"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" CRASH! Enigma groans as he tries to recover from the fall, the roof underneath him broken in somewhat from the hard landing. As Enigma looks up, the dark portal closes, and he mutters to himself before he tries to pull himself out. After a moment, he manages to do so and then climbs down to the street. He brushes himself off, double-checks to see that he has the letter, and starts to walk toward the castle.

No one had noticed Enigma's fall. They seem occupied, either buying something or speaking with an old friend.

Enigma rubs his back, a little sore, before continuing toward the castle, letter stowed away in his cloak.

Everyone ignores Enigma, occupied. Xamira is sitting at the Postern, watching a Royal Knight take Lexi to the cell that was built into the mountains acro from the Postern. Is it the light, or are ther hints of brown in her hair?

Enigma notices Xamira as he passes the Postern, and he approaches her. "Evening, Xamira."

"Hey, how goes the search?" She asks when Lexi and the Knight leading her disapearing into the mountain. She looks at him then.

"Well...I checked out that mailbox," Enigma states. "I followed some clues and a few flashbacks, and I found out some things. Before I explain, though, I have a letter to deliver to King Sora."

"He should be in his office." Xamira says, before going over to the corridor door. She pulls out the special Knight's symbol Merlin gave her and scans it. The door opens. "After you." Xamira says.

Enigma nods and walks through the door, exploring the castle a bit as he tries to find Sora's office.

Xamira leads Enigma up to Sora's office, but Sora isn't there. "Stay here, I'll go find him." Xamira says. She then leaves.

Sora's office is simple, a book shelf sits behind his desk, but few books are on the shelves, most are just pictures of him, Kairi and Mariya. A picture is on the floor, back side up. On Sora's desk is a shoebox, containing only two items; a cell phone, that isn't working, and a royal knights symbol. Some pictures are on Sora's desk as well, and near were two pilles of papers; one stack contained information on the Palm Beach investigations, the other was repair ans security up-date's for the same place. The investigation papers is the taller stack.

Enigma waits for a moment, but after a moment, he becomes a little bored. Noticing the larger stack of papers, he approaches the desk and takes a look at the report.

The report is on the information they have so far, and witness reports, and other things. It doesn't seem like they got much information from the witnesses. Sora comes in then. "A Knight disapeared during the incident...as far as we know...he got distroyed by a heartless."

Enigma glances over at Sora. "I see...and I assume that you are King Sora?"

Sora nods, and sits down in his chair, moving the papers aside. "Have a seat. What can I help you with?"

Enigma turns to Sora and removes the letter from his cloak. "I come to deliver a letter that was sent one year ago but never reached its final destination."

"Well...thank you." Sora says, taking the letter. "Is that all?"

Enigma is silent, then nods. "Yes, that is all."

"Well your welcome to stay here if you'd like." Sora says, before he leaves his office with the letter. He begins reading it as the lift goes down.

Enigma is silent, then starts to read the report in more detail.

The reports pretty much say what Sora said, that there was saposedly an attack, the Hotel Lux ruined and a Royal Knight being distroyed...only Xamira's report says about the Royal Knight, however.

Enigma is silent, then sets the report down before making his way toward the door.

Suddenly, a ring reaches his ear. He pauses, glancing back toward the desk where the ring was. It was not coming from a landline, though, but instead from a phone in the shoebox.

Enigma pauses, not sure what to make of it, before he slowly walks over, takes the phone, and answers it. "...Hello?"

There is no answer.

"...Hello?" Enigma asks, a bit louder this time.

"Hello."

Enigma freezes, hearing the voice coming from not just the phone but also from behind. Feeling a chill run up his spine, he glances over his shoulder to see what it was.

Back-to-back with him was a tall Heartless, resembling a Shadow if not for the more humanoid form and the spiky shadow hair on its head. It also wears an odd set of clothes that are as dark as the shadows and seem worn away.

Engima stands there, frozen with fear about this strange thing. "Wh...what are you?"

The Heartless is silent, then speaks into the shadow phone in his hand. "Your other." With that, the Heartless whips around, landing a hard kick on Enigma.

Engima grunts, flying into the desk and bringing half of the papers and objects on it to the ground with him as he slides across it.

The noise isn't heard below by anyone.

Xamira is in the library, sleeping on the loveseat, a book on the floor where it fell from her hand. She seems t be having a bad dream.

Enigma grimaces as he slowly gets up, using the desk for support as he glances at the shadowy figure.

The figure now hangs up on his phone, the phone disappearing in a small wisp of darkness. Instantly, two giant shadow keys, the Shadow Blades, appear in his hands. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you survived," it says coldly and with a menacing voice. "You Nobodies were always cunning."

"I...I'm a what?" Enigma asks, unable to understand what the Heartless told him.

The Heartless tilts its head. "Oh? You don't remember? A shame. Here, I was hoping to see that look on your face. That same look of anger and irritation as when you previously failed to stop me. But I suppose a face of fear is just as enjoyable." He raises the Shadow Blades, and instantly, he charges Enigma.

Engima, although hurt, thinks quickly and kicks the desk toward the Heartless.

The Heartless pauses, the desk now sliding toward him, but he effortlessly cleaves the desk in half with one Shadow Blade, and with the other, he slashes at Enigma.

Enigma steps back, dodging the blow, but he barely has time to regain his footing before the Heartless plows into him and pushes him into the wall. He grimaces, then kicks the Heartless away before backing away from the wall while keeping a distance.

The Heartless quickly recovers from the boot to the stomach and turns to Enigma, circling him as Enigma circled him. After a moment, he charges again, attempting another attack.

Enigma has little time to prepare as he narrowly dodges it, but he gets clipped when the Heartless spins around, knocking him aside. He stumbles, and falls to the ground. Before he can get up, he finds one of the Shadow Blades pointed at his throat. He freezes, glancing up at the Heartless.

The Heartless stares down at him, and one would think that he would be smiling if he had a mouth. "Enough games. This ends now."

Enigma sits there, then asks. "...Why?"

The Heartless is silent, then responds. "Because, you are nothing." He then slashes at Enigma.

Suddenly, it all comes back to him. Enigma remembers everything. In an instant, he grabs the blade with such precision that he stops the blade and suffers no wound.

The Heartless is surprised, jumping back as he pulls away. "What is this?"

Enigma stands, glaring at the Heartless behind the bandages. "...What is this, you ask? ...This...is what nothing can do." He instantly jumps back, doing a flip as he lands on the wall. He grabs two swords mounted on the wall, then kicks off and toward the Heartless.

The Heartless barely has time to react before the two clash. Metal against metal rings out as the two duel in the middle of the king's study.

Xamira wakes, and runs up to the study. When she gets there she see's the two fighting. "Enough...both of you!"
--Meanwhile--
Sora is sitting in the dining hall, scribling on his napkin. He had grabbed a snak, and was eating it as he wrote various forms of Xamira's name on his napkin. He didn't know why, he just was. He glanced at his list:

Amira, Amiar, Armia, Arima, Aimra, Aimar
Ramia, Riama
Marai, Maria

Sora sighed. No name seemed familiar. He put his hand on his napkin, and it hid all but the final name. Kairi came in and kissed him before glancing at the napkin. "You spelled Mariya's name wrong." She said.

"No I-" Sra stopped and gasped. He then ran down to the baraks. He then sent a knight to Alageasia, telling him to brig her home immediatly.

The Heartless and Enigma pause, both caught off-guard by Xamira's injection, then Enigma shouts. "Xamira! Stay back!" Before he can say anything else, he is suddenly tackled by the Heartless, and both slam into the wall behind them-

-and crash through the window.

They both begin to fall, but even as they fall, they continue to fight. Manuvering in midair, they clash again and again, Shadow Blades against swords. They flip in the air after the last clash, landing on their feet as they land in the courtyard. They immediately resume their duel.

Xamira mutters something, and jumps out after them, just before a Knight comes into Sora's study. "She's not here, your majesty...but your window is sashed...I'll keep looking." He says into his phone.

As Xamira falls she tries to aim herelf so she'll land feet first on the heartless.

The Heartless and Enigma break away, at a standoff as they stare each other down.

At that moment, the Heartless then notices Xamira fallnig toward him. Without losing a beat, he spins around to catch her by the neck. If he successes, he holds her there in the air, an attempt to strangle her or to at least teach her a lesson for attempting such a futile attack.

Xamira mutters and misses on purpose before glaring at the heartless. "This isn't like you at all, Mario." She says, summoning her keyblades. She was prepared to help Enigma.

Meanwhile, Royal Knights are running about searching for Xamira, but the courtyard, and any place leading to it us blocked off by a barrier for some reason.

The Heartless is silent, then chuckles sinisterly after what Xamira says. "Mario? My, that's a name I haven't heard for a while, isn't it?"

"Xamira, stay back!" Enigma yells, motioning for her to get out of there. "This isn't the Mario you once knew! He's a pure Heartless now in body, heart, and mind!"

"I figured." Xamira says, her eyes sad. "Which means that I've lost my only friend. But I'll fight to get him back!"

The Heartless chuckles with more amusement. "I'm afraid that your friend is long gone. His heart belongs to the darkness now, as it should have sixteen years ago." He now raises his Shadow Blades. "Now step aside. I have no business with you, only him."

"No, your wrong, Mario is in there somewhere, I've seen it, I just have to figure out how to bring him to the surface." Xamira says, a bit peeved now. "Enigma, go, let me handle him."

"No," Enigma responds. "This is my battle as well, and I refuse to let you fight him alone." He then steps forward, still branishing both swords.

The Heartless chuckles again. "It amuses me that you two together believe that you stand a chance against me. But I'm not one to drag things out, so let's make this quick." With that, he snaps his fingers.

Instantly, dark tentacles suddenly shoot out of the ground, starting to weave together as they grow up into the air. They then move in, creating a woven dome of shadows in the middle of the courtyard, trapping all three inside. In darkness.

Xamira doesn't hesitate, and folows her vision, attacking at the heartless' back.

The Heartless sees her in the darkness, however, and he quickly counters before throwing an attack of his own. This is swiftly blocked by Enigma in turn, however, who then slashes at him from the front. The Heartless against parries, and this time attempts a spin cut at both of them. Enigma barely dodges in the darkness, blind but still somehow able to get some idea of the events based on the glowing yellow eyes of the Heartless.

Xamira attacks again, this time using her quickest attack. "Mario! Common! I know your in there!"

The Heartless blocks again. "Your efforts are in vain," he says coldly. "Allow me to show you why." Suddenly, he disappears in the darkness. Without warning, he speeds through the room in multiple directions, making numerous cuts and slashes as he dashes past Xamira and Enigma.

Enigma grimaces as he hits the ground, taking heavy damage from the assualt.

Xamira is hit by three of the attacks, and cries out in pain, but it sounds like Mariya is screaming along with her.

Enigma curses, and just as the Heartless is about to land the final hit on Xamira, he gets to his feet and intercepts the attack, taking it.

There is a silence in the darkness, but one will now realize that the Heartless's Shadow Blade was now run right through Enigma and only a millimeter from piercing Xamira.

The Heartless is silent, then speaks. "Why do you try so hard to help people? Why do you try to save them? Why do you try to save this boy? Why?"

Enigma is silent, and for a moment, one would think that he is dead. Then, he speaks. "Beacuse, I am the light." Without a moment of hesitation, he grabs the Shadow Blade, rips it out of his stomach, and wrenches it from the Heartless's grasp. With fluid motion, he spins around and lands a devastating blow. "Zantetsuken!"

There is nothing but silence in the dome, then, a crack of light in the top. Suddenly, the entire dome shatters, the shadow fragments dissolving into nothing as they fall. With light now entering the dome, it can now be seen that Enigma is standing past the Heartless, the Shadow Blade in hand. The Heartless meanwhile, is clutching his chest.

The Heartless glares back at him, then at the Shadow Blade. "...You...have not won...yet..." Without another word, he opens a dark doorway with his remaining Shadow Blade, staggers through while grimacing from his injury, and disappears within as the doorway disappears.

Enigma, his job done for now, collapses, the Shadow Blade disappearing as he falls.

Xamira casts a cure on herself and stands up and goes to Enigma, picking him up. Hearing the Knights approach she mutters something. In her vision she saw them arresting her, and Mariya dieing. She opens a portal, leading to the Crystal Fissure. She goes threw taking Enigma along with her, and just as the Knights charge into the courtyard the portal disapears.

In the fissure, Enigma grimaces as he clutches his stomach, the final blow from earleir having a heavy impact on him.

"Easy." Xamira says. "Stay still for a sec." She aims her keyblade at his wound. "Cure."

Enigma grimaces as his wound disappears, but a gaping hole in the cloak reveals where it had been. With the wound healed, the bandages of darkness and twilight then weave themselves back over it.

Enigma is silent, then speaks. "I failed..."

"No...I failed...I should have gotten threw to Mario...my vision...it was wrong..." Xamira whispers, whiping a tear.

Enigma is silent, then gets to his feet and turns away. "No...if I had been more successful...he would never have become what he is now..."

Xamira is silent for a moment. "Mario?" She whispers.

"...No...an echo of the one you once knew," Enigma states.

"So he-" Xamira stops, and gets a blank look on her face.

Enigma glances back at her, noticing her sudden pause.

Xamira blinks after a few minutes and hold her head. "Ow." She mutters.

"Something wrong?" Enigma asks.

"Had a vision...gave me a headache...He'll be back....for now tough..avoid the Maw." Xamira mutters.

Enigma is silent, then turns away, seeming to be lost in thought now.

Xamira sighs. "Where's a sudoku book when you need one."

Enigma is silent, then starts to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Xamira asks, looking at him.

Enigma pauses, then responds without looking back. "To find him." After a moment, he continues. "If you want to help him, then use your portals and take me to Alageasia. From what intelligence I gathered beforehand, I know that there will soon be a great battle there. Thousands, if not millions, of soldiers fighting to spill the blood of the other side. An irresistable and easy target for the Heartless, and if anyone is going to lead the Heartless in battle there, I know it's going to be him."

"But Mariya's there....and Sora must have sent a knight...." Xamira murmurs. After a brief pause she sighs. "I'll have to 'borrow' a cloak when we get there." She says before opening a dark portal. She motions for Enigma to go first.

Enigma nods and steps through the portal.

{Enigma to Alageasia}

Xamira follows after, the portal closing behind her.

{Xamira to Alageasia}