Originally published on aff 2009-04-12 - 2010-07-04

I

It was cold, quiet, and dark.

Could barely see a foot away, not even the hand held up in front of the eyes. Blind? No, just not enough light. Light. It made up all, from the stars to human beings – light shone from everything. So why not here? Why not in this place? What was it about this black place that sucked the light out of everything, even this hand? Toes wriggled against a velvet-soft ground. This new information indicated that the feet had no protection, but the ground was pleasant to walk on. There were no harmful obstructions; at least, none that could be sensed, anyway. So what to do? It was cold here, indicated by the gooseflesh rising, so was that a clue to begin to move? To find some place warm? The quiet was nice, but then there was that nervousness of being alone, of being vulnerable. There wasn't even the frightening comfort of blood pumping in the ears. So what to do?

-Pirrup-

The quiet suddenly became less so and the onset of panic was suddenly real. The sound was so loud that it seemed to come from all directions at once.

-Pirrup pirrup-

It was chirping, communicating. Was it a good idea to call back? Or simply stay still and hope whatever it was passed by?

-Pipipirrup pipipirrup-

Panic took over the legs and being blind was hardly a deterrent from running, toes digging into velvet floor to propel the body along. Pure adrenaline charged the body, slip-sliding within veins to force speed into the deciding factors of whether the creatures caught up or not. It was a race, a life or death race, and survival skills demanded that the need to live was far, far greater than the desire to die.

-Pipirrup! Pirrup!-

Breath left the lungs at an astounding rate, throat burning as air was drawn to the lungs through the mouth. The tongue was soon dried out and stuck to the roof of the mouth, but still the momentum kept on only because fear drove the flight response. Bare feet slapped against the velvet ground, sound muffled but still most certainly leaving traces behind, leaving a trail to be followed. Stop, the body pleaded, stop. Rest.

Just a little farther. Just a little farther, then rest can come. Need to keep away from those sounds, those voices, because if those sounds and voices came closer, then the end would come. The desire to live far outweighed the desire to die. On and on the darkness went, a path chosen for simple necessity rather than because it was the correct one. Slowly, the momentum stopped, slowly the speed gradually fell to a simple walk, and the aches and pains of the body made themselves known. It took a long time, but finally the lungs stopped burning, and the mouth was no longer dry and it was easy to breathe again. A relieved sigh escaped and the walk slowed even more to a lazy crawl. Without the need to run away, everything seemed inconsequential. It was time to enjoy what was beneath the feet, what was felt by the skin if not seen by the eyes. The darkness wasn't so bad, save for the soft chirps that were far off to the left and behind. The only thing that bothered and prickled the skin was the cold.

It was an icy sort of cold, the kind that bothered and prickled with the feeling of cold but there wasn't anything to guard against it. It was the sort of cold that drove warmth away and called warmth to the extremities, and made toes and fingertips tingle. It was an odd feeling, not entirely unpleasant, but not entirely pleasant either. It was time to stop soon, exhaustion wouldn't allow the body to move any farther on the low energy it had from running. A safe place was needed before it was time to rest, and so at least another hour – though the passage of time was irrelevant in the darkness – before a suitable place was found. It was just like everywhere else, covered in the velvet-soft black ground, but this place here had the gentle glow of a violet light. It said, -I am safe-. So here, this lit place, was chosen to be the resting place.

The black portal swirled open to reveal a sunny ledge. Sand reflected the light even in the shadows of the trees and stung eyes far too used to darkness. Moving forward out of the portal, the humid heat made the leather of the black coat stick and goddamn if a bath wasn't going to be needed after this. He moved forward a bit more until he could see the crystal waves lapping at virgin white sands and turned toward the island that was more densely populated. In retrospect, he should have opened a portal there, but the Dark Corridors were dangerous – anything could get through once one had been opened. And, anyway, his source said his target would be here today. He was probably early because he certainly wasn't late. And if he was, he knew exactly who to blame.

He fidgeted in his heavy black coat, wanting to take it off. He couldn't though, not until he made it back home. He moved from shade to shade, watching and waiting. Finally a dinghy scraped up to the dock and he watched as Sora climbed out of the tiny boat. The boy had changed since he'd last seen him. He had to be… what? Seventeen now? But it wasn't Sora he needed. Over the course of the next two hours two more dinghies sailed into the makeshift harbour and he watched a tall silver-haired young man climb onto the dock to help a mulberry-haired young woman up. The intruder flexed clenched fingers. It had to be timed perfectly or it wouldn't work.

Corridor hopping was always a dangerous business, even if you knew how to do it.

He had to wait for the exact moment and even then it was a long shot. The moment the teenagers slipped onto the sands, he made his move. He opened a portal behind him and crossed into the black-and-grey world of the Dark. Everything looked the same as it did in the realm of Light – just colourless. Except for hearts, which glowed bright. This was how he was able to find his targets. He took a deep breath. Here goes nothing…

With a hasty wave he opened a portal before the teenagers and barely gauged their reactions before he grabbed the girl. He yanked her back into the portal – and got a sore jaw for the effort – but the two boys were far too slow to react. He reappeared with his victim on the ledge he'd first arrived on and let out as scathing a laugh as he could to get the boys' attentions.

"Want her?" He called out as deeply as he could make his voice. "Then come to the place caught in eternal dawn."

Laughing again, his original portal opened and he passed into the darkness. His victim struggled against him, so he took hold of her by the scruff and dragged her, trying not to mutter too loudly.

Kairi, for her part, was highly uncooperative as her kidnapper dragged her through the dark tunnel, taking her God knew where. She tried to kick and regretted it when a portal opened before her. Unbalanced, she yelled as she fell through, crashing onto a metal floor. Her captor followed her through and the portal closed. On her feet, Kairi kicked at the Nobody, gasping when he – she? it? – caught her foot.

"Would you stop trying to kick my balls into my throat? Christ."

Kairi stumbled back as her foot dropped, staring wide-eyed as that black hooded jacket came off. "Axel?"

The redhead dragged his fingers through his spiky crimson hair. "Yeah. Or I was, before you tried to castrate me."

"Shut up." Kairi bit out. "You kidnapped me!"

"Borrowed would be more accurate a term." Axel said with a smirk. "You'll go home. When is another matter entirely. C'mon."

Axel moved from the floor toward a staircase, leading Kairi up and out of wherever they were into the soft pastel light of the outside. The girl stood in awe of what she saw – rows of buildings, a market, a huge fountain, even a beach and boardwalk. And that was just one side.

"Views a lot better from the Palace. " Axel pointed to the barely visible spines in the distance above them. "You can see almost all of Sunrise Town."

"Sunrise Town?"

"This place. Basically this place is where those who have no home come. Some place to start over, begin anew." Axel flashed Kairi a grin. "Like me. Let's go. I'm late as it is."

"Late?" Kairi echoed, breaking into a light jog to keep up with the redhead.

"Short version is I was ordered to kidnap you. Our President can tell you why."

Kairi's eyes narrowed, but she didn't ask anything more, hurrying after Axel. Whoever this President was, he was going to get the sharp side of her tongue. Axel led her through winding streets, always going up. People milled about and waved at the redhead as he passed. Kairi noticed people in black hoods much like Axel's Nobody jacket standing on roofs and in alleys and she lengthened her stride just in case.

Axel led her up to a huge wrought-iron gate that surrounded a yard large enough to house Destiny Islands and then some. The Palace beyond the gate and yard seemed huge, larger than the Hollow Bastion – Radiant Garden, Kairi reminded herself – palace and Beast's castle combined.

"It's several levels," Axel explained as he let her through the gate. "Maybe close to five hundred rooms per floor. Lab is in the basement, hospital the first floor above ground level, residences on the second and third, offices on the fourth and surveillance, training, and showers for communal use on the fifth."

"Who lives here?" Kairi asked in wonder.

Axel smiled wanly. "We all do."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Let's save that for another day. You're gonna have your feet knocked out from under you as it is."

Axel led Kairi – who was bordering overwhelmed now – to the Palace's wide double doors. He pushed them open as someone on the other side pulled, and Kairi found herself staring into dark brown eyes. The other girl smiled.

"Hey," the girl greeted Kairi and looked at Axel. "You're late."

"Yeah, I know. Let me get the Princess to the President and I'll get my ass down to the Terminal, promise." Axel clasped his hands together in a pleading fashion.

The girl put her hands on her hips. "Fine. I'll hold them, but you can't whine if you get stuck with Kaoru." She smiled at Kairi. "Nice to meet you, Princess."

Kairi managed a mumbling reply and she watched the girl hurry out of the yard, disappearing down the hill. "Who was that?"

Axel rubbed his neck. "Marlene, First Lieutenant of the Defense Core. Come on, before you end up making more friends."

He led her into the Palace then, toward the elevators. They rode in silence, Axel with his arms crossed over his chest and Kairi playing with the pleats of her skirt. The doors 'ding'ed open on the fourth floor, and Axel quickly led Kairi down the hall, taking four left turns and three right turns before he finally got to where he needed to be. Axel rapped hard on the door.

Kairi stifled her scream as the barrel of a gun pointed out at them. It was one thing to have a gun leveled at her, but when the gunman was wearing a blindfold, the sight of that gun just made her skin crawl.

"Hey Tseng." Axel said in a cheerful tone. "Delivering the Princess. Gotta get to Terminal. See ya!" And he was gone, leaving Kairi alone facing down a madman.

The blind man, Tseng, gestured Kairi forward as he put the gun away and closed the office door. The office was shaped like a rectangle, with a huge desk at the far end. Behind the desk sat a blonde man – the President, Kairi assumed – and those blue eyes of his seemed to pierce her very soul.

"Welcome, Princess of Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands," the President said, rising. "I'm very glad to meet you."