Yuki was beginning to find it less and less surprising how normal some of the worlds seemed when trapped in the darkness. She had once thought it would be obvious what was wrong with each world, but the farther they went the less that seemed to be the case. Maybe if she had seen the worlds in all their glory she would be able to tell. But with her limited knowledge, she wasn't sure there was anything wrong with the worlds anymore.

What Yuki was finding even more strange to her was how normal it seemed to see a school building in front of them. She could remember X's words when they had first come to the Realm of Darkness while still part of the organization they now fought. And it seemed appropriate that they would find a school in what X had so kindly called hell.

The school might have been deteriorating, and look a little worse for wear, but it wasn't too far off from the school building Yuki was used to on Destiny Islands. From what Yuki could see there were three floors, cracked windows on everyone with ivy trailing up the walls. The front doors hung crooked on their hinges, leaving the entrance almost too easy to access. Yuki sighed, blowing the hair from her eyes.

"Y, let's get this over with," Yuki said. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears. More demanding and harsh than she had ever been before. She was unsurprised by the way Y rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

"Right," she said, walking ahead at an easy pace. "Please follow me. One Light's remnant coming right up."

Y led them into the school, which was of no surprise to Yuki. There was no where else for them to go. Y paid no mind to the twists and turns of the hallways, moving almost on autopilot. Yuki didn't have to be in Y's head to know she was trapped in her own thoughts. And Yuki couldn't fully blame her, though there was a certain degree of annoyance paired with the thought. Y had known the goal of the organization for so much longer than the other two had. And she was annoyed that Yuki had kept her own secret. That X still had some kind of secret.

"Is Vanitas really with you?"

Yuki jumped at X's question. she had almost forgotten he was there with how quiet he had been. She glanced over her shoulder at him, ignoring the way Y had tensed. Her footsteps changing from their usual steady light stride to something far less smooth. As if she had stumbled.

"Yeah," Yuki admitted, looking forward again. Her eyes landed on the back of Y's head. The blonde was refusing to look back at her other two companions. Yuki wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "He can only talk if I'm really weak. At least in a way I understand as words."

"Why did Kiu help him?" Y asked. She still didn't turn around. Yuki suspected she wouldn't for some time.

"I'm not sure," Yuki admitted. The idea of helping Vanitas was almost comical to Yuki. He was nothing but rude now. He gave no reason for Yuki to be kind to him. All he seemed to do was cause her trouble and push her to that strange power. But Kiu had never been quite the same as Yuki. "I mean, she did act like he was her friend. Something about her, it was strange."

"Yeah, now that you mention it," X chimed in. "She was odd." Yuki almost looked over her shoulder with a glare but stopped herself. She couldn't blame him for telling the truth. Kiu had been a little too bright for Yuki.

"Why would Xehanort have been interested in her?" Y asked. Yuki immediately found herself frowning as she remembered the way Kiu had been dragged before the shadow of Xehanort in Radiant Gardens. "I mean, I get Kairi. Princess of Pure heart. But what was special about Kiu."

Yuki's mind raced as she tried to think of an answer. Kiu had certainly had a bright heart. And she had showed no fear of the unversed, but that didn't seem like enough to make her a person of interest. All it did was make her seem odd. Or maybe she was just a child from a world where there had only been peace. If she hadn't been taught things were dangerous, why would she ever think them to be?

"Bearer," X muttered, almost to himself. Yuki frowned, glancing over her shoulder,

"What?" She asked. It seemed a strange thing for him to say so suddenly. Who was bearing what?

"That's what Vanitas called her in Radiant Gardens," X said. Yuki frowned and nodded looking forward again. She remembered that strange conversation. Vanitas hadn't been much help then. "Said it was a pain if the bearer was just a kid. But you would serve the same purpose."

"Bearer of what?" Y asked. The question they all seemed to have.

"Not sure," X admitted.

"Are you lying?" Y asked, glaring over her shoulder at X. Yuki wasn't sure if she should be grateful she was looking at him or wish she hadn't.

"You would know apparently," X responded. Yuki watched as Y's face contorted. She opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it was Yuki didn't want to hear it.

"Don't start," Yuki snapped, her glare going between the two. X put up his hands in mock surrender. While annoying in its own right it was better than the way Y turned her glare onto Yuki.

"He's screwing us over by not telling us!" Y snapped.

"I don't care," Y responded, just as much force behind her words as Y had put into hers. Y could only look at Yuki in shock, her eyes wide and mouth slightly hanging open. Yuki took the silence to push forward, maybe then they would stop. "Every time you two fight I get this mixed up feeling of sick joy from Vanitas wanting to watch you suffer and something else that says you two shouldn't fight at all or bad things will happen. I don't care what X is hiding. He doesn't want to hurt you."

"We don't know that," Y insisted, and Yuki had to fight her urge to roll her eyes. X had plenty of opportunities to turn on them by now. And plenty of places that it would have made sense to. He had spent too long actually trying to help them and protect Y even when she spit nothing but venom at him.

"You haven't turned on me yet," X said, almost as if speaking Yuki's thoughts for her.

"What?" Y asked, coming to a halt to turn and fully look at X. Yuki and X both came to a stop as well. X kept his gaze on Y while Yuki turned to look around the hall of the school they were in.

"I told you from the start," X said simply. "If you thought I was going to betray you to betray me first. And you haven't done it. What's your excuse?"

Yuki did her best not to add to the tense stare-off that formed between the two. It was hard to keep her eyes on the windows of the hallway when there was only silence. The heavy type of silence that hung so close that it made it hard to stand straight. The type you could practically feel hanging off your limbs. It wasn't long before Yuki gave up and looked at the twins.

She was surprised to see the look of puzzlement that Y had as she stared at X. Not anger or rage. Just confusion as she tried to find the answer to his question. And X stared back at her, with his most neutral face. No emotion at all.

"I can't," Y finally said.

"Can't?" X echoed. "Or won't?"

"Can't," Y repeated.

"Hm," X stared down Y for a moment after her response. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Y stared back at him calmly. X looked her up and down, his head tilting to the side as he seemed to consider what he saw. "I think you're going to figure it out soon."

"What does that mean?" Y asked.

"It means I made a promise," X said simply, his hands going to rest in his pockets. "And I won't break it."

"To who?" Y asked, her narrowed gaze returning.

"You," X said.

"I don't remember," Y said, crossing her arms. X chuckled and nodded.

"I know," He said. Yuki held in her sigh. Maybe X was trying to egg his sister on. "Let's get moving. We should look for more thoughts on this bearer thing. Anything else weird happen?"

Yuki wasn't sure if she was glad or annoyed X had returned the attention to her. It was good to avoid a big fight between the two, but Yuki wasn't sure what else there could be. Of course, there were always strange things. The voices that sometimes told her what to do, like the one in the world filled with birds. But she wasn't sure she should really mention that.

"Not really," Yuki said, rubbing her shoulder. Y let out a huff as she turned back down the hallway.

"Let's just get the thing," she said, taking the lead again.

Y led them to the third floor of the school building, and to the very end of the hallway. The room looked like it had once been a bathroom, though it had fallen into disrepair along with the rest of the school. Y disappeared into the last stall for just a moment before reappearing with something in her hand. She held it a fair way away from herself, suspicious of whatever it was. She wasted no time handing it off to Yuki.

"I'm not sure I want to know what this is," Y admitted.

Yuki took a moment to look over it, her eyes landing on the small piece of paper stuck to the rock. It had some kind of symbol Yuki couldn't understand drawn onto it.

"Space rock," Yuki said calmly, as she continued turning it over in her hand. She paused, as the silent stares of the twins slowly made her come to a realization. "I, don't know why I knew that."

"So, guess that's kinda weird," X said.

"You knew about the boy in the city with the birds," Y said, adding on though she was giving X a nervous look. X nodded to Y briefly, keeping his eyes on Yuki.

"And the reflection of the last world," he added.

"Right," Yuki agreed. She frowned as she looked down at the rock in her hands. It was almost by second nature when she began to feel the remnants of life the rock contained. She felt her gut sink as more and more feelings come to her. He carried so much. Had so much to live for. "This poor boy."

"That bad?" X asked, his head tilting to the side.

"I can't even explain," Yuki said. Her heart was filling with his pain. The things he carried. The hurt he had to hide, pretend wasn't there. "He gave this up, his only hope. Made up his mind to never move on. And kept that promise."

All she could think was how wrong it was. What it led to. All his sacrifices. Why he had to sacrifice it all. The other heart that clung so closely to his own.

"Oh," Y said.

"Let's find the heart," Yuki said, tearing herself away from the rock and all that came with it.

"Yeah," X said with a nod. He turned around and began walking out of the room. "It's this way."

Yuki did her best to follow X without her mind straying to the rock in her hand. It was hard to stay focused though, with the things she was feeling. It was all too much. So similar and yet so different. It had to be different. Yuki pushed it from her mind, over and over, instead looking to the halls of the school X guided them through.

They made it to the schools library before X stopped. He frowned, looking around the room with his hands in his pockets. Yuki watched his eyes scan over the walls and bookshelves left in disarray. Yuki wasn't sure what it was he was looking for exactly. His eyes came to rest on a back wall, his frown growing deeper.

"Looking at a secret entrance," he said.

"Ok, so how do we open it?" Yuki asked, crossing her arms. X shrugged in response, turning away from the spot of the wall he had been staring at.

"No idea," he said.

A world of seven wonders.

Yuki jumped, the now familiar voice sounding all around her.

"Huh?" she said, mostly to herself. It was still such a strange voice, definitely not Vanitas. His dark tone was easy to distinguish, and she had learned his vocal tics and individualities. Like the way he sneered when explaining things, and always had a taunt ready for her. This voice had none of that. She couldn't discern if it might have been a male or female voice. And she wasn't even sure it was one voice. It sounded like one, but at the same time, she heard what could be hundreds of voices stacked on top of each other. All the same and yet still different. The same voice she had heard in the world with birds.

"Something wrong?" Y asked, pulling Yuki from her thoughts. Yuki shook her head, trying to bring her focus onto the situation again. Part of her wanted to mention the voice. It certainly counted as weird.

"No, it's fine," Yuki said, instead of trying to explain how she heard voices. She glanced around the library. Books were falling off the shelves, some open on the floor and others barely clinging to the shelves they sat on. Others still rested where they should be.

A world of seven wonders, huh? Twilight Town had seven wonders, but it seemed odd to mention Twilight Town now. So maybe that sort of wonder wasn't reserved for Twilight Town alone. Maybe this world had the same thing. But, there would be no way to tell without the inhabitants. Unless, one of the books had a story.

"Um, maybe we should check some of the books?" Yuki suggested. Y and X looked at her, both with a raised brow. "Like, a secret book to pull that'll open a door?"

For a moment Yuki could feel the eyes of the twins on her. Y was the first to look away from Yuki, giving a shrug and walking away towards a bookshelf. She carelessly started pulling books off the shelf, the clatter making it hard to think. X stared at Yuki a moment longer, his purple eyes narrowed and searching her in the way that made Yuki think he might be able to read minds. She could only offer him a nervous smile and a  shrug.

"Worth a try," he decided after a moment and turned to start pulling books off a different shelf.

Yuki let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She turned her back on the twins, though the action made her anxious. Who knew what they would do when she wasn't looking. But now wasn't the time to focus on that. Hopefully, they would just stay on their own sides of the room.

Yuki skimmed over the books on her side of the room. With any luck, she would be in the section that had the information she needed. She didn't think she would be able to explain why she was going through the books Y had thrown to the floor. Each title she skimmed over had little to do with wonders. In fact, it looked like she was in a section of ghost stories. She pulled on each book, as if she was actually searching for a lever.

She came to a stop, her hand resting over just the book she needed. The Seven Wonders of Komome Academy.

Yuki quickly pulled the book from the shelf and skimmed over its contents. The school was said to have seven wonders, the most interesting of its ghost stories, which there were plenty of. A timekeeper associated with some old clock. A set of stairs with several nasty deaths associated with it. A mirror that would pull you in. And a library.

Yuki stopped on the chapter, glancing around her. X and Y were still busy, it didn't look like either had noticed her stopping to read. Yuki turned her attention back to the page. The fifth wonder, known as the Four O'clock Library. Yuki didn't care to know what was so special about the library, the name was enough of a clue.

"Guys, is there a clock in here?" Yuki asked. She heard the rustling noise stop, and one last book hit the ground.

"Uh, yeah? Why?" Y called out. Yuki turned to face Y. She was standing staring at a point on the wall Yuki couldn't see hidden behind bookshelves. X had stopped where he was, watching Yuki in interest.

"What time does it say?" Yuki asked.

"It's spinning," Y answered. Her eyes flickered over to Yuki before returning to the clock. "Doesn't seem to know."

"Try to get it to stop on four o'clock," Yuki said. Y shot Yuki a look of concern before she shrugged, her attention again returning to the clock. She made a move as if rolling up invisible sleeves watching as the clock spun around and around.

"Stop!"

As soon as Y had spoken there was a loud creaking noise. Yuki turned to see a door nestled in between two bookshelves as if it had always been there. X calmly walked over to the door, pushing it open and peeking inside. After a moment spent looking around he looked back into the library over at Yuki.

"You picked a good book," he remarked. Yuki only smiled nervously.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess so."

X led the way through what seemed to be just another library. This one hadn't fallen into disrepair as the other had. The books still lined the shelves neatly. All of the books looked the same, the same black binding with names written down the spine. It was unnerving to look at, so Yuki choose not to. Every so often on the wall, there would be a lantern, Yuki counted them as they walked deeper and deeper into the library.

X came to a sudden halt, turning to look at a wall. There was a hole opened up, like a cave. Not neat and made of brick like the rest of the library. It was just a tunnel that had been dug and nothing had been done with. There was hardly any light coming from within. It would be difficult to manage. X didn't seem to think much of it, however. He soundlessly led the way into the tunnel. Yuki and Y exchanged a glance before following X.

The tunnel was luckily larger than it had first seemed. The three of them managed to slip through without having to crouch. Yuki barely so but it was still possible. The tunnel opened up at the end to a cavern sort of room, with at least enough room to move. All the light seemed to come from a single lantern and the glittering of a pile of crystals at the far end.

Sitting at the edge of a table covered in gems was Arykii. Her arms were crossed as her dark eyes looked over the trio. Yuki had always been unnerved by just how dark her eyes were. Black without any light. They were lifeless, like Arykii had died long ago and it was just a puppet walking in her place. It was even easier to believe with her quiet voice.

"Here to return the rock I suppose?" she asked. As Yuki remembered, her voice was monotone.

"We have to," Yuki replied, stepping to stand in front of X. He was staring at Arykii with a narrowed gaze. Almost as if he was searching for something.

"No, you don't," Arykii said simply. Her eyes flickered to X for a moment, raising her brows in challenge before her attention returned to Yuki. "But you will. Can you tell me about the boys?"

"Boys?" Y echoed. Yuki felt her gaze on her, but she didn't react. Her lips pressed into a thin line. She had been so distracted by the strange library she had been able to forget the feelings that now came back to her. Now all she could feel was the crushing fear and guilt.

"The boy who found the rock and his twin," Arykii said. Yuki's gut sank. She had thought as much, but she had hoped she was wrong. They couldn't be twins.

"Twin?" X asked. Now she could feel the eyes of both X and Y. She shifted nervously, her eyes going to the rock held in her hand. It looked so simple. And it carried far too much.

"I don't know," Yuki said. She didn't want to tell the story. She knew why Arykii was pressing it. Twins that were so close and so different.

" A lie," Arykii said. Yuki flinched at her words. "Please, tell their story."

"I won't," Yuki said. She couldn't stomach it. Exactly what had happened. She wasn't even sure she knew. The boy, his heart was so conflicted. He was so young. Did he even know what had happened? What he had done?

"You know it though?" Y asked softly. Yuki swallowed and nodded. She looked up, forcing her eyes to meet with Arykii. The calm darkness of her eyes met her. Slowly Arykii looked to X, then to Y and finally came to rest on the rock in Yuki's hand.

"X and Y are nothing like them," Yuki said, her voice shaking. Arykii raised her gaze to meet Yuki's again. "Neither of them would do that to the other!"

"Can you say for sure?" Arykii asked. Yuki stopped, her breath catching. Before she would have been certain. But now. Now it seemed they were moments away from something so close to what these boys had been through. They pushed each other, waiting for just the right thing to send the other spiralling. "After all, I know he's killed her."

Yuki glared, and beside her X tensed. Yuki couldn't blame him. She doubted he wanted to remember the things he had done. It was an odd choice of words though. Killed. It might have seemed that way in the moment. But Y was still here. Even if she had been changed.

"Kirai..."

X breathed out the name so softly Yuki almost hadn't heard him. She almost did a double take, but the expression on Arykii's face stopped her. The usual stoic expression faded into a soft smile. Her dark gaze was locked onto X.

"It's been so long," she said simply. "Please, let me rest."

She flicked her wrist, the brass knuckles she used appearing around her hands with no more sound. Before Yuki could think to draw her keyblades X darted past her, daggers at the ready. The room was too small for a real fight. Yuki grabbed Y and pulled her back into the entryway. Their keys wouldn't be usable in such a tight space. they would only get in the way.

Yuki and Y watched in silence as X moved with easy grace. His strikes were fast, but seemed to lack the usual strength. And Arykii moved with the same sort of grace, as if knowing exactly where X was going to strike her. Yuki could only think of the Heartless that had belonged to Arykii. Leopardus, a great leopard. Arykii matched the Heartless well, both in grace and the freckles that covered her skin like spots.

It was after several missed blows and light hits X knocked her down. He made a motion with his hand Yuki didn't understand but Y did. She drew her keyblade and held it at the ready, letting X knock Arykii back into it.

Yuki shuddered at the gasp that left the blue-haired Heartless. Y banished her key and Arykii slumped to the ground. The familiar black smoke began to rise off her skin as she coughed.

"Rest," X said calmly as he approached her. "You deserve it." Arykii chuckled a little, looking up at X. Yuki couldn't see her face. She could only see X as he looked down on Arykii sadly.

"Thank you, Takiko."

Yuki held in her shock as Arykii faded. She glanced at Y, unsurprised by the look of confusion on her face. Y stepped forward, standing in front of her brother. He looked at her slowly, head tilted to the side.

"Again, Takiko?" she asked.

X didn't respond. He turned away from Y and looked at Yuki. With a slight tilt of his head, he nodded to the table where the glittering gems sat. Yuki nodded as she stepped around the twins. She gently placed the rock among the others on the table, clearly showing the symbol displayed.

Summoning her key she pointed it at the rock, not moving as the gold chains surrounded the rocks and her mind filled with the memories of the world. She said nothing as she watched the twin boys the other Heartless had been so set on them knowing. Even in death it felt wrong.