A/N: Back with another chapter people! Please read and review and for the risk of sounding like a broken record: *robot voice* constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you and over.

Disclaimer: I will never own LOZ nor KH nor the colorful characters making up their games. Poor me.

Chapter 25: Trapped in Plight

The courtyard was full of monsters.

Ventus panted with effort and wondered why Link hadn't come to their aid. Getting rid of thousands of heartless was really tiring, not to mention the vortex in Sora's chest kept spewing out more beasts. As he threw his key-blade in a fire raid, a crafty deku baba caught his weapon and began chomping on it.

"That thing is eating Wayward wind" he sputtered.

Roxas jumped forward and got rid of the monster, retrieving Ven's weapon he threw it at him.

Catching the key-blade, Ven activated his Fever pitch command style and executed an Ars Arcanum, a large chunk of the space was cleared thanks to the move and by the time Ventus' fever pitch died down, he was puffing and sweating profusely. Taking deep breaths, he watched his older twin deal with the horde of enemies by continuously spamming Salvation.

"They just keep on coming" wheezed Roxas "where is big brother Vanitas anyway? He was supposed to be here ages ago, didn't he feel anything?" Blocking an attack he resumed speaking "Ven, let's work together, perhaps the hole in Sora's chest will close if we defeat them all at once."

"Okay" Ven agreed, raising his key-blade he shouted "Zero Graviga"

Instantaneously the swarm of mixed monsters floated in the air and an eerie silence descended in the courtyard. Both the boys summoned tornadoes and the howling winds reduced shadows, heartless and Hylian beasts into vanishing streams of darkness, thereafter due to extreme fatigue Ventus almost crashed to the ground.

Almost.

Roxas briefly caught his brother and realizing the implications of his actions, he immediately let go.

"Ouch" whimpered Ven as his head hit the floor "Roxas, what did you do that for?"

The person in question scratched the back of his head. "Sorry I forgot. Touching you means hurting you."

A tense silence stretched between them and the older twin went to inspect the prince laying spread eagled on the ground. He stared somberly into the dark cavity within Sora's chest and after sparing a quick glance at Ven, who was still sitting on the ground; he gingerly reached into the space and plunged his hand in.

And he screamed.

Hearing his shriek, Ventus hurtled over and grasped him by the waist and pulled, however, it seemed as if the dark hole did not want to let Roxas go. Gripping his brother tighter Ven hauled with all his might whilst his twin shouted at him to let him go.

"Leave me Ven, you're gonna burn yourself"

In response the boy held him tighter and tugged, Roxas felt like his joints were dislocating till something popped and he was set free. To top of his sweet escape, a large multitude of dream eaters and armos statues came out of the hole and began assailing them. The twins moved backwards with Ven clutching onto Roxas' jacket. They were both exhausted, scared (because what in the name of Hyrule was going on?) and in the case of the older twin, extremely irritated. He tried to materialize his key-blades, alas for some reason his weapons wouldn't come to him. Shielding Ven and steadily inching backwards he tried to think of a plan to get them both out of this predicament.

"Roxas…Why isn't any of the knights coming? Where is Vanitas or Link? What happened to big brother So-"

"Quiet Ven and stop holding me" snapped the irate boy.

"…I'm tired" replied the youngster "…we need to get Sora out of here or else…we're going to die" Ven gloomily declared " I can't fight anymore…can't you ask them to help us?"

"Them?" puzzled Roxas.

Ven swallowed hard before replying.

"Your Samurai nobodies" he exhaled. "Please, I won't be afraid of them anymore"

Casting a long, hard look at his twin's blood and sweat stained face, Roxas braced himself and urged them to come out. Appearing without delay, they unsheathed their swords and leapt into battle. Grabbing Ven, the older noble ran all the way to Sora and crouched next to him.

"How do we get him back to the castle? I doubt dragging him will be suitable, he'd spill monsters and who knows what along the way and we have no help."

"Dark corridors" mused Ventus

"I can't create those Ven…think of something else."

"Try Roxas! We can try together." The younger boy's eyes were alight with conviction. Tightly holding Roxas' hand he closed his eyes and concentrated, glancing at their intertwined hands and wondering if he was still hurting Ven, he too hesitantly shut his eyes and willed the space in front of him to tear. Several long minutes went by when a jubilant shout next to him prompted him to look.

They had succeeded in creating a dark corridor, despite their circumstances the duo could not help but give a shout of glee.

Princess Zelda's heart nearly stopped when a dark corridor opened up next to her throne, exiting out of it were the 7th ranked knights, their appearance suggested they were fighting a ferocious battle. Even more shocking was the way they dragged an unconscious Sora whilst being chased by a pack of monsters.

"Close it. CLOSE IT!" Ventus screamed desperately.

Roxas' face screwed up in concentration, and moments later the pathway winked out of existence. Before they could turn around and implore the princess to help them, Sora's prone body arched and expelled another bunch of beasts. It took all of the twins' willpower not to keel over on the spot. Ventus called on his key-blade and waited expectantly for his elder brother to do the same. Unfortunately Roxas merely stood there like zombie.

"…Oathkeeper and Oblivion won't come to me" he hesitantly spoke.

A rain of flashing arrows took care of the hissing beasts before them. Whirling backwards, the duo observed Zelda elegantly lowering her bow. Her expression betrayed no feelings. She calmly strode towards them and enquired what had happened.

"Ganondorf stabbed Sora and he…became like that" Roxas pointed to his comatose brother

"None of the other knights came to our aid, not even Link or Vanitas" Ventus added.

"And I can't summon my key-blades" Roxas continued.

"…I'm tired and scared"

The last statement from Ven prompted Zelda and Roxas to gaze at him. The youngster's blonde hair was smudged with dirt and his head hung low.

"Please help us princess" they chorused "if we leave him as is, he's going to keep on ejecting those creatures non-stop." Ventus finished.

"I understand, don't worry. I'll do my best to take care of him." The sides of her mouth curved into a soothing smile. "Please go inside and rest, you two must be exhausted."

Instead of bolting to Sora's study the boys simply stood there.

"…Perhaps you want to see your brother safe? In that case follow me. This will sound bad, but we have to encase him in a magical pod and guard him." Zelda explained, clasping her hands in front of her and walking out of the throne room with the twins in a tow.

"But he's unconscious" Roxas argued "why do you need to lock him up?"

"The pod will restrict the dark vortex therefore he won't be able to call out any evil creatures. Also if he is guarded we can take prompt action should he wake up."

"You make it sound as if he is bringing the monsters out purposely" Roxas scowled and Ven gasped at the accusation, he darted a quick look at the princess and was slightly relived when her visage remained calm. They trooped through the hallway and entered a grand room. Zelda confidently strode to the middle and requested for the six sages to accompany her immediately as there was an emergency.

Once again, Zelda was thrust into an unfamiliar situation. This time she woke up to another crisis, namely a comatose, monster spewing Sora and a pair of twins who claimed the knights went AWOL. She hardly felt any obligation to help the first knight (who was her alleged husband) and the thought frightened her. Was she beginning to lose sight of herself?

Gathering the six sages she paced back to the throne room and commanded one of the sages to carry Sora to the barrier room. Hearing this they all stared at her in horrific astonishment.

"My lady, you want to imprison Sire in the pod?" he asked incredulously.

The twins' faces morphed into bewilderment. Was she trying to kill their older brother? Why did the saints sound so horrified? For her part, the princess remained totally unfazed.

"Yes." She softly intoned "currently he is a threat to Hyrule and we have to take utmost precaution to ensure he does not cause panic. We will tell the public he is sick and as for my reason for placing him in the pod. It is for his own safety."

Any words Ventus wanted to voice out quickly died in this throat. Princess Zelda was only doing what is best for them, he assured himself.

The group marched to the so-called barrier room. As soon as he stepped in, Ventus knew why. The entire chamber was stark white with glowing symbols on the floor, across the walls of the room and even on the ceiling. The etched incantations pulsed with a pastel blue light and in the center of the room, commanding the most attention was the pod.

For an implement of imprisonment it sure was beautiful. A lotus flower shaped structure made the base of the prison and right in the middle of its pristine white petals, a crystal pod was stationed. As the sages carried his brother closer to the thing, it hissed and the glass opened up like a flower. Sora was carefully placed in there and slowly the pieces came together and snapped shut. Now the intricate cage looked more like a white bud than anything else. Having done their duty, the sages methodically moved out and placed themselves in a circle around the vessel. Holding their hands in various orphic signs, they began chanting something and at once the symbols on the floor concentrated themselves near the foot of the pod.

"Will he be okay?" Roxas quizzed.

"He will be fine and as long as I don't find a way to return him to normal, he will be housed in here. Feel free to visit anytime you want." Zelda gave a courteous smile.

"We want to help" Ventus chimed in "if all of us work together he'll be back to himself in no time. Right princess?"

His enthusiasm deflated when Zelda shook her head.

"No Ventus" she said "he…he is my responsibility now and the level of darkness stirring within him is frightening. As the princess of my people it is my duty to protect Hyrule. I need to do this alone."

The twins' shoulders sagged. Moving closer to them she gripped their shoulders comfortingly and invited them to stay at the castle for the time being. Confused, exhausted and having nothing better to do, the duo trudged to a guest room and fell fast asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

In the castle that never was, a figure lay back on a couch with his feet propped on a table. He inspected an old man on the far corner of the room waving his arms around in dramatic gestures, the man's lips were also moving but the adolescent could not hear him as he had stuffed his ears with ear-plugs, it was a precaution against Xehanort's unending rambles.

"Are you listening to me you insolent brat?"

Vanitas pulled the plugs out.

"No" he answered "…although you did a good job of getting rid of Sora, heh, trapping his mind in darkness. Not bad old timer."

"Don't you feel any remorse? He was your elder brother"

The brunette closed his eyes before replying.

"Not at all, if I did, I'd help the twins before escaping here. They're probably gone or something" he shrugged "I can finally breathe without those annoying morons watching my every move" he spread his arms out wide and smirked at his mentor.

Xehanort regarded Vanitas for a few more minutes and after deciding he was indeed telling the truth, he spun around and stepped away.

"One more question" droned Vanitas and the bald man stopped in his tracks. "Was it you who helped Roxas summon his nobody underlings? If I remember correctly he had lost the ability after Sora got rid of the nobodies"

"Why yes, are you concerned?" the key-blade master's golden irises glittered with vicious glee.

"Not particularly, just…jealous. How come I can't summon dark creatures?"

A short cackle preceded Xehanort's reply.

"Who said you can't? You are the master of the Unversed, unfortunately you are too afraid to use them…something about big brother Sora finding out?" the man taunted.

Vanitas' eyes smoldered with anger.

"The unversed are useless" he spat "and when they are destroyed, I feel the pain."

"Heh, I forgot to mention they could destroy you" Xehanort waved his hand "anyway, like Roxas, you lost the ability to summon them due to the influence of your brother's light. I guess you don't want them as your soldiers anymore?"

"Hell no"

"Good" the old master began walking away once more "if we want to complete Kingdom Hearts, we need to get to work. I require your services Vanitas."

The person in question kicked the table aside and got up. Summoning Void-gear, he inspected his weapon, running a gloved hand along the sliver shaft whilst his mouth curled into a smile of maniacal proportions. Holding the key-blade out in front of him he hoarsely murmured:

"I'm ready."