Malefit’s bck eyes, tinged with a glimmering green glow, narrowed with shrewd i. The fme surrounding Helios flickered, casting dark, dang shadows on his fad the cobblestones beh them. Sileretched between them, charged with tension and unspoken uandings. The crackle of green fire seemed to echo the subtle shift in the air as she weighed his words.

  “An intriguing answer,” Malefit murmured, her voice softer yet no less anding. “You ot to desire a world or an army. You seek knowledge, and that, in my experience, makes you more dangerous than a man with ambitions of quest. Very well, young one, I accept your proposition—for now. However,” she paused, eyes b into him like sharpened bdes, “you must show me proof of your word.”

  With a fluid gesture, she lowered her hand, and the fme around Helios dissipated into harmless sparks that vanished into the night. Helios felt the tension ease from his muscles, but he kept his expression posed, only a slight nod. “I knew you would see the value in this arra.”

  Malefit’s smile sharpened into a thin, dangerous line. Her eyes glistened like polished obsidian, a look that held the promise of poeril. “Uand this: betrayal will not be tolerated. Should you think to e, there will be no for this world or any other that will save you from my wrath.”

  Helios met her gaze without fling. The shadows of the night seemed to coil around them, drawn to their dark presence. “I wouldn’t expeything less. Now e in—it will sooime for the people of this town to sleep, and ohey do, I’ll take you to observe proof that my words hold merit.”

  Malefit’s eyes narrowed further as she stepped closer, her dark gown sweeping over the cobblestones as she moved past him and into Merlin’s cottage. The room was dim, the light from the moon casting elongated shadows across the aomes and gss vials that lihe shelves. Helios closed the door behind them, the tch clig softly as he tried to ighe cold prickle of apprehension running down his spine.

  Inside, Malefit’s presence seemed to fill the space, her aura suffog the room with an almost tangible darkness. She swept her eyes over the shelves of books and magical artifacts with a mix of disdain and curiosity, pausing only wheiced a small crystal globe glimmering faintly on a nearby table. She traced its edge with a bck-gloved finger, as if sidering whether it was worth her attention.

  “Impressive,” she drawled, though her tone made it clear she found the modest dwellih her. “But this is hardly the pce I would have expected you t me to for proof of your bold cims.”

  Helios moved to the window, peering out at the silent streets as the st lights of the town began to dim. The time was nearly upon them. He turned back to her, his voice steady, cutting through the stillness. “Patiehe proof you seek is not here. Follow me, and you will see for yourself.”

  Malefit tilted her head, her eyes narrowing briefly before she nodded once, sharply. Helios led her out through the back door of the cottage, choosing a path that would avoid the main roads. The moon bathed the garden paths in silvery light as they walked, the air crisp and filled with the faint, soothing st of night-blooming flowers.

  Far away from Merlin’s cottage Helios opened a dark corridor. Leading the way he and Malefit entered and reappeared inside Ansem’s castle specifically Ansem’s Old b where Xehanort and Even did their secret experiments. There was a puter identical to the one Helios had accessed before taking all the data.

  Helios walked over to the puter and began typing the names of the seven princesses of hearts unlog the puter. Melift watg the whole process unfold spoke, “You seem quite familiar with this mae. I do wonder where and how you learn to access it with such ease.”

  Helios did look back as he responded, “Of course I do, like I said I’m the one leading them to go down this path. If I weren’t able to sneak in here and routinely check their progress how I make sure they’re doing what I hem to do.”

  “I suppose so,” said Malefit who was no longer ied in knowing why.

  Accessing the program he needed Helios opehe wall behind the puter which opened smoothly without muoise. Behind the wall was a gss window that allowed them to observe a chamber lined with steel and gss, dimly illuminated by a soft blue light, adding a sleek, modern touch.

  On the walls, there were rows of what looked like glowing, segmented data ns or crystalliructures, illuminated by hearts held within. Helios opehe security cameras which held live footage of the current locatiohe Shadow was held. There Even and Xehanort were experimenting on the Shadow.

  Helios paused and moved aside, gng back at Malefit. “This chamber holds the evidence you seek. What you’re looking at on the s is a captured Heartless, one of the creatures drawn to the presence of darkness. Behind me are captured hearts these stists take from the people of this world. Soon they will attempt to use these hearts to replicate how a heart succumbs to darkness. The best part of this ype of heartless is that the hearts not only make them easier to trol but when a heart is captured the new hearts naturally adapt them to whatever world their in.”

  Malefit’s bck eyes, tinged with an eerie green glow, narrowed as she studied the Heartless on the monitor, her expression shifting from skepticism to intrigue. Helios stood beside her, watg her rea carefully, knowing this was the moment that could solidify their tenuous alliance.

  “And how did you e across this information?” she murmured, as though speaking to herself, her voice thoughtful yet ced with a dangerous edge. “And you cim that more of these creatures will e—stronger, more powerful, and more numerous?”

  Helios nodded, his expression calm, cealing the rag thoughts beh. “Yes. These Heartless or so they’re called are drawn to the darkness embedded in the hearts of people, feeding on that shadow and growing strohose they feed on will join yion of Heartless like a pgue iing the world until soon the world’s heart bees yours. With the experiments underway, the stists will soon learn to harhe power of real hearts, creatiless that will bee the perfect soldiers for your quest.”

  Malefit’s eyes flickered with cold ambition as she turo face him, the fai smirk curling her lips. “It seems you are more resourceful than I initially believed, young man. You have shown me proof and id the groundwork for what may indeed be an army fit for my purposes. But why would someone like you, with access to this knowledge and such keen insight, not use this power for yourself?”

  Helios allowed a shadowy smile to cross his lips. “As I’ve said before, my is are not in quering worlds. I have a different goal, ohat requires knowledge—knowledge that only someoh your uanding of dark magi provide. You get your army, and I learn the dark magieed. oals align perfectly.”

  Malefit tilted her head, sidering him for a long, silent moment. The room was filled with the faint hum of maery and the occasional, soft pulse of blue light from the crystalliructures in the hidden chamber. The air between them was thick with unspoken implications.

  “So be it,” she finally said, her voice smooth, the regal weight of her words pressing into the room. “But remember, boy, our alliance is ditional. I shall teach you until I receive my army.”