A/N: Alrighty! This story, both by demand, and also by my own desire, is now under reconstruction. Inside of the summary should be a list of what chapters have been edited and which have not, and I will also try and make a point to mention it inside of the author's note as well. This will make the story even better than it was before hopefully and I'm super excited for it all; I hope you are too! :)

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

It was chaos. Pandemonium and disorder was alive in the gully as the once-peaceful ravine was filled with the sounds of clashing swords, heightened yells, and battle cries that rose to combine into one long drone. The Heartless below the cliffs resembled a shuffling wave of black, that, albeit clumsy, were making steady progress forward. The vile things were not on the Organization's side, yet their presence could be used as the perfect distraction. What came across at first as a series of bubbles in a sea of plans, could be now adjusted to work in their favor. If the plan went accordingly, that is.

It was a delicate process; one small misstep and the whole thing could go underway. They had to do it quickly, without commotion, and they had to cover their tracks afterward. There would have to be absolutely no witnesses— if there were any, they would have to be promptly removed. The thought caused a small smile to worm its way over the man's face, the grin containing nothing but malice and a sort of sick humor. Yes; the plan was perfect. And he fully intended to keep it that way.

Footsteps behind made the man's expression vanish instantly, in order to be replaced by a blank, apathetic face. He did not turn around to face the newcomer— he didn't need to in order to know who it was. He was silent. Sure enough, the person behind him spoke after a moment of clear hesitation. "Demyx failed." The two words were simple enough and yet with the implication that it brought, Xaldin's voice was dark and grim. The man observing the Heartless below scowled immediately, a flash of anger coloring his vision red as his hands curled into tight fists at his sides. Demyx had failed in his required mission. And that meant that the seemingly-flawless plan of action was now beginning to crumble and give way underneath itself. Being able to clearly see in his mind the boy responsible, his mouth curled back into a deep scowl, and only then did he turn to face Xaldin.

Yellow eyes narrowed into slits, he spoke his voice a low snarl. "Then we must go down and do it ourselves," he snapped, fury vibrating in every syllable of his voice. If you needed something done right, you had to do it yourself. Relying on Demyx for such a pivotal part of their mission was obviously turning out to be a badly-thought-out idea. He turned again, his eyes flying back down to the ravine, flickering and scanning through the tide of Heartless. "We will make sure there are no more failures; we have had far too many of those in the past. …With all of us together there will be no opportunity for the child to weasel out of our grasp." This last sentence came across as little more than a whisper, a thought-filled mumble that could barely be heard over the commotion rising up from down below.

Surprisingly, there still remained a sense of hesitation on Xaldin's part. "Xemnas, are you sure that's such a good idea?" he questioned. "The kid has killed half of our Organization already, and he just added Demyx to his list. What if he actually manages to—"

"Are you questioning your superior?" Xemnas whirled around and glowered at him. Xaldin resembled a fish out of water for a second or two, his jaw slack as he seemed to be struggling to answer properly. But Xemnas growled deep in his throat, and went on with a shake of the head. "The boy is a mere child, Xaldin," he went on to point out, his voice barbed and sharp. "He's been able to scrape by facing one of us at a time, but with all of us together he will have no chance but to admit defeat. Round up the others and tell them that it's time. We will not tolerate anything less than success today, do you understand?"

Xaldin paused, then nodded once. Yet he still did not move, and, growing impatient, Xemnas seethed: "What are you waiting for?" he demanded in a yell. "We've been waiting for this moment for far too long— your dawdling is going to cost us everything! I said go and get the others!"

Xaldin jerked, but then ducked down in a small nod, backtracking as he mumbled something akin to an apology. Turning, he created a portal of shadow, stepping through and vanishing in less than a second. He left Xemnas alone. Turning and letting out a slow sigh, he shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself patience. Patience would be key; without it, the entire thing would not execute properly.

He looked back down to the gully, eyes dark now as he surveyed the scene below him. The mass of Heartless, the few sparse hearts that rose up into the air every so often, the broken-down castle that served as a centerpiece for the entire scene. "Now…where are you?" he murmured softly, eyes drilling through the black as he looked for a flash of brown, a swipe of gray. He came up with nothing, and he felt a small strike of disappointment. But he clasped his hands behind his back, shaking his head. "No matter," he said simply. "You cannot hide forever." And if things went accordingly, then he surely would not be running away any time soon, either. "Enjoy your time now, young keyblade bearer. We'll have you before the day is over."

It seemed like an impossible task beforehand…but after months of careful planning, Xemnas had realized that it could actually be possible. Possible, yet he also trusted that it would be a very difficult. Hopefully it would be easy to get the keyblade bearer isolated. But at the same time, even if it wasn't, they would still make it work. There was no option for failure. The situation became less than ideal, but still doable— the end result would just be a bit more blood on their hands than originally anticipated.

Over-thinking things made it all much more complicated than it was supposed to be. Shaking his head as if to clear it, Xemnas clenched his hands together, weapons appearing in his hands in a flash of red laser light. He started to turn and walk away from the cliff's edge. He looked up in the sky as he did, telling the time by the sun overhead. They still had time to be able to pull it off. They had much more time than they needed, actually.

And then he would have all the time in the world to deal with the keyblade bearer as seen fit.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Sora!" At the yell of his name, Sora stiffened, jabbing his keyblade forward and watching as the Heartless in front of him disappeared into a puff of black smoke. When the being vanished, the fifteen-year-old turned, shoulders heaving in his efforts to draw in enough air as his eyes followed the direction the cry had come from. Yuffie had been fighting by his side this entire time; her yell had been just as breathless as Sora felt, and sure enough, when his eyes went to her, she was panting just like he was. But her eyes were bright, and when she took out the Heartless closest to her, she hopped up and spun around towards him.

She casted a glance down the cliff. She was worried, and her voice was congested with it when she turned back to Sora. "I have to go find Aerith!" she yelled. The thought of her friend, who wasn't all that great at fighting in the first place, being all alone against this hoard had been eating at her for ages. Not that she didn't want to help Sora, but in terms of assistance, she was much less needed. Sora was an excellent fighter, unassisted. Leaving him wasn't on her list of priorities, but she figured he could handle himself better then Aerith probably was right about now. "She probably needs help!" she yelled. "Will you be good here by yourself?"

Sora ducked as another Heartless swiped at him, digging his heels into the ground and spinning right back into it, knocking it back five clear feet. In one fluid motion, he straightened and offered Yuffie a wide smile, raising his arm and giving her a dramatic salute as reply. She giggled, rolling her eyes at the fact that even now, her friend was taking the time to be goofy and make her laugh. He was always ridiculous, that way. Apparently even with a million Heartless storming them at once. She let her gaze linger on him briefly, as he turned and rushed back at another clump of enemies. She hesitated one last second. But then turned and rushed out over the ledge, hopping down to where she'd last seen her friend, to hopefully find her.

Once she hopped all the way down and hit the ground with a thud, she right herself, taking a moment to survey her surroundings and holding back a groan. They had barely made a dent in the mass— the Heartless sure didn't seem to be on the losing side of this battle. She knew she had to find Aerith; her worry was only mounting. She paused one last time, looking over her shoulder towards where she'd left her friend. She felt a pang in her chest, but told herself to forget it. She just kept still long enough to offer a tiny mumble of: "Good luck," knowing that the words wouldn't reach him, but maybe the sentiment might.

Yuffie drew her weapons closer to herself, weaving and stabbing through every Heartless that got in her way as she started into a sprint. Her breath puffed unevenly, and her legs were screaming at her to stop and rest. But she didn't dare; she just had to ignore it, and rely on pure adrenaline to keep going. They weren't nearly finished yet, and she refused to be the first to give up. The Heartless shouldn't be here; that much was certain. Granted that they shouldn't be anywhere at any time, but the fact that they were here now, in devastatingly-large amounts just pushed her over the edge. At least the anger helped her keep moving. But why couldn't Maleficent just realize that as long as Sora was the keyblade bearer, all of her efforts were absolutely useless?

After what seemed like ages, the ninja caught sight of her friend. Aerith was fighting by herself, putting as much effort into facing off with the things as she could. She was kicking out and fighting her hardest, but it wasn't enough; the enemies were making fast progress in surrounding her. A gasp choked Yuffie's throat as she realized her fears were founded, and she forced herself to run even faster, though she hadn't thought that was even possible. Aerith was no fighter— she was a healer. Yuffie was right: she needed much more help than Sora did, right now. Her other friend was slipping her mind completely.

"Aerith!" she shouted. Her friend stiffened, whirling around. "Aerith, I'm here!" She didn't see her reaction well. As soon as she yelled, Yuffie vaulted off of the ground with a giant leap, pushing into the air and throwing her stars down at the initial ring of Heartless. They disappeared in an organized rush. She caught them when they returned to her, and she staggered upon hitting the ground. She was exhausted. But she forced herself to recover, and ran the rest of the way to her friend, who was now looking at her with rounded-out eye. "Hey," she puffed, heaving for air and barely even managing to get out the word.

Aerith was worried. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"What; this?" she gasped, trying to roll out the stiffness in her arms and back. "Oh yeah. This is nothing— it's just some exercise." One of the nearby Soldiers leaped forward to try and dig its claws into her skin. She barely managed to block the attack; the effort was sloppy as she merely threw out one of her ninja stars. The enemy was thrown upon the impact; it was still alive, but it would have to do. Another was rushing for Aerith's throat. Hissing through her teeth, Yuffie leaned out on one leg and threw her star towards it as hard as she could, watching as her weapon cut through the enemy with deadly precision. This time, at least, it disappeared. She sagged when she caught the weapon again, shaking her head and sidling over more so that her shoulder was brushing her friend's. "Maybe it's a little too much exercise," she panted.

Aerith was daunted; her eyes were stretched huge. But they were also stretched out with a sort of guilt. "You can go back, Yuffie," she tried. Yuffie turned an incredulous gaze on her briefly before she turned to hammer through another line of Heartless. "I can handle it myself, I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything for my sake…I can do fine on my own."

She fought the urge to scoff aloud. She would leave as soon as she would leave Hollow Bastian altogether. "Aerith, that's not—" She didn't get the chance to finish. Before she could, there was a sudden blinding light, and a sudden wave of blistering heat. Fire rushed all around them, cutting through the Heartless that were encircling them, and coming about three inches from doing the same to the both of them. She was rooted in shock for only a couple seconds, before she was flinching away from the blaze. She felt Aerith grab hard onto her arm, and, without thinking, she was grabbing back to her just as hard.

The inferno lasted for about five seconds, if even that. Until, just as quick as it had come, it disappeared. It vanished, and once it did Yuffie straightened, whirling around to try and find the source. "What was that?" she demanded, wracking her brain to try and figure out where the heck an attack like that could come from. Anything within three yards had been burned away by the fire. Something as strong at that…was it against them— would they have to fight that, now? "Did you do that?" She looked at Aerith, bemused. "Did you do that?"

But Aerith was just as perplexed. "No," she rasped. "No; I didn't do anything."

"Sorry to show up to the party late." A voice came from behind the two, cold and dryly sarcastic. They spun around as soon as the voice reached their ears, Yuffie dropping down into a defensive crouch as she drew her weapon. Her jaw locked backwards and her eyes narrowed to slits as she found herself locking eyes with someone she had never seen before. He was very tall, bright red hair spiked back and odd-looking black marks underneath sharp green eyes. He wore that black coat that the Organization wore, and when Yuffie immediately scowled at the recognition, his lips only twitched up into a crooked smile. "But I can see that I'm still not very welcome in the first place."

Yuffie spared no room for banter. "Who are you?"

"No need to rush things," the newcomer laughed, folding his arms and raising his eyebrows. Everything about this person seemed to give off the vibe of relaxation, a trait that was wildly out of place in this kind of setting. "I thought it was always the girl who wanted to take things slow, am I right?" He seemed to be trying to make a joke. But Aerith just eyed him warily, and Yuffie's scowl was steadfast. He let out a sigh, almost as if he were disappointed. He shook his head and amended the words. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Aerith started to say something, but Yuffie beat her to the punch. "You're with the Organization," she all but snarled, gripping her weapon tighter in her hands with this. "So that means you're part of whatever is making this happen!" Axel only grinned; the anger that was curling inside of the girl's stomach got even worse. "I'll make you regret it!" she screamed, already charging towards him. Aerith tried to call out, but it was far too late to try and stop her.

Drawing her ninja stars forward, she threw them as hard as she could. Axel stepped to the side, ducking out of the way of the oncoming blades. It barely grazed his ear, and the Organization member stopped short as he watched the things turn to spin their way back to the girl. She'd skidded to a stop a ways away, and reached up, plucking them out of the air once they were close enough. He was cracking that grin again. "So close," he remarked, the girl furious at the sarcastic tone reverberating in his voice. "You get an A for effort though."

She growled, throwing her weapons again. But this time Axel was ready. Instead of ducking away, he reached out and grabbed the pesky things out of the air, himself. He smirked at the shocked look on her face. "Whoops," he snickered. "I guess my fingers slipped," he said, lazily spinning the weapons.

Gritting her teeth, Yuffie took a threatening step towards the man. "You'd better give those back or—" Her threat was cut off as Axel raised one of her stars in the air with a sudden lean forward. She jumped backwards, throwing her arms up over her face to shield herself from the oncoming blow. But he stopped just before he could actually act. His smile grew wider, and he just let his arm fall again.

She turned bright red, trembling with frustration when she straightened again. Glaring at Axel and clenching her hands, she hissed over to Aerith: "Do you have a weapon on you?" Her heart pounded, the blood was roaring in her ears. Even putting Axel aside, other Heartless were beginning to advance. They were only getting closer with every second. She didn't stand nearly as good a chance against them as she would if she had something to fight with. But Aerith shook her head, and dashed her hopes. She tried to keep her disappointment and panic as far away from her as possible, to prevent it from being too apparent on her face. She didn't want to give Axel the satisfaction.

If there wasn't another option, she just had to get hers back. She sucked in a deep breath, and steeled herself. She was so tired at this point, but she crouched down a little and braced herself, before she threw herself into yet another run. She ran as fast as she could, gaining momentum and focusing on the weapons he was keeping from her. She could knock him over— if she could stun him enough, snatching them back would be a piece of cake. As if the thoughts gave her energy, she pushed off the ground, soaring forward and lashing out with one leg, aiming to slam square into his face.

But Axel met her head-on. He slashed out with her own weapons, catching her leg and striking her with enough force to send her flying backwards. She screamed as her skin was spliced; knocked back, Yuffie fell onto the ground and gasped shallowly as she looked down at her leg. It was already bleeding, and bleeding heavily. It was a good thing she was winded from her collision to the ground, because the pain that was now blinding her would have her screeching at the top of her lungs.

"Now, look what you made me do," Axel sighed. The experience he had with these types of weapons was made clear as he advanced on her; he was spinning them expertly, without a single glance towards them. Aerith had run forward; now, she'd fallen to her knees, and now she was crouched over her, trying to offer protection. But she didn't have much. Yuffie could see that her friend was shaking, despite her façade of bravery. And that her shaking was only getting worse the closer Axel got to them. Yuffie tried to stand; she tried to fight more. But she couldn't. She was in too much pain. All she could do was lay there helplessly, feeling panic and fright layer more and more on her chest the closer he got.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Need some help?" Sora had been hammering through as many Heartless as he could, his blue eyes glazed over with the effort each swipe was starting to take. He had killed probably a hundred and one so far, but that didn't seem to matter. He killed one, and two more came to replace them. He knew it was better for Yuffie to go and help Aerith rather than him. But that just meant his effort was tripled. He was running out of energy fast…so when he heard the familiar voice, gratitude rushed through him and a smile spread over his face. Sure enough, he whirled around and brightened when he saw Leon running up the hill towards him. "In a tough situation?" he asked, eyeing the horde of Heartless clambering over one another in the attempt to get a swipe at the keyblade bearer.

Despite everything, Sora let out a laugh, a little out of frustration, mostly out of relief. "Not anymore," he grunted, ducking away from a Shadow that tried to take a swipe at him. Leon paused only a moment to give a laugh at the boy's response before he turned and delved into the fight himself, his large sword taking down Heartless at a much bigger range than Sora could manage. With his help, for however long it would stay here, Sora could get a little bit of respite.

He took this second to actually breathe, one eye closed in pain as he surveyed the enemies that were still left— which was still a daunting number. Gritting his teeth, he waited, digging his heels down deep into the ground. Right before any of them could get the chance to strike, Sora extended his keyblade and began to spin as fast as he could manage. Making sure his arms were rigid and his hands were glued firmly to the hilt of keyblade, Sora smirked triumphantly as he felt the weapon strike his intended targets that had been surrounding him in tightly-knit circle. Afterwards, he let himself relax briefly again; his muscles were burning.

But his rest was interrupted as a stabbing pain— a Shadow had gotten near enough to claw at his leg. He rolled away from the attack, getting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. He quickly jammed his feet down, scuffing the ground in a wild attempt to stop himself before he could topple right over. He wasn't sure whether or not he could mimic Yuffie and hop all the way down, but he definitely wasn't about to put the question to the test right at this moment. A skeleton of broken bones wasn't too high on his priority list. Thankfully, he managed to stop himself; once he skidded, he let out a heavy exhale. He put his hands down and prepared himself to spring back up to his feet. But he but stopped at the sight he saw below.

He couldn't help but let out a gasp, loud enough for Leon to hear even where he was fighting. He swiped through the Heartless nearest him, before he doubled over. He rushed to Sora's side; the younger still hadn't even stood up. Leon was just confused, at first, but he followed his gaze and stiffened. There was a clearing down there— a spot where most of the Heartless were gone. Others were rushing, of course, to fill it, but for now, all that was there were three people. Sora recognized Aerith and Yuffie immediately. He didn't recognize the person that was advancing, but he could make out their black coat. "The Organization!" Leon yelled. Sora just watched nervously, his eyes zeroing in on the two girls, who were both on the ground. Neither of them were moving. They were in trouble. "We have to get down there and help them!"

He shook himself out of the reverie. He jumped to his feet, feeling panic and anger flare together in the pit of his stomach. He opened his mouth to agree, but before he could, something made painful contact with the back of his head. He cried out, falling forward from the unexpected blow. Immediately, Leon grabbed onto his arm and pulled back, narrowly saving him from plummeting to the ground. With his other hand, he turned and shot at the Shadow that had struck Sora, pulling the young boy back up and onto safe ground. He was shaken, not only from the attack, but from the fact he'd almost fallen. He shot Leon a look that was meant to be thankful, but was still twisted in pain. "Thanks," he choked, rubbing the back of his head.

He nodded, not dwelling on it. He let go of Sora's arm and looked down to their friends. "We can't both go," Leon said tensely. Sora's eyes flashed, but he couldn't argue. Already, he was glancing over his shoulder and swallowing his frustration when more Heartless just kept creeping out of their shadows, crowding the cliff more and more. "Can you handle things here?" The question was asked hesitantly, and with a little bit of guilt, too. Just like Yuffie had sounded when she had considered leaving him behind. It was the second time the question had been asked, and his reply was just the same as it had been the first time around.

He replied immediately, and with more than enough confidence. "Yeah, sure!" He turned just in time to parry a blow and send the Heartless reeling back. Leon hesitated, but Sora was focused elsewhere. He could handle things. Other people were in need of help— he wasn't going to stand in their way. He'd run down there himself, and help, if he could. Leon had to get down there for him. "Don't worry about me! You go and help them! I've got these guys!"

Leon still stayed for a few heartbeats. He looked at the teenager with his eyebrows a little pulled together in skepticism. Still, though, Sora wasn't paying attention; he'd redirected back to the fight at hand. So, eventually, he ducked his head and turned. He followed the way Yuffie had gone, and he started to jump down for the ravine, rocky outcrop by rocky outcrop. Sora didn't even watch him go, or even really notice. He had too much to do, here. He'd been fighting for ages, but it looked like he hadn't even started. "You guys are so annoying!" he yelled loudly at all the enemies still around him. As if in response, three Air Soldiers entered the fight, flying out and diving for Sora in a wild barrel roll.

He just groaned. Ducked away from them, and held his keyblade tighter. Ignored the exhaustion setting into him and forced himself to keep going.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Look, I don't want to be violent or anything. I don't want to be the bad guy, here," Axel said, his tone much too light for the situation. Yuffie's face turned from panic to slight puzzlement, the girl slacking from her tense posture moments before. Axel just sighed. "But, unfortunately I'm under strict orders to do that…" He looked down at the ground thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. "Ah, well." he said finally, turning back to Yuffie. "At least now you know that it's nothing personal."

But before he could do anything, something slammed into the Organization member from behind, knocking him off balance and making him stagger forward. Thankfully, Aerith realized this and tugged Yuffie backwards not a second too soon. Axel was knocked right into the place where she had been sitting moments before. Once the redhead managed to catch himself, he spun around to see who had attacked him. His eyes clashed with another man. A person with spiky brown hair, and a – probably excessively – large sword poised and ready for battle in his grip.

Axel was trying to come up with some 'smart' way to ask him what the heck he was doing, but he was coming up short. It was a bit of relief, actually, when the other spoke up first anyway. "What did you think you're doing?" the newcomer demanded. Behind him, Aerith was beginning to help Yuffie up, steadying her friend and trying to make sure she didn't fall. She was wobbling on her feet, and her expression was twisted in severe pain. But she was forcing herself to balance, and recovering enough to glare daggers back at Axel. Leon continued, in no way comforted by the fact she could at least stand up. "Did you think they were the only ones here?"

Axel eyed him a moment. Before he pasted a smirk on his face and dusted himself off pointedly. "Nah, I knew there were more. What do you take me for, an idiot? I think I deserve more credit than that, don't you think?"

"Humph. Maybe," Leon grunted ungraciously. "We'll find out." Raising his sword, he pointed it over at Axel with a threatening air. "You're going to give my friend back her weapon. And then we'll see who deserves more credit." Axel glanced down at the ninja stars he still held in his hands; he'd almost forgotten he'd had them. He laughed a little. Before he turned and tossed them over towards Yuffie lazily. She instantly reached down to scoop up her treasures, relieved but wary at their return.

"Fine. We don't have much time, though. I've got a strict schedule to keep," Axel snorted, the Heartless still rushing forward and closing the distance fast. The trio around him were confused by the odd statement— as to be expected. His smirk grew a little more, with the detail. But before they could ask the question he knew would on their tongues already, he continued, summoning his own weapons instead, feeling the familiar heat of his flames follow when he did. "So I'll have to make this quick."

And with that, the fight began.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

Slicing through a runaway Soldier, finally finishing off the last Heartless, Sora found himself out of breath; no matter how much he gasped, no amount of air seemed to be enough for his lungs. In the back of his mind he wished that he could just flop down onto the ground; his energy had leaked out of his entire body quicker than he even thought possible, and maybe if he just rested for a couple minutes, his muscles would stop burning. It certainly sounded like the perfect thing to do right about now. But he shrugged off the tempting thought. Donald and the king would be waiting for him. He just gritted his teeth against his exhaustion and whirled back around to continue making his way up the ridge. He was already anticipating running into a lot more Heartless. The place was crawling with them. As he started running again, he tried to plan on what he was going to do should further confrontation be the only option. But right as he was about to enter the passage itself, he found himself suddenly slamming into a wall.

He hit it hard— so hard, his teeth rattled. He stumbled backwards, grimacing and hissing in pain. He looked ahead, wondering if he was so preoccupied he'd just run straight into the rock. But a deep frown of puzzlement came over his face; the path was perfectly clear. There was nothing in the way…so…what gives? He walked forward, much slower this time, and reached out with one hand. Almost at once, it got rejected, stopping in mid-air against…nothing. The barrier? Sora turned again, going in small circles so he could survey every inch around him. But there was nothing around. He had gotten every Heartless! Why wasn't he going through? Why was the barrier still up if there were none left?

"A little confused, I see." Sora stiffened at once when a voice echoed off the rocks around him, out of nowhere. It sounded familiar; he wasn't sure from where. He turned in even more circles, to find the owner, but he came up just as empty with this, too. He was in the only one in the clearing. And yet, the voice continued to go on. For some reason, its tone was making a chill claw its way down his spine. He was backing up, unease beginning to foster a home inside his chest. "That's natural of course. You're used to everything falling into place for you; all you have to do is swing that pretty little key around. It's like magic." The last word ended on a mocking tone. Sora's eyes narrowed more. "But trust me, dear boy, that all will change soon enough."

No sooner was this said, did black portals appear out of nowhere in front of him, forming a semi-circle in a way that surrounded him against the barrier that was still up. Sora's throat closed in anxiety. Anxiety that only grew when hooded figures stepped out one by one. Members of the Organization. Subconsciously, he was starting to back up as his eyes flickered from one person to another. One was unfamiliar to Sora, but others he knew from thumbing through Jiminy's journal. Xigbar, Xaldin, Luxord, and Saix stood among the rank in front of him. They were all wearing the same twisted kind of smile. Sora's heart was ramming against his chest, and he realized too late that he had literally backed himself into a corner, when he felt his back hit the invisible wall that was keeping him from fleeing.

It took a second for the shock to fade, but Sora locked his jaw backwards as he summoned his keyblade back again. He held it tight and crouched down in a readied position, eyeing the new group with clear distrust and disdain. Their smiles only seemed to grow. In the back of his mind, he was screaming at himself the reminder that he didn't have a lot of potions left; he had used up most of them when battling Demyx. He probably only had one left, if he had one at all. Not to mention, he was already so tired from all the fighting heh ad been forced to do all day. He knew this was a bad situation…to put it in gentle terms, of course. But it wasn't like he had many options. He couldn't keep up the path with the barrier in front of him. And he couldn't run ahead, with the Organization acting as a wall, too. Already, he was trying to do the math on whether he could make it if he leapt down the side of the gully. Before he could follow that thought too far, though, someone was speaking.

"Look at that," Luxord scoffed, eyeing Sora's keyblade with contempt. "He thinks that he can win this game."

"Five against one doesn't add up, does it?" Xaldin presumed.

Luxord smiled…it was a grin that made Sora want to be sick. "That's how you win a game," he stated. "You stack the odds."

"Everything is a game to you, Luxord," Xaldin sighed. "Can't it be anything else?"

"Stop bickering." Sora's grip tightened on his weapon as the unfamiliar figure said this. He hadn't even seen him before; he had no idea who they were. But they were tall and imposing, and their yellow eyes were cold and merciless as they locked with Sora's blue ones. As they narrowed, and he scowled, against the young hero's growing wariness. "We have a job to finish, and we have to make it quick. Axel can only keep his distraction up for so long; and us standing here doing nothing will not help him."

His anxiety was only fluttering harder in his chest, but Sora fought not to let it show. He just looked the group up and down and scowled. "Do you always say random stuff; or is it just when you're around me?" he spat. It seemed that whenever an Organization person started to talk, and it didn't matter who it was, their words were always lost on him. It was either that they had no sense whatsoever as a whole, or he was just missing something. He hadn't really cared all that much at the very start, but by now, he had to admit, he was starting to get kinda ticked off. Ticked off enough to actually feel a bit of impatience underneath his caution.

Nobody answered; they all just looked at him. He started to open his mouth and maybe say something else— maybe they didn't appreciate his jabs at them, but somehow they helped make him feel a little more in control of the situation. Which, right about now, stuck where he was…he needed a little bit of that control. However, he didn't have the time to say anything else. Before he could, the five men in front of him drew their weapons in one swift, unannounced but synchronized motion. He hardly even registered the fact, before they were charging at him all at once.

Pure panic sprung like fire throughout his bloodstream the instant they did. He had only a millisecond to roll out of the way. He managed it, by the skin of his teeth. He skidded and shoved himself up, looking with alarm to realize that Xaldin's lances were just passing through the very spot he had been standing in moments before. He gasped, quickly falling into hyperventilation, both from adrenaline and fear alike. He had no idea what was happening. They'd said nothing— they'd wanted nothing! Was there a goal? What were they doing here all at once? He was trying to wrack his brain, when a sharp burning sensation stabbed itself straight through his arm. He cried out, staggering backwards and looking down with huge eyes. His shirt sleeve was burned through— the fabric was blackened in that spot, and smoking; underneath, his skin was blistering bright, agonizing red. The instant he looked down, another laser shot out, striking the same place, and Sora, barely holding back a scream of pain, rushed to stagger out of range to what might be a safer distance. Though there wasn't much room to go.

It was a struggle to wipe his mind free of panic enough to actually think. He hadn't faced these people before; he had no idea what to expect from them! He didn't know their tactics, he didn't know any weaknesses he could use to his advantage, and he had no idea what kind of capability they had. Fear was trying to take ahold of him and drag him down. But he stopped himself. Stayed stubborn. He shoved it all down and cleared it all away; it didn't matter. He'd figure it out. He wasn't going to back down without a fight, and if a fight was what these jerks wanted, then he'd be more than happy to give them exactly that. He couldn't let his fear win. He had to stay in control, no matter what.

They were all rushing at him again, but instead of backpedaling, Sora held onto his keyblade tighter and scowled. He held it tightly and gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes in concentration. Just like before, he dug his heels into the ground and threw his weight to the side, slamming his blade out as fixedly as he could, and spinning in a circle to catch as many as he could in one strong blow. He only struck a few, those who were closest to them, and thanks to the hurried way that it was carried out, and thanks to his weakened strength, it was hardly one of his most powerful attacks. But it did the job, to injure at least those who were nearest him. It was a small victory, but at least he got somewhere.

He didn't have time to relish in the achievement. He had to throw himself to the ground and roll away from yet another attack— this one from a huge claymore, coming from Saix. He willed himself to remember whose weapon was whose. He would take any amount of knowledge, at this point. The second he leapt back to his feet, the unfamiliar man was right on top of him, swinging out with his weapons— glowing red laser swords. Sora yanked his keyblade up at the last second to block. He grunted in the effort it took to try and fight back on the way he was pressing down. He was much stronger than Sora was, and his arms shook as he fought to keep the hot blades from getting any closer to his face. The other adversaries slipped his mind in that moment, as he fought. It was all he could do to push back— to keep his feet from slipping, to not buckle under the pressure, to meet the man's glare head-on with his own.

Xigbar took advantage of his lack of attention. Another laser struck home, burying itself in his arm this time and rendering it useless against the burst of pain. It buckled the same moment that Sora screamed, and the mystery man took his chance. He struck out hard; not only was Sora burned from the swords themselves, but he was also knocked back a clear five or six feet, and ramming into the ground with a painful thud. And he didn't even have a single second to recover, before an oversized card was appearing and slamming down on him, crushing him hard on impact. His head hit the rock below hard, and Sora's vision exploded in pure white as he felt blood gush down his neck. He longed to leap up to his feet like he had been doing— he wanted to run and jump right back into action, but suddenly all he could manage were stiff, short movements. His arm was on fire, his chest was aching, he was struggling for air after his collision with the ground, and his now-bleeding head pounded.

He was hurt. He needed help.

He kept trying, regardless. Sora squeezed his eyes shut and put the injuries out of his mind, forcing himself up to his feet and trying to blink enough to clear his vision, which was getting more and more warped. Luxord was closest. Without putting as much thought into what he was doing, Sora just swung out at him, struggling to put as much strength behind the attack. He felt a minimal sense of relief when his keyblade found home, and at Luxord's shout of pain, Sora found the encouragement to keep swinging, and land a couple more blows. But he only got a few in before the man with the yellow eyes was racing for him again, catching him by surprise this time and raining blow after blow on the unsuspecting teen. Sora was thrown to the side, choking as he tried to stagger in any way he could to get free of the attacks. Before he could figure out away, someone else was joining in.

Xaldin threw his lances in quick succession, four in total stabbing themselves deep into Sora's skin. Screaming, the keybearer staggered, and his other assailant took the opportunity to slam his swords down on him harder. His legs gave out; the pain was too much, and he couldn't support himself. He fell with a heavy thud. He was gasping and flinching against the pain, fighting as best he could to keep his head above it and keep from drowning in it all. Fighting to keep breathing, to keep rational, to keep in control. He tried to push himself up, tried to keep going. Tried to keep his mind on Donald and the king. He had to get to them. If he could just manage that somehow, they could help him. His arms shook violently as he attempted yet again to get back up. But another burning burst of fire slammed into his side, digging into his ribs and eliciting yet another pain-filled screech from the young boy.

He was forced back down. He had started this fight only with a quarter of the energy he'd started out the day with, and now he was on empty. He could feel his arms struggling to push himself up – shaking in the effort – but he couldn't actually get himself there. His vision was foggy and smeared, and blood was roaring in his ears, a sentiment to the panic that was eating him alive. He was trying to fight it, but against the agony, his mind was going fuzzy and blank. The blows kept coming, as he dug his fingers hard into the ground; he couldn't even tell what, or who, was hitting him at this point— it just hurt, and the pain wouldn't stop.

Blackness played on the edge of his vision, bending forward like hanging curtains that were threatening to fall in front of his face. Thoughts were growing slurred and panicked, making little to no sense even to him. This was bad. That was the one thought that actually was coherent. This is bad, this is bad. The lasers kept raining down on him relentlessly, he felt something stab straight through his ankle— none of his screaming was making a difference, it all just kept coming. It was only his fear and his panic that gave him enough strength and speed to reach down into his pocket, when he wasn't flinching away from the merciless assault.

His hand shot every way, trying to grasp at the one potion bottle he knew had to be in there somewhere. He might have touched it; but the effort was for nothing. The lasers started to shoot more, and shoot faster. The stabbing sensations that were coming from something were only getting worse— stabbing over and over into his leg, twisting horribly to make him scream. Without even thinking, because he didn't have control over it anymore, Sora fell limp. His body gave out on him, and it was all he could do to curl up and throw his arms over his head, in a pitiful last-ditch attempt at shielding himself. He just kept screaming and crying at the attacks, feeling himself get fuzzier and fuzzier the longer it didn't let up. Unable to do anything but suffer in the pain.

Gradually, everything started to recede…until it stopped altogether. Sora's eyes had long since closed. His expression was partly numbed, he was so far gone, but there was still a sense of pain on his face— only there because it was so horrible in magnitude. He made a move like he was going to get up…it was only a feeble twitch. With that twitch, his arms fell away from his head and slid to the ground. The burn wounds marking him made painful, searing contact with the rocks below. But despite the agony, at this point, all that got out of him was a tiny whimper. His thoughts were even harder to make sense of. But one stuck out, in his groggy mind.

Donald and Mickey. They were waiting for him.

What would happen now?

"Grab him, we have to leave before anybody sees," somebody muttered.

The back of Sora's collar was grabbed. He barley registered the fact that someone was beginning to yank him up. He was bordering on the edge of unconsciousness, and barely a hair's-length from losing touch with everything altogether. But when he felt himself being moved, he tried only last time. To break free. But his body wouldn't listen to him; he found that he couldn't even twitch a single muscle without pure agony flashing through him. He couldn't do anything at all as he felt himself being dragged along the ground. He couldn't even open his eyes, or pick his head up. Where were they taking him? His breathing quickened, his numbed expression broke with pure fear. In theory, he wanted to kick and scream and twist and fight— to do anything to break free. But in reality, all he could manage was a feeble yank his arm, or a tiny kick of his leg. Even those were too much— they were accompanied with yelps and whimpers.

The grip on his collar tightened, voices muttering in the black fuzziness of his head. If they were talking to him, he couldn't understand what they were saying. He just kept trying to pull himself out. To at least dig a heel into the ground, or reach up and try to pry the fingers off of his clothes. He had to break free. He had to do something. The voices got a little louder, but still, they sounded like static to him. He kept trying to move in any way. But no. He screamed out a pathetic-sounding choke when something made heavy contact with the side of his head. Maybe it was the blunt end of a sword, maybe it was a boot, but whatever it was, it threw his head to the side and made him go blank for a good ten seconds, pain blinding him to such degree it yanked away his senses for the time being.

He barely came back. The pain was so severe now that he was beginning to shake, and practically convulse. He couldn't think of a lot of things right then. Nothing besides the sheer pain that was crushing him. But he realized, as he felt himself continue to be dragged along the ground…that he'd lost. That he was stuck. That he didn't know what to do. What could he do? Nothing. He couldn't do anything. Couldn't even think. It was all leaving him now— his head was lolling forward and he didn't even have the strength to lift it back up. He was just scared. His fear and his pain…those were the only two things he knew for sure.

So it was almost just as much a surprise to him as it was the members of the Organization when he suddenly sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the pain that lit up in his ribs in response. Without conscious thought, Sora screamed, as loud and as long as humanly possible, especially in his condition. His screech bounced off the rocks around them. Filling the gully briefly only because it was fueled by pure desperation and fear and panic, and everything in between. Sora was hardly even aware of it in the first place. He certainly didn't know what he was saying. But he screamed anyway. Pleading for help from the last friend he had seen.

"Leon!"

No sooner did that second syllable escape his mouth, did something heavy collide against his head yet again. Only this time, it was much harder. And this time, he couldn't stand up against it.

This time, the second he was hit, he was knocked unconscious.

(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)

"Leon!"

The screech echoed over the rocks and bounced off the walls of the canyon. It was only two syllables, but those two syllables were packed with panic and fear and hysteria…and most of all: horrible, horrible pain. He froze the second he heard his name; mid-swing, he stopped, his heart stopping in his chest as his eyes flew huge. The others stopped as well; Aerith's green eyes flooded with alarm, and Yuffie jerked backwards, horror flooding over her face. Even Axel stopped short. They were silent and stiff, just listening to the scream for what felt like ages, though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds until it was fading into mere echoes, and after that, nothing more.

It took a moment for him to recollected himself enough to move. Once he did, Leon whirled around, stricken as he looked back towards the cliff that he had left Sora only a short while ago. He strained to see anything— to catch even the smallest of glimpses of activity, but there was nothing. He waited, in case there was another yell. But it was like there hadn't even been a scream in the first place. It was silent…and that silence was horrifying to hear. None of them moved again— they were stuck there. It had been Sora's voice…but none of them had ever heard him sound like that. That in pain, that terrified. It didn't even sound like him.

He'd turned back to look at the others, but Leon's eyes caught on Axel. He realized he'd straightened; his weapons were gone. He was wearing a different kind of smirk on his face, now. Leon immediately fixed him with a blistering glower, but he just offered an aimless shrug. "Looks like I'll take my leave here," he sighed. "Don't want to mess with any Heartless; far too annoying, you know?" Sure enough, the Heartless were ten seconds from closing in on them.

Yuffie looked enraged. She was sharing Leon's thought process: there was suspicion and anger and rage clear in her eyes, and despite her ankle, she took a few steps closer, raising her weapons threateningly. She opened her mouth, ready to hurl a question at him. But apparently Axel didn't want to hear it. He threw his arm out to the side and conjured a portal. Yuffie started to try and run, but she was too slow. He was gone in less than an instant, and her stars ended up just passing through empty air.

She scowled at the spot he'd been in just a second ago. But she quickly abandoned that line of thought, to look over her shoulder instead. Leon met her gaze only for a heartbeat before he was whirling back to look at the cliff. His heart was already thudding hard against his ribs. The yell had long since echoed out, but it was still ringing in his ears, still causing panic to sink into him. Yuffie started stumbling back towards him. "That was Sora!" she yelled. Her voice was swamped with fear and concern. Aerith was shocked silent; she was looking between them and the Heartless that were still rushing towards them. Yuffie was only focused on one thing, though. "That was Sora!" she repeated. Leon cringed. "We have to go and help him!"

Leon didn't often let himself show when he was anxious. If some wore their hearts on their sleeves, he was wearing about fifty coats at all times. But after hearing the scream – after hearing that scream in particular – and knowing for a fact who it belonged to, Leon was quickly weakening into fear. Fear that was apparent on his face, and only growing more so. He couldn't say anything, but he managed to give a nod. He looked at her injured ankle doubtfully. She waved it off. Just shook her head and snapped: "You go on ahead. Aerith and I will catch up with you." Still, Leon hesitated. But there wasn't time. Her next words came out harder, in more of a yell. "Go! Sora needs you!"

It was harsh, but it snapped him into motion. He jerked and shook his head to clear it. Spun around after one more moment, to take off sprinting back the way he had come. Yuffie started running after. When she started to stumble, Aerith ducked underneath her arm and draped it around the back of her neck, to support her. She flashed her a look filled with gratitude, and Aerith smiled back. The two of them worked together; Aerith supported her as best she could and started to help her run. Every so often, Yuffie turned and threw a star back towards the Heartless behind him, slashing through the shadows that got too close.

It took a while— much longer than it took Leon. They had difficulty scaling the cliff again, climbing outcrop by outcrop. Yuffie's ankle was on fire, even though it had stopped bleeding a while ago. But she refused to let herself stop because of that. She gritted her teeth against the pain and just scrambled about Aerith, keeping Sora's yell in her mind to keep herself moving. He'd sounded terrified. Hurt. She'd left him to go help Aerith, thinking her friend had needed it more, but now it sounded like he was in some kind of terrible danger. Her guilt and fear was enough fuel for her legs, even with the injury. She had to reach her friend, before it was too late.

Aerith helped her when she could, climbing below her just in case Yuffie slipped and she needed to catch her. But she made it without falling. She was panting and sweating from the effort by the time she did— her climb up, in this state, was much harder than when she'd just hopped down in the first place. But finally, she clawed over the top and got back onto solid ground, gasping for air as she ended up just falling to the ground. Aerith sprang up to her side, and checked her for an anxious second. But she moved on fast. The both of them did. They looked up instead, scared and on-edge as they immediately scanned through the clearing.

Leon was standing there already. He was still looking around. He was stiff and apprehensive— Yuffie could feel it coming off of him in waves, for once, and she realized why. Sora wasn't here. Nobody else was; the only people there were them three. Yuffie's heart was already sinking, but it just sank more when Leon cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled. "Sora!" They all waited, their hearts in their throats. Nobody replied. Sora wasn't there, and he wasn't in hearing distance, either. That, or he couldn't call back. Which one was it? Which on was worse?

"Sora!?" Leon screamed. He was losing control of himself. His fear was getting worse. He looked up the path, trying to see if he was there, and had gone on ahead. But there was nothing there, either. Did he recover from whatever had made him scream? Did he just go on ahead? He'd only yelled a short while ago— where could he have gone? What could have happened to him? He clenched his hands at his side, in an absent effort to try and calm himself, and hide that they were beginning to shake. But none of the others would judge him. They both looked terrified and confused, and worried. All remembering Sora's scream, but now just looking at the spot he'd been and seeing absolutely nothing.

There was just nothing.

There wasn't even a sign that he had been there in the first place.