Hurting Hope

Ansem the Wise's Departure

Sora and Company, Mickey, Ansem the Wise

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Mickey and Ansem the Wise stood on one of the balconies outside the Organization's castle. Ansem was hold down a strange machine that was firing a green-blue light into the center of the Organization's 'Kingdom Hearts'. Mickey stood next to him, watching nervously. Out of nowhere, Ansem started to laugh.

Mickey looked at him worriedly, "Ansem?"

Ansem shook his head in disbelief, "I'm a fool. I've spent years studying the workings of the heart. Yet, it seems I haven't learned a thing!"

Mickey tilted his head in confusion. "What d'ya mean?"

"The process of encoding hearts is incalculable," Ansem told the King. "The inhabitants of my Twilight Town were data created from real hearts. I was convinced that they would think and behave the way I envisioned," he gave a small chuckle, "I couldn't have been more wrong. I heart is so much more than any system. I saw it what Roxas and Kairi crossed paths. However, I was too stubborn to accept it. It's always the same. I try to wrap my mind around things my heart already knows, only to fail. While I was trying to bring Sora back, I had so many plans in store! But once Sora was an acting force, they fell apart. All my research amounted to nothing, compared with that one boy's heart." 

Ansem's machine started to crack and glow, overworking itself. 

"Ansem! The machine!" Mickey warned.

"All the more proof that hearts cannot be contained by data," Ansem sighed and looked at Mickey. "Run, my friend! It is going to self-destruct, and anything could happen!"

Mickey opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by someone shouting, "Your Majesty!"

Sora and his friends ran up to the two, sweating and out of breath from their sprint through the castle.

Ansem looked at him sadly. "Sora, the rest is up to you...Roxas, I doubt you can hear me, but...I am sorry." The machine made a cracking noise.

"Ansem!" Mickey shouted.

"My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!" Ansem pleaded.

Mickey shook his head, "No!" He jumped forward to try and stop Ansem, but Riku held him back.

"His heart's decided. We can't change that," Riku told the small King. The sound of a Dark Corridor opening sounded behind them. The last two Organization members appeared. Demyx yelped and backed away a couple steps, along with the rest of Sora's group. Xemnas looked up at the sky, at the breaking Kingdom Hearts, while Lelie looked startled, staring at Ansem.

"M-master?" she gasped in disbelief, her black-gold eyes widening; her hardness and cold cruel persona diminishing. Ansem looked at her with a mixture of relief, sadness, and guilt.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts," Xemnas said darkly, turning his gaze to his old master. "And look, here you all are. How convenient for me." He chuckled. "Ansem the Wise. You look pathetic."

"Have your laugh," Ansem said in a defeated tone, turning away from him and Lelie. "I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are."

"Students do take after their masters," Xemnas growled. "Only a fool would be your apprentice. I pity Lelie for not having the choice when you took her in." Xemnas put a hand on Lelie's shoulder, she flinched. "After all, none of this would have happened without you. You, are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."

"I admit, my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one. But what were you seeking?" he spat. "You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research best left forgotten. Is this the answer you've been looking for?"

"All that and more," Xemnas answered. "I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and I'm creating a new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. You hold us all back. I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed, by the jealousy you feel towards the student who surpassed you."

"Xehanort," Ansem said simply. "Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing, only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know that heart, but it's essence is beyond our reach. We're both arrogant, and still as oblivious as we began. I'm afraid that any world you try to create...Any world of yours would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!" The machine continued to shake a sputter, a sure sign that it was going to combust. "We've said enough! Riku, you know what to do." 

Riku nodded slowly. Ansem turned to Lelie, who's face had become twisted with worry and anger.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted, her voice cracking.

"Lelie..." Ansem muttered, "My dear girl...farewell..." The machine exploded, creating a blinding light, sweeping over the groups. When the light faded, hundreds upon thousands of hearts could be seen falling from the sky. The Organization's Kingdom Hearts was broken.