They managed to get halfway to the Great Maw before they were stopped. Standing in their path was a member of Organization XIII. X had hoped with the Heartless appearing the Nobodies might have decided to hold back, but it didn't seem they were in luck.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively," Demyx greeted with a friendly smile. X had hardly dealt with this member of the Organization, but he knew Demyx was one of the more laid back members. Maybe that would be in their favor.

"Scram!" Donald yelled.

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?" Sora asked, crossing his arms. Demyx cowered back from him, rubbing the back of his neck as he desperately for an escape. "I bet you can't even fight."

"Yeah, but we can!" Donald said. Demyx turned back to them, waving his finger in front of him.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx warned. The group readied themselves for a fight, drawing weapons and focusing their glares on him. He turned away from them, bringing his hand to his mouth as if chewing his nails.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy," Demyx said to himself.

"Who is this kook?" Sora asked, looking around to his companions.

"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," Goofy said. Sora nodded looking back to Demyx.

"Right, no hearts," Sora said. He jumped a little putting his hand to his mouth as he glanced over at X. "No offense." X smirked and rolled his eyes.

"None taken," X said. Demyx turned around to face them again.

"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad," he said, putting his hand on his hip.

"You can't trick us!" Donald said, ruffling his feathers. Demyx turned away from them again, soon turning around pointing at Sora was his blue eyes narrowed in a glare.

"Silence, traitor," he said with a deathly calm voice. He raised his hand over his head, water forming above him into the shape of his sitar. The blue instrument appeared in his hand. He spun it in front of him, playing a set of chords. "Dance, water! Dance!"

X cursed as he dodged out of the way of a water clone of sorts. He tried to focus on getting rid of them, but it was hard. They seemed to jump and move far to easily. And he definitely didn't like the way they spun their water sitars. After they managed to get rid of all the clones they focused on Demyx. Demyx was surprisingly agile for the well known laziest of his organization. But soon enough they were able to deal the last blow.

Demyx stumbled back, dropping his sitar and looking at his hands as black smoke twisted off of him.

"No Way!" Demyx cried as the black and white smoke spiraled around him, slowly fading back into the nothing he had spawned from. X felt his stomach twist as he watched. That was how they all turned out in the end. Wasn't it?

"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?" Sora called out triumphantly. X turned and looked at him in shock. Was he the only bothered by watching someone just die?

"Hey, Sora! Don't antagonize them!" Donald said.

"Yeah, we gotta go help our friends out first," Goofy said. Sora laughed nervously rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh. Sorry," Sora said. X frowned looking away to where Demyx had faded.

"Then let's go!" Donald ordered.

The group began to make their way deeper into the battle but were stopped before they much farther.

"Aha! There you are!" The group all froze and turned to face Mickey. They stared wide-eyed at the mouse as he approached them, his expression hard to read. He let out a sigh and looked up at them with a smile. "You sure have lotsa friends to help. So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!" Mickey said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said, straightening up to salute him. X only nodded calmly. Mickey walked a little way away from them directly into the path of an oncoming boulder.

X didn't really know what was going on until it was too late. Goofy was on the ground, Donald, Sora, and Mickey crouched beside him. They were saying something, but X was still trying to piece together what had happened. Was Goofy dead? After such a simple thing?

Mickey walked away from Goofy, yanking off his black coat and summoning his keyblade. X blinked in surprise. Maybe things were pretty bad. Mickey took off running down the ravine trail, the trio and X following after him. Soon they were stopped by a group of Heartless.

"Sora, did you miss me? Yuffie is on the scene!"

As her voice rang out Yuffie jumped into the fight, throwing her windmill across the ravine and taking out a fair number of the Heartless. She joined them in a short fight, taking out the remaining Heartless.

"All right! Get along!" she said, flashing a smile as she nodded down the ravine. Sora smiled and nodded before taking off again. They didn't get far before they were ambushed by another group of Heartless. Luckily they were again joined by help.

"I'll help out!" Leon said shooting a Heartless from across the path, then cutting down one beside him. With the extra help, the Heartless group died out quickly. "Go!" Leon said.

He hadn't needed to give them the order. Sora was already running the moment they had an opening.

They went through two more members of the restoration committee. The girl who had kicked the wall and Cloud. They both were a great help, taking down enough Heartless to clear the way. At the very edge of the trail, they met Yuki and Y, fighting back to back.

"Look who's finally here," Y said sarcastically. She held her keyblade up, casting a light spell that killed a good portion of Heartless on her side.

"Hey, I'm sure they've been a little busy," Yuki said glancing over her shoulder. She turned her attention back to the Heartless in front of her, freezing them with a glare.

Sora joined the fight and quickly got rid of the Heartless around them. Yuki smiled at Sora after the battle finished. No words were exchanged as they walked to a crystal cove. They met up with Mickey who looked like he had gone a few rounds of his own.

"Are you ok?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but," Sora trailed off.

"Ohh, Goofy," Donald said shaking his head. Y and Yuki exchanged a look with each other before looking at X. Before X could explain he was stopped.

"Hey fellas!"

They all turned and saw Goofy joining them from the path.

"Goofy!" Sora yelled in unison with Mickey and Donald as they ran over to him.

"Ya know, that really hurt!" Goofy said.

"Aw, Goofy!" Mickey said, hugging Goofy.

"What did we miss?" Y asked leaning over to X.

"Goofy got hit on the head with a rock and everyone thought he was dead," X whispered back as the group in front of them exchanged words.

"Did they try healing him?" Y asked.

"No," X said. Y blinked a few times then shook her head.

They were rejoined by the group and made their way to the Great Maw. Thousands of Heartless stood idle, seeming to be waiting for a command. Mickey stopped looking around in confusion. He had expected a battle.

"Huh?" Mickey said.

"What's with them? Are you doing this?" Sora asked looking at X. Yuki and Y both looked surprised Sora knew to ask X. X only shook his head.

"Not me," he said. He cast a glance to Yuki and Y, both of whom shook their heads.

"Hey!" Goofy yelled pointing toward a cliff. Looking up they saw a cloaked figure with silver hair. Even from a distance, it wasn't hard to tell who it was. X looked to Y nervously, seeing her face pale greatly.

"It's the guy who's NOT Ansem!" Donald said.

"You mean it's his Nobody!" Goofy corrected.

"The leader of Organization XIII," Sora said, tightening his grip on his keyblade.

"Xemnas," Y whispered.

"Wait a minute. Now I know!" Mickey yelled. The group all looked at him expecting his continuation. "Now I remember! Xehanort! Ansem's apprentice! The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody!" Mickey said. X glanced to Y in confusion. She already knew, had she chosen not to tell Mickey? Did Mickey not realize this was the same Xehanort?

Mickey took off running up the cliff to meet Xemnas, and before X could say anything Y was on Mickey's tail.

"Y!" X called after her.

"She's a big girl, she'll be fine," Yuki said as the Heartless suddenly moved. They were quickly surrounded by the Heartless, Armored Knights and Guardians mostly, but it was enough.

"No, she won't!" X snapped back, quickly turning on Yuki with a glare. Yuki returned the glare, her eyes flashing yellow in warning.

"X! She knows what she's doing! Trust her!" she snapped. X grit his teeth turning to the Heartless around them. The sooner they were gone the sooner he could get to Y.

"Move it!" Sora ordered.

"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald said. X flinched at the sound of his name.

"Right!" Sora agreed. He glanced over at X. "Can you make them leave?" he asked. X shook his head.

"Not this many. We'll have to fight through them," X said.

"Then let's move," Yuki said. She was the first to jump into the battle. X supposed having two keyblades was enough of an advantage for her to not have to worry. That and she really didn't have to worry much about them trying to fight her too hard. If she had learned anything.

X quickly lost track of Donald and Goofy in the battle. He could still see Sora, but there were too many Heartless between them for him to be able to help Sora. He did his best to take out as many of the Heartless as he could. He had to remember to tune out their screams. They were so confused. He shook his head as he knocked down another Guardian. He couldn't waste time feeling sorry for the lost.

It was soon enough they regrouped, with only minor injuries. X had to look away from Sora who had a long scratch down his arm with dried blood. Yuki a few bruises on her face, but looked otherwise unharmed.

"Where's the King?" Sora asked.

"There he is!" Donald yelled, pointing to Mickey was. Y was beside him, her keyblade drawn and at the ready.

"C'mon!" Sora yelled as he led the charge toward Xemnas, Mickey, and Y. They joined just in time to hear Mickey yell at Xemnas.

"Xehanort!"

"How long has it been since I abandoned that name?" Xemnas asked turning to face them slowly. His eyes skimmed over them, seeming almost bored.

"Out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?" Sora demanded. Xemnas turned to Sora slowly, keeping his apathetic expression as he considered the young wielder.

"I know nothing of any Kairi," Xemnas said calmly. "As for Riku...Perhaps you should ask your king." He looked to Mickey as he began to open a dark corridor around his body so he could disappear.

"Stop!" Mickey yelled. He jumped forward into the dark corridor just as it closed.

"He's gone..." Sora said in shock. He fell to his knees a slammed his fist onto the ground. Yuki knelt beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Sora," she said softly.

"Way to fall right into their trap."

The entire group jumped and turned to see who had spoken. X frowned seeing Axel leaning against the mouth of the cavern. His arms were crossed and he seemed almost bored. "C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless- that's his big master plan," he continued not hearing a response from the group.

"Xemnas?" Donald asked.

"The guy you just saw. He's their leader. Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S," Axel said, leaning forward and tapping his temple. X frowned, it had been a while since he had used the catchphrase. X had hoped he had forgotten about it.

"Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?" Goofy asked in confusion. Axel sighed heavily.

"Man, you're slow," he said. His bright turquoise eyes turned onto X. "X, why don't you explain to your friends there?" he asked. X clenched his fist as he felt the trio's gaze land on him.

"Because that would mean I'm doing work for you. And you know what I think about finishing one of your jobs," X said calmly. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Snowy, Y?" he prompted.

"Axel," Yuki said in warning. Sora looked at her in shock for a moment. But her eyes remained focused on the redhead. Y didn't say a word, keeping her gaze even.

"Every Heartless slain with those keyblades releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after," Axel explained calmly.

"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald asked.

"I'm not telling," Axel said crossing his arms and looking away.

"Tell us!" Donald demanded.

"Ask one of them," he said nodding toward the three Heartless who all stood together. "They all know."

"You...you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" Sora said suddenly. Axel chuckled.

"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he said. Sora clenched his fist and stepped forward toward Axel.

"Where is Kairi?" Sora asked. Axel turned away from him, rubbing the back of his head like he did when he was nervous. X wasn't sure what Axel thought he could gain from taking a princess of heart, but then again, Axel wasn't always one to think. "Please. Just tell me!" Sora said.

"He doesn't know," Yuki said softly. Once again Sora looked at her confused. X wondered if Yuki was trying to tell Sora the truth without directly stating it. If she was, it wasn't likely to work.

"Look, about Kairi...I'm sorry," Axel said, breaking the silence.

"Axel!" a dark voice said as a blue-haired figure appeared between the group and Axel. Axel quickly stepped back, fear crossing his face.

"Uh-oh," Axel muttered. He summoned a dark corridor and disappeared through it. Sora tried to chase after him but was stopped by the man holding out his arm. X wasn't very good at remembering this one's name. Y knew him though. Saix, or something.

"We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment," Saix said calmly.

"I don't care about any of that! Just let me into the realm of darkness, ok!?" Sora demanded.

"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't. We're taking very good care of her," Saix said. His voice never seemed to change, keeping in a low tone.

"Take me to her," Sora said.

"Is she that important to you?" Saix asked. Sora nodded looking down.

"Yeah. More than anything," he admitted. Saix scoffed, his harsh yellow eyes glaring at Sora with a hatred that spoke of loss. X wasn't sure how he knew, but the darkness that came from Saix, it wasn't the same as Xehanort. It was filled with pain.

"Show me how important," Saix said. Sora thought for a moment before bowing in front of Saix. X heard Yuki gasp, but she didn't move.

"Please," Sora begged, his voice cracking slightly.

"So, you really do care for her. In that case," Saix said, taking a moment as if considering what his answer would be. "The answer is no." Sora jumped back to his feet, angrily glaring at Saix.

"You rotten!" he snapped.

"Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless," Saix said calmly. He snapped his fingers calling a group of armored knights to him. He looked up to the sky as the group all drew their weapons again. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free...until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."

X glared as he brought a dagger to one of the Heartless, keeping them back and away from the group. Saix was talking too much. Sora had frozen where he was.

"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?"

X froze hearing that voice. Maleficent. She appeared between Saix and the group in her usual burst of green flames. Her arms were spread wide as she kept her back to them.

"Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!" she said firmly.

"Maleficent, no! No more Heartless!" Sora yelled.

"I do not take orders from you!" Maleficent said angrily. She summoned a group of Heartless to attack Saix. He scoffed at her raising his hand.

"Fool," he said as he snapped his finger. A group of Nobodies appeared, quickly taking down Maleficent's Heartless then turning on Sora.

"Oh no!" Sora said. The group all raised their weapons, preparing for the worst. Before they had to defend themselves, Maleficent got between them, a wall of green flames pushing them back.

"While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them- forever!" she ordered.

"Maleficent," Sora said softly. She glared at him over her shoulder.

"Do not misunderstand me. I shall have my revenge on you yet," she said. No sooner than she spoke a group of Dusks attacked her, pulling her away from them.

"Maleficent!" Sora yelled.

"Leave! Now!" she ordered.

"I don't take orders from you!" Sora said stepping toward the fire wall. X grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"I don't like her any more than you, but we need to get out of the way at least," X said calmly. Yuki grabbed onto Sora's other shoulder, catching his attention.

"She won't last long and Saix won't hold back against you," Yuki said.

"Sora! C'mon!" Donald insisted.

"But...what about..." Before he could finish his thought the fire died out and Maleficent was gone.

"Now then. Where did we leave off?" Saix asked calmly. He snapped his fingers, making the Nobodies disappeared. They were replaced by more Heartless, yet again. Sora grit his teeth raising his keyblade.

"Which side are you guys on anyway?" he asked.

"Who ever's the strongest and gives orders they like apparently," Yuki said in annoyance readying her own keyblades. Saix flicked his hand and the Heartless started forward. Yuki, X , and Y all stepped forward their eyes glowing yellow as they tried to hold back the Heartless. They froze where they were. X could hear a gasp from Sora, but he didn't have time to think. He had to stop the Heartless.

"It appears you finally show what you are capable of," Saix said calmly. He flicked his wrist again, trying to make the Heartless break free. When they couldn't he snapped summoned more Heartless that made a beeline for Sora.

The trio broke their command and attacked the Armored Knights, releasing captive hearts into the sky. X fell back beside Sora spinning his daggers as he slashed back the Heartless.

"No! The hearts!" Sora yelled.

They were quickly surrounded. X watched Sora, who was refusing to do any more than block. His eyes fell to the ground, his keyblade at his side unmoving. X grit his teeth and jumped in front of him, killing an Armored Knight by stabbing a dagger into its head. How could he be so stupid? This wasn't the time to think. It was time to act.

"Open your eyes Vanitas!" X snapped. He froze as the name left his mouth, flinching slightly. Sora looked up at him in confusion.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

"Sora, we'll talk later. But first, you have to make it through this fight alive," X said calmly. It was a stupid mistake. He had known Sora was far different than Vanitas. Why had he slipped up? Vanitas was gone, had been for years.

"But, everything we've done. Maybe it was all for nothing. What am I supposed to do if I can't use the keyblade!?" Sora asked. He blocked a hit from another Heartless but made no move to attack still. X grit his teeth.

"Fight. Yuki and Y have known for ages, and do you see them slowing down? You can't not fight the Heartless, so we find a way to stop them from succeeding later in the game," X said. Sora looked away, almost being hit if Goofy hadn't blocked at the last moment.

"But...how?" Sora asked.

X wished he could have answered Sora. But he didn't have a ready answer. It was more of a guess and check. Make a plan as they go. Sora slowed again at X's silence. X turned just in time to see a Heartless aiming for his back. He wouldn't be able to move fast enough.

"STOP!"

The order echoed in the air, followed by a light, though X wasn't sure it was really light. It was grey, streaked with all the colors X could think of and even more. And it felt warm, like home. It was so familiar X was certain he had seen this power before. But he couldn't place where. Or perhaps when was a more accurate term. Whatever it was, X closed his eyes flinching back, the warmth wasn't welcome.

"What's this place?"

X opened his eyes to find them standing in total darkness.

"This must be the Realm of Darkness!" Sora said looking around excitedly.

"No, definitely not," X said looking around. There was oddly enough, more light in the Realm of Darkness. The glowing blue rocks and stars if you were in the right place.

"Kairi! Riku!" Sora yelled, ignoring X.

"Who's there!?" Donald called. They turned to see Donald running toward a hooded figure. Before he reached him however the figure disappeared leaving behind a box. Donald picked up the box and looked it over as the others joined him. "What is it?" Donald asked.

"Are ya sure you wanna open-" Goofy began to ask. Donald opened up the box before Goofy could finish his thought. "-that?"

Inside the box was a photograph and a bar of sea salt ice cream. Donald pulled the picture out and handed it to Sora. X frowned looking at the picture. It was the kids from Twilight Town with Roxas beside them. X frowned his eyes landing on Roxas.

"Gawrsh, it's the gang from Twilight Town. There's Hayner, Pence, Olette...and, uh, um..." Goofy said, trying to figure out who the last was.

"Roxas," Sora said. X looked at him with wide eyes. How had he known that?

"Do you know him?" Donald asked.

"No. The name just popped into my head. This is Roxas," Sora said simply. His finger brushed over Roxas in the picture. X frowned turning his attention back to the box. Donald pulled the ice cream out of the box.

"Are you sure you wanna eat-" Goofy began. This time X was the one who ignored him, taking the ice cream from Donald and taking a bite from it. Donald glared at him, but X ignored the glare looking back at Sora. "-that?"

"Sea-salt ice cream. Best ice cream in all the worlds, pretty popular in Twilight Town," X explained calmly. The ice cream began to glow and float, much to X's annoyance. Sora unlocked the gate on instinct.

"Not yet! I gotta look for Kairi!" Sora said.

"I promise, she's not here," X said simply. Sora nodded, slowly looking down.

*<3*

"How's it looking?" Cloud asked turning to Yuffie. The black-haired girl crossed her arm as she looked around the Great Maw.

"Nothing, Leon hasn't seen any, and Aerith said the town is completely empty now too. No more Heartless," she said. She looked back at Cloud, frowning. "Do you think it was that light?"

"Must have been," Cloud said calmly. "We should find the others." He slowly walked away toward the city. Yuffie nodded following him at a light jog.

They reached the edge of the city, not a single Heartless remaining. It was an eerie silence after such a long battle that had ended in the blink of an eye. At the edge of the city, they saw Leon standing next to Aerith who was sitting on the ground with a small ravenette resting her head in her lap. Y stood to Aerith's other side looking at the ravenette in concern.

"Yuki!" Yuffie said, running the rest of the way to the group. "What happened?"

"Don't know," Aerith admitted. She looked up at Y. Y frowned, crossing her arms and biting her lower lip.

"I don't know either, I've- I've never seen something like that before. I guess we just have to wait for her to wake up. Maybe she can tell us," she said. Yuffie nodded, looking around at the group. They all wore similar looks of worry.

Y doubted Yuki would be able to explain it. She had just acted, seeing Sora in danger. The light was so sudden. So bright. Leon had said it almost hurt, but Y hadn't thought so. To her it was warm. But everyone else seemed to think it was something dangerous, and seeing what it had done to Yuki, Y figured they were right.