Welcome to Gaia! ::

Snuggling him happily, jabbering away all the while, Stitch had a closer look at him. This was not Sora, but he felt like him all the same, which was all that really mattered.

Pudgy little arms went around Roxas in a gleeful, delighted hug and licked wetly at the boy. The little summon let go after awhile, then looked around at the others, clinging to Roxas for a few moments.

He knew a few of them here and there, and waved at them happily. There were also a few that he did not recognize, but they didn't seem like a threat, so....

"Ooooooh...." There was a man with pink hair! Pink! And yes, his attention was fully diverted to Marluxia this time. Pointing at him, Stitch turned to Roxas excitedly. "Pinky!! Pinkypink!!"

Riku writhed in the throes of a nightmare.

Come back, Sora! I don't want to destroy anything, it isn't my fault!

His mouth gaped in soundless screams as he thrashed back and forth, slamming his hands into the floor, the wall, anything of which he could get within reach, trying to do... something, perhaps free himself from unseen bonds.

Abruptly, he woke, realizing with a wince that his knuckles were bleeding and he'd, at some point, smacked his skull on the floor. He dragged himself to a sitting position into the corner, clutching his head and trying to get his bearings.

Impulsively, he scrabbled at his face with his fingers, making sure there was no blindfold over his eyes. Once he felt safe on that one, he ran his hands up and down his arms, streaking blood across his bare skin, double-checking that there was no black fabric to be found.

"Oooh..." He glanced up when it didn't seem so much like the world was going to spin like a top around him, and the first thing he saw was a man standing in the center of the room- apparently looking right at him.

He felt a chill run down his spine, but for the moment chalked it up to dizziness and nightmares, and glanced over at Xigbar, lounging against the desk. That makes sense, if he remembered what Xigbar had said about his past correctly.

"Uh... hullo...?"

Pride chose it was now best to simply ignore all matters with this… computer. Xigbar was a little too involved with it for his own good. Though that wasn’t to say he wasn’t listening to what he was saying. The Heartless was extremely aware of his surroundings should anything of importance be mentioned. That included weeding through the riff raff that spewed from Xigbar’s (or anybody else’s for that mater) mouth at times.

He glanced over at Xigbar before stating, “I have written no books.” And left the subject with that. The man was now babbling because of his technology problems and the Heartless had no wish to divulge in such a conversation.

But then, at long last, the boy began to stir. ’Finally.’ Pride thought, watching Riku pull himself up from the ground.

One tip of Pride’s mouth curled upwards into the slyest of sneers. “I am glad to finally meet you, Prince.”

Sora studied him for a few moments, then nodded. His Keyblades were not summoned this time, and the boy was more than willing to leave him alone. However, he had questioned that he needed answered.

"Okay," Sora nodded, silently noting the Heartless' fear. Why was he here, if he didn't want to fight them. "Tell me who you really are, Number Four. And why are you here? And has Kingdom Hearts really been destroyed?" The last he knew, he had only sealed Kingdom Hearts away and had not totally destroyed it...right?

“I am glad to finally meet you, Prince.”

Riku felt the shift in himself at that title. Eyes narrowing, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, muscles stiffening. So this newcomer was not going to give him ANY time whatsoever to wake up and figure out what was going on. FINE. He could deal with that. He dragged himself to his feet, vainly trying to wipe the blood off his hands, and in general succeeding only to spread it around. He noticed a few drops of blood splattered on the cloth on his arm, and sighed a little at it. But back to the task at hand.

Prince.

There was only one logical explanation of why this guy, dressed ...oddly... would call him that.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is. What'd you do, forget your cloak at home? Is it still sitting on a coat-hanger by the portal or something?"

Playtime was apparently over. Oh well.

Riku was certainly more aware of the situation than Xigbar was immediately. No wonder the Emperor was so interested in speaking with him. The Heartless’ sneer did not fade away as nor did he remove himself from his own seat as the boy stood.

“I am glad the feeling is mutual, Prince.” Pride began. “And I am quite sure that Zexion has told you plenty about me. That is why my cloak is… not present at the moment.” The dark-haired man made a large gesture, showing the lack of his cloak from before.

“Of course that was quite a rude way to address me. I come with a very important message specifically for you.”

The Heartless was visibly relieved when Sora accepted his truce. That was so good! Now it looked like he wasn’t going to die! He’d rather that not happen… It would only end up in some horrific or bloody matter that he was not going to think about okay new subject now!

“Huh?” the Heartless asked, mind suddenly returning to the conversation. “Me? I am Number Four… but my name is Envy if that’s what you asking. I’m here cause I was told to be here…”

Then he stopped. Had he a heart it would have skipped a few beats. ”What? Kingdom Hearts?” he gasped. No! No! Greed wouldn’t have… would he? He couldn’t have told them… What was going to happen now!? Oh no oh no no no no no…

“Uhh…” Envy stood and tried to recompose himself. He coughed distractedly, trying to act as if he knew nothing, and asked, “Where did you hear this? What did they tell you?”