I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix/Disney.

Chapter 36

"Still here?" Yen Sid asked.

Master Eraqus did not respond. He was seated on an old wooden chair by the window, staring mindlessly into space. Yen Sid waited for a full minute, seeing if Eraqus would acknowledge him.

He did not.

Yen Sid said, "I have some insight into Terra's predicament."

That earned a twitch. Eraqus's hand gripped the windowsill hard, and Yen Sid idly wondered if it would crack. Nowadays, mentions of his apprentices were about the only things that would trigger a response from Eraqus.

"The readings from his heart are very irregular," Yen Sid said. He dropped a folder into Eraqus's lap. "It . . . it is almost as if it is not the only one there."

"Two hearts?" Eraqus said weakly.

"If Terra is indeed harbouring a second heart within his own, it would explain the irregularities in his behaviour." Yen Sid fought back a frown upon seeing Eraqus's eyes light up with hope. Surely, for all of them, it would be easier if Terra's violent manner could be attributed to some outside force. However . . .

"I do not think that is the case," Yen Sid said. "The situation is similar, but more complicated than that."

"Than what is the matter with him," Eraqus asked.

Yen Sid shook his head. "That, I'm afraid I still have to figure out."

More could have been said, but they were interrupted by a bone-chilling sound.

He awoke to a scream.

Within seconds, Terra was charging through the halls, shouting Aqua's name. Ven's door was already open, although the boy wasn't in the room itself. Terra ripped the door to Aqua's room open, stopping short at the sight of Ven over top of her. Okay, good, looked like Ven had already frightened the threat away.

Aqua was lying on her stomach, shaking, making the knife embedded in her back quiver. It had impaled her shoulder blade, and as he watched, a thick drop of blood dripped down her shoulder. There wasn't a lot of blood, so this wound had to be extremely fresh. Where the perpetrator was, however, he had no idea.

"Ven, Aqua, what happened?" he demanded.

Aqua didn't answer. Ven stayed silent.

And then he grabbed the knife's handle, pulled it out, and stabbed her again.

Terra's mind went blank.

He threw himself at the other boy, catching him at the waist and tackling him into the other wall. His own roar mixed in with Aqua's screams, which were drowned out further still by the crack of his fists against her assailant's face. Somewhere along the way, his foe started to cry out, too, but Terra didn't care. He deserved to suffer. Anyone who hurt her deserved that!

Arms looped underneath his armpits, hauling him back. But no, that wasn't acceptable. Aqua had been hurt! He launched forwards, tearing himself out of Eraqus's grasp, stepping on his fallen opponent as he did so, and whipped around with a vicious snarl. He threw Eraqus right into the wall, then turned around so he could continue to wrestle with his opponent.

He was on the ground, trying to crawl away. Terra merely grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting him high into the air. Just then, a hot whip-like sensation broke over his back, making him yelp. His fingers loosened, allowing Aqua's attacker to squirm free. Before Terra could go after him and drag him out of the corner, a Stopaga spell grabbed him. It held him painfully tight, like a million needles were pricking into his flesh, drawing blood when he tried to move.

Like that would stop him. He knew exactly who had cast this spell. His mind flashed between Yen Sid's spell and Eraqus's attempts to pull him back; they were all against him. Fine! He didn't care; they wanted to interfere with his protecting his friends, then they would reap the consequences. No one would-

Mickey's keyblade slammed against his head.

He saw stars. Too dazed to move, he remained still as Eraqus ran past him and knelt beside Aqua's attacker. Mickey had his keyblade drawn, standing on Aqua's bed as he studied Terra. Yen Sid watched him, too, robe rustling as if caught in a breeze. With a groan, Terra sat up, rubbing his forehead.

Next to him, Eraqus was shouting, "Ventus, are you awake?"

Ven? What about Ven? Terra rolled over, instinctively reaching for his friend . . . only for Mickey to block his way. Eraqus, too, reacted negatively, pulling Ven to him and curling around him the way a dragon curled around her young.

"Ven . . .?" Terra stood up on his knees, staring. The blond apprentice's entire face was bloody, so that it was impossible to tell what colour his skin was underneath. It didn't look like he had a nose anymore, or if he did, it was flat. He hung limply in Eraqus's grip, eyelids fluttering, but failing to open as Eraqus shook him. And when Eraqus wiped some of the blood away from his eyes, he only exposed bruising flesh.

"Terra, what did you do?" Eraqus demanded.

He was at a loss for words. What had happened? Ven, he had been here with Aqua, and Ven had –

His heart skipped a beat.

Now he remembered. And as he remembered and watched the way Ven feebly moved, he found it hard to feel guilt.

"He had a knife," Terra said coldly. "He was using it to hurt Aqua."

That got a reaction. Mickey let out an exclamation of surprise; Yen Sid's mouth fell open in one of the few unrestrained expressions he had ever displayed; and Eraqus clutched Ven tighter to him, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's true!" Terra turned his head slightly, catching glimpse of the knife discarded on the edge of the bed. It was still bloody. "I came in here because I heard her screaming, and I saw him stab her!"

Ven moaned something, and Eraqus hurried to fret over him. His hands were dyed green with his Curaga spell, a glow which quickly enveloped Ven's head as well. Though it would have stemmed the blood flow, it did nothing about the blood itself, leaving his face a shiny red.

Eraqus said, "Ventus, can you hear me?"

Ven mumbled, "I didn't . . . I didn't hurt her . . ."

"You had a knife!" Terra repeated. "You stabbed her with a knife!"

"No, no!" Ven shrunk back, like he was trying to bury himself in Eraqus's clothes.

"Ventus," Eraqus said, "what do you say happened here?"

"I don't know!" Ven wailed. "I fell asleep, and then when I woke up, Terra was beating me up!"

"Liar!" Terra lunged forwards, stopped short by Mickey's keyblade. "How'd you get in here, then?"

"I don't know," Ven said, "I shouldn't be here; I should be in my room . . ."

Ven tried to shield his face with his hands, and that allowed Terra to catch sight of the ropes still looped around his wrists. They looked like they had been cut.

"Master, could he have been sleepwalking?" Mickey asked.

"It is a possibility," Yen Sid said slowly.

Terra gaped. "You're kidding, right? People don't stab others while they're sleepwalking!"

"Such incidences have occurred before," Yen Sid said. "If I do recall, young Ventus has had recurring problems with sleepwalking."

"That is correct," Eraqus said, still cradling the boy.

"So, what do you plan to do about it?" Terra demanded. "It's bad enough Vanitas is hunting us, I can't deal with having to protect Aqua from Ven, too-"

He stopped short. Aqua had just been ambushed, stabbed by her best friend, and now, he realized, she had disappeared as well. The knife was still there, lying innocently on the stained sheets, but she was gone.

"Aqua? Aqua!" His voice rang through the tower, drawing no answer.

And when he and the rest of them finally scoured the world, she was nowhere to be found.

At first, she was too stunned to fight back. The shock of being stabbed was just as bad as the shock of having the knife yanked out, and adding that to the shock of being pulled into the darkness nearly rendered her catatonic. When her sense did return to her, however, boy, did it come back.

"Get off of me!"

Magic erupted from her, making her skin hot. To the one attempting to kidnap her though, she was positively searing. His hands released her, choosing instead to flail in the air in an attempt to cool down. She wasted no time driving her keyblade into his gut.

A second later, he had his own keyblade out, and they locked blades. He was strong, stronger than she had expected, but she was older, experienced. She turned her body a bit at the waist, changing the angle, giving her the advantage so that his keyblade was being forced back towards his chest.

But then he fought back, a little too wildly with a little too much force, and the tear in her shoulder made itself known. Her arm buckled, making her lose what ground she had gained. Before he could press his advantage, she pulled away, rubbing her injured shoulder.

The light of her Cura spell lit up Riku's face, highlighting the determined gleam in his remaining eye.

"Traitor!" she hissed.

He laughed bitterly. "Get over yourself. In case you don't remember, you did this to me!" He pointed at his missing eye."

"Don't blame me for Vanitas's actions!" she snapped.

"But are you to blame, aren't you?" Riku chuckled lowly. "All this of this, this entire mess, he's doing it for you, isn't he? Everything's about you!"

She winced. "I didn't tell him to do any of this!"

"I don't care!" Riku bellowed. "My friends are in danger because of you. I . . . a lot of people would be better off if you just went along with him."

She shook her head. "You don't get it, Riku."

"I understand enough." Riku stepped backwards, raising his arms like a performer greeting his audience.

"You-!"

"Look around, Aqua."

She took the bait without meaning to. And what she saw was darkness. It was everywhere: in the sky, under her feet. The entire world was made of darkness. She could feel herself breathing it in, its tendrils reaching down into her lungs . . .

No, don't panic –

But she was. Her breaths had become short and shallow, not enough to supply her cell's demands for oxygen. With the resulting light-headedness came dizziness, and with that came weakness. She tried to move back, but her foot caught, making her stumble. Riku didn't even bother to do anything, just watched her.

It was so dark. She pleaded with her keyblade, coaxing a ball of light out of it. It was so small in the expanse of darkness, so insignificant. If a breeze went through his realm, it would blow out.

"No, no, no . . ." She was muttering to herself, trying to grab hold of her magical orb. All it did was burn her hands, although she could barely feel the pain.

Riku saw what she was doing though. His eyes widened with fear, and he ran forwards, shouting at her to stop. He grabbed her arms, tried to pull her towards the part of the darkness that would take them back to Silent Hill –

She let the orb in her hands explode.

As Riku shielded his face, she fled. She ran and ran, never stopping, trying desperately to escape the gloom that surrounded her. Riku took up the chase, and that only inspired her to move faster, make her strides longer. So, she ran towards the inky horizon, relentless as a hound on the hunt. She couldn't say where Riku was behind her, or even if he still was.

It didn't matter. All that mattered was the darkness.

She stepped funny, sending herself toppling to the ground. But rather than what she had expected – Riku catching her – she fell out of the darkness. She had known she had been running into a darker section of the realm, but it had never occurred to her it had been a portal. Either way, she was out of there and in a new place, a forest to be exact.

Shivering, she stood and rubbed her arms. Her Wayfinder, so warm it almost burned, glowed for a few more seconds before fading. She glanced at it, unsure whether her escape from the dark realm was due to the nature of the place itself, or this trinket.

The first thing she did was run, wary of Riku coming after her. No matter where she went, the forest still looked the same: broad leafs made the gaps between the tree blotchy, and created a patchwork pattern of light on the forest floor. On those leaves, a few drops of water reflected the sun's rays. If they and the musty scent were anything to go by, there had been a rainstorm not very long ago. Indeed, traces of it could be found in the wet trails slithering down the bark, or the knot of grey clouds that hadn't quite dispersed.

Her shoe broke through a puddle as she ran. To her knowledge, it was afternoon; that's what the heat outside the shade told her. She had plenty of time before night came. Plenty of time to find shelter.

"Where are you going, Aqua?"

She froze. Not even ten minutes in and already the game was over.

Masked, Vanitas was sitting on a nearby branch, back against the trunk. Though the smooth helmet hid his golden gaze, she could picture his eyes perfectly, and knew they were fixated on her. She didn't move, didn't dare breathe, like a mouse after it had sensed an owl flying ahead. Of course, she had it worse than the mouse, because at least the mouse would be put out of its misery soon enough. If Vanitas caught her though, she wouldn't die for a very, very long time.

"I thought you were at Yen Sid's," he said casually.

Well . . . it wasn't like they had been keeping it a secret. Still, it unnerved her that Vanitas had known where she was this entire time. He had probably been lurking just outside the world's boundaries, just hoping she would step outside. She wouldn't put it past him.

"I . . . went for a walk," she said pathetically.

"A walk?" He rolled those two words around his tongue, like a child tasting a sweet for the first time. "Here? All alone? Do you normally go for walks on other worlds?"

Other worlds? Her eyes widened. She looked around, the scenery taking on a new meaning. She was on a different world? Again, a conclusion that should have been obvious to her, but she'd been hoping for a small break.

"I-I . . ."

"Why'd you leave, Aqua?"

"I didn't!" she snapped. "You sent Riku to kidnap me."

Vanitas didn't answer immediately, too busy examining his glove. "That so?" he said, sounding terribly uninterested.

"Yes! You gouged out his eye, sent him to us so that he could get near me, and then he kidnapped me after –"

"That's enough."

She shut her mouth, and immediately hated herself for it.

With a snap of his fingers, he vanished. At her back though, she felt the temperature drop. A beat passed, and then she swallowed dryly as Vanitas traced the stab wound that Ven had made, her skin aching dully in his fingers' wake.

"What happened, Aqua?"

"I . . ." Mentally, she groped for a convincing lie. " . . . I fell."

"You fell," he repeated dryly.

"Down the stairs?"

He laughed. "Aqua, you do realize that's like the most common lie people use when they're being abused?"

"They're not-"

He dug his fingers into the wound, making her gasp in pain.

Once again, he said, "What happened, Aqua?"

She shut her eyes, and her mouth. Apparently, he didn't need her to confirm his suspicions though.

"This looks like a blade's work," he remarked, still tracing the wound. However, it was not pain that followed in his wake, but relief as he healed it. "But Riku wouldn't have done it, and everyone on that world is your friend . . . aren't they?"

No, she wasn't going to let him get to her, not this time . . .

Vanitas backed away. "I'll catch up with you later."

She whirled around. "Wh-what?"

His back to her as he continued to walk, he shrugged. "We didn't separate on good terms. I think we need some time apart."

She was hit with an urge to beg him to take her with him. She didn't trust Vanitas, wouldn't believe that he would be this merciful. If he was letting her go now, it was because he had something in store. It was because, somehow, this fit into his plans.

Hadn't she been through enough?

"Why are you leaving?" she demanded. "Where are you going?"

He paused. Turned his head halfway so she could see the side of his grin. "Why? You want to come along?"

"No!"

He chuckled, rolling his eyes as if he didn't believe. "Then don't worry about it. But just in case you change your mind . . . You ever need me, just call for me."

Keep dreaming. She didn't dare say that out loud.

Just as he promised, he left afterwards. She was left standing there for ten minutes, mouth hanging open as she registered his change in affairs. Vanitas let her go? She pinched herself – twice – to make sure she wasn't dreaming. And when her nerves complained about what she was doing to them, she laughed and laughed.

She was free.

And that is your explanation to how Riku escaped: he didn't! He went to the tower on Vanitas's orders.

Yes, Vanitas did actually let her go. For now. Take that as a cue that he's about to be orchestrating some pretty nasty things.