“D’ya think they’re comin’ from the mansion?” said Goofy, likewise blocking the attacks with his shield.
“We’d better take a look over there first,” Sora agreed as Donald fired a blast of magic.
They headed to the haunted mansion through the wall, fending off Nobodies along the way.
The sea-salt ice cream pops were melting in Naminé’s hands. Riku stood perfectly still, his gaze still piercing Ansem the Wise.
“Roxas…,” Naminé whispered, as if praying to her dear friend for help—and then they felt a presence.
A dark rift opened in the corner of the room.
“More organization…?!” Gripping Soul Eater, Riku took a step toward the portal.
The black-shrouded man who emerged from it had flaming red hair.
“Axel!” Naminé cried.
“Hey.” He was grasping at his chest as he staggered toward Naminé. He glanced up at Riku and summarily bit into the ice cream. “Ooh, salty…,” he mumbled, and then he collapsed into a chair, his breathing labored.
“Axel…are you hurt?” Naminé jumped up, and the rest of the ice cream fell to the floor.
“Don’t worry—it’s no big deal. The bigger deal is that.” He gestured with his chin toward the dark rift. “If you go through there, it’ll take you straight to Kairi. Hurry.”
“Got it. Let’s go, Naminé.” Riku started toward the rift, looking back at her.
“But Axel is…” Naminé’s anxious gaze didn’t stray from him.
“Just gimme your ice cream and get out of here.” Axel took it out of her hand, grinning at her as she stood there. “Get going, will you? Don’t you want to meet Kairi?”
Naminé nodded weakly. A tear slid down her cheek. “What about you?”
“I’ve gotta make sure Sora and his sidekicks get there.”
She reached for Axel’s hand, the one that held the ice cream, and clasped it in her own.
His hand was too cold.
“Thank you, Axel…” She smiled softly at him. “See you.”
He nodded. “See ya, Naminé.”
She returned the gesture, as if making sure, and then dashed toward the dark rift with Riku.
“Well, Ansem? Are you coming?” Riku asked, one foot already sinking into the darkness.
Ansem shook his head. “There are still things I must do here. The same as him.”
Riku fixed him with another stare.
“Go,” said Ansem. “Go and rescue Kairi.”
At his urging, Naminé and Riku finally nodded and vanished one after the other into the corridor.
The two men remaining in the white room each let out a small sigh at nearly the same time, which struck Axel as funny. He laughed under his breath and took a bite of ice cream.
“Do you need help with that?” Ansem asked him, glancing pointedly at his wounded chest.
“What’s the point? Nobodies aren’t supposed to exist, right?” Axel popped the rest of the ice cream in his mouth and dragged himself upright. “Besides, this way I’ll finally get to see Roxas again.”
He tossed away the Popsicle stick and opened another dark rift in front of him.
“Well, I’m off, Ansem the Wise.” He smiled as he made his farewell.
Arriving in Twilight Town, King Mickey took in the scene with a deep, long breath.
He could sense someone here… Many someones.
Sora… Riku, Donald and Goofy, Naminé, Axel…and Ansem the Wise.
What did it mean? What was happening here?
The town had the same scent as Traverse Town once had.
As he began to wonder about that, he caught sight of a Nobody.
“Here, too…?!” King Mickey took it down with his Keyblade and headed for where the others were gathering.
When Sora, Donald, and Goofy finally reached the haunted mansion, the first thing they saw was Hayner, Pence, and Olette sprawled on the ground.
“Hey! Are you guys okay?” Sora rushed to help up Hayner, but he seemed completely drained of strength and only fell backward again, facing the sky.
Donald helped Pence, too, and Goofy did the same for Olette.
“We came here looking for Kairi. And then those silver things attacked us…,” Hayner said with an exasperated sigh.
Donald came over to him. “You gotta be careful!”
“Yeah,” said Sora, “you didn’t have to go and—”
“’Course we did,” Hayner interrupted defensively as he got to his feet. “We have to help our friend.”
“Oh… I didn’t think of it that way. You’re Kairi’s friends, too.”
Hayner nodded forcefully and turned toward the haunted mansion. “Word is, this place is getting a lot of really weird visitors,” he muttered.
Olette ran to his side. “We thought the gateway to an alternate Twilight Town might be here.”
“Alternate Twilight Town?” Sora repeated.
Donald cocked his head. “What’s that mean?”
“Hey, Goofy, could we see that crystal you have?” asked Pence.
From his pocket, Goofy removed the crystal from the purse.
“I made that purse myself, and I still have it,” said Olette, showing them her own. “So there can’t be two. But there are.”
“And this is from the trophy that Seifer gave to Sora. You left it here, remember?” Hayner took out a crystal that had been set in the trophy.
“That trophy’s the only one of its kind,” Pence explained. “Same for the crystals. Red, yellow, green, blue—only one of each color. But you’ve got your own.”
“So, where’d you get those things?” asked Hayner.
“Um…” Sora looked at Goofy.
“The king gave us the purse to buy train tickets,” Goofy said. “And the crystal was inside.”
Donald nodded.
“Right, so there’s gotta be another town out there like this one,” Hayner told them. “That would explain why there’s another of Olette’s purse and another Four-Crystal Trophy. Everything makes sense that way!”
The trio exchanged glances.
Sora was still confused. “What makes sense?”
“Anything missing from here must be in the other Twilight Town,” said Pence.
“Like Kairi!” Olette added.
“Oh! I get it!”
But the moment Sora was persuaded, more Nobodies surged out of the ground.
“Whoa!” Everyone edged back and prepared for another fight—but before it began, someone dashed in to knock the enemies aside.
“Watch out!”
“Your Majesty!” Donald and Goofy both exclaimed. King Mickey slashed through the Nobodies in the blink of an eye and then turned to grin at them.
Donald ran to him. “How come you’re here, Your Majesty?!”
“I’ve got news. I found out where Ansem the Wise is. What about you fellas?”
“Someone gave us a clue about where Kairi is,” said Sora. They’d come here because of that photograph and the sea-salt ice cream…
“A clue? Who did?” asked the king.
“…Riku. I think.” Sora closed his eyes for a moment after saying that name, then observed the king steadily.
“If that’s what ya think, Sora, then I bet you’re right.” King Mickey beamed encouragingly at him.
“So…Riku’s okay?” Sora said tentatively.
“If that’s what ya think…”
Sora took a step closer. “C’mon, Your Majesty! Can’t you just tell me what you know already?” he practically shouted.
The king briskly turned away. “…It’s not for me to say.”
“But Your Majesty! Why not?!” Sora pressed.
“…I made a promise. I don’t wanna break it.”
“Wait… You promised Riku?”
King Mickey clamped his mouth shut.
“Then that means I’ll get to see him again!” Sora jumped, punching the air.
“Who’s Riku?” Hayner couldn’t hold in his questions an
y longer.
“My best friend!” Sora replied, elated.
Hayner, Pence, and Olette smiled at one another to see him so glad.
“Um, Your Majesty?” Olette stepped forward, peering curiously at the king. “You got the purse with the crystal in it from Riku, didn’t you?”
Conflict crossed King Mickey’s face as he averted his eyes.
“And you promised not to tell?”
“…Gosh, fellas…” Caught out, he scratched his head.
“That doesn’t matter now!” Donald blurted, in an attempt to cheer up the king.
“Right. Let’s go!” Clenching his fists, Sora looked up at the haunted mansion. “Kairi, Riku… We’re on our way!”
Riku and Naminé dashed through the Corridors of Darkness.
How many times had she run through these strange spaces now? Sometimes with Axel and sometimes with Riku…
But the time will come when I won’t get to anymore, Naminé thought. How much longer do I have, existing as I am now?
And yet…I never really existed in the first place. I’m just a vague empty thing, a shadow of someone else.
What’s Axel going to do now?
Axel… A Nobody full of sorrow.
But every Nobody ever born is full of sorrow. All of us.
Roxas, and Axel, and even Xemnas.
Why were we born at all?
We have no hearts. And in the end, we never could gain them.
Really? Is it really true that we have no hearts?
I think Axel must have been wondering the same thing.
But there is something like a heart inside us… Or maybe it’s nothing more than an illusory feeling that awakened when we met Sora.
And yet… Even if it feels like we have hearts, a Nobody’s real heart is somewhere else. Somewhere far away.
Are we just trying to go back there?
CHAPTER 3
AXEL’S LAST STAND
THE HAUNTED MANSION WAS DIM AND HUSHED INSIDE. In the middle of the dusty foyer stood something that might have been a broken model of a castle.
“There’s gotta be a computer here somewhere,” said King Mickey, scanning the place.
“A computer? Is it connected to the other Twilight Town?” Pence wondered.
“It might be.” The king nodded. “And there should be a way into the realm of darkness there.”
“Did Riku tell you that?” Sora leaned over the king, looking him in the eye.
“Aw, Sora, don’t make me answer. He’ll get mad at me…”
“Aha! I knew it!”
While Sora hopped in place, unable to contain his excitement, King Mickey let out a deep sigh. Technically, Riku hadn’t told him that, but he had mentioned that something was here in Twilight Town.
Maybe Riku already knew I’d end up breaking my promise to him, the king thought.
“Let’s split up and search the place!” said Hayner, and Sora immediately rocketed up the big staircase from the foyer.
“Sora?!” exclaimed King Mickey, startled by his lack of hesitation.
“I bet it’s this way!” Sora shouted back, then ran down the hallway on the second story.
“Wait for us!” Goofy chased after him. Everyone else followed.
“Say, Sora… How’d you know?” asked the king, as Sora stood in front of the door at the end of the hallway, waiting for the others.
“Um… Huh.” Sora seemed mystified himself. “Just a guess?”
“‘Just a guess’ means you don’t know,” Donald scoffed.
“But I think that computer’s through here. I’ve got a feeling.” With that, Sora opened the door.
Axel waited.
In the shadows of the spaces between, he waited for Sora… For Roxas.
“Traitor,” Saïx had called him. But his betrayal of Organization XIII wasn’t exactly a recent development, Axel thought with a bitter laugh.
It had begun back in Castle Oblivion. When Marluxia and Larxene conspired to steal Sora’s memories, trying to take possession of him. No one could predict what Roxas would become, the Nobody created in such an unusual manner, born in the moment when his somebody Sora became something that was not Sora. Well, no—it was possible that Xemnas had some idea. Perhaps Vexen when he tried to tell Sora about Twilight Town and those close to him. Or all six original members of the organization.
The organization could hardly be called that anyway—this ragtag bunch of Nobodies united only by their desire for hearts. It was only natural that conflicts would arise between the newcomers like Marluxia and the six founding members, what with all the quarrels among the half of them posted in Castle Oblivion.
Axel had only acted to keep Sora alive—to keep Roxas alive. But thinking back on it now, maybe all he’d done was to play right into Xemnas’s hands.
Agony racked his body. Saïx had dealt him a mortal blow, or close enough.
“Hurry up, Sora…,” he muttered, lifting his face to the nonexistent sky.
When Sora opened the door, he saw a room with books lining every wall, but in the middle were stairs leading down.
“This is…” The room was familiar somehow, he thought as he took it in. Spacious and square, it could have been a library or a study, and yet there was a chilly atmosphere that seemed out of place in the dusty old mansion.
“What is it?” asked King Mickey, following Sora inside.
“It just feels like…” He turned to Donald and Goofy. “Have I been here before?”
“Wak? I don’t think so…” Donald crossed his arms.
“Gee, y’know,” Goofy recalled, “when we woke up and left that funny room, didn’t we end up outside this mansion?”
“Yeah! That’s it! We must’ve…,” Sora began excitedly, then trailed off when he saw that Goofy was concentrating, his arms also crossed. “Huh?”
“We didn’t go into this room, though,” Goofy said tentatively.
Sora frowned, feeling as if there was something terribly important that he couldn’t remember. “But…I just know…in here…”
“Maybe you came here while you were asleep?” said the king.
The trio looked at him.
“…While I was asleep?” Sora focused harder on his thoughts. He didn’t know what it could be, but he felt something was important. Something so frustrating and sad… What was it?
Hayner was done listening patiently. He shoved himself into the conversation among King Mickey and the trio. “Look, I get that things are weird in here, but shouldn’t we be trying to help Kairi?”
“Yeah. You’re right!” Sora nodded and descended the stairs in the middle of the room, opening the door at the bottom.
Kairi sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, and Pluto licked her face.
“Do you think Axel’s okay…?” she wondered.
Pluto’s reply was a whimper.
She hid her face in her knees.
They are coming to help me. Axel… Sora and Riku… All of them.
But why are they keeping me here?
I’ve seen Axel get hurt twice, for my sake. And I couldn’t do anything.
Axel’s saved me so many times, but I can’t help him…
So many times? Kairi caught herself. She’d only met him twice. Once when that other man had kidnapped her, and just now.
So why did she get the feeling that he’d helped her more times than that…?
In the room through this door they found a sizable computer setup.
“This is it!” King Mickey scurried over to it.
Donald stared dubiously in the direction of the keyboard. “How’s it work?”
“I got this,” said Pence, who had been mostly silent until now. He ambled over to the terminal and began poking around.
“Hey, Sora?” Goofy murmured, leaning close to him.
“What?”
“Doesn’t this computer look kinda like the one in Hollow Bastion?”
Donald nodded, emphatically agreeing.
“
Does it…?” Sora cocked his head.
Pence was already busy typing. “Uh-oh.”
Seeing his expression, Hayner came closer. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t go any further without the password…” Stumped, Pence gestured at the screen in frustration.
King Mickey, watching Pence’s work intently, turned to the trio. “Any ideas what it would be, fellas?”
“Sora!”
“Donald!”
“Goofy!”
They gave their names in order, which would be the same as the password for the computer in Hollow Bastion—or rather, in Radiant Garden.
“Nope, that’s not it.” Pence shook his head.
“Need a hint, need a clue…,” Donald grumbled, then shoved his hand into his pocket. “The picture!”
He held up the photo of Roxas and the Twilight Town gang.
“Gawrsh, that’s the only clue we’ve got…?” Goofy folded his arms.
“Grr…rrr…wak! That salty-sweet ice cream!”
“The sea-salt ice cream?” said Sora.
“It was in the box with the photo,” Goofy explained to the king, who was listening anxiously.
“Ansem the Wise did like ice cream…,” King Mickey told them.
“…Sea-salt ice cream…?” Pence tried entering it as the password. “Bingo!”
A machine in the middle of the room began to glow.
“Let’s go!” said Sora.
“We’ll be here to hold down the fort,” Hayner said, as Sora was already moving toward the humming machine.
“Say hi to Kairi!” Olette added.
Sora turned back to her with a grin. “Sure will!”
Then the trio leaped into the strange glow.
Beyond the light, they found themselves in the same room as the one where they’d just been standing.
“Huh? We’re back in the same place?” Sora cocked his head.
“Wak!” With a hop, Donald pointed to the computer.
It was the same as the one they had just seen—but someone had smashed this one.
“Roxas…,” Sora murmured. He went to the broken computer and lightly touched the cracked glass of the screen.
I remember this.
Roxas was here, and he smashed the computer with his Keyblade. He was sad—he was hurt, he was furious. He couldn’t forgive what they’d done.
Kingdom Hearts II Vol 2 Page 13
