Once everyone was safely aboard the Gummi Ship, and they confirmed that it was moving back towards Traverse Town, Sombra let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding as she reverted back to her 'base form', letting the armor vanish as her casual attire returned and her eyes returned to normal.
"I'm glad you're back to normal... honestly, I was worried that was going to be permanent." Radiant remarked, as she had witnessed Sombra's return to her old terrifying form and had been absolutely worried that the transformation would be permanent, though now she had a feeling that things were different than she had assumed.
"Not quite. Think of it as a transformation of sorts." Sombra replied, though while she was still angry over Fluttershy's fate, and what it meant since she took the attack meant for her, she knew she needed to focus on other things and not on her anger towards the one responsible for the event, but she did have a question, "How are they?"
"Shy's Heartless is just like her, scared of the world, but Squeak is keeping her company... Sora, well, you have to see it to believe it." Radiant answered, something that drew Sombra's attention immediately, especially since she could feel a slight change in the magic of the ship for a moment, though as they started to move Radiant had her own question that was less important and still wanted to ask it anyway, "Is your weapon the same, or did it change back?"
Sombra held a hand out and found that the Keyblade was the one that appeared, not the scythe, causing Radiant to nod as she dismissed the weapon before heading down into the living area, only to pause for a moment as they found Kairi in the middle of hugging Sora, as in his normal form and not the Shadow he had turned himself into.
"Okay, so... I'm going to guess that, in addition to having the power to reveal the Final Keyhole, a Princess of Light can just break the laws of the World." Sombra commented, because if what she had seen back on Tarzan's world was anything to go by, and she was sure that her observations were correct, a person could be separated into a Heartless and a Nobody, so to reform that person one had to beat or destroy their halves, and Kairi, being a person of pure heart or Light, had just broke the rules by turning Sora's Heartless back into a person, "Sora, are you alright?"
"I... don't know... but I'm glad Kairi is fine." Sora answered, though it was clear that he was conflicted, as while Kairi was safe at last, rescued from the clutches of Maleficent and her dark council, Riku had been lost to Ansem's madness, but for the time being he was focused on making sure his other friend was okay.
Sombra sighed and told the boy that she'd be pulling him into the training area in the future, just to be sure he was fine, before taking a seat as she looked at the rest of the group while their ship traveled through the warp space, seeing that the shy one's unique Heartless was sleeping, with Squeak tending to her. She thought about this for a few moments, as both Sora and Fluttershy had been separated into a Heartless and a Nobody, though while their Heartless had been in the exact area that they had fallen in, like Clayton's, both Nobodies had disappeared without a trace. Such a thing meant that if the way to revive one's person was to defeat their halves it would take them awhile to save Fluttershy, since they had no idea where hers might have gone, plus they would have to track down Sora's, since it would be carrying part of his power. This was an annoying turn of events when she thought about it, as they were basically down two members of their team, despite Sora looking perfectly fine, and she knew that things would be different the next time they encountered some Heartless, which might be soon given the state of the Final Keyhole.
Fortunately it didn't take them long to leave the warp space and appear near Traverse Town, where Sombra was sure that Merlin must have used his time powers to get everyone here as quickly as possible, though once they came to a stop Sora walked up to the controls and made sure to hide the ship like normal, before warping them down to the entrance.
Sure enough Leon and Yuffie were there to greet them, even though they were surprised by the fact that Riku wasn't there and Kairi was, but instead of questioning things right now Leon escorted everyone over to the underground area that was below Merlin's place, where they could regroup and discuss things. Kairi, of course, was interested in the town since this was her first time seeing it and everyone that called it home, especially when they gathered in Merlin's house and went down into the watery area, where the rest of the group, Cid and Aerith, were waiting. Merlin also joined them, using some of his magic to bring down some plates and some ingredients that he would turn into food, though Sombra took over by popular demand of the group that knew her, causing her to get to work with the supplies and items the wizard moved into the area they were in. Once they were all gathered Merlin explained that he had felt a source of great Darkness awaken in Hollow Bastion and, upon feeling the group return to the Gummi Ship, save Beast since he stayed behind for Belle, got the group out of there after realizing they must have failed to stop Maleficent.
"Oh, that wasn't the Final Keyhole you felt... that was Sombra releasing her true power." Radiant remarked, though as she said those words Sombra's horn ignited and the food she was preparing, meat and fruit that surprised those who weren't familiar with her skills, floated out to the plates that were around the area, causing them to dig in and prompted Leon's group to do the same.
"Woah! This is... amazing! I don't know else to describe it." Yuffie stated, as she had tasted some good food before, but this dish, despite the lack of ingredients since they didn't have everything she and Leon had seen Sombra buy the last time they were in town, was far beyond everything she had tasted in the past, something the rest of her group was discovering as they tasted the food.
"Holy molly! Where did you learn to cook like this?" Cid added, because he agreed with Yuffie, in fact everyone agreed with her on this matter, the food was just that good and now he was understanding why Sora had wanted Sombra to cook up something for everyone, in fact Kairi was also enjoying the meal, which was good since they had no idea what she had been given during her time in Maleficent's care.
"Believe it or not, but I'm purely self-taught." Sombra said, though as she sampled her dish, finding it to her satisfaction, she found that Leon's group had stopped in their tracks at the information that she was just that talented when it came to food, while at the same time her own group continued eating without stopping, "And yes, I am the one that generated that large dark energy you detected... think of it as my full power, fueled by my hatred for a single person: the one who took away one of our companions. However, it would seem that there is another force at play right now, a figure wearing a black coat that seems to be the other half of Ansem... and by that I mean Ansem is a Heartless, an incredibly powerful one at that, while his leftover body was transformed into something new, something I'm calling a 'Nobody'. This is, of course, not the first time we've seen such a thing."
"Right, the guy we saw when we first entered the second district... his heart turned into his Heartless, while his body just turned into some odd white creature that left." Sora added, as he remembered what Sombra was talking about, though this only made him wonder why these Nobodies had stayed dormant for so long, instead of attacking them with the vast groups of Heartless they had fought.
"Wait, so every heart turned into a Heartless also creates a Nobody?" Leon asked, because if that was true it meant that there was an army of the other halves somewhere that they knew nothing about in the slightest, though as he asked his question he found that Sombra, at least, was carefully thinking about how to answer it.
"Hard to say. The man created one, Clayton created one when he was taken, and I'm positive that Sora and Fluttershy created their own when they were turned into Heartless," Sombra answered, though that was the fact that really made her pause and think about what they had discovered, because if Nobodies were formed where their original person was turned into a Heartless than she was sure that Sora's and Fluttershy's would have done so in Hollow Bastion, but neither had, "however, neither one appeared where they fell, meaning there must be some location that certain Nobodies are drawn to when they are born and both of theirs were drawn to that location... and Kairi's, now that I think about it."
"Mine?" Kairi asked, because she hadn't thought about what Sombra was saying, mostly because of the fact that she was glad to be up and about for the first time since their world had fallen to the Heartless, as she remembered bits and pieces of her time as a mostly unresponsive body, along with memories that seemed to be from Sora's perspective.
"Yes, your heart was inside Sora's when he freed it and turned into a Heartless... I'd wager that being a Princess of Heart means you can't create a Heartless." Sombra commented, though that worried her, there were three Nobodies that they had no idea where they were and suspected that they would have to find them at some point, where she noticed how only Radiant seemed to be following what she was saying, at least of her group since Merlin seemed to understand what she was saying as well, "Basically I'm thinking that when Sora turned into a Heartless and created his Nobody, he also created your own at the same time, who, like his, just disappeared into the void... we would do well to look for all three of them once we're done with Ansem."
Leon was surprised that she, of all people, wanted to go back to Hollow Bastion, after everything that happened, but she wasn't the only one who thought that way, as Sora and the others, even Kairi, wanted to go back and bring an end to this quest, especially since the Final Keyhole had been opened. With that in mind Leon suggested that they come with them, as Hollow Bastion had been their world before it fell to Maleficent, causing Sombra to tell them how the Gummi Ship didn't have enough room for all of them, which only caused Cid to ask if they had more gummi blocks. Radiant confirmed that they did, Squeak had a bag full of items and many of them were the blocks, where Cid told them that he could install a new device that would add the blocks to the ship, meaning that whoever was editing the ship could add more space to the insides. In addition to that he had another navigational gummi he needed to install, because with the main path leading to Hollow Bastion surging with Heartless they would need to use the backdoor he had created in the event that he and his friends wanted to return to their home, and now seemed like the perfect time to use it.
While they were talking Squeak took the sphere with the dalmatian puppies and returned them to their parents, returning with another spell, Aeroga, the third tier Aero spell, before Leon said that they needed to stop at the Coliseum, just to make sure Sora could fight before the big battle, causing Sombra to nod as she wondered what might be thrown at them before the end of their grand adventure.
Following the battle with Sombra, something that could only be described as domination once the Silencega was placed on his body, Xemnas had managed to escape thanks to his foe being distracted by what had happened to Sora, which was a blessing since he was sure the dark Keyblade wielder would have ended his existence.
"Man, she sure did a number on you." Xigbar commented, as the battle had done quite a lot to Hollow Bastion itself, to the point where Vexen was still staring at the data with a shocked look on his face, all while he handed their boss the highest level potion they had on the ship, a mega one, since the other tiers didn't seem like they had enough power to heal the wounds Xemnas had been deal, "Who would have thought that Sombra's full power could stand to the full power that your Nothingness commands... man is that a terrifying thought."
"That... was not my full power. With the information we had I assumed she would be far weaker than she was," Xemnas replied, where he took the mega-potion and drank from it, feeling the healing properties of the potion course through his body as the damage done to him started to heal, like none of it had happened in the first place, all while he could see that Vexen had stopped upon hearing his statement.
"Really? And here I thought you were using your full power." Vexen commented, though at the same time he tapped the console that was in front of him and continued to look through the information that had come in from Hollow Bastion, at least now that the battle was over and the Final Keyhole had been opened, "Could you handle her with your full power?"
"Yes, the full power of Nothingness is far greater than when I use only half of my power... next time, she won't be as lucky as she was today." Xemnas stated, where one would assume he was being arrogant, though as a Nobody such a thing was nonexistent, he could only act like he was arrogant, but the truth remained, the full power of Nothingness put what he had just used against Sombra to shame, meaning the next time they fought he would be sure to crush her, "Vexen, have you found their Nobodies?"
"I have. Both Sora's and Fluttershy's are somewhere in Twilight Town... Kairi's, however, is still unknown, but the trace has pointed at hers being in the second castle." Vexen replied, because while he was unsure of how to feel at seeing his boss be beaten like that, it was just astonishing when he thought about it since Xemnas was the oldest Nobody and he was far stronger than everyone who had come after him, he was still terrified of him and knew to drop the issue for the time being, as when he was alone he'd focus on it again.
Xemnas paused for a moment, as the 'second castle' was none other than Castle Oblivion, which he was sure had been an entirely different structure in the past and housed something that would help him in some manner, so it was odd that the Nobody of Kairi would appear there, of all places, while it was odd for Sora's and Fluttershy's to be in Twilight Town, which caused him to stand up.
"Woah. Are you sure you should be up and about, after that fight?" Xigbar asked, because while he knew the potion would have healed all of Xemnas' woulds, especially since they had used the best one of the bunch, he wanted to make sure his boss was fit enough before he did any serious damage to himself.
"Yes. I am fine. Xigbar, I want you to return to the main castle and tell Axel to prepare himself." Xemnas replied, returning to his commanding persona, to put what had just happened in the dust since there was more to do and he couldn't let any of the others know he had been beaten by someone, though as his second nodded his head he turned to glance at the other Nobody that was with them, "Vexen, I want you to go over everything that just happened, both during this fight and the fights you were able to record, and see if there is anything you can do with the information that we have gathered so far... and keep an eye on Sombra, in case there's more to learn. She's going to become a problem if she's allowed to steal and absorb more hearts, if what happened on Hollow Bastion is any indication... we need every advantage was can get to bring her down."
"A Replica... you're thinking of making one of Sombra from our data, to counter her?" Vexen inquired, which was funny to him, as his files held the information for one such Replica that was made from the collected data they had on Sora, like a proof of concept as he thought about it, that he was calling 'No.i' or 'Xion' if he could complete it, so he might have two of them in the very near future, to which Xemnas nodded and caused the scientist to nod, "Consider it done. I'll start work right away and have an update for you in a few days."
Xemnas gave him a brief nod as Xigbar departed for their main castle, to tell Axel that he should be expecting newcomers to arrive in the near future, before he pulled up his own hood and used a Dark Corridor to travel to Twilight Town, a place that was vastly different from Traverse Town. The main difference was that this one was located far closer to the realm he and the other members of his Organization lived in, and worked from most of the time, meaning it was also easier for his forces to reach this place, both the twelve existing members and the lesser Nobodies that served them. With that fact in mind he glanced down at the people that were walking about, as he was on top of a building and could look down at them without anyone glancing up at him, before focusing on what he was feeling at the moment, as sometimes he could sense where a newly born Nobody, who could serve the Organization, might be located. Oddly enough his target was located just outside the mansion on the outskirts of town, where he found a boy that was about Sora's height, had a similar build, and spiky hair, which was golden blond, though he wore a white unzipped jacket over a black one, pants that had two colors, and black shoes with red laces.
While Xemnas was surprised that the Nobody would look so different from Sora, despite being Sora's Nobody, he could see the near zombie-like movements that came when one of their own was born into a normal body, causing him to open a shorter Dark Corridor that put him right in front of the boy.
"Do you want to know? You, who feel nothing... do you want meaning to your existence?" Xemnas asked, though he also raised his right hand and waved it a little, creating the letters of Sora's name in front of him, another power that his own gave him, and when the boy nodded his head, somewhat anyway, Xemnas waved his hand and the letters started to spin, faster and faster before he pressed his hand towards the center, forming a new name, "A new you."
"...Roxas..." the boy said, as the letters now spelled R-O-X-A-S, the X being an addition added by his power, where the boy was able to figure out that this was his name due to how it settled into his being before disappearing, though Xemnas knew it would be some time before he would get over his zombie state.
"Yes. Come, I will take you to your new companions." Xemnas stated, though as he said that he heard a new sound and turned his head for a moment as a female figure landed nearby, someone who wore a black jacket that had a hood that wasn't over her head, which was over a deep red shirt, and she was wearing black pants, though what caught his attention immediately was her crimson eyes behind her glasses, her fangs, and the bat wings she had.
"Room for one more?" the newcomer asked, though at the same time the boy, Roxas she overheard, turned and looked at her for a moment, where she was sure he saw something in her that he sort of recognized, where she found that the black robed figure stopped for a moment before turning to face her.
"Of course. Shall we discover the new you?" Xemnas inquired, though as he raised his hand and activated his power, so he could see what sort of odd name the figure might get, he found that the letters swirled into each other before forming a name that didn't have an X in it.
"There's no need for that, as I already have a name: Seras." the bat said, showing that she had no need for the odd name power that had been used to form Roxas' name, causing the unnamed figure to dismiss the letters that were in front of her before he opened another dark portal near their position.
"Very well. Roxas. Seras. Come with me and I shall introduce you to your new companions." Xemnas stated, because while it was annoying that he couldn't place the X in Seras' name, like what happened for all of the other Nobodies that joined the Organization, he wasn't about to complain since she was willing to come with them.
Seras nodded as she beckoned for Roxas to follow them, where the boy stared at her before following in her steps, as he was still stuck in his zombie state, though this caused her to wonder what the future held for them and those they had left behind in Hollow Bastion, and made her eager to face whatever challenges might be headed their way.