Dedicated to the Wonder of my World!

A/N: Yes, this update took forever and a day, but I was on vacation and during FFOs (Forced Family Outings) there is no writing permitted on my part.

Also, since I'm a bit behind, I'll have to skip the Deleted Scene this chapter. I'll make sure to do it next time 'cause I thought the idea was neat. And I want it to be written really well so, trust me.

And, forgive me, the promised fluff…is absent. I did, however, add Roxas and Naminé in so that should make up for any kisses, right? I even inserted the little mark above the 'e' this time!

There will be fluff next chapter. Cross my heart!

Disclaimer: If this were mine, I wouldn't have to worry about suspended financial aid!

ooo

Kairi warily roamed the empty streets. She had no idea where she was…what world the ship happened to land. But there was a feeling deep down within her. It said that this was somehow correct. And that this place was familiar.

Sora was here.

Where? Now that was something else altogether.

What Kairi presumed was once a market place was now nothing more than ash. Everything was covered in it. Even the ground. Black, black, and more black. She bent down to study the cobblestones and found that the darkness was…embedded…

Kairi walked on, looking this way and that for signs of life. But the only thing that moved were the sparkling dropplets that fell from the low clouds overhead. Though beautiful, they seemed eerily out of place. She didn't know it, but every step she took a ripple of light silently pulsed through the ground and the shadow thawed out little by little. It was so quiet that her panting echoed about her. Unnerving didn't even begin to describe it.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone here?"

She turned around in a circle, checking all around her, and abruptly came face to face with a pair of orange eyes.

"I am," the girl giggled.

ooo

Riku forced his annoyance into submission and chided himself heavily for letting Nevaeh escape. He made an oath, then and there in the darkness, that he'd find her again…and really show her who she was dealing with.

Axel mumbled under his breath, "I hate to say it, but we got showed up big time." He closed his eyes painfully and massaged the bridge of his nose. "It's humiliating."

"It'll be more than that if we don't get to Radiant Garden."

Axel sobered. "Why?"

Riku was all but unwilling to allow his full-throttle grimmace reveal itself. "The girl informed me before leaving that Sora would be alright. I have a feeling that something's gone horribly wrong with the Restoration Committee." He was much too steamed to even utter her name.

Axel seemed to catch on, but hid his chuckle reasonably well. "I guess a pit stop before informing the King about Little-Miss-Priss shouldn't hurt."

He hoped.

ooo

Roxas sprinted through the gloom. Everything had grown so unbelievably dark in such a short period of time, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He could feel Sora. Could feel him slowly draining away. And as the sensation grew, Roxas realized that the same was becoming of him.

He was slowing down. Though he tried his very best to continue to pick up his weary legs…

The darkness consumed him. It crawled along his claves, his knees, his chest…all the way up until it had blinded him completely. Roxas began to lose focus on all he knew. All he held dear. And it crushed him.

He simply couldn't fight it.

So he released himself to be bound and finally gave in before saying: "I'm sorry, Naminé."

ooo

A figure watched with amusement as, in his peripheral vision, Nevaeh confronted the Princess of Heart: the most important piece on the game board… But that little conversation wasn't the crutial thing - wasn't what held his full attention.

The Keyblade Master. The one just below him. He was the captivating part of the move Tarsus had just made. It was interesting to see what a fight the boy was willing to put up…all for nothing.

It would have been funny if it hadn't been so pathetic.

Especially his two companions. The two working in vain, trying to aid him. What fools.

Yes, the Heartless proved to be very successful, indeed. Perhaps too much. If Nevaeh didn't hurry, the boy really would be lost for good. And that was unacceptable. If he perished then the entire plan would be useless.

Tarsus needed him alive. His little guinea pig.

ooo

"No!"

Something (Roxas wasn't sure what) took him by the wrist. It was done in such a way that he was immediately thrown into a warming case of déjà vu and he made himself open his eyes.

"Naminé?"

Roxas fought to wrap his fingers around her wrist as shetugged him from the thick darkness that threatened to overwhelm his senses. He struggled to speak to her, but he could hardly breathe. His eyes, so used to the shadow, burned with tears as the black faded away, revealing the golden-hairedgirl.

Naminé pulled Roxas upright, but his legs refused to hold him so she ended up falling to her knees. She cradled him very close and rested her hand on the top of his head. The poor boy was dripping with darkness and shivering with fear…

"Shh," she tried to comfort him. "It's okay. I'm here."

"Naminé…I'm dying…"

She placed her other hand on the side of his face, silencing him. "No you're not. You can't. Don't say such things."

Roxas' cheek tingled in the shape of her palm and he could hear the disease dissolving from his skin. Melting away as if it had never been. Then the healing spread, prickling over his nose and jaw. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

But then her touch vanished and Roxas realized that she was becoming dimmer by the second. She was…

"No," he begged shamelessly. "Don't leave me. Not yet."

She smiled at him. "It's okay," she whispered again. "I'm here."

ooo

"I'm here."

Sora's yellow eyes snapped open and he saw… "Kairi!" He reached out to her, not bothering to think why or how, but then saw what was becoming of his skin andjerked away. "Stay back!"

Donald was already guarding her. "Do what he says, Princess!" He fanned out his feathered arms.

"What's happening to him?" she asked, desperately trying to get closer. "Let me through!"

Sora dizzily dropped his head into both of his hands. His body was seizing up and some raging might inside was making its way out whether he wanted it to or not. "NO!" he snapped, his voice uncommonly hateful. "Get out of here! Now!"

"But the girl said I was your only hope-"

Sora released an unearthly roar and shoved himself to his feet. He nearly knocked Goofy to his bottom and his friend unconsciously lifted his shield to protect his body from this…thing he'd become. Sora was no longer human, but the spitting image of his shadow. The one that Riku had formed on Hook's vessel.

Except…Sora was bent double as if his spine were twisted. His arms sagged and his skin continued to drip and sizzle to the equally-as-dark ground. Talons took the place of his fingers and fangs, his teeth. With his wide, yellow eyes he studied the three of them carefully.

His mind wasn't functioning normally. The only thing he felt was: not a threat…not a threat…threat. That was when he discerned the Princess. He didn't recognize any feeling he had for her, for it was buried. And buried deep.

The duck jabbed his staff in front of Sora's face. "Don't make me do this."

The two locked eyes, battling in a contest of wills for a brief moment, before Kairi spoke up.

"Stop! Please…"

Something about that word made Sora flinch…and even more furious. Donald turned his attention away from him for only a second, but it was enough to render him weaponless. Sora literally threw him aside and lunged at the girl with a clawed hand.

"Sora!"

He halted, though he wasn't sure why.

ThePrincess was looking at him oddly. Not in fear or in surprise or in fury. It was something he couldn't name. Maybe that was what stopped him. Slowly, she reached out and rested a gloved hand against his chest. At once all the animalistic tendencies fled his mind and he…

"Kairi…"

The black pulled away from his face and the rest of his body, leaving him as he was before the transformation. The slash across his chest was no longer there, either.

Sora sighed a breath of relief as herecognized his old self return. Not only that, but his shame at what he had been about to do came along with it. "I'm so sorry."

Then he passed out.

ooo

Nevaeh stood outside Merlin's house andpeered through the grimy window at all the people. She'd never seen so many gathered in such a fuss overa singleperson before. It…confused her. But it was probably the reason she was there. Even if her Master had ordered it.

There was the Keyblade Master upon the quilted bed next to the outlandishly large pile of books. He didn't look very happy about being forced to lie down as he kept trying to rise. Disillusioned, he repeated himself over and over: "I'm so sorry." He was too ill to accomplish anything else besdies utter three worthless words.

It made no sense.

He ended up gazing straight into the Princess' eyes. And what Nevaeh saw there in his own…she couldn't bear it and was forced to looked away, her breath short. And for some reason, she was unreasonably flushed. Her fingers clutched the window sill for support.

"What happened?" asked a handsom man that sported a scar across his face. His intense eyes swept over the lot of them, demanding an answer.

He looks stong, Nevaeh mused to herself. I'll have fun destroying him.

Sora opened his mouth to respond (as if he could), but the duck answered instead. "A Heartless attacked and one scratch turned Sora into…" He paused. "…something!"

"He went all yeller-eyed and scary, Leon," the dog-thing added.

The man, who's name was revealed to be Leon, studied his own battle scars and grunted. By the looks of it, he didn't understand why nothing had happened to him.

Nevaeh didn't either, if she was honest with herself.

Kairi, seated next to Sora, continued to hold him still. Despite her efforts and her so called amazing powers, her precious Key Bearer was having complications with withdrawl. How delightful.

"And how did you find him, again?" the ninja querried.

"A friendly town-girl told me where he was," Kairi answered.

Nevaeh would have laughed out loud if she remembered how. Friendly...she hadn't been exposed to the term in so long. She wasn't sure what it stood for anymore.

The one typing on his computer made a big show of hitting a button so that a long roll of manilla paper filed out of a little slot at the base of the screen. "Well, steal my ship and call me duped!" He waved the information over his head and everyone turned to look at him. "I took a sample of the street…got a real nice piece of rock covered in that there shadow. But the readings show-"

Axel snatched the paper away and racked his green eyes over the paragraphs of data. "Nothing!" he finished sourly. "It's nothing?"

The older blonde huffed and took the toothpick from his mouth. "My computer can't discern what type-a Heatless could do somethin' like that. And I got all those suckers on record!"

Merlin, who'd been pacing for most of the time, stopped stroking his long, white beard and turned to the Princess. "Who was the girl?"

"I don't know. But she had the most unique, orange eyes…"

Axel balked. "You gotta be kidding me!" He rushed over next to the bed, knocked the short, dark-haired girl out of the way, and whispered: "Whatever you do, don't tell Riku you saw her!"

Nevaeh smirked and rested her forehead against the cool glass. Riku…the silver-haired Keyblade Master. He was here, then. For some reason, the news thrilled her. Could it be that he was the only challange that she'd had in...ever? Or was it the way he'd overpowered her? Either way, the boy left an impression. And she was determined, now more than ever, to kill him as soon as she recieved the get go.

Yuffie growled and made to attack the former Organization member while his back was turned, but the woman with the long, brown braid held her at bay.

"Why not?" the kind one asked.

Axel turned, hesitated, and then smiled. "Why not?" He chuckled and lovingly draped an arm around the woman's shoulder. "Babe, that chick is bad news. She threw the both of us for a loop."

Leon glared daggers at him. "Have you told the King?"

Axel shook his head. "Riku wanted to check up on Roxas first-"

Nevaeh gasped when she felt a blade at the nape of her neck and her breath fogged the glass. "So," she mumbled. "These are friends?" She examined them all once more until her eyes rested upon Sora. Sweat poured from his forehead as the illness was purged from his body. He continued to speak nonsense. And: "Sorry."

"Yes," Riku's voice echoed behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if the Keyblade Master was well."

"Liar."

She turned to face him and he didn't stop her. Strange. "I speak the truth."

Riku's steely eyes narrowed and he kept his weapon steady. Nevaeh coudln't see his expression in the darkness of the night, but she didn't have to. She could feel it just as well as a jab to the solar plexus. "You order your Heartless to attack him and then tell Kairi where he is in order to save his life…"

"Master ordered the Heartless. Not I."

"Why?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she teased.

"It seems you aren't sure yourself."

Nevaeh pursed her pale lips. How could he read her so? True, she had no clue as to why the Heatless disease prevailed. And why it only worked on the Keyblade Master of all people. She hadn't been informed of the reason. "So what if I don't? Aren't you going to destroy me, now?"

Riku took a moment to think it over. And a long moment it was. "No."

She blinked at him. "No?"

"No," he repeated.

Nevaeh made a face.

"You're just as bad as Sora and Kairi," he droned. "When I win…I want you to be ready so you'll know exactly who you're dealing with."

Nevaeh nodded solemnly. "Understood." Shespun back to the window and stood a little to the side so he could join her. Mostly just to mock him. But he did. And, again, she was confused. "Sora and Kairi. Your friends?"

He looked in on them with her. "Yes. I'd do anything for those two."

From the light of the lamps inside the building, she noted something strange in Riku's vissage. Something she'd never seen before. It was almost similar to what she discerned in Sora's. But different. She could stand seeing this. And she found that it was…pleasant. "Anything?" she questioned.

"Did I stutter?"

"No, Mr. Riku, you didn't."

He grunted. "I think it's time you left. The next time you see me…"

"It'll be my last," she finished for him. Then Nevaeh did as she was told after Riku joined his own party; she wondered around the deserted town, intending to sight-see while she had the chance. Nevaeh was rarely allowed in the worlds and, frankly, she was determined to enjoy it. She inhaled the sweet sent of fresh battle. That always calmed her down...especailly after a life threatening episode. But, had it been? At all? Why had the Keyblade Bearer not taken her life? She'd been in his hands.

Pride. It would be his demise.

And it wans't going to sway her in the least. She knew no mercy. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

The golden flakes wafted before her and she cupped her hands to catch a few before they vanished. The fools really had no idea how beautiful this place was. Neither did her Master, apparently. That was the downside to war: the wounds left upon the land. Once she was free, she'd roam the worlds...find a new place. Start over. Live in the beauty everyone seemed to ignore.

And do this alone.

Nevaeh finally decided to locate her superior, who was tucked in the darkest corner possible. As always.

"What took you?" he demanded.

"I was making sure the Keyblade Master was safe, as you asked me." She absently caressed the back of her neck where Riku had placed his Keyblade when she asked, "Master?"

"Yes?"

"Are you my friend?" she whispered nervously.

He scrutinized her. "Of course not."

Nevaeh's heart, for whatever reason, sank. It felt like it was made of lead. If only once…she would have liked to see that same look Riku had in his eyes. Only for her.

"Friends make you weak, girl," Tarsus hissed. "You tie emotions to them and they take complete control of you." He grabbed her wrist, tightened his hold, and opened a portal to the Realm of Darkness. "Come. The fist stage of my plan is complete." Then he jerked her in after him.

If they make you so weak, Nevaeh wondered to herself. Then how did Mr. Riku overpower me?

ooo

A/N: Just so you know…(to make everything clear)…Riku did not bring the smack down on Little-Miss-Priss because she was unarmed and he wanted to own her when she was in tip-top form. He's a proud fella like that.

Like I said: Fluff next chapter. Maybe a bit of drama, too. You know Kairi's gonna get a scolding from Sora as soon as they deem him well enough to leave the bed.

Next Chapter pep talk: Why did the Heartless only affect Sora? What's Tarsus have planned? Even Nevaeh doesn't know! (GASP!) Will Sora send Kairi home? When will the security system be fixed? What will the King have to say?

Whew…

Oh! If you like my little romance stories: I've written a sorta one-shot called Alive. I think it'll only end up being two chapters. Three at the most. Right now it's a bit sad, but after I'm though, I'm sure you'll like it. You don't have to know anything about the game Phantom Brave because I recap through the fic.

If you leave a review, as always, I will delightedly reply! Y'all are just AWESOME!

God bless!