Kingdom Hearts; The Dark's Keeper

Chapter XXXII; Into The Fortress

Entering the World That Never Was, they found themselves in a pitch-black city. Yuki and X stopped looking around with wide eyes. The place was crawling with Heartless, though none were visible at the moment. The group walked through the city, eventually catching sight of the castle and the heart-shaped moon that was the cause of all this chaos.

"Axel said Kairi's in the dungeon," Sora said looking at the castle. A low roll of thunder sounded somewhere in the distance.

"Then we better find a way to get to that castle!" Mickey said.

"Do you guys know the way?" Sora asked turning to the two Heartless. Yuki shook her head.

"Never been here," she said. She glanced over at X.

"I was transported right to the castle the last time I was here. Never set foot in this city," X said with a shrug. He glanced over his shoulder nervously, and Yuki followed his gaze. The Heartless were causing too much trouble.

"We can probably keep the Heartless off our backs though. Can't do much about Nobodies," she said. She flashed her eyes yellow as a warning before looking back at Sora. Whatever was behind them backed away.

Sora took the lead of the group, walking through twists and turns and being the first to attack when a group of Nobodies got in their way.

"Yuki," Sora said after a moment.

"Hm?" Yuki asked, turning to look at him after taking out the last Nobody in that area.

"You knew Axel really well, right?" Sora asked.

"I wouldn't say that. But, he was a friend. One of my best friends," Yuki said. She looked down at the ground, a pain starting in her chest. She didn't want to admit Axel was gone.

"So, those things he said. About you having a heart, and X, as," Sora trailed off and Yuki got the sense he didn't really want an answer.

"My knight?" Yuki asked softly. Sora nodded. "Why is that anyways?" Yuki asked looking over at X. He only shrugged.

"Not a clue, just what I am. Someone has to watch the Queen," he said calmly.

"Queen of what?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Heartless," Yuki answered. Sora stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Yuki flushed red and looked away from him with a frown. "Please don't stare like that. I already feel bad enough."

"But you, you're just like us!" Sora said. Yuki sighed and looked back at him. He still looked shocked. She supposed it wasn't something he had considered. One of his friends lacking a heart.

"Sora, I know you might not have really seen it yet, but in the end, elites like us are just like you guys. X, Y, me, and the ten other elite Heartless left, we aren't so different from people," she said. It felt strange to admit that. She had tried so hard in her mind to separate herself from the others. But they weren't. The only difference was what they had left.

"Does Riku know?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, he knows," Yuki confirmed. "Kairi doesn't, I'll have to tell her when we get her back home."

While they had been walking they had made their way to a skyscraper that marked the middle of the city. Sora was a few steps ahead of the group, lost in thought. Before any of the others could catch up to him, a group of samurai Nobodies cut them off.

"Sora!" Donald yelled. Sora turned around and drew his keyblade, glaring at the Nobodies.

"Donald! Goofy! X! Yuki!"

As soon as the words left his mouth he vanished into thin air. The group remaining was forced to take out the Nobodies, which wasn't much of a challenge. After the Nobodies were gone the group all stood in confusion. Yuki tried not to flinch. There were hearts locked in a battle. She could feel it. And looking over at X, she suspected he could too.