The Chasers: The Key to Memories Past

[Reno]

Tensai stared blankly at his hand were the keyblade had disappeared. One word had whispered through his mind besides the name...

His eyes darkened.

The wolf on top of Xion disappeared as the blades came down to pin her. She struggled on the floor screaming as she was pinned then her eyes widened, seeing what Namine was up to. "No! NOOO!!" As the ball started to light up the sky with pure light she knew it was over - She'd be turned back into her Somebody and be locked away forever!

The mastership would be gone from her hands permanently.

She screamed wordlessly as the lights came down -

Then there was a dark beam of energy that flew up and smashed into the blitz ball. Faster than lightning the streams of light turned black like that of heart full of darkness and it split into ten, smashing in the blades and destroying them on impact.

The Chasers stared blankly up at where the magic had started before their slowly slowly turned, looks all full of disbelief at the one who had shot the magic off in the first place. His face was hidden behind black strands, but they could see the smile - no the smirk - gracing his features. In his hands, pointed upwards, was Faber Horologia.

"Tensai, what the hell are you doing?!" Lucina cried.

Her words made him chuckle... that slowly grew into a haunting laugh and his eyes rose to meet hers. She stepped back, gasping in shock at the yellow glow in them. No!

"Tensai!" Aqua snapped moving forward but-

"Stop." He snapped and blue light flew out, hitting all the Chasers at once and each of them, even Roxel, was frozen. All the angels he could not see stopped as well though they were not frozen by magic but the gravity of the situation. They seemed frozen in shock.

Tensai turned and looked at the Nobody who was sitting up, looking at him suspiciously. He walked towards her before stopping a respectful distance away. He bowed low to her suddenly. "I wish to join you Xion." Terra's lips pulled back suddenly, revealing rows of sharp teeth and he started to growl. Sora landed on the railing and made a motion towards the brunette, and he strangely quieted.

"Is that so?" She said suddenly, standing up and looking back at the now yellow-eyed boy. She held out her hand, the Kingdom Key appearing but its presence did not make him flinch. She started to walk around him like a cat circling its prey. She grinned a little. "Well there is darkness filling you hearts now, I can trust your word. But what is your angle? How does this benefit you?"

"You are stronger than Zeus." He said plainly, eyes steady and unwavering. "I am not. I wish for my Mother to be free of his reign."
"What of your mothers now?"
Tensai barked a laugh, as if that was a ridiculous notion. "Why would I want such useless fake mothers when I can have a real one?"

Aqua, even frozen, felt the pain in her heart from those words. Darkness or not... Tensai had never said anything so cruel.

"That is all you wish for?"
"No. You can break bonds, correct?"
"I am sure it is manageable."
"After we are finished, break the bond I have with Roxel. I do not wish for a lover so pathetic."

She thought too soon.

Xion stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Will that not kill him?"
Tensai shrugged uncaring, throwing a look towards Roxel, his face set in a sneer. "All he cries about these days are for his parents anyways. It will be of no loss. As you said, he is just nothing made of nothing."
"Why wait? I could do it now?"
"No." The teen stated determinedly before turning his head, his smile still laced with cruelty. "Think of it. When we change the universe to darkness these 'Chasers' will get to see just how worthless their actions were. They will get to face ultimate humility as there failure spreads across the universe. It is... a fitting revenge."

She seemed to consider his words, before she smiled and nodded. "Yes... Yes I see! It is perfect." She turned and started to walk towards the doors before stopping. "Oh, but Tensai?"
"Yes?"
"You must prove your loyalty to me in one single act."
"What must I do?"
She pointed to Roxel. "His keyblade. Destroy it." She looked back, her smile cruel. "We can not allow them to follow after all."
The black-haired teen did not pause to think, bowing once more. "As you wish Xion." He straightened then made his way over to Roxel staring deep into his eyes. They were still a normal shade of green and blue and in their depths was emotion, pleading. 'Ten-chan,' They seemed to say 'Please don't do this! I love you!'

Tensai snorted in disgust and plunged his blade into Roxel's chest. Even motionless his body jerked... and then Bond of flames appeared beside him. He yanked his blade from him, not a drop of blood in sight from his action. Rather than whisking the blade away to the vault like he had every other keyblade he saw as a beautiful peace of work, he struck right through Bond with Faber.

There was a screech, and the beautiful blade that held so much love and meaning to so many snapped in half then excploded in a vicious light, screaming into the air. He turned his back to her, looking at Xion. "Was that satisfactory my queen?"

Rather than answering, the doors to Kingdom Hearts started to open once more. She smirked and turned, walking towards them. "Come." Tensai, like a good dog, was right at her heels.

The green fox barked in alarm, flying for the doors and pushing her head on the door, trying to push them closed again. Her wings beat hard with her effort until her master's call forced her to freeze.

"Invidia! ...You must let them go." Sora ordered. There was a whimper before she flew to the man's side, her wings folding against her back. "We must let what must happen, happen. You know that."

The crystal bridge rebuilt itself, but this time, no wind came to close the door, no earth or fire to break the path. The angels and Chasers all stood silently, the seen and unseen, watching as Xion and Tensai ascended to the New World.

The doors shut and their was a resounding click. The stop spell broke.

OOC: By the way, Sora knows that is really going on and Tensai being in the dark shouldn't effect Roxel, I'll explain why when I get on

[Rikugurl]

OOC: TAT!! NO TENSAAAAAAAAAAI!! EPIC!

Everyone watched in hope that Namine's true spell would force Xion back to her Somebody, breaking her bond with the Mastership. They could only hope though that her Somebody was A LOT nicer than her Nobody. The light almost hit before---

"WHAT!?" Namine cried as she saw her blitzball suddenly become black...so black that it was chilling to her heart. And then it exploded, shattering the weapons pinning the evil one down. Gunnar winced suddenly, his chest giving him a shot of pain as the blades lay broken on the alter bricks. They had been broken many times but it was the Darkness... that broke the spell completely.
Everyone's mouth dropped as the black ray came from... their side.

Green and blue eyes turned slowly, looking to his lover by his side. At first, Tensai's hair was in his eyes but when the teen looked up, they were not their beautiful sunset color that gained him his second name. No... they were a cold, lifeless yellow of a Heartless. "TEN-CHAN!" He called at the same time as Aqua but he was stopped. Gunnar was stopped in the middle of a growl, Olette in the middle of a gasp and Namine in the middle of disbelief. Fujin...looked torn as Sammy was shocked.

Even if they were frozen in time, they were still all very much there. As Tensai started to speak to the Master Nobody, Gunnar only had hate in his heart. It was no wonder he didn't turn into a Heartless. Maybe it was the spell itself that kept him from splitting himself. I fucking knew we shouldn't of trusted this asshole! I FUCKING KNEW IT!
At Ten's words however, an eye would of watered if it could...hearing the cruel words from her adopted son. S-she was a good mother...right? N-no... this is the Darkness speaking. It....must be.

Roxel...of all of them, felt the worst. His best friend...his lover....his LIFE...betraying them? W-why was he...doing this? What he didn't realize was that Darkness...should of taken over him as well since he and Tensai were connected. It had happened to Riku and Sora, Ven and Terra. When one fell, the other would follow. Of course, Roxel had no idea how that would feel...but if he knew...he should of known there was something....wrong.

Maybe it was a good thing that his big mouth was halted.

Exotic green eyes widened when Tensai turned and walked to Roxel, seeing his son suddenly get impaled, jerking as if it had really been a stab to the chest. "N-NOOOOO!! ROXEL!" Roxas suddenly pulled the redhead back without a word...but then Bonds...shattered.
"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!" A cry of rage and...hurt was yelled, making the other Savior pet to yip angrily, his wings flapping.

Even frozen, Roxel's expression changed. He felt....empty...so empty and....cold. His parent's emblem....gone....shattered by the one he loved. Why...why was Tensai doing this...?

When the boy turned and started to walk up the stairs, Blue eyes narrowed but he halted as well as his brother spoke before landing next to the wolf. "This isn't fucking happening....our son.....Fuck."

Then...the spell was broken.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Roxel was the first to cry, running across the alter and up the crystallized stairs, his fist slamming into the doors but they would not give. He started to pound on them, tears running down his face. "TENSAI! NOOOOOO!! TENSAI PLEASE! PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE TEN! PLEEEEEEEEASE!" He cried, screamed until his voice became choked.

The rest of them...just stood there in disbelief of what had happened. Fuu...her tears came before her eyes closed, looking down at the floor. There was...nothing they could do now.

Namine fell to the ground in defeat. Tensai was a powerful keyblader with a powerful element. They should of know that if were to fall....it would be terrible but...now that they were both in Kingdom Heats. Dear Zeus, save them.

Even Olette's chipper and optimistic personality seemed to be crushed as she looked down, leaning closer to Seifer. This was....horrible...What had turned Tensai so quickly? Was it the keyblade? Did it poison him or something?

Sammy frowned as he looked around, seeing the Saviors and souls backing off...and the words Sora had spoken. Something was...
"Have faith in him..." He said softly, knowing that only Lucina...and the Saviors could hear him.

[Reno]

Hands reached out, drawing the crying silverette close and hugging her tight. Tears dripped down his face as well, the unexpected blow having been hard even for her to take. How could he...? They had always been there for him!

The power of the moon was missing, so golden eyes dared to open. They stared silently up at the heart-shaped rock - but it caused no reaction within him. When Kingdom Hearts was active, the moon held no power. He stepped around the others carefully to go and comfort the strawberry blonde.

Seifer ground his teeth, holding his wife close, pissed off but helpless. What the fuck was going to happen now? Had all their efforts really been for nothing? Had anything even been worth it?

Mako eyes just silently stared, hearing his ranting and furious lover beside him. His own eyes, while definitely UNHAPPY, about being betrayed by someone 'close' - AGAIN - there was just an element missing.

Sapphire eyes became sad at the cries of his son, looking up the bridge at where he valiantly banged on the unmovable doors. Not even they were allowed inside. "Roxel..."

The large beast snarled again before his body glowed and changed, and suddenly he was back in human form, the shadow of the wolf stretched behind him. "The fuck is he thinking?!"

At Sammy's words the spirits glancing at him - only Sora smiled. Lucina looked up at him, asking hopefully, "Do you know... what is going to happen?" The man disappointed her by shaking his head and her heart seemed to fall some.

The second tallest scoffed at the boy's words and looked away. "What the fuck was the point of us coming down here anyways!?"

"There was a huge point!" The lightest of them all said confidently, white wings fluttering. "I had to tell him what to do!"

"You WHAT?!" More than one soul cried. It made Sora step back some at the power of it, nearly running into the new soul with silver hair who had appeared behind him.

Roxas' wings flapped in fury. "What the hell were you thinking?! Look at what your damn son did to mine!"

"I am. But I am concentrating on what he did not do." The brunette spoke wisely and just as he did, Kadaj put the pieces together.

"Why did Roxel not change as well?" The man spoke. interrupting everyone's emotional crisis with his logic. Even those he could not see were staring at him. And then slowly all eyes turned towards the teen standing in front of the doors, crying helplessly... but still himself.

He was still alive, so they were still connected.

"What the hell does that mean...?" Seifer growled. No one could answer. None of them were really sure.

Except one. "I told you all, that when I died the Keyblade told my soul of an incredible change; you know it is against the rules for souls to share knowledge of the future as it can jeopardize it. Not even those so close they nearly are me." Sora gave an apologetic glance to each of them, especially his brothers and Riku. "It is happening now. Have hope and believe in us. Bad things must happen for the good to appear."

[Rikugurl]

Sammy's eyes shifted as he looked at the souls who spoke. What were they talking about? Whatever it was...if Sora seemed to know what was going on...and didn't seem very upset about it, he could only bring his lover close, holding her tightly. "It's going to be alright." Though not fond of Saviors... he had to trust them...

Gunnar growled again but he looked back at Kadaj. The gears in his head were working slow but he slowly looked up at the doors, seeing Roxel fall to his knees, sobbing. Go figure... it had to be one of those assholes they fucked up everything. They almost HAD her! He knew they should of gotten rid of them when they had the---"OOFF!!" He winced when he was elbowed, looking at Kadaj before sighing. He was sure his lover knew what he was thinking from his emotions.

Namine shook her head as she let the tears fall... but something else fell as well. Something... warm and caring. Her hazel eyes looked up through the water gathering, seeing Sanyi with his golden eyes wide open. She supposed... he was ok now. At Kadaj's statement though, she looked up, noticing that he was right. Roxel HADN'T changed.
Her brows pinched as she bit her lip, trying to figure it out. Him and Roxel were connected. Roxel SHOULD of fallen when Tensai did and...

She snapped her finger and stumbled and she quickly tried to get to her feet, Sanyi helping. "He didn't change because Tensai...is using a trick!"
"Don't be stupid, Namine!" Gunnar barked. "Why would he destroy Bonds if he was just tricking us!?"
"So that Xion wouldn't think it was a trick, asshole!"
"WELL---"

"ENOUGH!" Fuu barked at both of them before looking up at Roxel... and then the moon. Kingdom Hearts was changing... becoming darker.

"P-please Tensai...." Frail fingers pressed up against the cold doors of the Kingdom, tears falling down his face fast. "I-I love you....I...I can't feel you anymore. P-please come out....PLEASE!"

[Reno]

The slim form of the blonde haired woman leaned against her spiritual lover, doing her best to believe in him. She did not know how he knew what he did... but he was rarely wrong.

Blue eyes studied the moon silently, feeling the darkness that was starting to come over The World That Never Was. And the moon of Kingdom Hearts was slowly turning black. It did not feel like he was trying to trick her... it felt like he was trying to help her. And once the universe turned dark, it could be centuries for light to ever come back. There would be so much pain, so much destruction and death. They would probably not even see again in this lifetime - their children and grandchildren probably would not. It was-

Beepbeepbeepbeep!

Some of the Chasers jumped and turned to look at Seifer. He was pulling back his sleeve and looked at the watch on his wrist that Ven had designed. It had a dual purpose - to search out worlds too small for the main computer to quickly detect, and for the maintenance on the ship to be on hand at all times even when they were landed. He pressed a few buttons, then his eyes went wide.

"What is it daddy?" Lucina asked, worried.

"....Our keyblade count is going down." The man sounded horrified. The rest of the Chasers felt sick. They had been over 10,000. After all their work...

Blue eyes just stared at the numbers that were rapidly going down, the counter almost seeming on the fritz it was moving so fast. He wife looked over his shoulder watching as well.

6,000......5,000......

4,000......3,000.....

2,000......1,000...............

................................

0.

"They're gone." The dumbstruck pilot announced his arm falling to his side.

Where had they all...?

Before they could even thing about it, Kingdom Hearts started to rumble, the moon started to crack and the bridge was going to-

"ROXEL GET OFF OF THERE!" Aqua called.

[Rikugurl]

Namine bit her lip as the others around her were trying to debate if they should listen to her or not but it was Seifer's watch that made them all jump a mile, all sorts of eye color looking over to him as he fiddled with the gadget. Olette's eyes went wide when he announce the horrifying news. She quickly looked over his shoulder... but it was true. The keyblades...were all....gone.


"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!" A little cub ran around the ship as tons of alarms and sirens started to go off, making his ears hurt nad putting him into panic. Something was wrong! BUT WHAT!? And how could he make this awful noise stop!?
His big golden eyes looked back, seeing Moxely a bit more calmer as he rushed towards a known door that usually glowed... but it wasn't anymore.


"G-gone...?" Gunnar stuttered, his jaw gaped as he looked at his dad in disbelief. Why....how.....

"WHAAAAAAAAT!? YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!? ALL GONE!? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?" Ventus suddenly cried, gripping his blonde hair and trashing about. "NOOOOOOO!! IT CAN'T BE----" Blue glowing eyes widened as the heart started to rumble and Sora gave them a nod, slowly everyone fading away.

Sammy saw the Saviors and souls leave before frowning. "Maybe we should get out of here..."

At Aqua's call though, Roxel only shook his head. "NO! NEVER! I'LL NEVER LEAVE UNTIL TEN-CHAN COMES OUT!" He called, sobbing more. "I...I promised to protect him....no matter what..."

[Reno]

The green fox sat in front of the door, whimpering up at it, voice lost under the noise. This weapons leaving made him worry about his master... was Tensai okay? He should of followed them!

He jumped up, bracing his front paws on the wall and stretching one up, hitting a button. The loud noises stopped.

But the outline of the door was gone now, nothing in its place except the normal darkness that seeped into cracks.


Aqua grit her teeth and broke away from the group, jumping onto the shaky bridge fearlessly. "Fucking hell Roxel!" She gripped onto the back of his collar and with a powerful yank started dragged him back to the altar. He struggled all the way, screaming.

"We got to get out of here!" Lucina cried, passing off Sammy's message.
"Then start moving damn it!" Aqua snapped as she struggled with the teen, throwing him onto the altar floor and landing beside him just as the bridge shattered.

Maybe he was feeling helpful, or maybe it was just furious revenge, but Gunnar came over and did them all a favor by knocking Roxel out. The rockstar slumped to the ground, out cold. Getting him to carry him however, well that took some yelling from both his parents.

Some of them gave one last looked to the moon that was breaking apart before they started to run right back down the stairs, through the large room they had fought Kuku at, down the ramps that Ansem the Wise had sacrificed himself at. Once they reached the balcony they all jumped from the first level to the lower level they had first spotted Xion at once more, Fujin assisting some of them from landing too hard with her wind. Then it was out the door, down the stairs and into the elevator that allowed them all to catch their breath.

When they reached the ground floor they ran for the front door-

And froze when the bridge that connected the castle to the city was gone. There was no longer a way back...

"Fuck!" Lucina snapped for them all. She'd have to pay into her own swear jar.
"We're not dying here. Sammy help me out!" Aqua snapped before she took the lead and pointed her spear forward. torrents of water started to erupt from one side to the other and Sammy, remembering the trick they had used while fighting Terra, quickly froze it.

The distance was too long for any of them to jump, so no one had a choice but to go down it. Their negotiator made invisible wind barriers on either side to make sure that no one would fall off. Gunnar, even with the extra weight, slid down easier than anyone sans Kadaj and Aqua herself.

They reached the city with ease and glanced back, seeing the moon was gone, it's pieces having fallen to the dark; the tower was crumpling under an invisible weight. With a sharp order they all moved through town, wary of the buildings that shook around them. The world was breaking apart just like Lincintia had when the heart was broken.

But The World that Never Was... never meant to exist in the first place. Only Kingdom Hearts had even tied it to life but now...

The ship came into sight and they were quick to pile inside, Seifer flopping in his seat and flipping on the controls quickly. And the rest of them just stood there, unsure of what to do as the ship rumbled reassuringly and started to take them up in the atmosphere, some of them looking out the windows to watch the world below disappear.

And the angry thought that still came to them all was: How could Tensai do this?

[Rikugurl]

Gunnar huffed a bit as he rushed inside the ship, just wanting to throw Roxel out the window. Why did he have to come too? He, instead, rested him in Ven's old chair in the Research room as the whole ship became unsteady. He wasn't worried though...his dad had gotten them out of worse situations. He went back to the main hall where everyone was looking outside while some couldn't bare to and were just holding on for dear life.

"Tensai..." She couldn't believe this was happening. The boy she kind of grew up with.... gone? He....he couldn't be....
Hazel eyes closed as she took a soft breath, her hands cupping over her heart as she tried to concentrate.

Tensai....? Are you there....?

Fuu gripped on the back of Seifer's chair as Olette gripped onto the back of Lucina's as the two started to pull the ship away from the crumbling world. If Roxel was still wake... this would probably be his worst nightmare. No only was Tensai gone... but so was where his parents first met...and made their first home. All the Nobodies... the Heartless....gone.

The silverette frowned as she looked around, seeing Aqua at the window next to Sammy before she carefully made it across the main room and into the dark Research room, gripping onto the chair Roxel was slumped in. A hand reached down, running a cool finger across the boy's cheek.

Sammy shook his head when Aqua asked if he could see anything. Nothing. Nothing at all and as they were getting further and further away, it became impossible to tell anymore if he could see anything or not. This wasn't good... They couldn't lose Tensai...

"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!" Jax called as the ship started trembling and he jumped, his fluffy tail catching some buttons on the keypad and majickally made it open. There was a hard thrust and the little cub went flying into the full grown lion fox, making them both tumble into the Keyblade Chamber.

[Reno]

A Beserker slumped into a chair in the dining room, his legs weak as he looked towards Miss Namine but he felt hurt and confused as well. He had not been in this team for long, nor did he understand the total implications of what Tensai had just done, but he knew whatever just happened was terrible. Nor could he figure how... Ten had become so cruel. He... his initial personality did not imply such a atrocious feeling.

For the princess of heart... there was only silence in her mind.

Seifer nor Lucina spoke much, neither of them worried about getting out of the world in time. They knew they would.

But what did it matter anymore? The keyblades were gone. Xion had won. And now it felt like their was no hope for a normal life. Who knew that life would be like, now that it would be ruled by darkness.

The blue-haired woman was silent as Sammy wordlessly answered her question and her shoulders slumped, hiding her eyes behind her hand. Her son... This was too unbelievable.

"YIIIIIIIP!" Came the barking cry as the fox went tumbling into the room, being pinned by Xio. He growled and shook himself, the lion tumbling off as the lights above automatically came on and revealed a sight that made him bark in confusion. This was not good.

At his noises, someone appeared in the threshold. He turned hopefully, then whimpered in disappointment at not seeing his master but another of his pack. The quiet yet cold one - but he liked him more than his mate as he did not bark insistently at everything.

Glowing eyes noticed the two animals on the floor as he stepped inside than looked around the room that was no no longer magically endless but merely the size of the boiler room. But it was now a mess. He stepped further into the room, his shoes sinking in some mud. He could see pieces of grass and vegetation, some ice and ivy lining up walls, the taste of fresh air...

He looked around and mentally calculated the change in proportions to the room and what the new positions of the keyblades would be had they been so cluttered. He did not know all the blades or positions - even his memory had limits - but he knew the important ones.

He walked around the limited space slowly, hesitating ever now and again. Aero Maxim. There was nothing but the substances of water and dirt and metal pooled in the area. When he found Quicksand he saw fleck of sand however, mixed with... honey? He passed Way to the Dawn, noticing the white feathers.

He paused completely when he found what Ultima's resting spot would of been, seeing an outline of something under a layer of soot. He lent down and picked it up, silently staring at the sword that looked familiar to the one that had been wrapped in metal. The hilt was different, like a rapier sword's. His eyes darted across the room and the sword fell from his hand cluttering loudly as he moved and lent down, picking up something else.

Unbelievable!


The ship was calm, now hovering in space and at current in autopilot. Seifer and Lucina had moved to go into the dining room just when Aqua lost it.

"WELL FUCK!" She snapped, kicked and chair with such force, the wood splinted under her boot.
"Aqua calm down!" Seifer ordered.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN!?" She whirled on him. "I've been fighting for keyblades since I was fucking SIXTEEN! That's FORTY years! In five fucking SECONDS my own god damned SON royally FUCKS US ALL OVER! God even knows where HE is! And you are telling me TOFUCKINGCALMDOWN?!"

From all the yelling the other Chasers, mainly Gunnar and Fujin, headed for the kitchen, standing in the threshold and looked at the heaving woman while Olette tried to comfort her. The leader shook some before falling against the wall burying her head in her hands. If Terra and Ven were here... they'd be so disappointed in her. In Tensai. "Fuck... How could I let this happen?"

"It-" Lucina started to reassure when their last member joined them and cut in with an excited tone.

"Gunnar!" Some of them looked over, even Aqua tiredly raised her head, and watched the silverette hold out... flowers? They were daisies - four of them. Purple, pink, yellow and white. Had the situation been less serious, many of them would of found it cute when the brunette, too shocked to speak, took them. They were somewhat dirty, some of the petals missing as if a great wind had blown them down, but still very much alive. Kadaj looked at Gunnar earnestly, but when the other gave him a confused look he sighed. "Do you not see? It is Innocence's Call!"

Some of them straightened, especially Namine, in total shock.

Innocence's Call... was Kairi's Keyblade.

"There is sand from Quicksand, and feather from Way to Dawn. The sword of Ultima lay down there as well. There is nothing left of Aero Maxim, but I hypothesize it turned into nothing but wind. The keyblades are not just gone, they are gone. Turned back to their natural elements!"

[Rikugurl]

Olette's eyes widened when she heard her leader and frowned, rushing to her side and wrapping her arm around the poor women's shoulders. "Aqua..." She spoke softly, swallowing a bit as the woman leaned on the wall, looking helpless. "Come on... we can't give up now." They couldn't. Her children....she refused for her children to live in Darkness! And if that was the case, she was going to fight until she were to drop dead. Lucina had a wedding...and Gunnar had a dance! They were going to get these things...over her dead body!

Fuu sighed as she heard the yelling, felt the pain and her body became weak. Aqua....wasn't giving up was she? But if she was...she understood. Her wife was right... it had been forty years since she started this mission just for it to be crushed without any say in it. She left Roxel and went to the door frame, looking out at Aqua. She was about to go over when there was a chipper sound in steps coming down the hallway. She looked down to see a man in which had matching colored hair as her....with flowers?

Gunnar had to see what all the commotion was about...especially since it had his dad involved and maybe he could start shouting too since it seemed to be his favorite pastime. However, when he got to the frame of the door, his eyes widened when he didn't just seen an argument but....flowers?
Mako eyes blinked, his expression looking blank yet shocked before he reached up and took the flowers without a thought. In the future, he'd realize what he did and curse himself over and over if he was getting made fun of but her could only raise an eyebrow and tilt his head a bit.

That was when a very famous and familiar keyblade name came to their ears, making Namine whip her head around, looking at the flowers. They were... the same ones that had been on that keyblade. Slowly she walked over to Kadaj and Gunnar, looking at the flowers closely. They were alive... but worn...and old and....
Hazel eyes shifted to look into mako. Natural elements? Before anyone else could say a word, Namine was rushing down the hall and stairs to the Keyblade Chamber.

When she got there, the two pets were growling and nipping eat each other. Namine frowned and pointed down the hallway. "OUT!"
Jax suddenly whimpered, his tail going between his legs before he quickly dash by her, running up the stairs and seeing everyone there. His nose started to wiggle before he yipped, running between Fuu's legs to get to the knocked out singer.

The young woman walked into the room, seeing what Kadaj was talking about. Ventus had told her how the chamber worked when she first joined the team. There was a force that let the keyblades in...but not out. They would be chained down by millions of chains and locked away...but she saw no chains... and the room...was so small compared to how she knew it was suppose to be. But what made her gasp...was the felling. There were no....hearts in this room. Just the life of the pieces that were left.

Sammy's eyes shifted as he looked at the computer which started to beep, so many pop ups, it seemed like the computer would crash. Since Lucina was still in her seat, he quickly took Seifers, trying to click all the pop ups before the whole system shut down from overloading.
Worlds.....worlds were returning...

[Reno]

There was a tiny whimper in the Keyblade room before the fox scuttled out, his belly low to the ground like a pup would be when he was in trouble. He went up the stairs slowly, hearing all the commotion but there was no sound of his master's voice. Where was he?

The beeping in the room drew the Chaser's attention to the monitors and slowly their eyes fell on them as Lucina and Sammy rapidly started to click away the notifications. So many...

"What... in the hell...?" Aqua breathed as she stared at the insanity on the screens. But not just that... but beyond the windshield she could see stars - thousands of them, flying across the sky like they had when she was a teenager.

"I don't believe this!" Luci cried but she sounded happy, reading in passing. Her news made even Gunnar happy for once. "Lincintia is back!" That meant the citizens living in Traverse Town could finally return...

She continued to click, so many names passing that either didn't have one or had been unseen so far. So many and- "Raktus too!"

Blue eyes went wide. That world was very familiar to her - it was where Ven died, where they fought Xehanort. Riku had destroyed it years ago when the two had brought Sora and him down for a fight. She never thought she'd feel happy knowing it was back.

But why?

Before anyone could voice that question they heard a ringing a cellphone in the room and the previous delight blow out of the room like a tornado had hit them. That tone was one they had never had to hear - but always knew the sound of it meant bad news.

Aqua swallowed as she took out her cellphone from her hip bag and opened it. "King Mickey? What's wrong?" She asked fearfully. Mickey had an emergency cellphone, one he told them he would only use if there was a dire situation.

But he told her something that maybe she should have been expected. "Your... keyblade is gone?" She repeated after a time. "Oh, no no I am a little surprised but well... I should explain-"

While she was talking another phone went off, a cheery ring making Olette bounce into action as she grabbed her own phone, too stunned to even try thing of making Seifer jealous as she answered the call from Rufus.


"Hello Olette," Came a soft voice, blue eyes looked out his large window into the town beyond, four gaping Turks surrounding him as they looked out as well. Streams of beautiful green were wafting off the world - lifestream spreading far and wide as land not their before spread far beyond the city, more and more appearing into the horizon was indistinguishable and the ocean could be seen. "I am sorry to just call like this, but I figured this would be interesting data for your records. Ah, yes, and Kadaj should know as well." She asked a question, wondering what he meant. "Well... the planet is returning to itself."

Another question but Rufus smiled then, clarifying for her. "Gaia is connecting all the pieces again. The continents are coming back together."

[Rikugurl]

Sammy's eyes looked up as well, the purple glow becoming brighter as they opened wide. He had never seen so many stars. W-what was going on...?

Everyone's attention shifted to Aqua though as they heard the King's anthem, frowning a bit. Great, now they were in trouble... That's all they---

"Your... keyblade is gone?"

"What!?" Fuu gasped as she heard the news. The keyblader of Darkness had lost his keyblade!? That couldn't be good...could it? Gunnar walked across the way, over to his sister, his lover in tow. He looked out at the stars, smiling softly. Even he had never seen so many...and he was born and raised in space! "This is amazing..." He said softly, some a bit shocked that he could be so quiet.

A cute tone hit their ears suddenly and Olette grinned, knowing Seifer knew that ring tone. She had given Rufus a separate one just to tease her husband.

"Yooooooooooooooo..........." Green eyes widened as he looked out, seeing mountains that he hadn't seen since he was a teen. Man, now that meant that their vacation was CLOSER than ever!

"Hello?" Olette answered happily. She nodded as the other HANDSOME blonde on the other end started to speak but she tilted her head some. "Don't worry~~ But what do you mean by that?" Rusus explained and she smiled suddenly, pulling the phone away and blocking the speaker phone. "GUYS! GAIA IS COMING BACK TOGETHER!"
"REALLY!?" Gunnar cried, smiling as he looked at Kadaj.

Down below, Namine was mixing all the action but that was ok...because she was starting to realize what was happening. The keyblades were gone....for good. Even if that was a great thing...and she knew worlds hearts were coming back together.... it was Tensai...who she was really worried about.

[Reno]

Kadaj glanced back at Olette's happy yell and his eyes widened some. His world was...? He looked at Gunnar, smiling back at him. "That is wonderful news." That meant he could finally see the pieces of his world that ahd been utterly gone - such as Cosmo Canyon, the City of the Ancients, and Junon. If he was brave, Nibelheim.

And he was certain Gunnar would like to see Rocket Town... He;d probably get a kick out of their 'spaceship'.


On the other end, Rufus spoke with Olette for a few more minutes until he heard Seifer grumbling and the phone was suddenly grabbed.
"That's enough!" Came the gruff voice.
"SEI-" The phone cut off. Rufus laughed softly before placing his own away, staring out the window in awe. "Now I believe the Turks favorite vacation spot was Wutai right?" He was certain it was - it had something to do with Turtle Paradise.




The monitors, once a frenzy of noise, were now silent, there screens full of different types of information. One, at the top left in golden colors read this:

Connection 82: Keyblade Count - 0
Previous Count: 7
Connection 83: Keyblade Count - 0
Previous Count: 5

The screen right under it read in red letters:

Origin of Kingdom Hearts
Unfound

The middle screen was blank and at rest, open for transmissions.
Messages: 0

Beside it, at the bottom right, was another search which was finished. It was an old program but not even remotely obsolete. The status for many had changed - and one name was completely new.
Organization XIII
Xemnas: Negative
Xigbar: Negative
Xaldin: Negative
Vexen: Negative
Lexaeus: Negative
Zexion: Negative
Saix: Negative
Axel: Negative
Demyx: Negative
Luxord: Negative
Marluxia: Negative
Larxene: Negative
Roxas: Negative
Xion: Connection Lost


Finally the last screen above that one on the right, was another search still in progress.
Chaser #10: Tensai Tellus
Searching...
Searching...

....Unable to Locate.

An annoyed growl echoed in the research room and a key was clicked.

Chaser #10: Tensai Tellus
Searching...

Footsteps rang on metal and a shadow stretched into the lightless room. "Still nothing?" Came a tired query. The colorful head did not turn around to answer, just made another frustrated groan as 'Unable to Locate' popped up again.

There was a sigh and then The small woman walked up beside the boy, rubbing his shoulder kindly. "Roxel, you've been at it for hours. You need some rest or at least some food." There other started to snarl back at her and she patiently let him get it out of his system. When he was done, she hit him hard. "Hurting yourself hurts Tensai. And that hurts our chances of finding him. So, go get some food and a nap, I'll take over here." She left no room for argument and the teen's shoulders slumped before he arguably left the chair, his feet clonking on the ground hard, walking like the living dead. He was obviously exhausted.

Lucina sighed as she slumped in the worn chair and start to click, three of the searches starting up.

Kingdom Hearts finished first.
Unfound.

Then Tensai's.
Unable to Locate.

And final the Organization's.
Xion: Connection Lost.

She lent back in the chair, rubbing her eyes. "Jesus Ten, where are you?"

It had been three days since the good news had come and gone. Seventy-two hours since they had seen the seventeen year old who eradicated the world of the one thing they all thought was impossible to get rid of completely. He had completed the Chaser mission. They had guessed that Tensai had indeed tricked Xion - though they aren't sure how he managed to turn his eyes yellow nor keep it from affecting Roxel - to get her into Kingdom Hearts. Once there he somehow managed to borrow Xion's power, possibly in a limit break, and instead of changing the outside of the universe, he changed the inside. He changed Kingdom Hearts.

If he was able to move time forward, like he had in the Evil Forest and for Kuku's necklace, then he must of found the power to either move Kingdom Hearts so far into time it stopped existing... or he moved it backwards to when it was never created. Now the Keyblades were gone, and so was Kingdom Hearts.

But at what cost?

What had happened to the two still locked inside?

No one knew where he was, but most of them were determined to find him. Their leader in fact had told them-
"Until Roxel stops breathing I won't stop."

But if, like Kadaj had supposed, Tensai and Xion were both beyond space and time, then they might never find them. Ever.

She shook her head and clicked the button once more and it started the search once again. She knew this was obsessive, but she knew better than to stop before Roxel fell to sleep or else he;d come right back to the computer and keep searching again.

Roxel, while understandably hurting, wasn't the only one torn up at their loss. Aqua and Fujin were taking it hard. Fuu was hardly speaking anymore and just seemed to sit for hours in one spot, staring out at the stars as if hoping a sign of her boy would come to her. Aqua meanwhile, despite seeming to hardly care or even forgot she was a mother half the time, was either in a rage, deeply silent, or just missing completely. Unspoken, Seifer and herself had taken control of the Chasers not really having much of a choice with their acting leader so off.

Then there was the rest of them. She never realized until now - Tensai had been friends to ALL of them. He was part of THEIR family and when they lost him, it hurt them all.

While stronger then most of them, her dad was more pissy. Her mom, over the course of the three days, had become less and less optimistic. They worried her. She herself was just doing her best to stay together - to be strong and pretend like losing a friend didn't hurt.

Moxley would either sulk in the kitchen, whine for hours around the airship at areas his master usually was at - mostly the library - or slept on things that smelt like him. It was shocking how bad the small pet was fairing.

Though he hadn't know him well, Sanyi missed his new brother already. It was the loss you feel before you get to know someone you really wanted to, and suddenly they were just gone. It created ties that never fully formed and left the soul unsettled and hard to cope with. Se had noticed he had also missed his sister, who had died in infancy, the most.

Namine, who looked at Tensai and Roxel as her best friends, was really broken about everything. She had called her mom and dad tons of times to ask them for support and any updates, hoping maybe Tensai would appear on Destiny like he had when he was a baby. Luci had even caught her crying in the kitchen once, Sanyi doing his best to comfort her.

Her fiance missed him too. She had a feeling she knew why. Next to herself, Tensai was the only to disregard any suspicious thoughts about the boy and approach him with honesty when he held his hand out in friendship. He tried to help him write and taught him how to communicate with the rest of them and wanted to be the first to teach him 'guy' things, with Roxel's help (she had a feeling this had to do with Ten's desire to be an older brother). Coping with death was something Sammy easily did, coping with misplacement... well that was harder. It was the unknown that hurt.

Hell even Kadaj, emotionless as he was, was obviously feeling some sort of despair at the events. He'd hardly been given a chance to mourn his brother, nor he'd lost another companion. She hadn't even thought he felt anything at all... until she saw the silverette taking a small pot to his new room to water and take care of (they had cleaned out the old keyblade vault, and that was now where Kadaj and Gunnar were sleeping). The pot was familiar to her - that was where Tensai was growing the new paopu tree.

It was only Xio and her own brother who seemed to not care at all. Xio she could understand, he was still young and hadn't even seemed to notice when Roxas and Axel had left. But Gunnar she couldn't figure at all. They had grown up with Tensai for god's sake and Roxel too - watching the red-blonde haired teen walk around like all the music had left his life was hard enough! But they didn't even know where Tensai was. And yet Gunnar was walking around like nothing had happened. Was he really that pissed at him for betraying them? Or was he just being stupid and was angry cause Tensai did something they didn't think anyone could?

The computer beeped softly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Unable to Locate.

She sighed, clicking the button again.

[Rikugurl]

OOc: Hehehehe, you keep calling Jax 'Xio'.

Three long, drawing and hurtful days. Three days were every hours...every minute....every second....was unknown to them. Where was Tensai? What had happened to the universe? Where had all the keyblades gone? Were they still in harms way? Would they lose Roxel at any given moment? So many questions left unanswered. It grew some crazy at times, cursing Ven for not making his technology stronger than it was now. What did it mean it couldn't find anything? It found everything before...

Flakes of grain hit a ceramic bowl before a box was placed on the counter. The handle to the fridge seemed twice as hard to open and the milk twice as heavy to lift. The cap was pulled off and milk poured into the bowl, over the flakes until it came to the right level before the jug of milk was capped and put away. A drawer was pulled and a metal spoon was picked up. The bowl was taken and long legs skid slowly and cautiously across the floor as a baby cub was at his feet. A chair was pulled away from the table before the bowl was placed down and he plopped onto his butt, just staring at his cereal.

Tensai was gone. The boy he grew up with...was attached to not just by the hip anymore but by the heart. The boy who he spent almost his whole life with... joking, talking, playing... making love. Everything. And how... his whole life was gone. He was angry for the first day, screaming at the top of his lungs because he wanted to stay there... and they had no right to pull him away by knocking him out. The second day wasn't much better. He was tired and worn out, his body aching but he would get random hope during the day...thinking of bizarre ways that Tensai was still out there or where he could be.

Now it was the third day... and if he could commit suicide... he would of. Kadaj had said the words that broke him down to nothing. Tensai...could be lost forever. Forever...was a long time. He didn't know if he could live forever... without Tensai. He didn't even have his parents to support him. They were gone forever too. All that was left was Jax... and he was too small to realize what had happened...though he was whimpering around his feet but it could be because he was hungry too.

The spoon dipped into the cereal lifelessly before the fire head sighed. "Ten-chan..." His eyes closed, already puffy and dry from crying but still tears fell down before he lifted himself off the chair and walked out of the dining area. Jax jumped up on the chair that Roxel had failed to push in and started to scarf down the cereal, milk and all.
Roxel walked down the hallway, having to use the walls to balance him a bit as he made it to the old storage room. He opened the door, seeing the dark room that felt so empty when it use to be filled with so much love...and especially heat.

The door closed behind him, the teen not bothering to turn on the lights as he made his way to their small bed. Moxley was already sleeping on one of the crates, atop one of Tensai's shifts that he had discarded during one of their 'fun times'. "Some protector I am..." He spoke softly before sighing, laying down and just staring at the ceiling. His eyes were heavy, the different colors becoming lidded and his body shutting down before... he felt something poke him in his shoulder blade. The moaned a bit comfortably, shifting in the bed but the jab only moved when he did.

With a sigh, he finally reached back and searched for what was jabbing him when his hands came upon something thin...yet a bit heavy. Especially heavy from how weak he was. Still, he managed to pull the object over his head and his eyes widened, seeing exactly what it was. Tensai's sketchbook. His eyes watered before he gently opened it, turning the pages every ten minutes after he thoroughly examined each unfinished drawing. He got to the last page that Tensai had shown him...before slowly lifting it up to see the last....


A red eye reflected the stars outside. So many. She remembered when she was a little girl...how she wished the stars would just scoop her up and bring her home. Back to her real parents... and for some reason, think that they would be so happy to have their baby girl back. She, unlike Tensai, wasn't enlightened about who her parents even were. Sure it was hard to swallow but...Fujin would give anything to just know...why she was put on that doorstep of the orphanage.

And now, she felt the same way for Tensai. Even if he KNEW that she didn't abandon him... she felt like she did. She abandoned him at the doorstep of Kingdom Hearts...and now he was alone...trapped...and waiting for her to come and rescue him. For the stars to reach down and bring him home.
She let out a sigh before slouching in the chair.


Mako eyes shifted as he laid in bed, looking over at a large pot that he knew would be repotted over and over again until the trees that laid inside grew to their full size. He didn't understand...of all people...why Kadaj would take the pot here. Maybe it gave the very empty and odd room some character... or maybe Kadaj, deep down inside had more ties with the black hair boy than he had.

As for him... he didn't know how to feel. Angry because some asshole had shown him up or sad because... someone who was brave and did the right thing showed him up. He hated Tensai...but with poor reason... and he could never bring himself into saying that Ten or Roxel deserved this. He sighed before glancing to his side where Kadaj was laying, his eyes closed but he knew he wasn't sleeping. "So....where do you think he could be?"


At the door frame of the Research Lab, heavy feet walked through. Lucina probably thought it was Roxel returning so quickly and she was probably about to snap at him before she was halted, gentle hands coming down to her shoulders and started to massage them. "Still nothing, I see...." He spoke softly, obviously very tired as well but he could not rest until his fiance did. His glowing eyes seemed to light up the room a bit as they scanned all the monitors before giving a sigh.

Tensai...was kind of like his grandmother. He taught him everything that he would ever need to know how to survive in the world that he lived in now like she had back then. Of course...he was much younger... but it proved to him to be much more powerful than she. At his age and having the knowledge he had... Tensai was a very powerful being...and if he were to still to become king, Tensai would of been appointed to his royal court. Head or no head.

He looked out the window slightly, seeing all the stars go by. He was taught that all these bits of lights called 'stars' represented a world. They didn't have stars in his home world because their dimension was not of this one. "I wonder...if my home has returned as well...If my mother and father are still alive...It would be nice if they could come to our wedding..."

[Reno]

Blue eyes opened tiredly, looking across the small room that smelt like ash and sand to see Roxel on the bed, flipping through the pad he often saw his master fiddling with. It smelt very strongly of him but he had always been smacked away when the got too close, unknowingly because he could accidentally smear the pages by laying on it.

The pictures had not changed as the artist had not had any time to further draw them - and might never be given the chance again.

So Riku and Sora were still in a dance in an uncompleted room, Ven still exchanging flowers to his brother the blossoms and outlining not yet complete, Kali and Charlie sitting under a skeleton of a tree, Xio and Invidia still sleeping in a blank world, Bonnie still learning from Fran how to use an unknown weapon that would most likely become a bow, and Xipil family still together in the Nexus garden the closest to being finished.

There were others after these pictures, ones that Roxel had been shown after the two stopped making out. After the Xipil family these were even sketchier, ideas hardly together.
A young woman with her hair up in a braid, leaning over many flowers in a room, an outline of a portrait on the wall over her head - Aerith and Zack.
Several figures on the beach, some of them tall, some of them very small, the waves more complete then the people - the Mizushima and Holani parents, their boys, plus Kairi, Tidus, Selphie and Wakka.
A picture of a beautiful woman leaning over what appeared was going to be a crib, her expression content but her body only half finished - Sammy's mother.
A shot of a man sitting on nothing at the top of a page, fingers playing an air guitar it seemed from their position, and further down, leaning against more nothing, was a tall man eyes shut in content - Demyx and Sai.
A picture of three running along a forest in a motion that implied aggression and battle, but from their positions their was an obvious teamwork - Kadaj and his brothers. From some of the jittery and misplaced lines across the page, this was obviously where Roxel had interrupted him.

Then the page was turned and the shot was shown and the rockstar saw a mirror of himself in a perception he had never been able to see. Laying out the bed, seeming at total peace with the world, the teen was fast asleep. His expression was lax, the smile small but tranquil. Across his stomach, sleeping in an adorable way, was Jax. The lines on this shot were darker, as Tensai had already begun to ink some of it, nearer to completing this one than any other in his collection.

Under the picture written in small print, was a title:
My Work of Art.

It was obvious he did not mean the art itself - but the man within it.


Steps echoed in the loud, near silent, ship as a man climbed up into the Weapons room where the room was near as dark as the research room, if it did not have such an open top that let in the beauty of the stars. But the figure slumped in her seat was obvious not admiring them, but feeling their weight of their numbers knowing it would take millions of lifetimes to search them all.

If anyone could understand some of the things she was feeling, he sure could as he'd had to address the similar issues more than once in his life. He sighed softly at the sad sight, walking over to her and sitting down in the other chair. She did not acknowledge him, did not even bother to look up.

"Fujin...?" Seifer asked, but no answer came to him. Not that he expected one. He lent forward, placing his elbows on the console carefully and looked out the window. "There sure are a lot of them, aren't there?" Silence. "It's large too, probably endless."

.................
Was he trying to make her feel better?

He looked at the woman from the corner of his eye and smiled. "And yet, despite it's size we've seen and heard things that should of been impossible. Terra, Aqua and Ven all ran into each other and became friends. Sora just happened to land with his family on Destiny to meet Riku, not to mention finding his brother again. Organization 13 came together from all over. When we fought Rant and Rave they just happened to transport us to a world where we actually had a friend." He shrugged his shoulders. "Fuck, Sammy didn't even come from our dimension and Kadaj just happened to be around when my son fell into that Mako pool and now look at what they're both doing with my kids."

....................

"I'm just saying Fuu, no matter how unlikely things seem, we always seem to get lucky. No, not lucky exactly more..." He sighed, "Maybe Sora had a point with all of his fucking sentimental talk. The bonds our hearts make allow us to stay together. Once Roxas fell on Twilight Town and discovered us, both real and fake, everything was set. We all become connected. Once Tensai was given to Hades, that was set to." The man shut his eyes.

"He'll come back to us Fuu. The trials showed us we are his light and he will be drawn back to us. You need to believe that. We've seen it happen so many times... so it will happen again."


In a room close to the boiler, making the room naturally hotter than most others but not bothering the silver-haired man as his body tended to be below average anyways - tilted his head up when he heard the soft question. "I did not know you cared." He murmured softly. He did not wait for the response, feeling a strike of indignation in his heart.

Glowing eyes locked on another pair. "That was simply payback for not deciding on your emotions. You realize you are very confusing, do you not?" He did not wait for an answer. "On my world, falling into the lifestream often means death as it is such an otherworldly substance. But two have fallen in for extended periods of time and survived; had technology of Ven's existed on my world at the time, I am certain that the readings would be the same. Not dead, just unable to be found. If I had to guess, I would say they are lost in darkness."


Lucina sighed in content when Sammy rubbed her shoulders feeling comforted and glad he was here... but that only made her feel so much worse for Roxel. God... no wonder he was such a wreck.

Her concentration was broken suddenly when she heard the other bring up a topic that made her smile suddenly. "I would love to meet your parents." She said truthfully, then glanced up at the top left screen that had been inactive for days. "If you want... we could try looking for them?"