I can't believe I did this. I just can't. But, as I said before, Birth by Sleep is the game of tragedy; so, something is bound to happen to a person's original character along with the familiar heroes. However...can you imagine how painful it is for a young child to see something so horrifying that it just breaks their heart on an extreme level?

Hope you enjoy without having to exhaust another tissue box.

I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.

Read, review, but no flames allowed.

Chapter 20 – Luna's Breakdown

Turns out, as they followed the trail as to where the voice was coming from, they found that Radiant Garden has a flicker of darkness dangerously lurking from within the upcoming world. As they drew closer and closer to that world, Luna began to feel more and more afraid of what could be there.

Aqua noticed this, and pulled closer to Luna, asking, "Luna, are you okay? You look like you could break at any moment."

Luna shook her head. "I'm scared, Aqua. What happened to Big Brother back in the desert place that I didn't know about? I'm scared to find out."

"We're going to be fine, Luna. Just stay close to me, okay?"

Despite Aqua's attempts to reassure her and let her know that she's there for her, Luna still had trouble shaking off the fear and despair growing inside of her. But it wasn't until they landed that they saw the darkness surrounding the environment; there were dark clouds hanging around, apparently surrounding the central square.

Standing in the central square was none other than Terra, but it could be seen that something was not right about him; rather than his light skin, dark brown hair, and serene blue eyes, he bore tan skin with silver hair and yellow eyes. It was Terra, but at the same time it wasn't.

Aqua ran to him, and asked cautiously, "Terra?"

Luna trailed slowly beside Aqua, unsure of what he was doing.

Then, he lowered his head to Aqua's eye level, and raised his hand up to her as if to touch her. But instead, he reached out and tightly grabbed her throat, lifting her up as if he intends to strangle her; a dark aura surrounded and flickered around his body. Aqua struggled for breath as she felt her loss of footing on solid ground. Luna backed away in horror at what she was seeing in front of her.

"Who…am I?" he asked.

Aqua gasped for breath for as she struggled to speak. "Such a terrible…darkness…Fight it. Terra, please, for your sister's sake!"

"Terra…you say?"

Then, suddenly, he let Aqua go, making her drop to the ground and gasp for breath. Terra let out a groan of pain as he held his head, covering his face with his hands in pain. For a moment or so, there was no response; that is, until he brought down his hands, and there was a change in behavior.

"Terra's heart has been extinguished," the deep voice from Terra answered with deadly malice, "smothered by the darkness within him."

He summoned a sinister keyblade that actually had belonged to Xehanort, and swung at Aqua as if to kill her, but she jumped out of the way and safely landed a short distance from the possessed Terra. When she recovered from the attempted assault on her, she stood up and summoned her keyblade once more, ready to fight the person she had once called her friend.

"My name is Master Aqua," she declared, "Now return my friend's heart, or pay the price!" She turned to face Luna. "Luna, you have to get out of here, now."

But Luna was not being responsive; she was shaking violently, her breaths coming out erratically and was repeatedly shaking her head, as if she was seeing a nightmare coming to life. Her eyes were wide with absolute horror, unable to process everything that she was seeing before her young eyes.

"Luna? Luna, what's wrong with you?" Aqua asked with worry growing on her.

"No…" A dark aura began to flicker around her feet. "No!" A shadowy pool began growing around her as she clung to her head tightly. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

With just one piercing scream, numerous Shadow Hands sprouted all around her in an insane frenzy, lashing all around the area.

Aqua, horrified at what she was seeing, cried out, "Luna, NO!"

Unfortunately, Luna couldn't hear her; at that point, her mind was completely shattered, her heart broken by grief and terror. She went on an unstoppable rampage, lashing out against the possessed Terra as well as Aqua. It could be seen that her eyes had been filled with madness and pain, desperate to put a stop to the cause of her sorrow.

"Give him back! Give my brother back!" Luna cried as she staggered around the place. "Give him back!"

"Luna, please stop it! You'll get hurt if you keep it up!" Aqua pleaded fruitlessly, "I beg you, Luna, stop!"

Just when it seemed like there's no way to stop the insanity, shadowy hands emerged out of nowhere and grabbed onto Luna as if to detain her while a hulking dark creature emerged behind the possessed Terra and held him tightly. Stunned at the sight, Aqua turned around to see a dark portal form beside her, and a human woman emerged from the darkness.

The mysterious woman was garbed in a long, form-fitting black dress with a small train at the back, with long black gloves on her arms; attached to her dress was a long, dark blue cloak clasped to twin silver braces on her wrists, and on her head was a headdress sporting a laced veil covering her face. She stopped near the confused Aqua, and gazed deeply at her with azure blue eyes that match closely to Terra's.

"Who are you?" Aqua asked bluntly, "What are you doing here?"

"Please, do not view me wrongly. I am your ally," the woman replied softly, "I sensed a dangerous force here, and I came to help you."

"Please, can you tell me what's wrong with Luna?" Aqua pleaded, "Why wouldn't she listen to me when I call her?"

"She cannot hear you. Luna's mind has been clouded by madness and pain, which is why you see her in this broken state," the woman explained, a tragic knowing tone in her voice, "I came here because I felt her suffering, and I wanted to help her. I am the only one who can now." She paused a moment. "If only I had a way to avenge my boy Terra as well…To think a monster had to rob him of his life…"

"Why?"

The woman gave a small, sad smile. "I am Luna and Terra's mother."

Aqua gasped in shock at this; she couldn't believe that this strange woman – who bears shadowy powers similar to that of Luna – is the birth mother of her youngest, dearest friend and her fellow keyblade wielder. But when she saw the devotion and love in that woman's eyes, she understood why she offered help in this moment.

"Anyway, your priority is to rescue Terra from the darkness. Mine is to rescue my baby from pain's torturous grasp," the woman continued. She turned a moment. "If I was to have a guess, you love Terra…am I wrong?"

Aqua blushed a bit, and lowered her head sadly. "I can't believe I'm saying this…but, yes." She raised her head up again with determination in her eyes. "I have to save Terra…No. I will save Terra from the darkness!"

The woman turned away from Aqua, shed a single tear, and whispered bitterly, "My poor son…That fiend will pay for it later…"

For a moment, Aqua was confused at what she meant, but quickly pushed it to the back of her mind to handle more important matters.

With the mysterious woman's assistance, Aqua was able to focus on taking the fight to her possessed friend once he broke free of the dark creature's grasp. She pulled out all the stops to fight for the life of her dearest friend Terra, determined to see that he is returned to both her and his sister Luna. For every strike Terra-Xehanort made to stop the blue-haired master, Aqua made counters against him with twice as much force against him.

Meanwhile, the woman slowly approached the frenzied Luna, blocking all of her Shadow Hands with her Dark Hands, occasionally summoning her shadowy familiars to take the heavier blows in her stead. Her pained eyes couldn't bear to see the madness that the sweet, innocent child was going through, and knew that she had to do something to pull her out of her insanity and help her come to her senses. Once she was close enough, she bent down to Luna's level and held her tenderly for a good long while until she finally spoke with soft words that any good mother would when their child is suffering.

"Shh…shh…it's alright, baby. Mama's right here," she whispered lovingly, "Mama's here, Luna. Don't cry. Crying will not give Terra back to you. Your heart is hurt. If you want to be healed, you have to stop."

At first, Luna struggled against her, fighting to break free. But when she gradually registered the tender, loving voice she was hearing, her frenzy subsided and her hands dropped to her sides.

"Mama…? Mama…is it you?" she choked.

"Yes, baby…It's your mother. Mama's here to help you," her mother replied softly.

Luna's hazel-green eyes dulled as she weakly whispered, "…I don't see anything…"

Unable to take the pain any longer, Luna lost consciousness and collapsed into the woman's tender arms; then, the woman slowly got up and held the child protectively close to her, hoping to deliver her away from the area to safety. But just as she was about to escape from the battlefield as quickly as she can, she saw a shadowy monstrosity closing in on her, as if to try and cut her off. But luckily, Aqua managed to rush in and save her life before that could happen.

"Leave them alone! You're not dragging them into this!" Aqua demanded, obviously directing this to the opponent.

The woman looked over from where Aqua had stepped in, and it quickly became clear that the villain had stepped up the danger by summoning forth a repulsive, hulking monster that is as terrifying as it is dangerous (A/N: Y'know, now that I think about it, doesn't anyone else get the impression that the Guardian looks like it could've been made by Dr. Frankenstein?).

But despite the interference, nobody but her noticed that his attention at the moment wasn't directed towards the keyblade master, but towards the woman and child hiding right behind her. Unbeknownst to the fighter and the spectators, his gold eyes gleamed in anticipation with a smirk of triumph, as though he had finally found what he had been looking for all this time and no one knew about it.

"Noir…You arrived…" his voice let out a hint of desire, but not in the most pleasant way.

Aqua turned to the very person in question, confused and startled at the unfamiliar name that she never heard of until now. But the woman only gave a face of disgust at the unsightly mockery of the Terra that was once known by the few who did, standing up in anger at the fiend that she had come to loathe most.

"You monster…How dare you stand there and mock the beautiful and proud visage of my own son!" she hissed bitterly, "How dare you speak to me with such venom, when you know you've destroyed one of the few things I have treasured in my life! A dear friend is already lost, and now you had to enter my life and rob my son's life… But I swear that you will NOT have my daughter's life!"

That certainly did provoke the ire of the villain as he moved in to strike against the woman who had so strongly called him out in an extreme way; but before any harm could come directly at them; a Dark Hand emerged from the woman's shadow and formed a keyblade – one that didn't seem familiar to Aqua in any way – in defense of the people that were being targeted for serious harm. As unfamiliar as it was to the blue-haired warrior, there was an indication of awareness coming from him as he pulled back and retreated to the protection of his guardian.

But the last thing he said was a mystery in it of itself. "…Even in death, you still try to protect her, don't you?"

Not wanting another life to be threatened by the likes of the man before their eyes, Aqua quickly back into her defensive position with the intent to keep on fighting until she can't do it anymore.

"I'll fight him off!" Aqua vowed, "Please, take Luna someplace safe until you can find help for her." She turned to the unconscious Luna with a sad look. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you, Luna. I hope you find someone who can help you heal your pain."

The woman nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Aqua. I will not forget your selflessness."

The woman hurried away from the central square as fast as her legs could carry her until she had finally reached the doors of the castle, the only place she could think of for refuge. The moment she got there, though, she was stopped by the point of a spear, almost threatening to bring her down if she moved any closer.

"Who are you? What business do you have at the castle?"

The woman turned to face the wielder of the spear, namely a man with a ponytail and a soldier's uniform.

"Please, stand aside, Dilan," the woman commanded. "I need to see Ansem the Wise. My daughter is ill, and I have no one else to turn to. I ask you to let me in."

But he would not relent. "No one is permitted entry, not for any reason. You'd best leave now before I force you to…"

"Stand down, Dilan. Can't you recognize a desperate woman in need of help?" an elderly voice interrupted sternly.

The woman looked the other way to see an older man in a lab coat walk over to her casually. She recognized the man with the long, platinum blond hair as he came closer to her, and took a deep breath.

"Your timing is impeccable, Even," the woman sighed, "Will you let me inside? I need to see Ansem right away. My daughter is ailing terribly, and I cannot do anything to aid her any further."

"I'm quite sure he'd be glad to assist you, but he seems to be rather busy, what with the crisis outside right now," Even replied with intrigue, "But if you want, you can come inside with me and we can discuss your child's conditions. Surely there's nothing Ansem can't do for an old friend."

As the woman was led inside, she turned to make one last look in the direction of the central square. For a moment, she sensed the clashing auras of light and dark at odds with one another; but then, within mere seconds, she could've sworn that she sensed a flicker of light in the midst of the dank darkness she had noticed previously. She couldn't tell whose it was or confirm if it was Terra's; all she knew was that in the short span of the clash she had detected, something had happened that she'll never be able to know now. It made her worry for the young lady who was determined to save someone precious to her.

Was there a victory? Was there a defeat? What happened to them back in the square?

But then, she sensed a powerful silence within the area; though the oppression of the great dark aura was gone, she could've sworn that there was still a small flicker somewhere. Fearing what that could possibly mean, she turned away and hurried into the shelter she planned to settle her broken daughter in.