Kàtár

"Which parts... were the dream... and which parts... were reality?"

He was in a boat. He didn't remember why. He didn't remember where he was going. All he did was row. His face was blank, eyes dull, dead-looking, a frown set on his lips. He had light brown, almost sandy blonde hair, and light blue eyes. His white, buttoned-up collared shirt was torn and ragged, and his black dress pants were ripped to jagged-edged shorts. He wore no shoes, having kicked them off hours earlier. He couldn't have been more than ten years old, yet there he was, rowing his little boat into the ocean, heading straight for a storm.

'Tidus...'

His head whipped around, searching for a sign of the life that had called his name, but, seeing no one, he blamed it on the wind. Perhaps that was his first mistake... or, maybe it didn't matter.

As he entered the storm, the wind picked up, throwing his hair all around his head. The waves climbed up the sides of the boat, throwing water inside and splashing the mist on his face. Rain beat down, creating bigger puddles on the wooden floor, and thunder rolled in the distance. The world lit up for a moment, the dark night illuminated by a flash of lightening, and out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw red. But as soon as it came, it was gone, and he couldn't be sure of what he saw. Or if he had even seen it.

His arms were tiring, but he couldn't stop. Someone... something... was after him, and if it caught up, he was as good as dead. Not that he was safe there. He was just sick of the mysterious symbols, sick of the hollow whispers, sick of everything. He just wanted things to be normal. He didn't want to run anymore.

'Tidus...'

His head snapped up once again, and he saw it. What used to be a man, now something completely inhuman. Rags for clothes, skin bloodied and bruised, hanging off of his body in strips, nails like talons, teeth like fangs, eyes-

Tidus froze, unable to move. The thing's eyes were hollow sockets in his skull, which was more shown than not from the skin dangling off it in torn pieces. But deep inside the dark holes, in the middle of the abyss, there was red. Crimson red, as if pools of blood. They sucked him in, stole his strength, leaving him helpless. The creature grinned, acknowledging his control, closing in on his prey.

Inside of his head, Tidus was screaming, kicking, fighting for his life; he thought he was doing so in reality as well. But all he did was sit there, body slack, not moving an inch. Around them, the storm raged, but neither took notice, Tidus trapped inside his mind, the creature intent on his prey. The sky brightened again, lighting up his crimson eyes, then all was black.

He's coming...

She didn't want to be here. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be caught dead here. Yet, here she was. And it seemed like this was the only safety she would... could get... for now.

She had soft brown hair broken into two pigtails tied with yellow ribbons, and emerald eyes. She wore a bright yellow sun dress dotted with white flowers, and matching yellow sandals. Earlier that morning she had puzzled for hours over and outfit. Why, oh why did she not pick something more... durable?

Now, her dress dragged across the wet dirt ground, snagging on twigs and jutting rocks. Mud oozed onto her hands and feet as she crawled through the cave's entrance. She paid no mind to the dirt, for the thing after her was far worse.

Soon enough, the cave widened, allowing her to stand. She entered the end, looking around. Drawings were carved on the rock walls, and at the end of it all stood a large, wooden door. She slid down a wall and sat on the leaf-covered floor, curling in on herself. Tears filled her eyes. Why did it have to be today of all days? She hadn't been twelve for even twenty-four hours.

She started when she thought she saw something move. The cave appeared to be empty, though the wind seemed to be picking up. She shivered and leaned against the wall.

"AIY!" she screamed, jumping away from it. Something had poked her back, but, besides the drawings, she saw nothing. She touched a picture of a pirate, pulling away quickly when electricity shot up her arm. She backed away, eyes never leaving it. The carving seemed to morph underneath her gaze.

'Selphie... Selphie... Selphie...'

Unfortunately, as she stared at the one picture, she missed the others as they moved against the wall, spinning faster and faster around her. As they moved, the wind moved with them, whipping her hair around her. Only then did she notice; her eyes wide as they darted around the room. She was getting dizzy just by watching them. The spinning carvings surrounded Selphie, the cave closing in around her.

"Kill her! Murder her! Make her scream!" they cried. She shut her eyes and pressed her hands against her ears in a vain attempt to block them out. She could feel them on top of her, breathing down her neck. They almost had her...

The door slammed open.

Her head snapped up at the noise. The pictures were still spinning, but all she noticed now was the door. She shook, her body racking with sobs as tears streamed down her face. She hadn't even realized she had been crying, the horror too much. Inside the door was only ink-like Darkness, pouring out black tendrils that lapped at her feet. After staring at the dark for a while, she finally saw what she had subconsciously been searching for. The red eyes, as crimson as blood, looked back at her, almost... glaring. The creature walked out, slowly, painfully, limping to her. She almost fainted at the disgusting mess of body it was, but fear kept her conscious. It stopped in front of her, the glare gone, replaced by an unreadable face.

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" cheered the carvings, glowing red and black.

"Please... don't hurt me..." Selphie whimpered.

The creature stared at her a moment, then leaned back and laughed silently, as if the taunting sound couldn't be made but it thought it would. When it calmed, she knew it was over. There was no use pleading with a monster.

Fang-like teeth grinned, and she was sucked into the Darkness, consumed by crimson.

And he won't stop until he's got you...

He had gotten it years ago, but it was now that he regretted it. In Japanese, it meant death; to him, it was just a tattoo, random crimson lines criss-crossing to form an image. But it still held its meaning.

Now, at age thirteen, with spiky orange hair and brown eyes, he had started to remember the small tattoo on his back. Without a warning, the thought had appeared in his mind, an image of the thing glowing its crimson color. Subconsciously, he had lightly touched the spot, wondering why he had thought of it. Then he had shrugged and headed back towards his friends.

He wore only swim trunks, playing in the water on his own. Everyone else had gone back, the day coming to a close. But he stayed until the last light of the sun was gone; always had, always would. The waves were calmer, the noise from the other boys gone. Frankly, he enjoyed the peace. But alas, all good things come to an end, and dark overtook the last ray of light. Sighing, he shuffled to shore.

He never made it.

A sharp pain shot through him, like electricity. He froze, screaming, the pain hot and white on his back. The tattoo seemed to glow as the feeling grew more intense, bringing him to his knees. His vision became blurry, that he almost missed the figure in front of him. Though if he had, it wouldn't have changed his fate anyway.

'Wakka...'

His eyes widened at the sound of his name. How did this thing know who he was? His breathing came in ragged pants as he tried to speak, but another shock ran through him, preventing him from making any other noise but screams. He was now coated in sweat, and the tattoo was practically on fire. The creature watched, silent, no emotion on his torn face. His scarlet eyes were as bright at the mark, as if controlling it, sucking his power from him.

Wakka managed to look up yet again, but immediately regretted it. A hand with claw-like nails grabbed his chin, its face inches away from his. His demonic grin had morphed into a knowing smirk. Its eyes flashed, and the pain in his back became almost unbearable.

His vision swayed, unable to focus. He wanted to hurt it, wanted to kill this thing that had him, but he couldn't, and both knew it. He was trapped. Doomed. But he didn't want to give up without a fight. So jerked his head away, fully aware it had let him go, and staggered to his feet. The thing seemed to find this funny, its shoulders shaking up and down in a mute chuckle. Wakka glared at it, and managed to speak.

"Wh-Who...?" But he was unable to do more than that, and collapsed in the water yet again.

He didn't get up. He couldn't.

The thing grinned, and Wakka was lost it the Darkness. Death, like he had been fated years before. There was one thing he heard before, though.

'I am Kàtár...'

Roxas...

My eyes flew open as I shot up from my bed. I was covered in sweat, my heart racing against my chest. I frantically looked around the room, too aware of the feeling that something was watching me. Though it was bright daylight outside, pouring into my room through the window, I was still on edge. The nightmares had been worse than any I'd had before. I seemed to feel every emotion Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka went through; their pain, their fear... and those eyes...

Kàtár...

A name. Its name. And with that name, I was going to find out why it was after me, and what I could do about it.