Still don't own Kingdom Hearts…


Saying 'If Only' would get him nowhere! He must act and he must act quickly. They were heading off to talk to the Mouse King about what he had caused. They would not be on the World long. He would have to get things finished before they had a chance to leave the World. He would not be able to get to them in the Mouse's Castle, with that dreadful Corner Stone of Light hovering around. The Stone would scream even louder than the Keyhole did at his presence. He wouldn't get two steps in before he was attacked.

How would he go about manipulating the Boy, though? How would he get to him? Make him angry? Make him do what needed to be done? It struck him suddenly like a hammer blow.


Kairi had agreed with the decision Sora had made, and had gone off to find Riku and let him know then go and retrieve the go-bags the three of them had created a while back. It had been up to Sora to tell their parents about the planned trip and Riku to get the Gummi Ship up and running. Sora's job had probably been the toughest to complete. All of them were legally adults, himself and Kairi were nineteen and Riku was twenty, and living away from their parents, but they still needed to say something before leaving. They didn't technically need permission, but even so, it was be nice to tell their parents just where they were going right before the Holidays.

Shaking his head slightly, Sora continued to walk towards the apartment he was sharing with Riku and Kairi. He hadn't been able to contact any of the parents at their jobs for whatever reason and so had left notes at each house. That would be sufficient, right? He had gone over everything and didn't have to worry about interruptions. They wanted to leave in a couple of hours to speak with Mickey, and all of the questions their parents would have would take forever to answer if past experiences with trying to explain was anything to go by.

The brunet stopped abruptly as he felt a hand grab hold of his wrist. He turned a bit, ready to summon the Keyblade if it were an enemy of some sort but relaxed as he saw Selphie's grinning face.

"Hey, Selphie." The teen said, smiling at his friend. Tidus and Wakka weren't with her. Odd. The three of them were almost as inseparable as he Kairi and Riku were. "What's up?"

"Didn't you hear me, Sora? I asked if you Kairi and Riku were still coming out to the little Island to watch the meteor shower in an hour! I guess you were off in your own thoughts, though."

"Oh. Sorry." Sora hesitated a little in his response. Selphie's eyes narrowed a bit. She was every bit as good at sniffing out something being wrong as Kairi was.

"What's wrong, Sora? You sound as if something's wrong. Spill!"

"Uhm…We…We can't come, Selphie. Something's come up. Something really important and we can't make it…Next time. I promise!" Sora said, not giving her any details on what had come up on purpose. There was no point in ruining her night with worries that weren't her own. The other seemed as if she were going to protest, her face transforming into a cute pout that she must have picked up from Kairi, but something on his face seemed to stop her upcoming argument.

"Alright. But I'll hold you to that promise, Sora. Good luck with whatever you're doing." The younger girl said before running off in the direction of the Ocean waving over her shoulder. Sora smiled at the girl's back before continuing on towards the apartment.


The Girl. The Princess of Heart was his key. His key to the Key. He could use her…He would use her. It was so simple, that the Man gave a laugh. It was a hollow sound. Something that wasn't all there. A shadow of what it could be. Just as He was. The Man had decided that the only way to get things done was to do it. She would be the leverage he needed. Had They not used her against him before? Had he not gone across the Worlds looking for her? She was his Key, and she was defenseless. The Boy and the other, his 'friend', left her alone all of the time. As he watched now, he saw she was alone. Perfect.

The Man created a Portal into the Darkness. The Darkness he longed to loathe so much and yet could not loath for he could not feel. He stepped towards the Door once more. Causing the World to scream didn't matter to him anymore. He had his task, and he would see it through.


As Sora walked, he felt it again. That screaming in his Heart, tugging him towards the little Island. Asking him for help. Destiny Islands was screaming in pain again. The brunet Keybearer halted his steps, turning back towards the Ocean where he'd watched Selphie run to not half an hour before. The pain that the World was feeling twisting his face up. He could feel it now, too. Something else had happened, more than what had happened before. For a moment, he was tempted to run back to the little Island, to try and stop the Keyhole's pain. It was only a shadow moving across the sky that stopped him from doing so. He watched the Shadow move; it was heading for the apartment. The boy froze. It was heading towards Kairi.

The screaming that came from the Islands was drowned out by another that resonated from within his own Heart. This one he could clearly understand as Kairi's Heart calling to his own. Something was terribly wrong. Sora took off running towards the apartment, sudden anger and worry nearly blinding him as he ran.


She was so defenseless, despite the weapon she had armed herself with. She was in a defensive crouch in front of the pile of supplies she was gathering, a wooden baseball bat in one hand. She had sensed his presence in the Apartment the moment he'd entered it. Perhaps before when he was approaching. She'd managed to get the bat before he'd arrived anyway. The man moved silently, coming towards her. She swung at his head, and he caught the bat with ease before it even touched him.

"Such a pretty girl. You shouldn't be making swings like that." He said, gripping the bat still and yanking it roughly from her grasp. Judging from the gasp she gave and the drops of blood that fell, he'd given her a couple of splinters at the very least. Perhaps torn one or two of her nails. He didn't care whether he hurt her, as long as he got what he wanted. Tossing the bat across the room, out of reach, the man continued to move towards the Princess of Heart. She tried to hit him, but he simply grabbed hold of her wrist, twisting it around so she yelped. She was weak. Physically, anyway. With a swift movement, he'd gotten her in the stomach and she was on the ground, doubled over from the pain he'd caused her, perhaps losing consciousness.

"You should not fight a battle you cannot win, Princess. It gets you hurt." His voice was soft as he spoke to the girl while he picked her up. He looked up as the door flew open and the Boy entered, looking from him to the Princess slung over the Man's shoulder. The Boy let out a sort of half growl and summoned his Keyblade, swinging blindly, breaking a lamp as he swung. The Man's eyebrow rose slightly as he stepped away from the Keybearer, avoiding the attack.

He placed the now certainly unconscious redhead on the floor before managing to get hold of both the Boy's wrists as he attempted to attack once more. Sora was blinded by what he felt, and so he was sloppy. It was easy to overpower him. The Man's lips twisted into a mocking smile as he pinned the Keybearer to the wall, both wrists above his head, the Keyblade dangling uselessly from one of them.

The Man brought his face closer to Sora's, almost close enough so their lips could brush; their bodies were pressed together as well and he could tell that the Keyblade master was uncomfortable. That was not what he was aiming for, though. The closeness was merely because he was leaning all of his weight forward to restrain the Boy completely. What he was aiming for was to stare into those deep, Ocean blue eyes. To see the emotions the Boy was feeling at that moment, when he had been overpowered, as the Boy demanded to know what he wanted with the Princess. He saw defiance, anger and a hint of fear in those eyes and it made him smile.


"What do you want with Kairi." Sora demanded of the man pining him to the wall. The closeness of their bodies and the man's face to his own was making the brunet very uncomfortable but he wasn't about to complain or try to squirm away from him. That would give him what he most likely wanted. A sense of power. The man in the hood smiled at his question and Sora could just barely see the outline of it in the deep shadows the hood he was wearing cast.

"What do I want with your dear Princess? I want nothing of her. I want you. I want you to do what I need you to do. The only way I can make that happen though, is to have you come after your dear friend." The man responded, laughing an empty laugh. A kind that Sora had heard before and never wanted to hear again. The brunet attempted to get away from him then, to go and get Kairi and run, an instinct he couldn't suppress, and he was only rewarded with the man punching him in the stomach. Sora let out a hiss of pain and the man released his wrists to allow him to sink to his knees, hunched forward and clutching his abdomen.

The man picked Sora up with ease and tossed him roughly onto the glass coffee table so it smashed, cutting the teen up where his skin was exposed, driving splinters of wood and glass into his skin while his head hit hardwood floor with an audible crack. The teen was barely conscious as he watched the cloaked man retrieve Kairi and come back over to him. Without meaning to, Sora flinched slightly as the hooded face came close to his again.

"You will do as I wish. You cannot refuse. If you do not come after her, she will be killed, I assure you of that, Boy." The man hissed, giving the brunet another kick to the side before striding towards the door. Sora watched him until he was out of sight, then his entire world went to black.


That's the longest chapter I've done so far…

Thanks to: Lady Coldfyre for Favoriting this story, Densetsu-Chan for Favoriteing and Subscribing, El Pii for Favoriting, Subscribing and reviewing and Peaceful Dragon Rose for reviewing again. You all get Cookies of Awesome!

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~Star