I thank Twenty-Twenty-One, ViandasJohnson and TruthOutrunsTheFiction for helping me.

Many, Many Years Ago...

"So, it's done. The bastard is finally gone."

A pair of dark knights walked down a hallway in a large black castle floating in a darkened world, their key-like weapons of choice hanging from their waists. Their black armor covering everything on their bodies except for the eyes, due to the fierce golden glow they're in.

One of them leaned against the wall and looked outward from the hallway down at the Theosophy Room, where the "Knights" kept their artifacts. "At what cost? He took a lot of people down with him."

The other simply chuckled and folded his arms in front of him, "Are you still this soft? Someone needed to take that lunatic down before he inevitably turned on the very Ones who created him. That someone just happened to be those irritating Key Wielders from the Realm of Light."

The one leaning against the wall retorted, "We should have dealt with our own affairs instead of outsourcing the problem to the Realm of Light. Yet you voted consistently against any form of solution for the Summerill problem-"

"Will you shut your trap, Arden? The problem was dealt with! Summerill's gone, we can advance again as we see fit, and not worry about that thing he put together."

"...No, the problem was that he put it together using such mundane pieces." Arden stated, as he got off of the wall and considered everything that had happened thus far. Numerous worlds scourged by the Crimson, and for what? The aggrandizement of one greedy and surprisingly intelligent Heartless.

"The Azure Sea Rose, the Secret of Havenwood, the Forget-Me-Not, the Stained Red Eyestone, and the Promethean Ring that Summerill himself held. They're not exactly common items, you know." The Moody Black Knight stated, seeming still quite irate that this was an issue.

Arden heard an alarm sounding, and both Black Knights immediately started to run down toward the front gate. For the Forces of Light had arrived to engage the Black Castle in battle, and they were duty bound to see it through.

The Key Wielders pounded at the gate an infuriated mob, the Light Wielders cutting down Heartless after Heartless as the dark creatures formed into the world.

Arden whispered to himself, "Please...for the sake of the worlds and everyone Dark or Light within them, never let Summerill return to the worlds and forbid the construction of the Dark Crimson."

And then battle engaged, and his words were lost amidst the tides of time.

X-X-X-X-X-X

...The World That Never Was...

The Organization, in its diminished state, met to discuss what was going on with Selwyn, and the realities of what was going on. Luxord duly reported what happened to the Superior; "The Test Subject repeatedly refused to return, citing the pain and distress the experiments have caused him."

This was not good news considering that their scientist, the man who had devised and knew the most about the experiments, was rather dead. Xemnas was acutely aware of this, and responded, "If only our dear intelligent scientist did not make so many, many vexingly unintelligent decisions..."

The Superior placed one hand to his chin in a gesture of contemplation, "Can we at least say that the procedures effects are retaining their potency?"

Xaldin reported on this, being that it was he who was assigned this task, "Indeed, while by and large the procedure is working, the fact he feels rage extremely intensely is a worrying prospect. It may mean that the procedure's effects are unraveling..."

Saix immediately answered this troubling insinuation, "Which must NEVER come to pass! Keep in mind we are not the sole parties with designs related to Kingdom Hearts and the Power of the Heart..."

Xigbar casually jested at this, "What, you mean the Wicked Witch of the Bastion and her puppy? Puh-leeze..."

Saix supposed it was obvious he needed to clarify what, exactly, he meant by that. "I suppose all of you are at least aware of the fact the King of the Heartless rests imprisoned?"

Nods from everyone across the room, which Saix took as license to continue his story, "There is a very good reason we selected that boy for our experiments. What he considers his Heart, the fragments of which he wishes to put together..."

Xigbar suddenly took this a lot more seriously and leaned forward, "Oh no way, you CANNOT be serious! We had that right here, and let him get all huffy and puffy about puttin' that back together?"

Xemnas stated in response, "Countermeasures have been taken. As long as he is returned to us, we can control this situation and prevent any further escalation. No matter what happens, we cannot allow Kingdom Hearts, our benefactor eternal, to be placed in the corrupted hands of that malevolent braggart!"

If he took his hands on Kingdom Hearts, that creature would grasp it in his hands and crush it, ruin it, and plunder it for its own sake, and then howl with joy at the bounty of Hearts that would herald his return to power. This was his...their time, Xemnas noted, and he would not tolerate someone like that plunging his way in.

Still, even to Xemnas, this was a worrying situation. They had been entirely focused on Sora's usefulness to the Organization, and so had entirely overlooked how close things had gotten to be dangerous on the front of Selwyn.

If that boy put his Heart back together, many things would happen in addition to restoring his emotions. Among other things, it would awaken a force he suspected not even Sora would be able to face head on, meaning their most active unwitting agent might end up in the hands of opposing forces.

Of course what this meant to the Organization now and their objective was that Selwyn must either be brought back in and the procedure resumed much more intensely, or he must be destroyed for the sake of their plans...

Luxord meanwhile found himself watching one of the towns Selwyn was known to be in, Twilight Town, a town so close to their own base though they knew it not. It looked like someone was looking around for something that did not concern them...

XXXXXXXX

Mika believed in the old Twilight Town Legend of the Ocean Rose. The thing is, no one really knew what the "Ocean Rose" was. Some people thought it was an actual sea flower; some believed it was the name of a sunken ship. There were others that thought it was a magical stone. What was she supposed to believe?

People tell their versions of the legend to friend and family, encouraging others to go out at search blindly for it. Many aren't surprised when they come up empty handed; it was all in fun after all.

As a child, Mika chose to believe that there was a flower somewhere in the ocean. She would dream that her stuffed dolphin friend was real and that they were the ones to find it. She even played with the other little kids, making up cool adventures with their toys about the legend for them to play along. There was a rapid succession of knocks at Mika's bedroom door that sounded like some kind of song. Whoever was knocking was definitely in a good mood. She looked at her digital clock and frowned. Nine thirty...did she miss dinner?

Yawning, she got up and opened her door. To her surprise, Olette was on the other side of it. Though she was happy to know that Olette wasn't upset with her after what happened a few hours ago, she was confused.

"Olette?" she mumbled sleepily. "What are you doing here so late? Your parents will kill you."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows. "So late? It's morning..."

Morning? Not only did she sleep through dinner, but she also slept all the way until morning.

'This is what I get for resting my eyes' she thought with a slight frown. Then, she finally realized that the sun was shining through her window a bit.

"Oh..."

"Yeah. You coming to the Sandlot? Hayner and Pence are already on their way there."

It was much better than the day before. It didn't feel awkward or tense between the two. Could it have been a dream?

"Sure!"

XXXXXXXX

Mika was definitely thankful that she got out of her house. It was a beautiful day and the ice cream Hayner brought with him was a nice way to keep from suffocating in the heat.

"Seasalt is the best," Pence said to break the silence.

Olette laughed. "You say that about every flavor."

"Do not!" he frowned as he threw his wrapper at her.

Just as Mika was about to agree with her brunette friend, she felt like there was another person beside her. She stiffened and slowly turned her head to the left. There was no one there. With a relieved sigh, she turned her head forward.

Not today. If she had to lock herself up in her room the entire night, she'd do just that. "Guys, I'm sorry. I don't think I should be..."

Hayner reclined against the wall, noting that this had been another time she had behaved in such a way. "...You notice something kinda spooky's been going on?"

Pence looked over to the leader of the group, his interest perked, "Oh? Are you referring to the weird feeling there's someone else around?"

Olette nodded, "I'd felt something too, but it never comes over as strongly as what happens with you, Mika..."

Mika to be honest felt like she was thinking these weird thoughts lately. Contemplating more often, finding herself standing alone and thinking she was with someone else. Yet there would be nobody there.

Almost like she was walking in the echoes of someone else. Someone who walked in a different world in a similar way. "I'm gonna head out. See you guys later..."

Hayner and Pence waved her off, Hayner hoping to himself she got better. He smiled when he remembered her smiling earlier...

She remembered the story of the Ocean Rose, and decided that if nothing else doing something to investigate that should allay any eerie sensations. She'd been saving up Munny so she could use the Tram. Meaning it was about time to look around at the beach.

Proceeding out of the Usual Spot and the Back Alley, Mika looked around. There was definitely something out of the norm in Twilight Town today.

As she walked out to the Station, she noted a strange purple train leaving the Station on the outbound rail, sighed, and kept walking. She bought one ticket, and started to get on the tram to go to the beach. After she purchased her ticket, she started to walk to the tram.

As she went, she felt that odd sensation again, like something was watching her. Crowding around her, moving in and out of step with reality.

The odd feeling was silenced when a young man's voice issued, loud enough to quiet the strange feelings. "...one ticket to the beach."

As he received the ticket, he waved over his back at the person at the counter, "...thanks."

As he walked in front of Mika, she saw something bright suddenly flash in front of her eyes. She...knew this person from somewhere...but she could not place exactly where.

She got into the tram, trying to ignore the bizarre feeling.

And then she saw him, as by some coincidence they sat with about two people between them. He was handsome, though she was not the type to go gaga over a guy just because his cheeks were formed a certain way.

His hair was a rather light shade of brown she supposed, though that may have just been the light. His eyes, a startling sapphire blue, were what stood out to Mika.

She KNEW she knew this guy from somewhere, but she could not place his face anywhere. It was like she only knew him obliquely, and had forgotten about him due to an inordinate amount of time. But know him she did, and regardless what made her forget, she knew now...

...Wow, Mika felt like chuckling to herself, that was a lot of weird thoughts right there.

She was here to find that Rose, not to ogle a pretty boy. As soon as the tram stopped, she got off and found herself walking out next to the guy. She said nothing, and looked outward at the beach. There was a mostly populated area at the center and then a number of more craggy areas to the sides, where some old ships rested.

She knew the main beach area well enough to know she would not find anything interesting there being how often people combed over the place. Meaning she would need to brave the crags and the rumors of the "strange white husks" to find her Rose.

She started navigating the area, going down from the main beach off toward the side.

Why am I so strongly drawn toward this rose? It seems to be the center of my dreams...and for that, I need to know.

And so she headed off from the more populated area of the beach, heading into the craggier and somewhat more ragged places, moving from rock to rock while looking for any signs. She saw surfers off in the distance, and hoped she wasn't going too far.

'I have to find out who that person I keep seeing in my dreams is. I see people. People I do not know. I have to find out the truth.'

She banished any doubt and kept going, eventually seeing a ship in the distance. She leaped from rock to rock, moving quickly but carefully to reach it. She was so single-minded in pursuing it that she barely realized how far it was she was going.

And the fact there were strange noises in the seasalt scented air. Whish...whish...

Other footsteps moving in tandem with hers, approaching suddenly and quickly, as if unencumbered by the harsh terrain. Mika found herself standing about twelve feet from the ship, suddenly intimidated, feeling like she might not want to traipse into a possibly dangerous ship.

Then she heard something from a higher ledge near the ship, and turned around quickly, a flash of light in her vision as she looked at the figure standing on the side of a somewhat steep cliff. He was tall and lean; looking somewhat falsely angelic in his white coat and black buttoned shirt, slim dress pants leading down to steel toed boots.

He had a sword at his side, currently sheathed, with a single edge to it.

The man's black hair was expertly trimmed and cut, and his similar black eyes stared out from glasses in a decidedly eerie fashion.

He smirked and put a hand on his sword, "Well, it appears we have a nosy little girl who doesn't know certain areas can get...dangerous."

Mika backed up a little and decided to try to engage him, to at least distract him until she could get away. "W-Who are you? I haven't seen you around Twilight Town?"

The man chuckled and took his hand off the sword at least for the moment, "I am called Doctor Skelter. Lyle Skelter. As for you, little girl, I believe the name is...Mika? And the only reason one might come out here is to look for the Ocean Rose...which, I am sad to say, you may not have."

He snapped his fingers, and Mika gasped as six sword-wielding black clad creatures with yellow eyes leaped out of the air and brandished their weapons. "W-What are...?"

Lyle took out what looked like a black star-shaped charm, "Gifts, from my most generous lord. For, you see, Lord Summerill demands the Ocean Rose, and I am afraid you have gone a little too far. The Heartless will devour you, and nobody will ever know what happened to you."

He stated that as if it was simple fact, with no inclination toward any feeling.

He noticed she was moving back toward the ship. And had decided thus that he could just dispose of her with these armored things.

As they rushed forward, Mika found herself falling forward on the ship due to some slippery wood, and brought her arms up to at least keep them off for a moment. Then all of a sudden, there was a sound like a high-pitched whistling.

The Heartless – or so the glasses wearing mercenary called them – stopped for a moment and then a rain of arrows from on high struck all of them down, the arrows seeming composed of green energy.

The glasses wearing man cursed when he saw this happen and drew his sword lightning fast, slashing an arrow heading his way and moving backward slightly, "Curse him, getting in my way...very well. Little girl, you have made your future immediately more difficult."

The glasses wearing man vanished into a portal of darkness, and Mika stood back up, and looked around for her savior – finding him standing on a higher deck of the ship. She immediately recognized him as the guy from the train.

This brought back the immediate feelings of deja vu, and Mika was left blubbering to herself as he put away his weapon and sighed. She managed to collect herself as he leaped down, trying to run after him.

"Hey, that was pretty cool, what you did up there-"

He seemed to ignore her for right now and kept walking down into the ship's inner portions, but did look back at her, and a smile tugged at his seemingly perpetual frown.

Mika decided – despite – or maybe, because of what happened out there – that she could no longer leave this be. She just couldn't stand to let that glasses wearing sadist get his dirty claws on the Rose. She did however recognize that as things were now, she had little in the way of defending herself.

Looking around, she found what looked like a sabre of some kind laying within its sheath on a table. Was this a genuine pirate's sword or something? Yeah, that would do for now.

Mika picked up the sabre and darted in after the guy. Whatever happened from here on, she was not going to let herself get stuck in easy explanations. She wanted to know what was going on, and why all these people were showing up now.

XXXXXXXXX

"And so, the King of the Heartless shows a few cards from his hand. Never did figure Selwyn for the type to go for a pretty face..." Luxord mused as he left his report to Xemnas about what had happened in Twilight Town. For better or worse he would be paying a lot of attention to what happened to the boy and the girl.

For better, because this would let him know some of what was going on not just in this game, but in others...

For worse, because it meant getting invested in yet another like Roxas...and it had hurt – somehow – the last time he became particularly invested in such a way.

Xigbar walked through the hallway, looking unusually stressed out about something – though Luxord had his own ideas about that. "Can you seriously believe this? I mean, why'd he keep clam quiet about all'a this until just recently? Wouldn't that be a rather important thing, a competitor?"

Xigbar on the other hand was already thinking about what they'd seen thus far down there. He'd seen the whole fight and the looks those two gave each other. Did that mean that this was "going to happen again"?

The sniper was one of the few people in the know, and connected to someone with experience in this sort of thing – so he was confident he'd know if such was the case.

Luxord replied, looking out at the night sky of the World That Never Was through a window, "I figured there were more participants in this game than just Sora, us, and the witch. What surprises me is that this "Summerill" can still find hirelings even though he is bound."

Xigbar seemed to consider saying something on that subject, as if remembering something from a discussion from long ago. He reconsidered and stated, "Well, whatever, as long as people are smart, Kingy's staying exactly where he is – though considering some of the "brilliant minds" involved, wouldn't surprise me if by the end the Ol' King was roaring and ready to go..."

Luxord chuckled at this, though he noted the odd silence between their sentences. However he did not outwardly make anything of this. "Reckless moves are all the moves two or three of our opposing number seem to make...well, it just means we need to use more of our hand to counteract this drooling idiocy."

Xigbar turned away, a dark smile starting to show on his face, "And I think I know exactly what you're talking about, Luxord. I know just the fellas for this kind of thing."

Luxord detected something in that, and wondered what might be coming Selwyn's way. He and that little girl might've stepped into something they couldn't step out of easily.

'I warned you, Luxord thought somewhat wistfully, I warned you that leaving things as they were now wouldn't end well. I suppose with the way things were going that I'd need to play these cards eventually.'