right into the darkness. “…Hmm?” He thought he could see a person there in the corridors. Saïx narrowed his eyes. No, he was sure. He stepped slowly into the portal himself. The waves lapped against the shores of Destiny Islands with their constant soft swish. Kairi stood on the sand, watching the sun sink below the horizon. “Maybe waiting isn’t good enough…,” she murmured. “Exactly!” another voice responded, almost before she’d finished the sentence, and Kairi whirled around. A short distance away, there was a red-haired man in a black cloak. “If you have a dream, don’t just wait. Act. One of life’s little rules. Got it memorized?” Kairi withdrew a step as Axel spoke. It was bizarre, inexplicable—but for some reason she was terrified. “Who are you?” He shrugged. “I’m Axel. And I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora’s.” “Sora…?” Kairi echoed. Sora—the name of her dear friend. “Why don’t we go see him?” Axel said. She stared fixedly at his outstretched hand. If she went with this person, this Axel…she would get to see Sora? “We’ve got something in common, Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about. Feels like we’re already friends, you know?” She didn’t move a muscle. Up ahead in the corridors, Riku and Naminé could see a brilliant light. “Is that…Destiny Islands?” asked Naminé, squinting. She looked up at Riku. He didn’t reply, his face shadowed under his hood, and kept his attention on the brightness. The light grew bit by bit, until they could catch glimpses of fine sand and blue water. Naminé called to the person she could see beyond the portal. “…Axel?” “Looks like we had the same idea,” Riku said, a little relieved. Naminé halted. “Then…is she there? …Kairi?” A girl with red hair was glaring at Axel. “Hmm… We don’t know if he’s our friend or not. It’s the same for Kairi,” Riku said with a faint smile. “Riku, let’s go.” “Right.” He nodded—and just then, a yellow dog came bounding up to them. “Pluto?!” This was definitely him—King Mickey’s dog. Pluto raced in ecstatic circles around them. “Where have you been, boy?” Riku reached out to pet him, but Pluto turned around and growled at something behind them. “So we meet again, Naminé.” What set Pluto on edge was someone from the organization—Saïx. Before the boy knew it, Soul Eater was in his hand. “Riku, is it?” “My name doesn’t matter,” Riku hissed. “And through there is Destiny Islands, I suppose—and Axel, too. Well, well.” Saïx raised one hand, and a sudden swarm of Nobodies began to wriggle toward the brightness. “I don’t think so!” Riku planted himself squarely in their path. “What’s the matter? Will it hurt to see your island home corrupted?” Saïx taunted. “Even though you once did it yourself?” A small gasp escaped from Riku. Yes—his islands had fallen into the darkness once. He’d thought he would never be able to go home again. He wouldn’t let anyone spoil that home now. “Pluto! Go on!” Riku called, and Pluto replied with a deep bark before leaping into the light. “Exactly what do you think that dog’s going to do about it?” Saïx inquired. “I don’t owe you any answers,” Riku spat, and dealt Saïx a blow from Soul Eater that sent him sprawling. The only noise between Axel and Kairi was the peaceful rush of the waves—the sound of Destiny Islands. A dog’s bark shattered the stillness. “Gah! You again?!” Axel turned to see the same dog he’d met in the city, tail as excited as ever. Pluto trotted over to Kairi and woofed three times. Suddenly, as if they’d followed him, a ring of Nobodies encircled Kairi. “Aw, really? You had to bring along these things…?” Axel muttered, arming himself with his chakrams. Taking out his fellow Nobodies would be unpleasant, but he couldn’t let Kairi get hurt. The girl tried to back away as they closed in on her. Out of nowhere, a rift opened behind Kairi. “Huh?” Axel paused. Pluto raced to the portal and jumped through. “Hey—wait a minute…” Kairi glanced back at Axel and then, with no more hesitation, followed Pluto into the darkness. As if that had been its intention, the portal dissipated, and she was gone. “What’s going on…?” Axel muttered. He hurled his chakrams, and the Nobodies dissolved to nothing. “Now where’d you go, Kairi?” He let out a deep sigh and created his own gateway on the beach, then let it swallow him. The dark portal to Destiny Islands closed. Saïx seemed unaware that Pluto was no ordinary dog—he belonged to King Mickey. After Riku’s devastating blow, Saïx got slowly to his feet. “Nothing less from the great Ansem—that’s what I should say, isn’t it? Or maybe—” “You don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m protecting those islands!” Riku rushed into range, but this time the Claymore, Saïx’s sword, was there to block Soul Eater. “How do you expect to protect anything when you’ve cloaked yourself in darkness? You sold your soul for power. Was it worth it?” “Shut up.” Soul Eater pushed back the Claymore with a terrific clang. “Riku! No!” Naminé screamed, running in front of Saïx to stand in the way. “Don’t let the darkness control your heart. You’ve beaten it back before. You made it your strength, remember? You can’t let him trick you!” “You have no part in this!” Saïx slapped her across the face, hard enough to throw her to the ground. “I feel bad for you, too,” she told him. “What are you talking about?” Saïx towered over Naminé. “You haven’t even noticed yet…that you have a heart.” Several Nobodies emerged from a rift out of the corridors. “A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!” Saïx raised his sword over Naminé—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow. “Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled from a rift behind Saïx. “Run along and help your dear hero.” With that, he disappeared. “Are you all right?” Riku helped Naminé to her feet. “Now I understand…,” she murmured. “Naminé…? You understand what?” She was silent for a moment and quietly shook her head as she stood. “It’s nothing. We have to find Kairi.” “Right…” Riku nodded and found himself staring at his hands. I sold my soul for power… Could such power be used for good? “It sure would be quiet without the Genie,” Goofy remarked. After landing in Agrabah, they’d found Jafar at large, when he should have been trapped in his lamp, and defeated him again. The lamp had unlocked another gate, and they were back on the Gummi Ship. “It’s weird that Jafar was out causing trouble, though,” Sora said. “Yeah! After we already beat him and everything!” Donald complained. “Gawrsh, I wonder if there’s something funny goin’ on with all the worlds?” Catching on to their worries, Goofy cocked his head. Agrabah had been teeming with Heartless, and Jafar had somehow escaped to wreak havoc. There was definitely something weird happening. “Hey!” “What, Donald?” Donald was watching the Other Sky from the window again, and Sora went to join him. “A new planet!” Donald indicated something far away. “Where?” “Right there!” Straining his eyes, Sora could just make out a world shrouded in mist. “But there’s one over that way, too,” Goofy said, pointing toward something in the distance beyond Hollow Bastion. “Isn’t that…Twilight Town?” Sora spotted a train and a clock tower. He pressed himself up against the window. “I want to go to that one.” “This one is closer!” Donald complained, looking to the other side and stomping his feet. “I want to go there.” While Sora’s nose pressed against the glass, Donald and Goofy exchanged glances. He seemed a little different from usual—and it was unsettling somehow. “I want to see Hayner and the other kids,” Sora insisted. “Oh, fine.” Donald didn’t sound very happy about it. Sora immediately whirled around and hugged him. “Thanks, Donald!” “Wak!” The Gummi Ship changed direction and sped on toward Twilight Town. Something warm and wet was touching her cheek. What is that…? Kairi slowly returned to consciousness and found that it was a dog’s big pink tongue. “Hey, that tickles!” She grinned at Pluto. “You okay?” someone asked. Kairi bolted upright. “I…huh…?” Pluto wasn’t the only one with her. There were two boys and a girl, all regarding her with worry. “A hole opened up in the wall, and you and that dog came flying out. Nearly gave us all heart attacks!” said a heavyset boy, sounding a bit relieved. “I’m Kairi.” Still sitting on the floor, she observed the trio. “What are your names?” “Hayner,” said the boy with smartly styled hair. The heavyset boy and the girl followed suit. “I’m Pence.” “And I’m Olette.” “Hey…,” Kairi said. “Any chance you know a boy named Sora?” Hearing that name, the three looked at one another. The sunset in Twilight Town was as beautiful as ever. “Let’s go see Hayner and Pence and Olette!” Sora sprinted through the town as though he’d visited dozens of times—even though he’d only been once before. “Hey, Sora—don’t run like that!” Donald scurried after him and collided with him full force when Sora stopped in his tracks. “Wak! Don’t stop like that, either!” “A skateboard!” Sora hopped onto the board lying in the street. “Uh, S-Sora?” “Sora…?” The other two stood there confused as Sora skated in circles around them, then popped the board into the air. “Wowee!” Goofy cheered, and Donald nudged him in the ribs. “Hey, have you ever seen him skate like that before?” “Gee, I guess not…” While they murmured to each other, Sora performed an aerial grab, clearly enjoying his newfound skills. Just as he executed an extra-high jump, a boy in a blue coat came running. “Help! At the sandlot—it’s Seifer! Please, somebody help!” Vivi tottered by, hurrying toward the common. “Sounds like we should check it out!” Sora took off on the skateboard. “Quack!” “Sora, wait up!” Donald and Goofy had to chase after him again. “If you just hang around here a bit, I’m sure you’ll get to see Sora,” Pence told Kairi. “He said he’d be coming back,” Hayner added hopefully. “Okay!” Kairi nodded happily, and beside her, Pluto barked with contentment. “What took you so long, Kairi?” Everyone rose to their feet at the new voice. A dark hole in the wall had appeared, the same as when Kairi had arrived, and the one who had emerged this time was Axel. “Somehow I had a feeling you’d end up here.” He moved toward Kairi with a smirk. “Hey—!” Hayner charged low in an attempt to head-butt Axel, but Axel smoothly dodged it, and Hayner only succeeded in a face-plant. Pence tried the same and likewise ended up on the floor headfirst. “Anyway, Kairi—that took a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that!” Axel praised her as he grabbed her arm. “Let me go!” Apparently, he had no intention of explaining himself as he dragged her back to the portal. Pluto followed them. “Hey, wait!” Hayner sprang up and tried to pursue them—but they were already gone without a trace. They followed Vivi to a large open lot. In the middle of it, two boys and a girl were lying in the dirt, with Vivi pacing in distressed circles around them. But he wasn’t the only one—the three were also surrounded by strange, wriggling silver creatures. Dusks. “Guys, we’re up!” At Sora’s cue, the trio charged into the swarm. “Take that!” Once they’d learned to deal with the bizarre writhing movement, the Dusks weren’t actually that difficult to handle. But there were a lot of them. “Why are there so many?!” Donald complained. “Keep at it, Donald!” Sora called, taking down one Dusk after another. Something about this gave him a strange feeling. Like…he’d fought here before. And since when did I skateboard…? he had to wonder. “Finally! We got ’em all!” Sora’s Keyblade descended upon the last Dusk. He heard someone applauding. “All in a day’s work!” He couldn’t help striking a pose as he turned. But instead of an awestruck spectator, he found someone from the organization. “Impressive.” Saïx kept on clapping dryly as he strode closer to the trio, who were still poised to fight. “What do you want?!” Sora demanded. Saïx paused to speak deliberately. “Have you seen a man named Axel? I believe he’s here somewhere…” “Like we care,” Sora snapped. “You see, Axel’s no longer acting in our best interests,” the man went on, paying no attention to Sora’s hostility. “Is he in Organization XIII, too?” asked Goofy. “Yes.” He nodded. “Ooh, infighting!” Donald sounded mildly intrigued. “Not a very organized organization,” Sora added. “Consider yourself warned.” Saïx jabbed a finger at Sora, his voice dangerously quiet. “Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless.” “Gee, thanks for looking out for us.” Sora stuck out his tongue. “But we can take care of ourselves just fine!” “That’s good to hear. Axel is one thing, but it would just break our hearts if anything were to happen to you.” “Break your hearts? What hearts?” Donald blurted out. The members of the organization were Nobodies. Which meant they had no hearts. “True, we don’t have hearts. But we remember what it was like. That’s what makes us special among Nobodies.” Saïx slowly pushed back his hood, showing his blue hair and the cool expression on his handsome face—and his X-shaped scar. “What’s that mean?” asked Sora. “It means we know the many ways that hearts can be wounded,” Saïx replied, and a dark rift in the air opened up behind him. “Sora, you just keep on fighting the Heartless.” Sora ignored him to lean close to Donald and whisper, “Let’s jump in after him.” “What for?” Donald whispered back. “Just an idea! Maybe he’ll lead us to Organization XIII’s world!” “Don’t be reckless,” Saïx chided. “Do you want to end up like Riku?” Sora raised his head at that. Riku? This guy knew Riku? “Hey—wait!” Saïx retreated and vanished into the darkness. “Hold up!” Sora rushed after him, but the portal dissipated in front of his face. He frowned. “What did he mean, end up like Riku…?” “Hey, you!” someone else interjected. “Quack?” Donald turned to find the kids who had been on the ground were now upright and glaring at them. Sora didn’t notice, lost in thought. “End up like Riku”? What happened to him? “I think you better get out of here,” one of the boys said viciously. “You’ve caused enough trouble.” “Fine! We were just leaving!” Donald retorted while Sora was preoccupied. “C’mon, guys.” A bit worried, he patted Sora on the back, urging him to move. “Hey, hold on a minute!” the boy said. “What do you want now?!” Donald huffed—but started and gawked at the thing in Seifer’s hands. It was a big trophy set with four different-colored crystals that sparkled in the evening light. “This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town. You should take it.” Sora finally came back to earth and pointed at himself in surprise. “Me…?” “Yeah.” “Thanks, but…I don’t really want it.” Ignoring him, Seifer ran up to Goofy and shoved the trophy into his hands. “Whoa!” Goofy yelped, not expecting it to be so heavy, and then peered anxiously at Sora. Apparently satisfied at handing it off, Seifer left the sandlot with the rest of his gang—Vivi and the other two who had been laid out in the dirt, Fuu and Rai. “What do we do with this thing…?” Sora stared blankly at the trophy. “Oh, hey! Sora!” a different voice called, and the trio turned toward the source to find Pence. “Pence? What is it?” “Do you know a girl named Kairi?” Hearing that, the three jumped in unison. “K-Kairi?!” Sora exclaimed. “I sure do!” “Then you better come to the station! C’mon—we’ve got something important to tell you!” Pence ran off, and the trio rushed to follow him. “Kairi…Riku…” Hearing Sora mumble his friends’ names, Donald and Goofy had the same concern. “Isn’t it kinda funny that we’re hearin’ about both of them all of a sudden?” Goofy said quietly to Donald, running with the trophy under his arm. Donald nodded. “I wonder if the organization knows about Kairi, too.” That man from the organization had mentioned Riku, and now Pence was talking about Kairi. What exactly was going on in this sleepy town? After a short trip through the corridors, they emerged on the beach outside Twilight Town. “Let me go!” Kairi wrenched herself away, but when Axel let go of her arm, she tumbled to the sandy ground. “You okay there?” “Don’t touch me!” A bit chagrined, Axel scratched his head. “Well, look…I, uh—what?! You’re still following me?! Oof!” Just as he began an attempt to explain himself, Pluto pounced from behind and knocked him face-first into the sand. “Did you come to help me…?” Kairi asked. The dog wagged his tail at her from on top of Axel. “Get off me already!” Axel shouted as he tried to stand, but this left him open to a slobbery attack from the front. “Ugh! Quit it…!” Eventually Axel noticed Kairi watching this exchange with mild astonishment and finally shoved Pluto away. Sand covered his black cloak, red hair, and face. Pluto seemed to lose interest in him and tackled Kairi to lick her instead. “Aw, cut it out!” she giggled. Axel sighed and tried to brush the sand from his…all over, then stretched his shoulders. Kairi looked up at him then. “Aren’t you…a bad guy?” “I’m not,” Axel replied, completely serious. “But not really a good guy, either.”