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// Chain/Days: Delve into the Darkness 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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While Seras and Axel were doing their best to keep a low profile in the main castle that the Organization lived in, while also carefully reporting on what they saw during their time there, both Riku and Mickey were sent out into the World as well, to investigate the group from the outside. Sombra knew that the Organization knew of their existence, as in hers, Riku's, and Mickey's, so for the time being she wanted to force Xemnas' group to focus on only hunting them down, keeping them blind to what the others were doing. Namine kept the Organization in the dark, carefully using her powers to make the Nobodies think that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were asleep, when the reality was that they were training with Aqua, learning how to fight while practicing some of their skills so they would be ready for when Sombra said it was time to attack. In addition to that Sora also flew around in the Gummi Ship every now and then, as one of the scanners indicated areas of Heartless ships for him to take out, earning them more materials that went into expanding the inside of their ship.

The reasoning for that was due to the fact that there were more people spending time in their vessel, some going to be permanent residents until the end of their battle with Master Xehanort's plans, so they needed more room to work, which was what Sombra did as she weaved the material into more space and more rooms. In addition to that she found a way to read the lexicon that she had claimed from Zexion's room, allowing her to make the training room into it's own dimension, just like the realm Fluttershy and Radiant worked in. The Shadow that was Fluttershy's heart was still frightened of the world and remained in the comfort of the animals she had befriended, though while Sombra could possibly save both her and Seras now, thanks to the replicas she had taken from Vexen's lab, both she and Ansem the Wise were making sure they were pristine. Of course she did have to stop the elderly man from annoying the Nobodies that were with them, but that had been easy after he learned how they were just pawns in Xehanort's game, cooling his anger so he could focus on getting things ready for Sombra's plan.

While all of that was going on Sombra ended up crafting a small feast and sealed it with her time magic, which was followed by her opening a Dark Corridor, which she had learned how to do from watching Seras and the Nobodies use it, to return to the Darkworld, or more specifically the beach area as her own shadow vibrated as she focused on something.

"You know, I honestly didn't think you would come back here again... at least not so soon after your last visit." a voice said, where Sombra found that it came from someone wearing the black coat of the Organization, but rather than attack her, as she was Xemnas' enemy, she noticed that he didn't seem to overly care about her, as he summoned no weapon and simply looked at her without removing his hood, "So, you are Sombra... the other chess master that has entered the game... I must say that I am impressed by what you have done so far. Definitely deviates from my plans a tiny bit."

"Oh trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." Sombra replied, where she broke a tiny bit of her shadow off, which quickly reformed to make it look like no damage had been done to it, and linked it to the stranger's, mostly because this guy was a complete stranger and she was sure he would show her where he had come from, all while the shadows continued to vibrate while she talked, "I know you aren't Xehanort... who are you exactly?"

"Well, I could lie and say that I'm a fortune-teller, when I'm actually a brilliant artist, or even a scholar... I could tell you that I dream of peace for the World, when I'm actually plotting it's destruction." the figure said, like he was trying to hide who he was from Sombra, which was a bad idea in her mind since his words were making her want to draw her Keyblade and strike him down before he could leave the area, before he lowered his hand for a moment, "The truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear... however, for someone like you, I think I'll bend my rules a little. I am known as the Master of Masters, one of the 'Lost Masters' to be exact."

"Let me guess, your plan involves either restoring balance to the World or tilting the balance in one direction?" Sombra inquired, where she noted that the figure had decided not to actually tell her his name, like it was forbidden or something like that, but decided that if he wanted to play that game she was fine with it, especially since the figure said nothing to her comment, causing her to ask something else, "Tell me: what is your verdict on me? Am I someone you can ally with, or am I someone you would seek to destroy?"

"Undecided. I do, however, know that if we were enemies I wouldn't do the foolish thing, like that Seeker fella, and fight you in a realm where you get a power boost." the Master replied, which was a good thing in Sombra's mind, as it meant the figure was definitely smarter than some of the other individuals she had encountered so far, before he focused on why Sombra had come back to this realm in the first place, "I must ask: what are you doing?"

"I am communing." Sombra answered, where she turned her focus to the area that was in front of her and closed her eyes for a few seconds, because part of her attention had been on something else when the Master showed up, and right now it seemed that her silent work was paying off.

"...With who? There's no one else in this realm." the Master inquired, though while he knew there were Heartless out in the vastness of this realm, in fact he was sure that some were silently watching while not coming at them due to Sombra's insane strength and power, he really had no idea who Sombra was talking about.

Instead of responding Sombra raised her hands as she snapped her eyes open and the area in front of her shifted before their eyes, where the Master watched as a path was carved out of the darkness, like water being split, forming the walls of a cave around them. As that happened Sombra stepped forward and found that the Master followed after him, no doubt to see what was going to happen next, though as she did so she kept her attention on the area that was in front of them, as there happened to be a light that revealed the entrance into a hidden portion of the Darkworld. The area in question was a large cavern, like a dragon might have when Sombra thought about it, though she also found that the ground was smooth, likely a personal preference to the beast in question, and a few seconds later both she and the Master discovered that their host was home. The creature in question was a dragon that was larger than even Cerberus, possessing black scales and a dark blue underbelly, with crimson eyes that had an eerie yellow slit in the center, no doubt signifying it's connection to the Darkness, plus the spikes on it's spine and the material between the 'fingers' of it's wings were a deep red color.

This was the creature Sombra had sensed staring at her when she and the others invaded Castle Oblivion, an ancient and powerful Heartless dragon that seemed to put Seeker Ansem to shame, who seemed to grin as the pair stepped into the cave and the path behind them was sealed.

"And so my guests have arrived: Sombra, she who commands the Darkness, and Prexus, known as the 'Master of Masters' and the Bearer of Pride." the dragon stated, where Sombra found that it was feminine, which was interesting to discover, along with the fact that she seemed amused by what she was seeing right now, no doubt because of the person who had come here with Sombra, "I am Tiamat, one of the three Ancient Heartless that exist in the Darkworld."

"Woah woah woah! You can't just go blurting out that name like it's nothing!" the Master, or Prexus as Tiamat called him, stated, especially since he approached her for a moment and seemed to wave his hand like he wasn't in the presence of an incredibly powerful being, though while this did seem disappointing for a few moments, not what Sombra expected from a 'Lost Master', she suspected that this was part of his personality, "And don't you mean that you are a Darkness?"

"No, I don't. We Ancient Heartless are on a level that is weaker than the True Darknesses." Tiamat replied, where Sombra suspected that she was having fun messing with Prexus, which only made her more interested in what they were talking about, while at the same time it seemed like the robed figure seemed unsure what to think of this situation, causing the dragon to turn towards Sombra for a moment, "As you can see I rule over the mountain ranges of the Darkworld, while the other two members of my kind are elsewhere in this dark realm: Leviathan, a massive serpent, rules the ocean of this world... while Abdul, the lich, tends to the twisted plains. Tell me, Sombra: why have you sought me out?"

"I wish to learn more about this realm, and the World itself... especially now that I know there is another level beyond the Emblem and Pureblood Heartless." Sombra answered, though at the same time she thrust her hand out and the items she had prepared ahead of time appeared before her, allowing Prexus to see that a feast had been prepared before Sombra even entered this realm, and the time power on it was disabled in the process, "Not to mention now that I know about the existence of these 'True Darknesses'... though I might have miscalculated how much to bring."

"There is no need. After all, I do not require food... but I will not turn down the offering." Tiamat said, where Sombra found that the large dragon weaved some of her power around her body and shrunk down to a smaller form in the span of a few seconds, looking almost like a child dragon, though it did allow her to sample the food without crushing everything that had been placed in front of her, meaning she might also have a humanoid form that she didn't want to use fight now, but she did chuckle as Prexus' stomach growled, "You have permission to join us, Prexus."

As Prexus did that Tiamat explained that she and her brethren were the first Heartless to be born, hence their title as the 'Ancients' or even 'Primordials' if Sombra wanted to call them that, and all three of them had seen many things over their long existence in this realm. She further explained that such a thing allowed them to witness the countless battles that had been waged between the Prime Darkness and the Prime Light, to the point where both forces seemed to forfeit their physical forms to possess the bodies of others, why she had no idea since it only continued the long war. Tiamat pointed at the robed figure, who slipped a piece of the chocolate cake that Sombra had brought with her into his face, without lowering his hood to preserve his identity, and told Sombra that if she wanted to know more about that war she should ask Prexus, as he was connected to the war in some manner. Prexus, for the time being, refused to say anything on this matter, mostly because he was in the middle of figuring out if Sombra was a potential ally or a terrifying enemy, which she was fine with since it made sense to not share information with an enemy.

Sombra did have to ask if the Ancient Heartless had their own hearts, since it sure seemed like they did, and Tiamat told her that they did, which was why she and her brothers weren't like the other Heartless, though Abdul did like to go after hearts that fell too deep into the darkness, causing Sombra to nod as they continued talking.

Tiamat also admitted that it had been ages since she or Leviathan had entered the Realm of Light, as Abdul was able to do so with ease since he was smaller than them and could fit through most of the rifts with ease, because her smaller form was unable to enter the openings that her brother could use. She did not regret this loss, rather the times she had been allowed to traverse the Realm of Light she had more than enough fun clashing with those that dared to challenge her, as she usually came out on top, so when it came time to fully call this realm home she was able to do so with ease. Of course if someone were able to call her into the Realm of Light she would be grateful for a chance to fly around another realm again, maybe even fight by their side if necessary, something that caused Prexus to cough for a moment, meaning he had swallowed something wrong, while Sombra chuckled. It was hard for her not to do that, because there was a chance that she could get into a war with Xehanort and call in a figure that even he would have difficulty facing, potentially three if the dragon's brothers wanted to get in on the action, which only made her that much more eager to learn about Tiamat and whatever else she knew.

This only made her that much more interested in seeing what the future held for her and her friends, especially since she wanted to see how the Organization was doing and if Seras was able to convince the others to turn away from Xemnas' plans, causing her to smile as she and Tiamat talked as she waited to see what the following days might throw at them.