Memoir X:

Beyond the Illusion

Something told Haruka not to do this. No matter what he saw, he would be powerless to stop it after all. But concern gnawed at him all the same. It never left him after Ayano entered the sleeping realm to travel its worlds.

A place unknown to them. A place he could not follow.

Maybe calling it concern was an understatement considering how restless he now was. The fairies told him after he woke up from their induced sleep that Ayano entered the realm with no problems. Now all that was left was to wait. But Haruka had done his share of waiting and he was sick of it.

That deep-seated uneasiness made up his mind now as he sat on the edge of one of the lookouts in Mysterious Tower. There he held his notebook on his lap and mindlessly let himself draw out the images that came to his mind as his eyes shone an intensely shade of crimson.

It never occurred to him to develop his powers. For what they were worth, his weren't that oustanding. At least not in the vein of Ayano's. Her Deceiving Eyes could at least be used in combat. His were useless in that regard. Power—that's what mattered to Haruka right now. Were he strong enough, Ayano wouldn't have worried about him getting hurt and would've taken him along with her. Were he stronger, he wouldn't have to watch as she wasted away seeking a cure to his own predicament instead of her own.

But he had power. One that he could prod at for answers. Or so he thought at first. Yet no matter what he saw or how he drew it, none of the images made sense to him. They were always flashes of certain images that were too broken to make a whole picture or corrupted voices jumbled into incoherent messes. Nothing was clear. It never was.

Frustration clawing at his mind, Haruka snatched one of the papers out of his notebook and crumpled it up to toss it behind him.

"Gosh, that must be some artist's block to have you that upset."

Irritated eyes glanced over his shoulder to spot the mouse king as he approached Haruka. Still frustrated, he gave him his back to continue drawing what he saw despite the dryness of his eyes. Mickey didn't take his irritability to heart and instead went closer to seat next to the boy as he drew incessantly.

Gloved hands took one of the many scattered drawings which depicted a blonde girl with a red skirt and jacket behind a golden fountain and bright blinding lights of many colors as she knelt on the asphalt street, tears streaking down bright scarlet eyes. Many of the others held that in common, a blonde with red eyes in different places or doing different things; at a cathedral, riding a golden dragon, on a sleigh, in a city of gold, and in the great expanse of a ship sailing the seas. All different places with the same girl.

And by the way he was frantically drawing on and on, it was clear to Mickey that none of these things told Haruka what he wanted to know. "Worrying yourself sick isn't right, Haruka."

"I won't sit back and idly wait like you while she's out there risking herself for my sake," Haruka said through gritted teeth and pressed his pencil even harder against the page.

"I know it's frustrating. Donald and Goofy weren't that happy either that Sora's out there taking on such danger on his own. But we must understand that it's a test, something that will make them stronger. And I believe Ayano will come out stronger as well."

"Not if she vanishes first." The bleak statement made Haruka stop and clean his face off with his arm at feeling the horrible pricking at his eyes. "And don't tell me it's not happening. I've noticed how she's gotten weaker. Not being whole like she is—Yen Sid already told me what it can cause. What it's doing to her. And instead of focusing on herself, she's out there looking to cure me. I'm angry at her. But I can't be without worrying either." Clicking his tongue at finishing yet another useless drawing made him throw his notebook aside. Colored pencils and said notebook clattered onto the granite floor without care and Haruka, defeated, simply buried his face into his hands not wanting for Mickey to see the tears he couldn't help back any longer.

"Perhaps you are right." The deep baritone voice that spoke behind them made Mickey fully turn towards Yen Sid while Haruka remained fully facing the vastness of the starry sky. "But hope is something that we must not lose."

"I can't blindly hold onto it either." Haruka stood from his place and walked up to Yen Sid, eyes slightly red from crying and overusing his powers. Yet the frown he wore told more of his displeasement than anything. "I can't find anything by looking into the future."

Yen Sid's eyes scanned his lookout tower and observed the many drawings that littered it before motioning his hand towards them. "You call this nothing?"

"They tell me nothing."

"They are telling you that in spite of what is happening, she still lives."

"But they don't tell me how to keep her alive!"

Yen Sid took a long sigh before facing Haruka full on, "You've seen the extent of what a being living out of balance causes. The way it's taking over her."

"What about it?"

"For all intents and purposes, she should have vanished already."

Those news struck a chord in Haruka that drew out the air from his lungs. "Then how—"

"Ah, that's easy to answer," Mickey said with a smile and patting Haruka's shoulder. "That's because of you."

That only resulted in confusing him all the more. "Me?"

"Balance is a delicate thing, child, and for it to remain unkempt in any being is dangerous as you have seen. What she lacks—that darkness she's searching for—is something you both are lacking but which affects you differently because of where your hearts roosted during your lives. While she lacks her own, her deep-seated roots in darkness make her invulnerable to it while leaving her susceptible to light. You on the other hand, have a stronger connection with the light and thus having no darkness to guard you against foreign threats leaves you susceptible to others."

Though Yen Sid's explanation is cryptid, Haruka knew he'd heard it before somewhere else. It takes him a minute but he recalled Ayano's Deceiving Eyes, that Rinto thing, say something to a similar effect. "We compliment each other."

"And because you do, she has survived much longer than she would otherwise had," Mickey finished. "Haruka, that future you see where she continues to exist is because you continue to be by her side. And though right now, you're as far from her as you can be, there's always a connection that never breaks no matter the distance."

Haruka's anger dissipated little by little with every word Mickey said and the edges of his lips turned a bit at knowing the answer to that one. His hand reached up to grasp the clothes over his heart tenderly. "I'm always with her."

Yen Sid nodded and bend down to pick up the drawings that Haruka had thrown. Seeing him do this brought both Mickey and Haruka to help and both returned the boy his premonitions that although showed nothing, told him more now that he understood their one common, underlying meaning. "And that connection keeps her alive in her search so long as you believe in her."

Holding the papers close to his chest, Haruka took a deep breath to fully calm himself before lifting his gaze to Mickey and Yen Sid. "Sorry about snapping like that. I'm just...worried."

"You're not the only one," Mickey assured him but motioned back to the tower, "for now, how about taking a tea break?"

Haruka thought about it and decided that perhaps it was time to take a break. "But if it's alright," he said quietly now more relaxed than before if only a little, "I'd like to hear what you know about our powers. I...I want to learn how to control them better."

The wise magician gave him a solemn nod and a reassuring smile. "I will provide you with all the information that was entrusted to me."

Grateful for that, Haruka followed behind the two but as he came into the tower, the irritation of his eyes kept bugging him. It wasn't until he activated them again that he saw the image they were trying to show him.

A girl. At first it didn't seem strange to him, not until he realized that unlike the other visions, this girl was obviously not Ayano. She was around Ayano's age though and the snapshots he saw of her were only a couple and vague. She sat at the edge of a grand fountain in front of colorful but blurry buildings. Soft caramel brown hair that touched the nape of her neck with longer tresses down either side waved in the breeze as she bounced her legs for the small golden ball on her lap. But focusing on it better, Haruka could make out a tail and pair of wings on it. It wasn't a ball at all but he couldn't quite make out what it was either.

The brunette smiled as she picked the ball in her hands and hugged it to her chest, eyes the color of a setting sun shining brightly. Those same eyes suddenly lifted and stared off to the side as a group of people came into view. The image blurred then as she approached them but Haruka managed to discern a rough number.

Not counting the girl, they were four others. Two looked like younger children, another one around the girl's age, and a taller one bathed in a soft pink hue.

A noise suddenly rung in his ears like the buzzing of a television left on static before the noise cleared and a voice he didn't know called out a name.

"Emma."

Bright lights come into a blurry focus when my eyes flutter open. The pain on my head is what has me first and my hand reaches up to grab a hold of the side of it as I sluggishly sit up from the hard floor beneath me. It takes my eyes a few seconds to focus more and by the time I can focus them again, all I see is asphalt beneath.

Streets. And bright lights reflecting from the sheen on them. Lifting my aching head cautiously, I cringe at the neon lights that assault my vision. Groaning, my head snaps down too late to avoid the pain from the blinding lights but as that aching dissipates, I'm already aware of where I am.

This is Traverse Town.

But...how did I get here?

"Master, the Ring," Rinto says quietly as to not aggravate my pain any further. Now that my eyes are adjusting better, I manage to glean that I'm somewhere in the Fourth District if I remember correctly. Then again this town seems to have way too much neon everywhere.

Her words take some time to sink and when they do I have to force myself to recall what happened before at the Ring of the Fallen. Akio and I left the world of the Guardians, we saw Ayano's memory of Thea's wake and also Akio's. He broke through it and then we fell—no... We got dragged out of the Ring.

But by what?

Thinking too much about it though made my head hurt so much more that I let that drop for now despite the bizarre feeling that's sinking in the pit of my stomach. "I guess we just have to find our way out for now, Akio."

It's when I get no answer and I lift my gaze to find nobody there with me that the feeling doubles. The vicinity is empty and the only noise that I hear is the water rushing crystal clear through the gargantuan fountain. There's no one here. Not Akio, not even Aurelius. The only solace I have that Akio isn't hurt too much is that I'm not dead. The splitting headache that might be either of ours and the faint glow of the golden bracelet made my uneasiness somewhat easier to swallow. That I wasn't dead either told me that Akio was somewhere in Traverse Town as well.

To get back on my feet was an arduous task; the whiplash I suffered from whatever pulled us apart weighs me down more than I first thought it would. My gait is wobbly and I have to stagger towards the fountain to lean against the edge and try to get some of my balance back. Geez, this has to be my injury if it hurts this much. Hoisting myself up to sit on the edge of the fountain, I reach down with cupped hands to grab some water and splash it against my face. The cool feel of it chips off some of the edge out of the headache but a sudden noise makes me forget that comfort too fast. Several portals behind me open and from them emerge a small horde of Nightmares that prawl closer and closer towards me. Hustling to get on my feet turns out to be a horrible idea and a bout of terrible vertigo makes me instantly fall to my knees. My vision swirls and I can't even lift my head away from the cobblestone but I can hear the Nightmares' feet and paws as they approach me.

The moment I manage to force my head up, one pounces but is met halfway by some kind of magic spell that I can't recognize. The clack of footsteps takes my attention away from the Nightmares as a couple of people enter my field of vision and stand directly in front of me.

"Stay back!" The orange haired boy that shouts this takes his stand against the Nightmares while the other, a girl I vaguely recognize as Shiki comes my way and kneels down to help me.

"Are you alright?" she asks, her voice sounding somewhat muffled to my ears. I can't seem to find my voice anywhere so I nod to reply. Though that relieves her, she instantly turns to face the boy that's fighting the Nightmares. "Don't worry. Neku's got this." And it appears like he does. Every last Nightmare he pops out of existence makes something shine and float over to Shiki and although strange, I haven't much strength to question this.

Shiki helps me stand but at being so close to me, I can hear very clearly how winded she is. My mind reels thinking that whatever this Neku is doing, it's taking a toll on Shiki as well. "Neku, some help."

"Yeah." Neku comes running to us and helps Shiki get my sorry butt closer to the fountain again so I can lean against it and get what little semblance of balance I can back.

Once done, I mutter a soft 'thank you' and give a smile to Shiki and her friend. "Sorry for the trouble. Had a horrible landing that messed up my head a little."

"You came at the lousiest of times too." I'm torn between feeling insulted or not by Shiki's comment as she stands next to me near the fountain's edge. The black cat doll I remember her carrying around catches my attention as she moves it around. "We've got the worst case of Dream Eaters here and it's not making our mission any easier."

"Mission?" I ask. When she doesn't answer me, I turn to her friend but at remembering I know nothing about him, I share a small, reassuring smile with him. "Sorry about the whole confusing mess. I'm Aya, by the way."

"Neku," he simply states. "You're a friend of Shiki's?"

Both she and I look at each other before she chuckles and I simply crack a wider grin. "More like acquaintances. But that's not really here nor there. What mission is this that's got you fighting Nightmares?"

"It's to defeat another. A mean one at that," Shiki says with a puff of her cheeks out of annoyance. "It keeps busting out more and more Dream Eaters that it's tiring me down." She lets out a sigh that's a tad big making it almost sound superfluous. "We should also help you out with how bad you're at the moment. What do you think? Can we get a time out to rest and help her, Neku?"

He agrees readily and I'm glad that Shiki's such a trusting soul but before we can make any movement, lighting strikes so close that it startles all of us. Shiki startled out of her mind jumps back and trips on the edge of the fountain, and as she falls pulls me back with her in her dull attempt to not fall in. Though the water isn't that deep, that we're laying with our backs against the bottom of it submerges us completely and the shock from being pulled against my will startles me so much that I accidentally start gasping and swallowing water. Shiki's quick to get up and helps me get out of the water myself. But while I'm sputtering and trying not to choke on what little went through to my lungs, I don't notice who's helping Neku until Shiki and I come out of the fountain. Seeing that bunch of spiky brown hair lifts my spirits and makes my head hurt a little less.

"Sora." My voice is too quiet to be heard over the Nightmares or over him and Neku talking. Seems like they know each other. He easily convinces Neku to leave and protect Shiki while he rids the plaza of Nightmares. Shiki nods at him before taking my arm to help me; although it's a bit demeaning since I so used to handling myself, at this point in time I feel like I'd rather not die sooner than I have to. We hide until Sora finishes the Nightmares and regrettably, that damn bird brain of a Nightmare disappears before they're able to catch it.

Once back together, his eyes widen and a smile comes to him as he turns his gaze towards me. "Ayano? What're you doing here?"

"Freelance work," I say cheekily.

He chuckles and shakes his head; well, he might not believe me but at least he's not asking unnecessary questions. "You should take better care of yourself then." Raising his Keyblade over my head, a vibrant green ring glows and a crystalline flower and leaves burst from the light as a warmth showers over me. It's soothing and it gratefully takes care of the massive headache plaguing me. I thank him under my breath as a sigh of relief escapes through my nose.

"Thanks."

"Yep." Bright blue eyes turn towards Shiki and some introductions apparently need to be dealt with which Neku takes over.

While they do that, Rinto and I take some time to tally of my injuries after Sora's help. What's the damage now?

"Curaga is effective against most ailments. Any lingering pain should disappear with time."

So long as the ringing in my ears isn't permanent then I'm fine with a little pain for now. Though I'd much rather spend a little time resting, I have too many things in my plate at the moment to find any time for that. Regrettably, it seems that Joshua, with his most opportune appearance, wants to put more things on my plate besides finding Akio and Aury. But for once he says something interesting; something about the 'other imagining' of this world. I hadn't a clue that Traverse Town had been split in two and that it separated Sora and Riku's journey but the prospect sounded quite interesting.

"Master, there's a high possibility that Akio and Aurelius are in that other imagining if only you were thrown off course and they followed the route as normal."

Makes sense. But we should check this place out just in case. If anything, once we're done Joshua can give us a lift over to this other imagining. Guess if I want some help though, I'd gotta give a hand here in return. Though I didn't see this Dream Eater they're chasing—Spellican I think I heard Shiki say it's called—that it keeps jumping from world to world won't make it an easy catch. Joshua's plan to corner it in the Third District seems sound enough and we go with it. Sora takes the initiative and takes the lead without thinking but at giving himself a moment to do so, he stops with Shiki and Neku close behind and looks my way.

"Will you be okay to fight?"

The blatant show of concern takes me somewhat by surprise. Seeing as this is Sora we're talking about though, I should've expected it. A smile comes to my lips and I nod as answer. "I might be a bit sluggish but I'll help. So don't worry about it."

His lips taut into a line as if debating whether to believe me or not; he ends up trusting my word enough to shake the worry off of his back and wave at me to follow after them. I'm not one to tell him no after that. Yet in spite of what I said to him earlier to take away his uneasiness, I'm starting to think that I might have bitten off more than I can chew. Curaga may have healed what injuries I got from my crash landing and the subsequent whiplash but it certainly didn't alleviate all of my weariness. We're not even out of the Fourth District and I'm already winded and considerably lagging behind. That's saying something too when Neku stayed a few moments behind with Joshua and still manages to outrun me. Being dead last doesn't help my morale but I push forward to keep up.

A sudden blur of aquamarine that dashes out of the corner of my eye catches me off guard enough to stop in my tracks. None of the others hear or see me stop and I'm too taken by what I saw—the color and shape of what I think I saw run by a little too familiar—to even let them know. Instead my eyes follow the line of color left behind by whatever sprinted by into a nearby alleyway. As I stand still, a small squeak comes out from there and at focusing my eyes, I catch the glimpse of it. A bunny. A very, very small aquamarine bunny.

A bunny child.

The mere idea sounds ludicrous. Even with there being an absurd number of them, they all live in Wasteland. All 420 of them. There's no way one just happened to be here. A part of me is telling me to ignore it but the other half, the one that can't help but worry about those little bastards I've spent a lifetime chasing at home, urges me to chase after it. To bring it with me so I can bring it back home if it's lost. So that Oswald doesn't have to worry about it anymore if it's missing from home.

He's already had a handful worrying over me this past year.

Heart set, I run towards the alley and at seeing this, the bunny child's ears perk up and it dashes further away into the alleyway. This alley, though somewhat illuminated by the neon lights from all over town, is still quite dark, making it all that much harder to dodge what's littering the place while having to make haste to keep up with the rabbit. Thankfully there's a dead end up ahead that stops it in its tracks. It hesitates enough for me to lurch up and snatch it in my arms. To my utter surprise, it doesn't struggle like they often did when I pick them up and is simply calm in my arms.

A grin comes to me as I start turning it around in my hands to make sure it's alright. "Hey, fella. You're a long ways from home, you know that?" It's nose twitches once before it suddenly loses shape and melts in my hands. My mind reels as I jerk back and wipe the blue liquid off my hands as fast as I can. Terror, disgust, and confusion take a hold of me in equal measures until I see the sludge that landed on the floor move. It freaks me out enough to jump out of its way as it crawls its way towards the mouth of the alleyway. I'm too focused on it as it travels to notice anything else. It's not until a large cyan hand reaches down to the floor to let the sludge crawl up it's palm and settle there that I dare lift my gaze.

The only thing I see are a pair of bright large aquamarine eyes peeking from the dark before a light blinds me.

Aya was nowhere to be found. Akio had a hard time processing everything after finding himself at the Fountain Plaza in Traverse Town but that was the first thing that he became painfully aware of the instant he came to. Not only was the bracelet on his wrist glowing but the golden ball of a Spirit was with him to. That Aurelius had left Ayano's side was puzzling at first until he remembered hearing something in the darkness before they were torn apart by those hands. He recalled her screaming his name and Aurelius', and telling the Spirit to keep him safe. The mere thought of that made him grind his teeth as he stood up trying to get a hold of his sudden vertigo.

Idiot. She should worry about herself more. But in the short time of traveling with her, Akio knew this was highly unlikely. She found others' safety much more important than her own and that baffled and annoyed him in equal measures. He settled that aside for now since what mattered was rejoining with her. Though Aury was with him, Akio couldn't just leave her behind. If he was in this much discomfort, she could be in a much worse situation. And if she's unable to defend herself then…

Stop thinking about the worst outcome. Find her first. Worry later. A plan set in his mind, he leveled some of his powers across his body to help with the dizziness but the abrupt thunderous explosion that resounded through made him turn towards the other side of the fountain. Over the spewing water, silver eyes locked onto a Nightmare in particular that had summoned a horde of its own to attack a trio of kids.

Akio took a moment to think; this wasn't his problem. His priority was finding Ayano. Everything else could come later. But a nagging voice in his head that now sounded a little too much like hers echoed through.

"Just because it's none of my business doesn't mean it doesn't matter or it's not worth fighting for."

Damn it, Aya. But he couldn't deny that those words moved him to coat his legs with dark power and take the leap that would bring him to the other side. The landing created a good enough area of attack that with the impact and a swipe of his leg towards the Nightmares sent a good number of them out of the way or completely popped them out of existence.

"Yo, who the heck are you getting in our way!" Akio looked over his shoulder to look at the loud punk that shouted so carelessly without thanking him for the help. Then again Akio wasn't expecting thanks from either of them. Either? Weren't there three before? Eyes straying, he found the larger Nightmare that had summoned the rest being chased by another. Though it was just his back, Akio recognized the silver hair of the boy from Cite de Cloches. Aya's friend.

He bet that if anybody would know where to find her, it'd be someone who knew her. Still, there were things to take care of here before he could even think of chasing after them. Focusing back on the Nightmares, he let his fist charge up with darkness and rushed in to vanish them one after another. Thunderaffes weren't anything special. Though fast they didn't pack much of a punch in their magic and simply coating the soles of his feet for a speed boost was enough to keep up with them. The Tatsu Steeds were even easier since ranged attackers like them were at a greater disadvantage against brawlers like himself. Nightmares weren't much of a challenge in general, though the same couldn't be said of those weird infected ones they'd been encountering recently.

In no time flat he rid the plaza of the summoned Nightmares and turned to the pair that had been left behind. "You guys' alright?"

"Yeah," the little girl answered with a welcoming smile. "Thanks for the help."

"We didn't need it anyway, yo." The older boy seemed to be the loud punk that shouted at him earlier. Akio already regretted having helped as it was and his standoffish attitude didn't help their case. Before he could say anything or simply leave for that matter, a strange spiked sphere and Joshua appeared along with it startling the two and catching Akio more off guard than he preferred to be.

"Beat, Rhyme, we're going to pin in the Third District!"

"On our way!" Rhyme called out enthused.

"It ain't getting away this time!" Beat shouted before the two went off running towards the silver haired boy's general direction.

Joshua locked gazes with Akio for a moment before saying, "Are you looking for her?"

"You know where she is?" Akio asked in return.

"Here in Traverse Town. But not really."

The vagueness of that didn't help put him in any better mood. "Joshua."

"She's in another imagining of this world. That's as well as I can explain it without going to much into detail. I would send you to where she is but how about helping us with that Dream Eater first?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"If you really want to get back to her."

Yeah, there really wasn't a choice for him in the end. "Third District, right?"

Joshua smiled and said, "I knew you were the smart one," before disappearing along with his portal.

Right. Thankfully, getting to the Third District wasn't as much of a hassle as he expected it to be. There were some hordes of Nightmares that got in the way but nothing that he couldn't rid himself of with a well placed kick or punch. The square plaza in the Third District was small enough to not get lost and the vintage point he got over the plaza from where he stood on a railing helped him examine their options. All of which were absolutely rendered mute when it opened a portal of its own and escaped Traverse Town altogether. The good that came from it leaving, he supposed, was that the keyhole of the world finally appeared and with a keyblade wielder to deal with it, his nonexistent job here was pretty much done. Just as he was about to go down and pester Joshua, however, a sudden biting cold washed over the district. It came out of nowhere and consumed the whole place in the blink of an eye; the only reason he knew it wasn't just him was because he could see their breathes as a visible puff of warm air. He wasn't the only one to notice either. Beat and Rhyme's curt comments about the sudden coldness made Joshua and Riku more aware that there was something wrong despite their apparent win.

A noise Akio couldn't recognize was subtle at first but erupted right in front of them when, from one of the buildings jumps, a creature latched onto the keyhole. He recognized the it almost instantly. It was the one he and Ayano saw back in Cite de Cloches. And that raucous sound—its silver blades scratched against the keyhole as they sunk into it.

"What is that?" Beat shouted, placing a hand out to keep Rhyme behind him.

Though he was about to answer, Akio was shocked to hear Joshua speak as he jumped down to stand beside him.. "A Night Terror. They're a nasty kind of Dream Eater."

"What is it doing to the keyhole?"

Akio shared Riku's confusion but the latter acted before anything else, rushing in to keep the Night Terror from doing whatever it intended to do. Though valiant, his effort was cut short as a bullet shot through the air and cut his run short. Riku managed to avoid it but the shot exploded into shards of ice that spread across the district the moment it impacted with the ground and morphed into a larger hoard of Nightmares that didn't waste time in charging in. With how ferocious they were, Beat and Rhyme couldn't keep up with either Riku or Akio as they shredded through a few.

Seeing this, Riku glanced over his shoulder towards Joshua and shouted, "Get them out of here!" Joshua thankfully did as he suggested and helped the two get away from the hoard that turned on Riku and Akio when deprived of two less targets to go for. But even as the two of them stood ready to counter whatever they threw, the Nightmares slowed to a crawl seemingly more interested in keeping them from escaping than attacking themselves.

A soft click from the keyhole took their attention and answered their previous query before disappearing completely. It locked it back up. Now with the keyhole gone, the Night Terror that locked it fell with a loud thud against the granite, it's long limbs twisted back in place as its blades dragged along the asphalt. The other dropped more graciously than its ally, the hard crystal clacking against the floor as it reloaded its guns. Neither moved and like the other Nightmares, they remained deadly still as if attentive of something else.

"Pity." Akio tensed at hearing the familiar voice. Teobaldo. But no matter where either of them turned to, they couldn't find the source. "Especially when you worked so hard to get to it."

"Who's there?" Riku called out, keyblade aloft and ready to strike.

"A mere spectator. But I've gotta say that all this watching has got me a tad bit peeved." The smaller Nightmares one by one began to disappear, called back to wherever they came from. Though it relieved the enemy count, it made Akio wary all the same. If quantity didn't matter, then it was quality that he would hit them with. That alone made him all the more vigilant of the two Night Terrors still with them.

Despite this though he knew that Teobaldo wasn't just flaunting his power because he could. And regardless of his position, curiosity had the best of him. "Peeved?"

Teobaldo's reply came with no hesitation. "Extremely so now that I think better of it. You keyblade wielders are so trusting to have a Rescuer at your beck and call."

"Rescuer?" Riku muttered under his breath.

"Ayano's doing what she pleases," Akio interrupted, "I doubt she'd be the type to be bossed around like that."

"One would think so, right?" Teobaldo agreed sounding almost forlorn at the prospect of what they both said. "And yet she goes on and on putting herself in danger for others' sake. That is simply not her."

"Look here, I don't know who you are but you don't know Ayano," Riku countered, brandishing his keyblade and pointing it at the Night Terrors to make his point. "She may be reckless but the things she does, she does them for those she cares about."

The laughter the rung through the air sent chills down Akio's spine. This might be Teobaldo but he'd never heard this side of him; this person sounded frivolous and disgusted when he said, "If that's your perception of her, boy are you off the mark." The two Night Terrors that had been ambivalent up till then suddenly stepped aside and let a dark portal open between them. "You know, boy, 'Rescuers' was the name outsiders gave to people like Ayano. In reality, their true monikers belied the peace-seeking ideals of their masters and proved they were nothing but power hungry monsters like everybody else." He chuckled again and a the portal rippled turning from dark purple and black to bright cyan and dark blue hues. "But I think showing you will make it easier to understand exactly why they were known as Purgers."

Both Akio and Riku watched attentively at what exited the portal but both silver and teal eyes widened at the little girl that walked out so nonchalantly. She couldn't have been older than six years old with large crimson eyes that peeked from behind messily cut fringes. Long blonde hair was held up in a ponytail by a red ribbon and fell down to the middle of her back. Dressed in a white blouse and skirt with a contrast of color coming from the red blazer she wore over it. In her arms was a blue bunny who's head twitched back and forward, its beady eyes watching them before turning to face her. Though Akio couldn't discern who the child was, Riku seemed to instantly recognize her.

"Ayano?"

Those large crimson eyes gazed up from the rabbit in her hands with scarlet streaks of light trailing her sight. At spotting them both, her eyes widened briefly before turning back to the portal.

"They're both infected," she said quietly.

"Yes, dear, they are," Teobaldo's voice echoed through, "Sadly, they're too far gone. There's no saving them from the darkness that corrodes them now."

Ayano clutched the bunny tighter, the animal squeaking from the uncomfortable hold she had on it, and turned back to face Akio and Riku. "We can't let the infection spread. I'm sorry." The bunny landed before her and shook when she let go of it. But in the blink of an eye, it began to bloat grotesquely as it grew and grew. Large dark blue claws destroyed the ground beneath it as it leaned forward on its front legs and leaned back to let out a deafening roar.

"S-She can do that?" Akio bellowed while struggling to hold his place and not be blown away.

Though Riku did his best to stay beside him, the ferocious rabbit charged forward and slashed him aside towards a building wall to corner him. Dodging to the side, Akio spared the younger Ayano a glance and noticed the rabbit answered to her orders, charging towards Riku to fight him. It was completely ignoring him. Taking that advantage, he let the darkness envelope his fists before gunning straight for her. The little girl somehow sensed his approach and took a step back to meet eyes with him. The moment he saw those bright red eyes, a brief silhouette of a snake formed out of the blue between them and took its shape fully to charge with its jaw unhinged and fangs bared. Akio barely managed to stop himself and tumbled to the side to avoid its venomous bite. It fell onto the concrete below, the floor trembling and the streets crumbling under its massive weight. Mouth closed, it's forked tongue slipped out in warning as it slid back to Ayano's side and coiled itself around the child.

Not far away, Riku somehow managed to tear the massive toy rabbit apart, fluff flying all over the air as it fell back and disappeared into a blur of light. Akio briefly gave him a sidelong glance before motiong out with a nod of his head towards Aya. "I'd say nice job making the giant rabbit disappear if she hadn't another toy already."

Teal eyes locked onto the girl protected by the giant reptile and grimaced at the sight. Said snake coiled even tighter around her and lifted its upper body with bared fangs to snap at them as it flared the hood around its neck. Riku weighed Akio's words for a moment in his mind and one caught his attention in particular. "It vanished…" He turned back to where the rabbit had fallen only to see that there wasn't in fact anything there anymore. "It wasn't real."

"What?"

"They're illusions." Riku didn't seem to be answering him directly but it was an answer all the same. It wasn't until Riku made his keyblade disappear that Akio started to worry he'd gone crazy.

"Better get that back or she's going to have that thing maul you."

"It won't." The confidence with which he said those words made Akio's brow knit together in confusion. But despite how much he wanted to ask him what he meant, there wasn't a chance to when Riku calmly walked towards the girl and her snake. No matter what Akio shouted at him, he kept a steady pace towards her.

The snake hissed at Riku, warning him to retreat, but when that failed, it turned violent and snapped its jaw again. Yet Riku had no qualm whatsoever and continued forward. The moment the snake lurched, Akio coated the soles of his feet to get Riku out of its way but stopped short when the snake's image flickered and simply passed harmlessly through the silver-haired boy. Riku stopped only when he found himself before her. Red eyes grew wide, a mix of spite and fear in them, and she swept her arm across to keep him back while taking small steps backward.

"Stay away!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Aya."

"No, stop! I don't want to hurt you!" Those words were enough for Riku to recoil but his eyes didn't stray from her when she glared up at her.

"Hurt me?"

"I-I don't want to b-b-but I can't control it," she cried with actual tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. "He said that I had to help cleanse the world of darkness but I-I can't do that to you! You're—You're—" Pain struck her and her tiny hands came up to her face as the tears flowed down her reddened cheeks. "...you're my friend."

Riku smiled and with a few steps, crouched before her to keep their gazes locked. "Ayano, you don't have to do something you don't want to do."

"But...you and Sora," she muttered, "You're trying your best to keep everybody safe and to stave off the darkness. If I can't help—if I can't even help myself and Haruka, how am I supposed to keep you safe? I just—I just don't want… I don't want to lose anybody else anymore." Her tear-stricken face struck something in him and her words only added to that.

Akio didn't know whether what she said meant anything to him but Riku refrained from saying anything and reached out to soothingly pat the top of her head. The smile on Riku's face was small but sincere and all the little Ayano could do was stare dumbfounded at him and his actions.

"Aya, you're not going to lose us. Not Sora, not Haruka, not Kairi, and not me. And whatever it is that you can't do on your own, we'll be there to have your back. Whatever it is you're struggling with, know that you don't have to bear it alone. Not anymore and never again."

The little Ayano sniffled too mesmerized with his words to say anything. But in the blink of an eye, her sobs intensified until she wept with everything she had and jumped into Riku's arms. He recovered from it after almost toppling over, but once he regained his footing, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly until she spent her tears. It was when she was only hiccuping that Riku asked, "Now, can you tell me where you really are?"

Puffy bright red eyes gazed up at him and stared for a brief second before she sniffled and nodded. Releasing her hold on him, he did the same and let her turn around to point at the golden water fountain. Carefully placing her behind him, Riku summoned his keyblade and slashed cleanly across surprising Akio at uncovering what laid behind an illusory pane of glass.

Held up against the fountain with black and cyan vines was an unconscious Ayano—the real one. With another swipe, the vines crumbled into dark ashes that flew into the air and released Ayano from their hold. Riku was quick to catch her against him, his knee bending somewhat from the added weight, but he managed to hold her steady as he stepped halfway back to the girl. Her body, like the rabbit and snake from before, began to flicker and lose its shape. As it did, a genuine smile came to her lips and in a flash, the illusion broke into flecks of white that floated into the air like bubbles and faded.

Once in the clear, Akio and Aurelius hurried to their side as Riku dispelled his keyblade to better hold Ayano. "Is she okay?" Akio asked at reaching him.

Aurelius flew over to the two of them and pestered her with his tail in an attempt to wake her. Riku was about to get him to stop until he noticed that it was actually working when he heard her groan slightly. Her eyelids fluttered before slowly opening and letting blue speckled gold eyes meet with his.

"...Riku?"

"Hey," he whispered, a smile tugging at one corner of his lips.

Blinking a few more times to clear her blurry vision, Ayano spotted Aurelius as he frantically flauntered himself for her to notice him. Riku let her find her footing first before she had a chance to reach out to Aurelius who flew right into her hands. Seeing movement beside her, she turned to find Akio there visibly relieved to see her.

All this made her brow knit together in confusion and she turned to Riku to say, "What happened to me?"

"Don't know," Akio replied and sighed defeatedly. "And frankly, so long as it never happens again, I do not care."

Riku nodded and released his hold on her waist when she told him she was fine to walk. "Agreed."

"I'll be the one to disagree then." All heads spun about as Teobaldo's voice echoed once more through the whole of the district. "Rescuing her was a meaningless thing to do, frankly. You're only delaying the inevitable. Regardless of that, though, allow me to reward your hard efforts!"

A portal opened again before them and caused both Akio and Riku to rush Ayano back with them to distance themselves from it. Like before, the portal that appeared made of swirls of black and purple changed into one of dark blue and cyan hues. Claws of long silver blades pried the sides wide open and emerged from within the portal, smashing the ground beneath it as it loomed out of the portal. Slow, methodically, it dragged its claws as it prowled towards them. It stopped once fully out and brought its claws up to throw them back as it stood on its hind legs to let out a loud howl.

"Iron Shredder—my lovely Night Terror—will be my gift to you all. Mostly, though, take it as a message for you, Ayano, my dear." Through Teobaldo's speech, Iron Shredder grinded its blades against the granite floor beneath it, the horrendous screech echoing through and its impatience growing. "To you and the rest of those set to replace us, Night Terrors will be your hunters—they will purge the purgers. You and all those so-called Rescuers are all targets. The fate from before will repeat and this time...I'll finish what you started."

Iron Shredder went rampant the instant Teobaldo finished talking. Taken by surprise by it's speed, Riku and Akio couldn't arm themselves fast enough and were thrown to the side, the back end of blades slashing at them and leaving Ayano alone. Blades lifted and glinted in the neon lights of the Third District but as they were about to strike her down, Aury in his Ryu Dragon form assaulted the Night Terror from the side and hurled it away from her.

Frozen from the shock, Ayano couldn't move until Riku shouted at her. "Ayano, run!" Her eyes suddenly dilated and in the frenzy of adrenaline, she bolted from the district and through the doors out of it.

There wasn't any time to think of where she was going, only that she needed to get away. That urge only became more dire when the hellish screeching from blades dragging against the asphalt started to pursue her. And it was gaining on her fast. She needed to hide. At spotting the nearest mouth of an alleyway, Ayano scurried over and went in without a second thought. It was a narrow but she somehow managed to squeeze in and turned towards the mouth of it. Ayano held her mouth closed with her hands, doing her best to keep quiet as the hellish sound of those blades scraping the floor came back again, this time near the alley. The briefest of silences enveloped her until it was broken by her scream as Iron Shredder reached through the narrow alley with its long blades grazing her shoulder.

A loud roar came from the outside and in a flash of gold, Aury took its arm in a ferocious bite and tackled it away from the alleyway. Thanking him under her breath, she squeezed out of it and spared a brief glance behind her to the animalistic struggle between them before sprinting in the opposite direction and holding onto her wounded arm.

But as she dashed away, a certain noise drifted through the air that she barely caught. It was faint and very distorted but Ayano could make out a voice and more importantly what it was saying.

"...elp...me—St…p—e." Stopping and turning behind her again, Ayano watched Iron Shredder toss Aurelius aside making him transform back to his golden ball form; it howl into the air once more after their fight. This time, aside from the howl, Ayano heard the voice stronger and clearer. "Help….Stop—me"

"Ayano!" Catching up to her, Riku stopped beside her with Akio doing the same as the Night Terror sprinted towards them. "We've gotta get you away from it."

"No," she called. Her adrenaline driving her, she unsheathed Ares and stabbed the end onto the floor. Her Fire spells might be her best magic but ice wasn't that far off either. Conjuring Blizzaga against the floor, it erupted into a larger hailstone that rose higher than the buildings there making a grand wall of ice separating them. Giving themselves that reprieve, Ayano let out a whistle which Aury heard and chased after them as she led Riku and Akio away towards the Fountain Plaza.

"We're not running away this time."

If it wanted her, it was going to get her. But not without a fight.

"Master, no matter how much I calculate this there doesn't seem to be any good outcome."

Believe me, I know how crazy I sound but I can't just help think that this is what I'm meant to do.

Riku and Akio hadn't been any happier with my idea but I'm glad I somehow managed to convince them at least. They had already left my side prepared to intervene if things got too out of hand. By the time I reached the Fountain Plaza, the scraping noise of Iron Shredder's blades on the floor were getting louder and louder as it got closer and closer to where I was. The louder and closer it got, the more that gash on my arm throbbed—the one it made on me back in the alleyway. But right now wasn't the time to care about a scratch.

When Iron Shredder finally arrived, it perched itself on the side of the high fountain and howled. I shuddered at the sound but stood my ground and took in a deep breath before shouting, "I hear you! I know you're there, whoever you are!" The Night Terror's head tilted briefly before it leaped down and crushed the ground beneath it with the hit from its blades. It prowls towards me—a predator locked on its pray—but its head twitches in a way it hadn't before. Not until I talked to it.

Though terrified to my core, I held my ground and spoke as clearly as my fear let me. "I know you're there. I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not running away from you anymore. If you want me— I'm here! Come get me."

Iron Shredder reached me by the time I finished talking and tilted it's head fully to one side almost like it was inspecting me. One of its clawed hands stretched out but didn't attack me, instead it briefly stopped at my face. The blades move slowly to one side moving tresses of my hair with it and lifting them on the flat side of the blade. My breath suddenly hitched at the unintelligible gurgling that came from it.

"—ma—" The dark mist that escaped from its unhinged jaw slowly traveled towards me and though it was scentless, I felt it suffocating me slowly. Like a thick fog made of something I couldn't describe leaked and started messing with my head making me dizzy and my vision spotty. Despite this, though, I manage to hold onto my conscious enough to reach my hand up to its own. It flinches slightly at seeing me do this and though I want to do the same, I refrain and touch it's chest. It's damp and hard, like a rock weathered out at sea, and so very cold. But beneath all that I feel it, the faintest beating of a heart. It gurgles again and this time I understand what it says. "...E—Em—Emma."

Though blurrier and harder to breath by the second, I ignore the blur behind Iron Shredder that brandished his keyblade and broke through the Night Terror's body in one hit like I hope it would. The darkness that was its shell, after being sliced right down the middle, breaks in half and falls off in pieces leaving behind only what was inside—a body, a person.

With how blurry my vision is though, I can't make out much except a faint hue of pink and white. Whatever had been leaking from Iron Shredder took its toll on me then and left me weaker than before. But when I fall forward, too weak to keep standing, warmth envelopes me along with the scent of flowers—roses.

"That's not...my name." My voice is faint but with how close I am to them, I know they can hear me. But I'm only able to finish what I want to say before I black out. "I'm...Aya…"

A/N:

It's been a little while since I last updated (-w- u) Pardon the tardiness but this took a while to write with how busy I've been with other stuff including some oneshots. But it's here! A bit of things happened this time around but very slowly. This two part visit to Traverse Town will be a slow ride since things will be picking up after that.

I've gotta thank Antex and Aviantei for their reviews! You guys keep me alive so thank you a million times over TwT

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Next time, a meeting with a warrior of old and the lore of the Rescuers/Purgers continues :D For now thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for the next chapter ;)