Riku.

It had been going on for too long. Every night I had the same dream. I sat in the throne room staring at the dark tanks. I stared out and saw movement near me. A little girl in front of me glaring with ice cold eyes. Axel is going to kill you. Over and over again.

She then laughed and skipped away. This dream hadn't gotten better. I pulled myself through a bright corridor where i could still hear her laughter. As I pushed through a silver door with white swirls, a white room filled with golden tanks lay before me. I walked past each of the tanks and saw all my old friends exactly as they were before. Jack and sally were no longer dissfigured and smiled at each other longingly through the glass. I could hear laughter at the end of the hall. The sound of Sora's voice calling out to me. My heart gripped tight as i reached the end. The bright light painfully peircing my eyes.

A hand gripped mine and pulled me. It was the little girl. "This could have been you." it whispered.

I looked up and saw all my friends. Laughing joking and smiling. I couldn't help but feel like this was the ending of it all. All the pain and all the suffering i had felt, was going slowly again. As i felt myself relax in the warmth of their light, a could feel a sharp pain rip into my arm. I looked down and saw the little girl had become contorted and could feel her fingernails rip through my flesh. I looked up at Sora and mouthed for help, but they just ignored me. It was almost like i didn't exist.

I began to pull the girls arm off me. As my skin touched hers the room went dark. I felt an icy wind flow around me and pierce my skin. I shuddered, and tried to move away. It was when i turned a pair of bright green eyes loomed over me. "You took them away. Now i'm gonna kill you for it."I recognised the voice but couldn't think where i had heard it before.

I felt a hand grip round my throat. The only warmth i could feel was from my throbbing throat. I felt my lungs tighten as i gasped for air. The burning was unbareable. I coughed and choked through my words, trying to understand. And behind this males green eyes, another pair appeared. Bright blue. As i tried to look around for help, i found more eyes watching me, staring at me. A shriek of laughter then followed as my head pounded from the lack of oxygen. The harrowing fear that was spreading through my body turned into something i couldn't comprehend. Is this fear? I don't feel like it is. It's Something else. Why are they just laughing. Stop it. I'll kill you all for this. My vision began to blur out, and in that moment I saw the face of my captor. Axel. I felt his grip tighten and all the life in me was gone.

I woke up feeling drained and and breathing heavily. I could feel sweat dripping slwly down my spine making me shudder. My neck throbbed, I could still feel Axel's grip round my throat. As i began to rub the sleepiness from my eyes, I found a heartless curled up on the end of my bed and a arm around me. Kairi snuggled up to me and made small noises. I lifted her arms and moved to the window. I felt a board creak underneath me. I looked back and saw kairi muffle a moan, and slowly rise. She rubbed her eyes glumly and i could see her pale face darken as she realised the time.

She looked over to me and i could see her yellowed eyes bored mine. The heartless lept up and jumped on her. She smiled weakly and petted its antenae. I moved slowly to the door. "Where are you going?" She questioned me glumly.

I looked up at the ceiling and saw a light flash. A star had reappeared on my dark ceiling. "Great." I mumbled and left Kairi to sulk in the room alone.

As I walked along the corridor Maleficent appeared beside meShe let out a small wince as i moved further forward. I could feel her stare from behind me. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" I murmured.

"It would appear your friends are reopening the key holes to allow light back in."She replied quickly.

"Why is this being allowed?" I snapped.

"We are struggling to keep hold of Destiny Island. You should consider directing your forces. Temporary of course." She didn't sound like herself anymore.

Maleficents overpowering nature had now completely morphed into a feeble and weak women. Hades had told me that since her accident she had changed completely and realised the error in her ways. Something about being devoted to me, truth be told i don't feel like listening most of the time. Surrounded by so many creatures for some reasons didn't really make me want to talk. "I hear you have been having nightmares of light. Maleficent spoke quietly.

"It's nothing."

"You should speak to that favourite of yours. Have you ever wondered what you life would be like if you had taken a different path?" Maleficent purred.

i stopped suddenly and looked at her. She smiled weakly at me and cupped her staff. She pulled it close to her face and rested on the bright green orb. "How? And I don't have favourites."

"Time magic."

"What are the consequences?" I asked.

"None my prince. You cannot change the past, but you can see what your future looks like. She also has the ability to see other lives."

"Other lives?"i began to feel my head pound loudly. It was too early for this kind of talk.

"You can see alternative paths. Appologies ." She replied bluntly.

"Where is she?"

"Where she always is. Looking through the orbs to see her family." She smiled at me crookedly.

I felt a swirl of anger around me. I don't object to the girls doing as they pleased, however i couldn't help but feel betrayed. You always knew she would be hard to crack. She barley has a heart. The orbs connected to one world. It was a way of seeing what was going on, and keeping track of the worlds i had taken over. If need be i could even have used them as a transport for all the heartless i had kept with me here. Over power to destroy worlds that don't obey. I realised i had been glaring at maleficent. She lifted her head up and glided to the room where she was.

She opened the door slowly, and i saw Kara sigh heavily into an orb. Her body had returned to normal once I had let her and Namine out. I didn't like the way the two had looked when they had been first let out. Seeing them normal was the best thing i could of done. They had made shreiks of pain for days until they were back to normal. As i stared at her, I couldn't help but recall the hours of breaking and reforming their bones. WE had to pull their joints and twist them back to where they were meant to be. Namine's took the longest. Her legs had been contorted so badly that it had taken much longer. To esae the transition I had them create a light sources to pulsate through their body. It was painful, but necessary.

I could see her body stiffen as i slowly approached her. In the Orb was Roxas. He was holding his Keyblade Oathkeeper to a key hole. I could hear something unlock inside it. She looked up at my face and smiled weakly. "I need something from you."

"If it's in my power to give i will do it."She replied awkwardly.

"Funny you should say that because it is."

Roxas.

I could feel the warm light spread outwards from the key hole. I stretched and saw the sky of Destiny Island change from the grey that had become so familiar to us into a whole new sky. It's warmth was spreading through my body. i could hear the birds that had vanished when the darkness came, echo in the distance. The sound of a peaceful sea, that no longer crashed and swirled at the shore. It was calm.

Axel crept from behind me and startled me. "That's one down!" He laughed.

"Yeah one down out of so many." I replied skeptically.

"Hey it'll be fine we can do this."

"Your unusually happy about our situation."

"Gotta make the most of what you have. Besides could be worse." I felt myself yawn allowed.

We decided to head back home and wait for Sora. Sora had gone of with Leon in Hallow Bastion. From a breif message I got, I assumed it was going well. Sora had started to get a little calmer, and was no more tolerant to the idea of it taking us a little while to get Namine and KAra back. He didn't mention Kairi though, and had a tendency to avoid the topic of Riku altogether. As for Axel he still wasn't himself.

He often faked his laughter, and when it came to dealig with Zack for information, he lost his temper too quickly. The sad part was Aerith was now missing. She had vanished out of nowhere. Zack has been spending every moment he could spare looking for her. But no one could find her. I had searched every cave i could find, but still no sign of the girls. not even a portal.

I looked to the side to see Axel striding towards our home. Axel wasn't himself either. His witty attitude and ability to take something serious and turn it light hearted had dropped. His strength had faltered after a few weeks. He had to go through intensive "Light therapy" as Diz had called it. But i don't know the details. The only one who does is King Mikey, and thats only because of the instructions we found next to Diz. Axel didn't talk about his time in the darkness. He rarely spoke at all about the girls, and when you mentioned Riku, a spark lit inside him that made him angry.

I felt a cold wind hit me. The memory of his body mangled and bloodied made me shudder every time. Sora was the one who found him. He shouted for help but by the time we got there Diz had passed leaving nothing but a notebook.

The notebook contained a lot on time magic too. But truth be told it got a little confusing. One of the main benefits is i can reverse a small area for a breif moment to coubner, which has definitley come in handy when it was a close call. The problem was it was a great toll on myself and often made me tired out.

Axel walked beside me when we turned into an alleyway to open a portal to Twilight town, where Axel lived. As we went further into the alleyway something crept over the wall. A beast with a blackened tail stood before us. It's fangs and claws dripping with blood. It looked up at us breifly and turned and walked away. Axel moved slowly up the alleyway. "Where are you going i wonder?" He mumbled.

"Axel wait up." I hissed.

I could feel my heart pounding. As we approached the beast it had begun to chew the head of a shadow. It crunched hard on it's skull. I felt a shiver run down by spine. It's gaze turned to ours. The Dog like creature snarled and came before us. It towered above us and began to stmop it's feet. I felt the ground shake beneath me. My legs gave way and i fell myself kneeling before it.

Axel lept over me and threw his keyblade into the creature. "Run!" he shouted.

I pushed myself up and moved as quick as i could. I pushed of the wall and lept onto the roof of a house. Axel followed after me, pushing the creature away in a series of throwing his blade and fire hits. I heard the creature call out in pain. I pushed as much of my energy into a light blast. The creature screamed and fell onto the floor. Axel and I continued to run, and fell into an alley way to hid. The darkness hid us well, and the creature skulked past us. We followed it, and watched it's tail flick and hit a wall. The wall shattered behind him. "I don't think it's a heartless."Axel whispered.

"Then what is it?"

"It is Garmr." A voice whispered behind us.

We both turned slowly to see a girl standing infront of us. Ice blonde hair, and a blue dress. She was staring past us, watching the creature. "Who... What?"Axel started.

"I'll take care of this."She smiled and walked past us.

The creature turned and snarlsed at her. She took a deep breath and as her breath escaped her mouth, the normally warm air of Destiny Island turned cold. Within moments the dark creature had frozen. I summoned my keyblade and smashed the ice into many peices. As the dust began to settle and the warm air crept back through my veins, I could see the peices of the creature slowly fade away into the blue.

"How did you do that?"Axel questioned her.

"I have always been good at this i guess." The girl replied. "Garmr is the dog which guards the underworld, in my culture anyway."

She turned and froze as a man stood before her. part of his arm was missing, and his left eye dug out. He glared at her. "Look what you have done to me. Your coming back with me now to answer to your crimes."

She began to back away slowly. I could see her shaking and the air began to grow cold again. "Stay away!" she shouted.

"Not this time. Elsa you will answer for the creatures you brought into our world with your dark magic." His voice was hoarse.

The man pulled out a long sword and held it to her chest. I felt my body move forward. I summoned my key blade and pushed it into the mans side. Axel had moved infront of Elsa and held is blade up. "Do not interfere!" He screamed at me.

He swung his sword downwards. I found his attacks pathetic compared to the heartless. His swings were weak and every movement seemed like a waste. I knocked him down quickly and placed the blade to his throat. "Please don't..."He mumbled.

I lowered the blade. Elsa stepped infront of me and froze the man's body. His skin began to turn blue. "Hans, for your crimes against me and my people i hearby execute you."She spoke sternly.

"I only wanted to beat my brothers."His voice was shaking under the cold."Good bye Hans."

With that the life was taken from him. He seemed peaceful. I couldn't help but feel symapathy for him. I didn't know him, and i could tell he was a bad guy but just taking a life that wasn't a heartless felt wrong. Elsa looked back at us both. "Thank you."She smiled at us gratefully. "May i please ask a favour of you?"

Axel and I looked back at each other and when we looked back we could see Elsa's face had changed from sadness to a warmth. "Help me save my people from those creature."

I couldn't form the words. I wanted to help, but it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. What would Sora say? Maybe it will get me closer to Namine. Elsa bent down and sat on her knees. "Please. I have to save Anna, Riku wouldn't help me."

I felt an anger well up inside me. "Of course Riku won't help you!"

She rose up "You know him, he saved me and sent me here." I watched her smile warmly at the thought of him.

I couldn't breath. After everything Riku had done to me. He stole Namine, he murdered my mother, and he saves her? Why is she so special? Axel coughed suddenly and startled me. "Course we'll help, but in return i want to know where you landed here."

She smiled and hugged us both. "This way." She called as she walked down the street.

"Why are we helping her?!" i hissed at Axel.

"You have to help people in need right? Part of being a keyblade master."Axel whispered.

"Riku saved her."I probed.

"I am sure he had his reasons. Besides she might be able to lead us right to him."Axel sighed.

When we reached the shore of the island beach a dark mist appeared underneath the bridge to the three palm trees. "Here it is." Elsa spoke softly.

I felt a wave of hope spread in me. We are one step closer to the end.