JennyBlu:I am terribly sorry that I delayed the update. During my vacation I couldn't write a lot because I had developed a sickness and I barley ate for two weeks! I can't believe I lost a lot of weight! Well the good news is that my grandmother is better now and I'm very grateful that I got the chance to see her once again. Anyways I was delayed to update on Saturday because of stupid immigration. Cops can be very mean sometimes =( I couldn't update on Sunday because I was just very tired and I'm very sorry that I didn't update earlier today because I had to do the finishing touches on this chapter! Well thank you for waiting and here you go =)


Chapter 8

The dark hooded figure was walking down the long corridors. There was no light, only darkness; just the way they like it. The walls that he was passing by were painted in white with a hint of pale blue. He was headed to his king's lair, where he waited for some news from his loyal subjects, where he gives his loyal subjects orders, and where he plans alone with his sick head.

He finally reached the door of his majesty and he entered with a bit of nervousness. He slowly made his way in front of the king. As he reached the beginning of the stairs that reached his throne, he kneeled as it showed respect. After he finished bowing his head, he laid his amber eyes to his superior. He showed himself and out came his long pale blonde hair.

"What news do you bring me Vexen?" the king asked in the darkness.

"I just wanted to notify you that I spoke with one of your … "pawns", and that he refuses to accept the offer you and your cousin have given him," he explained.

"…. Ha-ha-ha," the master chuckled. The man before him grew confused.

"What's so funny?" he pondered.

"Well I knew that long before we given him the gift. He wasn't going to give up without a fight, and that's why I want him."

"Well then I shall be leaving and going back to work," he bowed his head once again and tried to make his way out. He was relieved that the meeting was short.

"Care to tell me more about your visit Vexen?" the king questioned him, stopping him from his tracks. He gulped as his anxiety kicked in again. The blonde old man turned slowly and made his way back in front of his master, but this time not kneeling.

"I had… engaged him in battle, trying to kill him," he revealed hesitantly.

"And why is that?"

"Don't you see Master, he's useless! He doesn't accept your gift so I had to kill him!"

There was a moment of silence as the king rubbed his face, hiding his expression. But then an evil chuckle was let out his master's mouth. But it wasn't that he was laughing about what he said, it was what he did. It wasn't a happy amusement, it was an angry cackle. The master was enraged but he found the poor excuse funny. Vexen bowed his head because he knew what he was expecting now. The man rose from his chair and clapped.

"Amusing it is, the excuse you give me after disobeying orders Vexen, and I thought better from you since you have the brains from the rest of my subjects," he laughed while coming down the stairs of his throne. "I mean you're smart so why can't you obey the simplest orders? It doesn't take a scientist to figure it out."

He suddenly dashed to the vulnerable slave of his. Vexen gasped as he saw his king right in front of his face.

"Oh wait, I just remembered, you are a scientist." He smacked Vexen across the face with brute force. The man fell on the floor and whimpered a bit as he felt the steamy sensation of the impact. His master walked towards him and kneeled in front of his face. He pulled his blonde hair up to make contact with his trembling amber eyes.

"It seems that you need help in comprehending these simple orders so let me make it more clearly for the scientist. Do not touch the boy or so help me God I will torture you until you bleed to your misery! Now do you get the picture?"

Vexen nodded and the king threw is head back.

"Good, now get out of my sight!"

The blonde man stood up and rushed out of there, fearing that his superior will make another move. He shut the door behind him and touched his hot cheek. As he turned his eyes to the right he spotted a hooded figure, leaning against the wall with their arms crossed. He knew who it was when he saw that smirk of theirs.

"I told you not to mess with my prey."

"Hmph," he responded as he walked towards his coworker. As he passed by, he stopped right in front of his short accomplice.

"The second the master orders us to kill him, I won't let you have your scarp," he muttered in anger.

The hooded figure stood correctly and stalked closer to Vexen.

"Don't ever touch him again or I'll slit that wrinkly throat of yours."

The man smiled, challenging his associate to do so. After five seconds, he looked away. He then made his way down the dark hall, hiding in the shadows without turning back.

"I look forward to dissecting his body."


Vanille had finally led Riku back to the mansion after the altercation. They successfully made it to the boy's room. Riku laid down on his bed and Vanille look through his body for any wounds. But of course, his darkness beat her right to it. The silver headed boy gazed at his body as well but he knew there were no injuries. He then met Vanille's green eyes that were filled with distress. She then lowered her gaze to not face the boy that was cursed with evil inside.

"I won't tell Fang or the others," she decided.

"No, if you want to then-"

"I don't, I can tell you don't want to worry your friends. Either way, it's not my place to do so," she stated.

Riku let out a sigh of exhaustion. He knew what she meant. He was entrusted to either tell Fang or keep it a secret. With that answer of hers, Vanille wanted him to do the right thing.

"Can you do anything about the darkness?" he asked.

"Well I can check the books but a spell that can get rid of it can take a while to prepare," she answered honestly.

"What should I do then?"

She walked away from him and headed towards the exit. She was disappointed that he never told anyone about his problem. What hurt the most inside; he wasn't ever going to tell them.

"I'll try to help you but it's your decision to tell Fang."

And with that answer, she left and shut the door quietly. Riku lowered his emerald orbs and let out a breath.

"Thank you, Vanille."


The morning sun hit its position in the sky. The rays hit through the window glass that caused the house to gleam inside and wake its guests. Vanille had already finished her ritual to make breakfast once again. She sported a white solid peplum tee with black shorts and black combat boots. Her hair shined a bright red as she made her way closer to the kitchen window. There, she started to wash the pile of dirty dishes to clear her head a bit.

She knew from the start that Riku was having difficulty the day he first hunted with Fang. She saw that his wounds were healed before she had a shot at it. Not only that, she saw how it healed. The small wounds glowed purple and it was painfully burning away the infection. She did tell Fang that it healed itself, but what she didn't tell her was the darkness that was inside of him.

The day when he was reaching out for his Lustrous caught her attention. How exhausted he was after a simple mediation had frightened her. It wasn't normal for him to have a weak stamina like that. If he did have energy that weak then he would have never been chosen to a Pure Knight.

If she wanted to help Riku, she had to do research about the illness. Only it wasn't an illness, it was a spell. That spell was black magic which was forbidden around the worlds. It only brings destruction, bringing corruption to the mind of others. That's why Riku loses control; his mind is being corrupted.

What she had to figure out is what kind of spell it is and who is the user who casted it. With that information she can figure out the level of the magic and spell that can cancel the effect.

"That's seems easier said than done," she sighed softly.

"What is?"

The girl gasped in distraught and quickly twirled around. Fang was chewing on an apple, observing the dumbfounded face that her friend made. She was dressed in a green sleeveless tee that had a black tribal print in the middle. Her jeans were denim that had a brown belt which matched her brown sandals.

"O-oh I-it's nothing!" she stuttered.

"Are you okay, because I think it's not really normal for a person to be talking to themselves," Fang raised her brow.

"Ha-ha well you know me," she laughed nervously, rubbing her head to ease the tension.

"Well don't go crazy now, I need someone sane enough to take care of these pups," Fang smiled.

"Oh don't be that rude Fang, they are one of a kind you know," the girl chuckled.

"He-He," the woman lowered her gaze, "you got that right."

She saw so much potential in these kids that she actually started to grow accustomed to them. It was like they were her children; annoying little brats that aren't ready to face the real threat.

"I shouldn't be one to talk though," she thought, "I was like them when I was their age." It was really funny though, Sora reminded her of a big lug that was as just as goofy as him.

"I think I'm going to train with the little runt today," Fang decided as she took another bite of her juicy apple.

"Only him, why?" she questioned.

"I want to see what the Kingdom Key can do," the woman smiled.


"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Kairi questioned.

"Last night," the silver haired boy avoided her eyes. He was wearing a simple white tee and baggy black pants.

He had called her into his room to speak with her. She had on her blue sleeveless dress that featured a cutout in the back and pink flats. He didn't want to look at her when he told her what had happened to him. Now she will get more worried and she will never leave him alone.

"I… went out of control again," he sighed.

"What!" she gasped.

"I went to the woods… but then…" he stopped. How can he put this in a simple manner that she won't burst out screaming? Nope, there was no other way.

"But then what?" she hinted him to go on.

"… A reaper attacked me."

"…" She froze. She had no words to come out. Her eyes showed how she felt inside. She was screaming internally, the news burned her heart inside-out, but there were no words to slip out of her pink lips. He can tell she was holding it in.

He stood up from his bedstead and walked towards the paralyzed girl. He laid his hand on her shoulder but she smacked it before he touched her skin. He pulled his palm away and saw that the girl was moving again.

"It's time to tell Riku!" she yelled out. "Don't you see, you're getting out of control and what's worse is that someone attacked you!"

"…."

"Aren't you gonna tell Fang about it?"

"I don't need to," he responded, "Vanille already knows."

"What?" she mouthed.

"If you let me explain, I'll tell you what happened last night," he sighed. "A reaper showed up right after I was handling the darkness. I was weak and he wounded me. He was... going to kill me."

"Why?" she asked confusingly.

"He said something about the darkness inside me, that I didn't accept the "gift" from his master," he held his chin.

"So that means-"

"Yes, someone put this darkness purposely," he answered for her. "Thank goodness Vanille came in."

"She saved you?"

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Does… she know?" she hesitantly questioned.

He nodded in response. "She actually knew all along."

"But how?" she wondered.

"When she healed me for the first time, she said that I already healed myself and she saw the process in her own eyes."

"Wait, you can heal?" she raised her brow.

"Apparently I can, with this darkness in me I can heal automatically like last night," he told her.

"Well, at least there is one good thing that the darkness can do," she half smiled.

"Less worried now?" he joked as he sat down on his bed.

"I'm always worried," she followed him. She then sat beside him and looked straight down to the floor. She did not want to ask this question but she had to make sure.

"So, is Vanille gonna tell Fang about this?"

He paused for a moment. "Well, she basically gave me a choice to do so myself but I'm guessing that she wants me to do that right thing."

"Ohhh, she is expecting you to tell her," the girl understood clearly. "Well, at least someone is with me, maybe she can give Riku a push to tell the truth," she thought.

"I'm not going to though," Riku informed the girl, as if he was reading her every thought.

"What?" Kairi flinched, "But Vanille-"

"Vanille said that she will cure me if she can, so I'll wait for a while and if she can't, well then you can have it your way," he responded with a tone that wanted to end the discussion.

She stared at the floor. Riku had never used a tone of annoyance to her before. She just wanted to know what he was going to do. She can be very protective at times but it was fir his own good.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know-"

"No, you don't know," he stood up from his mattress, "this thing inside of me… it's driving me insane! It just pops out of nowhere and it kills me just to hold back! There are voices inside my head telling me to accept it, to accept him!"

She looked up to his enraged face. She saw a boy that was exhausted, tortured, and afraid. But what did he fear? She thought he was the strongest out of all of them, that he didn't fear anything. He had always showed courage and he would always shield his friends. Why is he afraid?

"Are you scared of him?" she whispered.

"The voice?" he lowered his gaze, "no."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that I will give in, I'm afraid that I won't be myself anymore, I'm afraid of the pain," he paused but continued, "I'm afraid that I will hurt my friends."

She stood up and ran to him, embracing him in her arms. She was putting a burden on him; herself. He was afraid that he would give in but what keeps pulling him was the safety of his friends. He didn't want to lose control because he didn't want to hurt his friends.

"I'm so sorry," she cried, tears rolling down her skin. "I don't want to have it my way; I just want to protect you."

"…"

"I don't want to be the punishment for you; you don't need to care for me… or for Sora."

"You're not putting extra weight on me, it was my job from the beginning to watch over you guys," he rubbed her hair, feeling his fabric absorb her tears.

"What do you mean?" she stared at his emerald eyes.

He sighed, "Nothing, I won't let the darkness get in the way to help you guys. I would do whatever it takes to not hurt you or anyone."

He wiped away her tears and gave her a sweet smile. She felt his cold fingers dry her cheek. There were times when she had feelings for Riku because he was the one that would always look out for her. But there was Sora and she did have feelings for him as well. These feelings were so difficult to comprehend. She decided to let go before she did something stupid.

"What's wrong?" he wondered.

"No it's just that-"

A knock interrupted the girl. The creaking of the door signaled them to look at the visitor. It was Vanille that had knocked to come inside his room.

"Riku, Fang and Sora had gone to train," she told him, "It's a good time to search for a spell."

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"The library."


"Why did you wake me up today?" the brunette yawned.

"It's twelve Sora," Fang groaned, pulling her hair back.

The boy was dressed in a grey shirt and black jeans with black sneakers. Fang had him up from his slumber which lasted for 15 hours. He had enough time to rest so it was time to do something beneficial. He looked around to see if his friends were here to train but they were nowhere to be found.

"Hey where are Kairi and Riku?"

"I'm not going to train them today," she smiled.

"So you only want to torture me, that's just super," he rolled his eyes.

"Hey be grateful," she grinned, "this training is just for you."

"Really!" he gloated as he sharply turned his head to her.

"Yup, since you hold the Kingdom Key I want to help you discover the special ability."

"Secret… ability?" the boy repeated.

"You see," she started, "the Kingdom Key is very notable to many, even to our enemies. Have you heard of its tale?"

"Ummmmmm…"

She sighed, "I expected much. Well as you have heard, the light creates every Keyblade. It is said that the Keepers of Blades chooses who receives which Keyblade. Well, the light decided to form a Keyblade that had access to the purest world, the Realm of Light. Not only does it open the gates to the world, but it has access to its power."

"Whoa," he whispered. He had no idea that his Keyblade had that kind of power. But why had the light created such a valuable weapon?

"The light had given the weapon to the Keepers and gave an order to keep it hidden until they had found someone who can hold such dangerous power. For centuries, the Keepers had tried to search for the warrior to end the war between darkness and light."

"What happened then?"

"The Reapers had annihilated every Keeper," she revealed.

"What, why?" he anxiously asked.

"Since the Reapers heard of this news, they had also searched for the warrior. They wasted time so they chose to murder every Keeper in Hollow Bastion. They thought that they were the only ones to know the hidden place that stashed the Kingdom Key so the secrecy went down to their graves."

"But I have it now," Sora stated.

"Because there is one last Keeper," she exposed. "There was one last Keeper that was young and actually survived the killing spree."

"It was that girl right? The one that told me to grab the Keyblade," he recalled.

"That's correct so be thankful that she accidentally gave you the key," she grinned.

"Yeah…. Hey what do you mean accidentally!"

"You don't actually think that you're the warrior that we are desperately waiting for."

"Grrr, you know what, I'm going to prove to you that I am!" he gloated.

"You can try but I doubt that you can activate the ability," she egged him on.

He growled; he was tired of being treated like a kid. The Keeper gave him the key for a reason. He can take on the responsibility of wielding the weapon. It was time to show them that he was ready to be the one to end the darkness. He was now getting serious.

"That's it get mad," Fang thought, "Prove to everyone that you are really the warrior that was destined to aid us all."

"Let's get this over with then!" he shouted with determination.


It was cold in the laboratory. Pure cold ice covered the walls and the room temperature had decreased drastically. The mad scientist had trashed his room, releasing his anger by freezing the whole place.

"I'll wipe that smirk off that face of yours, that little punk!" he hissed in spite.

He truly despised his comrade and he couldn't wait until he had the chance to sinfully murder the weakling. He didn't care if he was going against the king's orders; he was going to use the boy as an advantage.

"Wow you really trashed your room," a voice from behind hollered. "Aw, is the baby mad that daddy sent him to his room?"

Vexen shifted his head a bit to stare at the intruder. He knew who it was already even if she had her black hood to hide her face. That annoying voice was familiar to everyone. She always had a smart mouth that countered his intelligence.

"So, what do you want from me?" she yawned as she leaned against icy wall.

"I need you to do me a favor," he turned to her. He then walked towards his comrade and took her hand. He had given her a small, black capsule.

"What, you want me to take my medicine?"

"No you idiot, you're gonna give this to the boy," he instructed her.

"Well there are two of them so…"

"You are going to give this to Riku," he smiled evilly.

"Didn't the master tell you to leave him alone?" she taunted.

"Don't get into my business! Either way, he'll thank me later."


Well now have two months of summer vacation, I'm sixteen now so Happy Birthday to me (even though it was on July 1st lol), and I have all this free time to write and think more about my upcoming ideas! I'm all yours now lol, well see you soon and I'm very happy that all you guys reviewed and added my story to your favorite list! THANK YOU AND PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I'M HOME!