Gosh, I'm so glad my writers' block for this is leaving me alone (for now).

Thank you for waiting, guys.

Read away!

I don't own anything except the plot.

There was blood. Blood…everywhere. Seifer was nearby, laying on his back, breathing heavily in exhaustion. I couldn't move, though I wanted nothing more than to get up and see if he was alright. But my arm and chest were now throbbing along with the pain signals that were sent to my brain, leaving a constant reminder that I was badly wounded.

I decided to just ignore it and forced myself to my feet, feeling instantly sick as the whole scene twisted about before my eyes. I groaned and held my head, stumbling over to where Seifer lay. My knees gave out as I approached him, falling beside him. I had never felt so weak before.

"Seifer?" I was able to muster out.

"Ugh….man, that sucked ass, didn't it?" He opened his eyes and gave me a pathetic smirk, pretending that he wasn't completely scratched up from that horrendous attack that had just occurred. "Did we get 'em?"

"I did, dumbass. You went and took a nap on the floor." I joked.

"Shut up." he laughed, reaching up and lightly pushing me in the chest.

I screamed.

I felt my mind awake immediately from the pressure of the realistic pain I had just experienced in my nightmare, which had slipped away from me once more.

"Congratulations, Hayner. You've finally arrived."

It now felt like someone had numbed my body and left me with nothing to move but my eyes. It was a struggle to even open them, but I was able to.

It was dark and quiet, but I knew I had heard a voice just a second ago that had been coming from my left. My body didn't want to respond to what I wanted it to do, however, leaving me limp and still. I wasn't even sure if I was laying on my back or was standing, but I guess it didn't matter right now.

"Excuse me, you probably would like some light, wouldn't you?" There was the sound of someone snapping their fingers and light flooded the room. "Better?"

I was on my back, looking at an arched ceiling. The maroon design on it reminded me faintly of blood, but it had faded immensely. Where am I? Footsteps approached me, then a face loomed over, framed by pink hair.

"Well, you look surprised to see me again. I do apologize for rendering you unconscious, but it seemed like the only way I was going to get you away from your friends without a fight. Still, that one with the scar nearly succeeded in taking you away from my Dusks; he's quite protective of you, isn't he?"

I couldn't move or speak, but I could feel a slight blush cross my face in embarrassment at hearing those words. He laughed heartily and snapped his fingers again. Instantaneously, feeling came crawling back into my body. I checked to see if my limbs were in proper working order before sitting up.

"Well, you must be confused after all that's been happening. You'll catch on soon enough, I'm sure." He turned and walked away. "A word of advice, though: don't leave this room."

With that said, a dark portal appeared and he stepped into it, letting it close behind him. I scrambled to my feet and clumsily tried to run to the portal after him, but abrupt pain twisted through me, causing me to fall onto my knees and watch as the portal vanished, leaving me here.

"Damnit…what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

I examined my surroundings in hopes of finding something that could be an escape route, finding none. There were no windows, no openings of any sort. There wasn't even-

"The hell? There's not even a door in here?!" I shouted. "How do you even expect me to escape in the first place?"

An echo of a chuckle bounced around the room. "Forgive me, but I couldn't risk having you escape in any way and find those friends of yours. But I assure you that I put plenty of items in your new room that can occupy your time until you're needed."

"So you expect me to just stay in here and basically be your prisoner?" I snarled, standing to my feet. "That's just fuc-"

"You'll be fine."

I stood there in that room for a couple seconds, expecting him to say more. After a little bit, though, I realized he was gone and wasn't going to say anything else. In frustration, I angrily began to search the room in hopes of finding something; anything would be fine if it got me out of here.

I looked under the tattered bed, behind the useless tapestries, under the rugs and through each and every possible thing that could hide something that would help me escape. Through my search, I came across many unexpected items that I hadn't anticipated would be here in this abandoned place: drawing and writing materials, books of so many different genres, strange outfits of some sort, even a Struggle bat.

"Damn." I groaned.

My eyes swept over everything in hopes of finding something, but it seemed useless; I was trapped. I went and sat down on the bed with a sigh, which creaked under my weight. Now that I was stuck in here, what could I do? There was no exit of any sort, no weapon or heavy object that could make a hole in the walls for me. What am I going to do? Roxas is probably freakin' out and Seifer….

Seifer. Had he really protected me and tried to save me from being kidnapped? But didn't he hate me? Well, hate is a strong word, but I didn't think he would care about me enough to risk his life attempting to save me. The thought alone made me feel all bubbly inside as I lay on my back and stared up at the ceiling. Ugh. Shoot me.

"Seifer, you'd better be the one to come and save my ass. If you don't, I'm kicking it into next year."

"I wouldn't put so much faith into one human being, Hayner. It tends to backfire on you."

I practically flew to my feet, completely caught off guard by the sound of another person in the room. I had heard nothing, but those portals they used were pretty damn silent, so I guess it wasn't that surprising.

"Who are you?" His voice wasn't as rich as the pink-haired guy, so I knew that he wasn't the one standing before me. "What do you want?"

"You're needed by the Superior." He paused as if he was looking me over. "You certainly aren't what we were expecting."

I frowned, instantly insulted. "Shut up."

He flicked his wrist and a portal erupted into existence beside me. I jumped slightly and stared into it. The dark void inside unsettled me and made my insides churn uncomfortably. Was I going through this thing with him?

"Quit staring and get in." he grumbled, snatching up my wrist and dragging me towards the pulsating oval of darkness.

"H-hey! Let go of me, damnit!"

He made a noise of complaint as I immediately struggled out of his grasp and punched him in the chest, but the blow seemed to do little damage. He twitched and touched upon the place where I had hit, but he didn't bend over in pain or scream in agony. I blinked at him in confusion, questioning to myself whether I had even grazed him in the first place.

"You have quite the fight in you. Marluxia was correct in saying to watch it around you." He straightened and pushed the black hood off, revealing a clouded face. "You're lucky that I have commands to not lay a hand on you, else you would have been destroyed by now."

I couldn't stop myself from gazing at the pale profile of his face, which was framed by long blue hair, slicked back in the middle. Glaring yellow eyes and a frown to match weren't what I gawked at, though; it was the scar that marred him, marked as a perfect "X" in the certain of his face.

He sneered in clear disgust and yanked the hood back over his face, hiding back into the shadows. He reached and held onto my upper arm, walking quickly into the portal before I could protest. I glanced back in hopes of something stopping this from happening, but I all saw was the portal closing in on itself, leaving me with only a glimpse of my temporary room. Then there was nothing but darkness.

"I recommend you try not to get lost in here. It can get ugly if you aren't careful."

He was walking at a brisk pace, as if we were just going down some hallway instead of a black nothingness. It was strange. My eyes were open, but I couldn't see anything and my mind was strangely distant from my body, feeling more like they were separated then one thing. What was going on?

"You said…" I coughed, feeling an odd thickness enter my throat.

"I would avoid speaking when we're here. Darkness tends to take control when they find a special light amongst them."

"Lig-" I choked on the remaining word.

"Close your mouth; we're almost there."

I did so quickly, nearly gagging at the unnatural dryness in my mouth. The stranger yanked me onward, but my feet felt heavier with each step, as if someone was pulling me backward, holding me down by my ankles. I winced as an unexpected burn bloomed across my knees, forcing me to fall into the pitch blackness. The man's hand that I had distantly felt vanished from my arm, leaving me alone in nothing.

"Damn brat."

I hissed as something scratched at my lower back, another getting my hand. More claws, more burning pain. It took my mind a moment to catch up with what was going on and I finally realized that someone (or something) was attacking me mercilessly in this strange place.

Hold still, Heart of Light.

I felt something grab at my arm, then that burning sensation again. Wincing, I slapped the claw away, finding nothing there. More were piercing my skin and clothes, ripping through me and leaving that awful burning behind that lingered on me before becoming numb.

"Crap…" I hissed, trying to avoid getting attacked again.

"You need to keep up, little brat." He grabbed me by my arm and yanked me to my feet, the claws lingering on me. "I told you that this place will try everything in its power to consume light."

I coughed, unable to keep my mouth shut when all I wanted to do was curse him out. The man grumbled something under his breath, then smacked me in the back of my head.

"Close your mouth. We're almost there."

I coughed one more time before forcing myself to do so, grimacing as I felt a claw rake down my pant leg before releasing me.

"I know you can't see in this place, so you'll have to stick close to me. Understood?" I nodded. "Good. Let's get this over with."

With a small sigh, he dragged me alongside him, muttering things to himself that I didn't bother trying to catch. The darkness quickly became thicker as he pulled me along, as if the darkness was an actual weight that was gradually piling on top of me with every step I took. He either didn't notice or he didn't care (my guess was the later) as my steps slowed and my body sagged under the foreign pressure, he tried to push me faster.

"The doorway is right there. Move." he snapped.

"I…I…can't…" I gasped out. I stopped shuffling my feet and tried to remember to breathe, but the weight instantly became heavier on me. "I'm so…tired…."

"Well, that's your own damn fault. Hurry up and keep moving if you want to live through this."

Nearly pulling my arm from my socket, we kept on going. Those claws were scratching at my shoes in hopes of slowing me down…the immense pressure that was strapped to my body…I didn't want to continue…I was so tired and I just wanted to lay down on a couch and take a long nap…

"Stay awake." he instructed, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"But…I-"

"Right now, I just want to get you to the Superior and get you out of my hair. People like you irritate me."

His comment bugged me enough to wake me up a little more. "Says you."

"Hmph. " was his only reply.

"When will we get to the end of this place? It's taking forever."

Before I had even finished my sentence, a flicker of light erupted out of nowhere, blinding me. I screwed my eyes shut, the light burning. The darkness faded away as the light destroyed it, leaving the stranger and I in a dusty, furnished two-story library. Most of the bookshelves were empty, with a few dust bunnies and cobwebs occupying them. There were countless desks and chairs and sofas that must have been amazingly comfortable at one point in time. Now, they were tattered and ruined, dusty beyond anything I've ever seen.

"Where are we?"

"Shut up." He snapped, then turned and got down on one knee, bowing down. "I have done as you have asked, Superior."

I gazed around to see who he was speaking to, but no one was here but us. I opened my mouth to say something, but an abrupt cough interrupted me before I could.

"Thank you, Isa. You may go." My eyes wandered about until it finally caught sight of another hooded figure standing in the second story of the library, hands behind his back. "Though, try to be a bit more cautious in the Dark Realm with our guest next time."

"As you wish, Superior." Isa agreed, nodding his head.

"Good. Now go and wait for me."

"Of course." Isa murmured, vanishing into thin air.

I stared at the where he had been, wondering how they did that so easily. Another cough startled me back into reality, pulling my focus away from my confused thoughts and up to the hooded man that was clearly staring me down.

"Hello, Hayner Divenity. It's quite odd seeing you like this and yet..." He trailed off and tilted his head to one side, his tone implying something was secretly funny. "Yet here you are, oblivious as ever to what's going on."

"Well, maybe that's 'cause no one wants to answer my questions." I said sarcastically in return.

"True…" He chuckled darkly. "But, then again, I thought just bringing you away from that fake world would be enough to be of help."

"Huh?"

"I assumed wrong, I suppose. Not that it matters." He snapped his fingers and those disturbing snake-like creatures I had seen at the mansion appeared out of nowhere, moving in jerks and spasms. "Let's see if you truly are what you seem to be."

Welp...that was confusing.

Anyone have any clue what's going on? :P