Hey there! Things start getting a little tense here. I disclaim all characters. R&R appreciated. Thank you.


Aqua jumped off her Rider and dismissed it. As she walked down the small road she removed her armor as well. An ominous and almost dreadful feeling entered her gut as she came closer to the doors of the building. Even if she had been here before, this building intimidated her. Much had changed in the years she was gone, and Castle Oblivion would be no exception.

She took a breath to bolster herself and pushed open the heavy door with painful effort. When it was just enough for her to enter, she did so quickly and ran to the second set of lighter doors just inside.

The interior was much plainer than the Chamber of Repose. Everything was dominantly white. The brightness irritated Aqua's eyes as she sped through the halls. Where was it? Where was he? Everything looked the same here; every door, every room, every damn flowerpot that she passed as she rushed by. It felt like a circle, like the fifth door connected to the first, and she was running hopelessly through a ring with no curves she was beginning to grow sick of it when-

She came to a wide, panoramic window overlooking the blackness that encircled Castle Oblivion.

Aqua let out a huff of breath flavored with dry saliva as she placed her hand on the cool glass. The room she was in had a plain and- how surprising- white table surrounded by matching chairs in the center. That was a change. Both doors were on the wall parallel to the window. One had an odd symbol where the knobs should have been.

Aqua sighed. The Castle apparently didn't want her to find the Chamber, whatever that meant. That was how it was made; nobody could find the Chamber but her.

She approached the second door and put her hand on the seal. Suddenly, the window exploded inward and an unearthly roar shook the room. Aqua shielded her face with her arms. Shattered pieces of glass sliced her flesh. She moved her arms down and looked at the thing that had gone through the window.

It was black and green, with a long orange mane and teal thorns wrapped around its body. Its long claws were red. It glared at her and roared again. Aqua instinctively drew her Keyblade, and was just in time to block a strong slash. The creature hissed and drew back, out of the window. Aqua allowed herself to relax and pulled some glass out of her arms and legs.

Just when she thought it was safe, the creature came back, slamming it's entire weight into the wall. Aqua ducked under it and hit it once, twice, thrice. She slid to a stop some distance away. The beast lifted itself and touched the place where her blows had connected. Black liquid dripped from the wounds to the pristine white floor. It stood up, shackles rattling, and slashed at Aqua's legs. Aqua leaped over it and ran up the arm, dragging her Keyblade behind her.

But then the creature did something unexpected. It reared back and smashed itself into the back wall, throwing Aqua off. While she was down, it kicked her into the left wall and then was invisible. Aqua rose, coughing, and strained her eyes for the beast. There it was! A shifting shape like summer heat, coming closer to her. She struck it three times, then let out a burst of magical power. The beast, visible again, was sent flying and crashed into the table, destroying it.

It rose again and roared, shaking the castle. It struck the ceiling, clawed hand crashing through, and threw a huge chunk at Aqua. She put up her Barrier. The chunk hit it and broke apart into smaller pieces, but the majority went through and crashed right into her. The breath exploded from her lungs and she crumpled against the stone, struggling to breathe. She felt like vomiting, but she was better than that.

It was hard to see the monster's claw through the cloud of dust until it crashed down an inch shy of her arm, digging into the stone. The jarring of its bones was audible. Aqua cringed, imagining how painful that would be. But there was no time to feel pity. She covered her Keyblade and fire and struck the arm, scraping away muscle. The creature screeched and retracted its arm.

The dust cleared and Aqua leapt at the monster's head, striking down with her flaming weapon and stabbing its shoulder instead. It hissed and spun a quick circle to throw her off, then while she was airborne slammed her harshly through the ceiling.

A moment of reprieve. Aqua stood up and briskly healed herself, grunting and groaning at the temporary pain of realigning bones. The slice wounds from the claws and broken glass closed up.

As soon as it began, the moment ended. The beast exploded through the outside wall, roaring and flailing its claws. Aqua leaped away from it, time slowing down as her adrenaline kicked in. The monster looked different. Its mane was a brighter orange, its claws were darker red, its thorns blue rather than teal. There were a lot more wounds on it, even a missing eye. Another one! Could this day get any worse?

There was someone holding tight to the new one's shackles, though. It was... Xemnas!

Time sped up again and Aqua brought her blade down into the beast's back. It roared and did an acrobatic flip, nearly crushing her under its weight. Xemnas hadn't lost his grip, and now he had been slammed into the floor. Aqua slid out from under the creature as it rose, hissing. There was something wet on her back. Aqua touched it and looked at the black, oily blood now covering her hand. She gripped her Keyblade and heard an odd squelching noise as the air beneath her hands bubbled out in the liquid.

Xemnas was on top of the monster, holding open its jaws with his gloved hands. A greyish energy pulsed forth and the monster was surrounded by monochrome thorns. It shrieked and roared and finally broke free. Xemnas noticed Aqua and gave a small grin to reassure her.

Then, of course, came the threat from below.

Aqua screamed when red claws burst through the floor, crunching and crumbling the material which she was standing on. What to do? She took a deep breath and swung at one of the claws, snapping it in two. Black blood burst out of the quick and the monster shrieked and attacked more fiercely. The one-eyed beast seemed to have the upper hand against an unarmed Xemnas. Why wouldn't he use some kind of weapon? Gaia Bane? Chaos Reaper? Anything!

Just then, the One-eye slashed Xemnas in midair, and the silvernette was slammed brutally into the wall. He slumped down. He must have had a quick death, because he wasn't bleeding at all.

Aqua screamed savagely and leapt at One-eye, viciously driving Rainstorm through its bottom jaw, roof of its mouth, and the crown of its skull. It fell and faded in a burst of dark energy. Feeling tears, Aqua ran over to Xemnas. This couldn't be happening. She took his body in her arms and embraced him. "This can't be happening..."

A firm hand grabbed her shoulder. "Now's not the time."

Aqua felt as though she had been winded, and was limp as a rag doll as Xemnas pushed her off and rose to meet the challenge of the teal-thorned creature whose claws were lodged through the floor. That blow should've killed him... He wasn't bleeding!

"Aqua, focus. I can't defeat this one alone." It was Xemnas. For the first time, she noticed the black streaks of dark blood in his hair, his ragged breathing, the way he leaned forward and his entire frame shook with each rattling breath. "We're fighting Dark Thorns right now, and if you don't get over the shock, you'll never see it coming."

Aqua nodded and rose shakily to her feet. She could ask questions later.

Suddenly the teal Thorn burst through the floor, roaring. Xemnas wrapped his hand in part of the mane as the monster burst through the floor, and he clambered up onto its shoulders. Aqua cartwheeled away from a sideways slash and shot a blast of ice at the Thorn. It hissed and brought its left hand the frozen wound. Aqua saw the ligaments moving on its right arm as the claws twitched.

"Keep it distracted!"

Xemnas.

Aqua nodded and set a Detonator Square. The Thorn stepped on a mine and shrieked in pain as electricity coursed up its foot. Aqua slashed it multiple times with a flame-coated Keyblade, waiting for Xemnas to enact whatever he was planning. The Thorn stepped on another mine.

Xemnas jumped down from it, dangerously close to a mine. Aqua tried to warn him, but he took a step backwards onto it. He yelled in pain and fell to his knees, body slumped forward, stunned. Aqua sighed and threw her Keyblade at the beast. It embedded itself in the Thorn's chest. The monster screamed and roared and collapsed, fading in a similar burst as its comrade.


Little cliffhanger there... please, stick around for the next chapter! Sorry, European/American players if some of these terms are unfamiliar to you. I use the Japanese terms for these because they're what I first got used to.

Gaia Bane= Ends of the Earth, Chaos Reaper= Chaos Ripper, Rainstorm= Stormfall, Detonator Square= Mine Square.