As the summary said, this is a sequel. It is the second in The Dark Seeker Saga. I would highly recommend reading MEKA (the first fic in the series) before reading this one. However, if you want to be a rebel and not read them in order, here is a not so short summary of MEKA.

After saving Ven in his home world of Carinol, Terra and Aqua bring him back to the Land of Departure to attend Master Eraqus' Keyblade Academy (MEKA). While staying with them, Ven slowly reveals his dark past; the death of his best friend, Tay, at the hands of the heartless and his abuse at the hands of Keric, the prince of Carinol. Ven gets on Master Eraqus' nerves numerous times with his affinity for swearing, and Aqua and Terra admit their feelings about each other in Traverse Town, but are too scared to start a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Xehanort enters and hides in the Land of Departure, watching Ven and the others in secret while conspiring with Braig.

Master Yen Sid and Mickey meet with Master Eraqus explaining that Xehanort gave Ven the power of the keyblade with plans for using him to create the X-blade. Master Eraqus vows to keep Ven safe and Master Yen Sid and Mickey begin their search for Xehanort.

At the Olympus Coliseum, Ven meets Phil, Herc, and Zack. When Hades releases the Hydra they fight the monster, but in its final moments the Hydra knocks out the main pillar of the building and the whole thing tumbles down burying Ven and Zack in the rubble. Suffering from a concussion, Ven wakes up thinking Zack is Tay. After the others dig them out, Zack kisses Ven, but then leaves promising to return home without telling Ven where home is.

A few days later, Terra, Aqua, and Ven go to Agrabah where Ven almost immediately gets arrested for helping young streetrats Sora and Riku escape the police. Terra and Aqua go to the palace meeting the Sultan and his new advisor Jafar. They spring Ven and go to leave when the heartless, Kurt Zisa, appears. During the ensuing fight, Riku picks up Terra's keyblade accidentally giving himself the power of the keyblade. The trio brings Sora and Riku back to MEKA where they quickly adjust to their new family.

While Terra, Aqua, and Ven are in Atlantica, Terra and Aqua begin what they believe is a secret relationship when in fact Ven overhears them. At the same time, Sora and Riku meet Xehanort as they explore the Land of Departure. In Traverse Town, Ven meets up with Zack again admitting his feelings and finds out that Zack feels the same. They date but Zack isn't comfortable with being gay yet and avoids showing affection for Ven in front of others.

Ven confronts Master Eraqus about Master Yen Sid's cryptic statement that Ven's balance heart would bring about a change to the worlds that could be good or evil. Master Eraqus refuses to answer Ven's questions and Ven begins to pull away as his anger at his teacher grows. At the same time, Ven helps Jack Skellington believe in himself in Halloween Town and witnesses Mufasa's death in the Pride Lands.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, Xehanort joins forces with King Keric in Carinol to lure Ven back to the dark world with intentions of sowing seeds of darkness in him. Inside Ven's own mind he is confronted by Vanitas who urges Ven to do whatever he wants regardless of Master Eraqus's order to stay far away from Carinol.

After leaving Ven, Sora, and Riku with Donald and Goofy at Disney Castle, Terra, Aqua, and Master Eraqus go to Carinol only to be captured. Ven sneaks away and goes after them only to be caught as well by Keric. Ven is back in the hands of his abuser, but Ven fights his way out by giving into Vanitas and letting his darker half take control. Ven then goes on to save the others and seal the keyhole before leaving Carinol for good.

Ven pushes everyone away as he tries to cope with the abuse from Keric. Surprisingly, it is Sora and Riku who are the first ones to get Ven to talk about what happened after the ordeal. While they had been on Carinol, Terra and Aqua hadn't been discreet in their relationship, so Master Eraqus confronts them and subjects them to an uncomfortable conversation on how babies are made. Ven comes in and asks to speak only to Master Eraqus about what happened. Their conversation restores Ven's trust in his master and he begins to recover.

The next time Ven sees Zack they fight over Zack's uncomfortableness with their relationship and they break up. The next day Xehanort reveals himself to Ven and forces Ven to leave the Land of Departure by threatening Sora. In the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort tries to force Ven to create the X-blade. Xehanort ends up ripping Vanitas from Ven and leaves Sora and Ven who he thinks is close to death. Sora saves Ven by healing his heart and Ven wakes up taking them both back home. Xehanort follows them to the Land of Departure and fights Master Eraqus. Sora summons a keyblade revealing that Ven accidently gave him the power. Ven sleeps for days before waking with almost no memory of what happened. Master Eraqus reveals that he and Master Yen Sid have determined that Ven is the X-blade wielder who has the power to recreate the lost X-blade and bring Kingdom Hearts back to the world.

Zack and Ven make up and Zack uses hypnosis to help Ven regain his memories. It is then that Ven remembers that Xehanort had pulled Vanitas out of Ven's heart when he had refused to make the keyblade. Master Eraqus takes his apprentices to Radiant Garden to meet with Ansem the Wise who offers insight into the strange relationship between Ven, Vanitas, and Sora from their hearts all touching. While they are there they meet Braig and Terra and Aqua end up teaming up with him to confront a new threat, the Unversed. After saving Kairi from some of the new monsters, Aqua accidentally gives her the keyblade.

At the same time, Ven voices his opinion that contrary to what Ansem believes, he knows Vanitas won't hurt him. After a brief encounter with Lea and Isa, the keyblade wielders, with Kairi now one of them, return to MEKA. Braig goes to the Keyblade Graveyard to get an update from Xehanort. There he meets Vanitas and is sent back with Keric so the boy can become an apprentice to Ansem the Wise.

One month passes.

Terra and Aqua begin their Mark of Mastery Exam at Master Yen Sid's tower. Their exam is timed and inside a book where Master Yen Sid and Master Eraqus have combined their magic to create a world to test them in. All they are told is that part of the test will be individual and part will be done together.

Ven and Mickey accidentally send themselves shooting off into space with the Star Shard. They end up in the Dwarf Woodlands and save Snow White from possessed trees before shooting off with the Star Shard again. Master Eraqus is chasing after them but gets delayed by the Mad Trent unversed.

Terra and Aqua separately fight the Guard Armor heartless in their own tests and enter the woods. Aqua sticks to the path while Terra finds a shortcut and a young girl who asks him, "If the path you wander is dark and there isn't even moonlight to guide you, would you give up and lay down in the darkness?" He replies that he would never give up. They each come to a bridge with a boy who blocks their way. Terra immediately jumps into a fight with him and wins after a long tiring battle. Aqua talks instead of fighting and the boy let's her pass after asking her, "Would you give [your keyblade] up to save another?" To which she replies, after hesitating, that she would. Terra and Aqua work together to defeat the final boss, Chernabog, and finish the test.

Meanwhile, Ven and Mickey end up in Triton's throne room in Atlantica where they learn Queen Athena has been killed by a boy with a keyblade. Triton believes it to be Ven who killed his wife and proceeds to attack him, but Ven and Mickey get away with the Star Shard that takes them to Neverland. There, Vanitas shows up and taunts Ven into following him to the Keyblade Graveyard where he tries to make Ven fight so they will create the X-blade. Ven refuses to do anything but block Vanitas' attacks and is soon knocked down. Vantias finds he cannot hurt Ven because although they are separated, they are still connected. Ven even goes as far as to say that they need each other. Master Eraqus shows up and Vanitas leaves, but not before Ven calls after him that he'll find a way to save him. Master Eraqus takes Ven and Mickey back to Master Yen Sid's tower.

Terra and Aqua pass their test. While they learn the secrets told only to masters, Ven and the kids go to Traverse Town. Ven sneaks off with Zack and the two of the end up in Shibuya. There, they buy a pin for each other. Ven buys one for Zack called Blown Kiss and Zack buys one for Ven called Sexy D. Returning to Traverse Town, Master Eraqus discovers Ven had run off and grounds him. Ven doesn't get to see Zack until a week later when they all go to Cloud and Tifa's wedding.

The day after the wedding, Xehanort comes to MEKA and tries to take Ven. Aqua flees to Traverse Town with Ven and the children while Terra and Master Eraqus stay to fight. Xehanort takes over Terra's body and kills Master Eraqus.

In Traverse Town, Ven and Zack are away from the others when Vanitas comes saying he needs to form the X-blade with Ven before his own darkness destroys him. Zack fights in place of Ven, but is severely wounded. Ven saves Zack by agreeing to go with Vanitas. Ven tells Zack he loves him and gives him back the Sexy D pin so Zack will have something to remember him by. Ven leaves with Vanitas but not before Aqua jumps through the dark corridor as well.

At the Keyblade Graveyard, Aqua fights Terra-Xehanort until Terra's Lingering Will comes and takes over the battle. Elsewhere, Ven and Vanitas fight and forge the X-blade. Aqua fights Vanitas in Ven's body while inside his heart Ven takes the X-blade from Vanitas. Ven takes back control of his body, smashing the X-blade to pieces once more. When the smoke clears, Ven is still alive, but unable to be awoken. Aqua gives him to Mickey to take to Master Yen Sid while she goes to Terra's Lingering Will that tells her Terra-Xehanort is in Radiant Garden.

Master Yen Sid explains that Ven's heart is in another's heart and his body will sleep until it is returned. Aqua takes his body to MEKA which she transforms into a new castle with 13 empty white floors. She then goes to Radiant Garden to confront Xehanort. With Terra's help from inside, she is able to defeat Xehanort, but she ends up sacrificing herself and giving up her keyblade to save Terra from the Dark Realm. He, however, returns as Xehanort and is taken in by Ansem the Wise.

In the Dark Realm, Aqua gives up hope until she is saved by the light of her friends. She is led to the Dark Margin and there she leaves the keychain for Master Eraqus' keyblade, the keyblade that will unlock Ven's chamber, in the sand for the one who will wake Ven.

And now the story picks back up, ten years later, with a boy who had once made a promise as a child to find his lost friends and is looking for a way to do just that…

Chapter 1 Discontentment

Sora lies on his bed with his math book open on his stomach and his eyes staring at the ceiling above him. The old glow-in-the-dark stars that he and Riku had decorated their room with nearly ten years ago when they and Kairi had first moved in with Cloud and Tifa are still stuck in the same made up constellations. To outsiders, the stars are just a jumbled mess, but Sora and Riku can see the pictures they had made. There are birds in flight, a mama bear and her cubs, and an odd hybrid of a dog and cat that had gotten stuck with the childish name of Meow-Wow. Directly over Sora's head however are three stars grouped together that aren't any part of the other constellations. They'd put those stars up the day they'd made a promise as children to save their friends, Terra, Aqua, and Ven.

The anniversary of the day Sora, Riku, and Kairi came to Traverse Town had passed about a month ago and Sora has realized he has been thinking more and more about his missing friends in these last few weeks. His memories are fuzzy from the years that have passed. He remembers the sunshine and the gardens outside the castle they had all lived in. He remembers wooden swords and blanket forts. In all his memories, his friends faces are getting harder to make out, but their voices are still clear. Lost in thought, he stares at the three stars above him, until the sound of the bedroom door opening shakes him from his reminiscing.

"Meow-Wow doesn't have the answers to your math homework, Sora."

Propping himself up on his elbows, Sora sees Riku enter their room. "I wasn't looking at that one," Sora says gesturing at the silly constellation. He points to the three stars and says in a quieter voice. "I was looking at those."

Riku nods slowly and then turns away to busy himself with something in his hands. "What's that?" Sora asks closing his math book and putting it on the bed as he sits up.

"Chin up bar," Riku says showing Sora the black metal bar.

"Isn't that Zack's?" Sora says getting to his feet and standing next to Riku as he starts attaching it to the door frame.

Riku shrugs. "Yeah I got it from his room. It's not like he's here to yell at me for touching his stuff." He says the last part with a frown and pulls himself up.

Sora frowns as well, leaning against the wall as Riku continues his work out. If Zack had been home he would have bitten off Riku's head for taking the bar without asking, but Zack has been gone for months now and it doesn't seem he's coming back anytime soon. Ever since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had moved into Tifa and Cloud's house, Zack had been in and out. He would live with them for a year and then disappear for a month or two before coming back. It'd be eight months later and he'd be gone again giving them all only a day's warning and never an idea when he'd be back. He'd return battleworn and looking like he hadn't smiled in weeks. He never talks about where he goes or what he does, but everyone knows. He's looking for Ven.

Riku drops to the ground and rubs his biceps. "You want to give it a try?"

Sora looks critically at the bar. "Yeah…" He moves under the bar and reaches up wishing his skinny arms had the same defined muscles as Riku's. Still he manages to pull himself up, but with considerably more struggling than Riku. "Has Zack ever been gone this long?" Sora asks as he strains to do a second pull up.

He succeeds and drops to the ground as Riku says, "No. He's going on four months now."

"Do you think that means he found something?" Sora moves out of the way so Riku can have another turn.

"Don't know," Riku says and doesn't pause as he does three in a row. He then lets go and leans against the door frame. "What is there to find anyway?" He crosses his arms and frowns at the ground. Running a hand through his long silver hair, he says, "If he'd found Ven or the others he would have brought them right back here."

"Maybe he found a clue or a lead to what happened," Sora says. Riku makes a dismissive noise and goes back to the chin ups. However, before he can do one Sora grabs his arm and turns him around. "Don't you want to know what happened to them?"

"Of course I do," Riku says throwing off Sora's arm in annoyance. He turns away and his shoulders sag slightly. "But it's been ten years," he says quietly. "Maybe it's time to move on."

"Well I can't," Sora says and Riku glances at him. "I need to know what happened. I want to find them."

"I get that you want closure Sora, but what if you don't get the answers you want to hear?"

Sora bites his lip. After ten years it is hard to still be optimistic, but he isn't ready to let go of his hope. "I need to know."

Riku returns to the chin up bar and says, "You know, Zack's never talks to us about where he goes when he looks for Ven, but he might talk to Cloud or Tifa. If he's found any clue or something, they might know about it."

Sora nods thoughtfully as he moves to take his turn with the chin up bar. He pulls himself up and holds for a second before someone pokes him hard in the stomach and breaks his concentration. Kairi stands in the doorway giggling as Sora drops down and rubs his stomach with an indignant look.

"Is this what you boys have been doing instead of homework?" She asks shaking her head. Sora grins sheepishly and running a hand through the spiky hair on the back of his head. "You know we go on duty in ten minutes," Kairi says as she gets ready by putting her red hair up in a ponytail.

Riku groans. "Shit, I forgot we were working today. I told Marlene I'd keep her company on her shift at the hotel."

The three of them are part of the Defense Militia Leon had set up for the town. Most days they take pride in it as they are proud to play such a big role in keeping Traverse Town safe from the heartless, but every once in awhile their responsibilities get in the way of being normal teenagers.

"That's the second date you've canceled on her in a week," Sora says. "She's going to think you don't like her anymore." Riku shoots him a look and Sora smirks at him. Riku and Marlene have been going out for over a year now, but Sora has been teasing Riku about his infatuation with her since they were kids. Riku had begun doing the same to Sora about Kairi ever since Sora had admitted his crush a few years back.

"You could cover for me," Riku offers hopefully, looking between his two best friends.

Sora and Kairi exchange a look. "Nope!" They say in unison and smile when Riku glares at them.

"Just go see her when we're done," Kairi says. "Now come on!" Kairi grabs both their arms and drags them out of their room and downstairs. They pass Tifa and Cloud in the bar and wave to them as they hurry out. Leon is coming out of the Third District with his gunblade in hand and catches sight of them.

"Heartless have been popping up all day there," Leon says jerking his thumb behind him. "I'll be back to take over in three hours. Don't slack off." He departs without another word, headed to the 7th Heaven. He hasn't been himself ever since Yuffie had moved out telling him she wasn't going to wait around forever if he was never going to ask for her hand. Needless to say it has been awkward with both of them in the Militia. They don't talk, just stare daggers at each other, whenever they have meetings.

Leon disappears into the bar and Sora, Riku, and Kairi turn to the big double doors. Each holds out a hand and their keyblades appear. Kairi's is slender and gold with flowers wrapped around the hilt. As fragile as it looks, it is wickedly sharp and Kairi can put a whole lot of power behind it when she fights. Riku's keyblade has a more bulky shape with a thick red and blue blade set with a pure white angel wing on the end. Sora's is the most simplest out of the three with a plain handle and a straight silver blade. The teeth of his key are made to resemble the crown necklace he always wears around his neck.

Keyblades in hand, they enter the Third District keeping their eyes peeled for heartless.

…

"Take that!" Sora shouts as he whips his keyblade around and slices through a Soldier heartless that offers no resistance. He smirks to himself at the destruction of the weak heartless and turns back around to scan for more threats. Kairi is jumping around lightly as she attacks the back of a Large Body. The lumbering heartless keeps trying to turn its protected front side towards her, but each time it tries, she darts around to its back once more. Seeing Kairi is easily holding her own, Sora runs to the far side of the Third District square where Riku is fending off a hoard of Shadows.

The little things are quick and keep flattening to the ground each time Riku lunges at them. Eventually, Riku catches one of them with his keyblade and launches into a short combo to take it down. He fails to realize one of the black spots on the ground moving behind him and the Shadow pops back up with its claw like fingers stretched towards Riku's unprotected back.

However, it also fails to notice its attacker from behind. Sora knocks the Shadow to the ground and stabs through it with his keyblade before it knows what hit it. Riku glances over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow in a silent question of 'what did I miss?' He refocuses on the heartless as they all pop back up and advance at the two keyblade wielders at the same time.

"Thunder!" Sora shouts and bolts of lightning strike three of the five remaining heartless making them writhe in pain. At the same time, Riku cuts horizontally with his keyblade sending the two other heartless flying back. The weak heartless stand no chance against them and one after another they are cut down. The final one is swaying, barely able to stand, but before Sora can land the final hit, Kairi comes up behind it and stabs her keyblade through it, causing it to disappear.

"Nice work."

The three turn to see Leon walking through the doors that lead to the First District with his eyes scanning the area for more heartless. "How many did you kill?"

Both Sora and Kairi look to RIku who is the only one out of them who ever remembers to keep count. "37. They came in six waves. The last one was the biggest," he says.

Leon nods, making a mental note of the number. He keeps track of the number of sightings and where they occur and throws it all into a computer program Cid had created that spits out predictions of heartless activity in the next few days. It is kind of like a weather report. Not always accurate, but generally in the ballpark.

"Now that that's done," Riku says rolling his shoulders and making his keyblade disappear. "I have a girlfriend to apologize to. I'll see you all later."

"Say hi to Marlene for us," Kairi calls after him and he nods before taking the stairs to the entrance of the Second District two at a time. Leon mutters something about checking on the status of the Second District before following Riku out of the Third District, leaving Sora and Kairi alone.

Silence falls on the two of them as they both let their keyblades disappear. Sora shifts awkwardly, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. "I guess we should head back home."

Kairi nods. "Yeah, you need to get back and finish your math homework."

Sora groans as they walk back to the First District. He hates math with all the numbers and letters jumbled together in a mess he could never muddle through. Most nights he complained until Riku gave in and helped him, but Riku is off with Marlene meaning Sora is on his own with the dreaded derivatives. He walks into the 7th Heaven after Kairi and sees only Cloud inside, cleaning the surface of the bar.

Cloud looks up when they walk in. "Tifa could use a hand in the back with inventory if one of you isn't busy."

"I'll help her," Kairi says before Sora can jump at the chance of getting out of his homework. She goes through the swinging door to the kitchen and Cloud returns to wiping the bar.

Sora starts to slowly drag his feet in the direction of the stairs that lead to his room upstairs, but before he reaches them he remembers Riku's advice. Math homework forgotten, he turns to Cloud. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Those glasses need to be dried and put away," Cloud says nodding to the wet glasses next to the sink.

Sora grabs a clean rag and starts to dry a glass. As he works, he sneaks glances at Cloud, trying to muster the courage to ask. They've been working in silence for several minutes before Sora says hesitantly, "Cloud?"

The half grunt he gets in response lets him know Cloud is listening. "I was just wondering, does Zack ever talk about where he goes when he disappears?"

Cloud freezes for a moment, his eyes hardening slightly. He resumes cleaning the bar as he says, "No. Why do you ask?"

Sora shrugs. He knows he is treading into dangerous territory, but he isn't about to back down. "I was just thinking that since he's been gone so long he might have found something this time. You know, something about Master Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and Ven."

Cloud drops the cloth and turns to face Sora who sets down the glass he has been wiping. "You think there is something to find?"

"There has to be something," Sora says. "They can't have just disappeared without a trace."

"It's been ten years Sora…"

"I know!" Sora says it louder than he means to. He ducks his head and says, "Riku said the same thing." He glances up at Cloud. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't look for them." Cloud frowns and Sora looks down again. "I feel like I abandoned them because I never tried to find them. I…I want to go help Zack find them." He bites his lip knowing he can't take those words back. He waits with tense muscles and his eyes trained on Cloud, waiting for a response.

"Sora." Cloud sighs. "Have you ever seen Zack when he first comes home?"

Sora nods. Zack would show up late at night with his clothes torn and stained with blood from wounds bound with dirty rags. A shower later and some of Aerith's healing magic and he'd look more like himself, but it was hard for Sora to erase that first image of him from his mind.

"The worlds out there are more dangerous than this town," Cloud says going back to wiping the bar, but Sora can tell he is only doing it to keep his hands busy as he keeps wiping the same spot. "The few heartless that we get around are nothing compared to what's out there."

"So you're saying I couldn't handle it."

Cloud turns to him and his eyes have an angry light. "Sora, you are only fifteen. You may be a keyblade wielder, but a powerful weapon isn't enough to make up for the fact that you lack experience."

"And I'm supposed to get experience around here?" Sora asks glaring at Cloud. "Fighting the same heartless over and over? Ven was my age when he was traveling to different worlds and fighting huge heartless. He might have only been fifteen, but he took on Xehanort-"

"And look where that got him." Cloud throws down the cloth and his voice takes on a sharp edge. "He wasn't invincible and neither are you. Zack's thrown his life away chasing the past. I don't want you to end up the same."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Sora shouts. He can't help the angry boiling up inside him. "I'm not a child anymore. And I wouldn't be throwing my life away, I'd be searching for people I care about. Why don't you understand that I need to do this?"

"Sora." Cloud puts a hand on his shoulder, but he throws it off and turns away. Angry, Cloud grabs his shoulder and spins him back around, refusing to loosen his grip. "I am trying to protect you," he says in a strained voice.

"I don't need your protection," Sora shouts and pushes Cloud away. "I need answers."

He turns away from Cloud to see Tifa and Kairi standing beside the kitchen door with looks of shock on their faces. Sora is never one to yell or be angry. He is slightly embarrassed to be seen like this by Kairi, but his anger overpowers his embarrassment and without a glance back, he leaves the bar, slamming the door behind him.

And here we go again…

:)

Disclaimer: I'm sure you all already know but I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Never have never will.

Moving past that depressing thought...Welcome to the second installment of The Dark Seeker Saga! I'M SO EXCITED! It's kind of weird to be back at chapter one, but it's also really really awesome.

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