Chapter 34

Arun and Max's jaws dropped. What was Caelum saying? Arty worked for Maleficent a year ago? They couldn't believe it. A lump formed in Arun's throat as he caught one important tidbit of information.

"Arty, you…What did you do?" asked Arun, astounded.

Arty closed her eyes, pained. She was ashamed.

"I-I…"

"Do you not know the tale, Keyblade wielder? I thought your companions would have thought to tell you?" Maleficent was milking this for all it was worth. Arun would have felt the same if he were in her position. Right now, where he was kept in the unknown, he wasn't enjoying this. "Then, let me be the one to enlighten you. A year ago I approached Arty, who was deep in mourning for her fallen friend. The child was distressed and my heart ached seeing her that way. So I offered her a helping hand by saying I could assist her in finding a way to bring her friend back if she would aid me in my own problem. She agreed. While she did her work for me, I searched for a method. However, I could not one. After all, a heart lost to the darkness can never return. So, I fulfilled the bargain."

Something in the way Maleficent spoke didn't sit well with him. Did she really try to find a method? Or did she know all along? Regardless, he felt anger welling deep inside him. All he wanted to do was burn the witch before him alive.

"You made a bargain you could never keep." Arun slid into a stance, his knuckles white from gripping the Keyblade. "You're the one who controls the Heartless. You must have known that it'd be impossible to bring a heart back in the first place. Arty didn't know that, so you took advantage of her. But, you made a mistake, Maleficent."

"Oh? And that would be?"

"That I'd come back and make you pay for that!" A battle cry let loose from his lips and Arun ran to strike at the witch. Several Heartless jumped out in reaction to protect their mistress. He merely twirled his sword like helicopter blades to slice right them. His way clear now, he used a sliding technique to cover the distance, his Keyblade ready for blood. "Take this!"

Arun raised his Keyblade to slash at Maleficent, but he noticed she began to smile. The tip of the weapon was an inch away from his face when suddenly he hit a wall in midair. He felt it as an invisible wind blasted him straight back away from her. Shouting more in surprise, he hit the ground and slid to a stop in front of his friends.

"Arun!" Arty hurried to his side. She fell to her knees to help him sit up. "Arun, are you okay? Are you injured?"

"No. Just caught off guard."

"Ah, I see now. So you are the friend she was so desperate to bring back. How interesting," said Maleficent. She now looked at Arun, fascinated to some degree. "How curious. You possess a face familiar to me, yet your heart is of a darker nature. Are you truly that boy?"

"That boy?" He wondered who she meant by that. Lately, he didn't question how people said he was familiar. He got that from Organization XIII and recently Mickey far too many times already. At this point he didn't know why nor cared about that. Yet, he got the mysterious feeling he should this time.

He never got the chance to consider.

"It matters not. Heartless!" Maleficent called out, regally. The dark creatures halted in their counterattacks against their white opponents. "Leave the white ones! Turn your efforts against Sora and his friends!"

Arun didn't like how the Heartless automatically stopped fighting the Nobodies. He especially didn't like it when they turned to them.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy gulped.

That was the only thing said before the Heartless came at them. It didn't help when the Nobodies joined the fight as well.

Between two Keyblade wielders, two magicians, two shield fighters, and an archer, the Heartless and Nobodies did not stand a chance. The group made quick work of them. But Arun noticed what Arty and Caelum were talking about during the fight. After throwing his Keyblade in quick succession, it came back to him. When he caught it he instinctively slid into a stance where he held his Keyblade behind him while holding it much like a dagger with the teeth facing away from him.

Once the creatures were gone, he stared at his hand gripping his weapon. He took in how he held the key in a reverse style. It may have looked awkward but it felt so right holding it that way. It was much better than the way he held it before, which he had to force his hand to hold sometimes. He allowed it to disappear, flexing his hand. This shouldn't have bothered him. So his fighting style changed. So what? This style fit his current body better as it was made to be light and fast. But, what bothered him was when did it change? It took him years to perfect his original style made for power strikes. How and when did it change to this slight, airy one without any practice? It didn't make sense.

Arun was broken from his thoughts when three small figures few down from one of the adjacent halls. He, Arty, Caelum, and Max blinked in confusion at the tiny girls with wings on their backs. Were they fairies? Sora, Donald, and Goofy didn't bat at an eye at the sight.

"Where's Maleficent?" asked the small brunette dressed in bright colors. Her tone was quite polite and kind.

"Looks like she ran away," Sora replied.

"Well, that was pretty lame of her," the blonde haired one remarked, laid-back.

"I guess we picked the wrong side," said the last fairy. She was dressed in a punk-ish attire.

The three fairies turned to one another to start babbling amongst themselves.

"Okay…? Can I bet the first to ask what the hell?" Arun asked.

"I have no idea, either," Arty said, thoroughly confused herself.

"Um, Sora? Who're they?" asked Max.

"Oh, this is Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. We met them awhile back. We're not entirely sure who they are either," Sora answered in a low whisper. When he addressed the girls he raised his voice. "Um, hey. If you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's? They can always use help."

They turned around. The brunette, Yuna, who was obviously the leader of the trio, tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Does this Leon have any treasure?"

"Yeah, lots of stuff!" Donald exclaimed before they could give her a proper answer.

"Perfect!" Rikku, the little blonde, clapped her hands in delight.

"Come on," urged Paine.

"Who are you?" Caelum asked, growing more astonished as the conversation continued.

"Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning." Yuna shrugged and waved away the question.

"Just three treasure fanatics," Paine continued to give them some semblance of an answer.

"Later, taters!"

In a small show of magic the three fairies disappeared in glittery light.

There was a moment of silence.

"Did Leon really have treasure?" Sora asked Arty.

"Not that I know of," she said, scratching her head.

"…Anyway, we should get going," Arun mentioned. He didn't know what happened or even want to know why it happened. They had better things to do than wonder why fairies wanted treasure in the first place.

Nodding, they hurried through the hallways to head back to the outside world.

The group made it outside into the Postern. They were temporarily held up by a bunch of basic Nobodies-Dusks, Sora told them-but a few slashes were enough to bring them down. They ran around the bridge connected to the entrance underground and the Postern. Suddenly, a large beam of light slammed into the ground before them. They all stumbled back in surprise.

The light faded to allow them to see a man kneeling there. His back was to them so they could see he had long silvery gray hair that stood against his black leather coat. What was prominent were three large, black wings to give the illusion it was just one on his left shoulder blade. He stood up and turned to face them. Arty gasped.

"Holy mackerel!"

"Sora, it's Sephiroth!" Donald exclaimed.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy wondered.

Max shuddered. "He's the darkness of a heart?"

"Did Cloud tell you that?" Sephiroth asked, smirking. "Then, he must understand now."

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora demanded, hostile.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness." His emerald eyes wandered acrss their faces in disinterest. However, he stoppd when he saw Arun. Arun narrowed his own eyes. What was he looking at?

"He said he's got a score to settle with you."

"I see. He wants to meet me again."

Sephiroth broke his gaze away from Arun. He couldn't help but breathe easier. The man had no emotions at all in his eyes. Frankly, it freaked him out. Not even in his original body was he like that. He started to walk away.

"Then, I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out."

Arun, Caelum, and Max stared when he rose into the air and disappeared in another flash of darkness. Silence followed after for a few moments.

"What…the hell was that?" Arun exclaimed. He was starting to become incredulous by the second. Why were all these people showing up? "Who was that guy?"

"My gosh…Did you see his sword? It was long enough to skewer all of us," Max breathed, horrorified.

Sora coughed nervously. "Yeah, that was Sephiroth. He can be…"

"Scary?" Caelum provided.

"You should've seen him fight. He's scarier," Donald warned, shuddering.

"And he wants to fight Cloud?"

"Yup!" Goofy confirmed. "Cloud wants to fight Sephiroth to get rid of his darkness."

Max whistled. "Gotta give this Cloud guy credit. He's really brave if he can beat that if it's his darkness."

Caelum turned to Arty. It was strange how she was silent all of a sudden. He looked at the girl to find her with her head hung while a hand gripped her chest. He frowned. Was something wrong with her?

"Hey, Arty, you alright?" he asked.

She nodded.

Caelum was now concerned. She would have at least responded. Leaning closer to her face, he now noticed how her face was beet red. This, he was used to. Despite what he and Arun always called her, Arty was, above all, a girl. She would normally blush and act quiet if she saw someone was attractive ever since she hit puberty. And that boy had to be incredibly handsome. To have her act so now…

"Arty," he said, loudly. "You didn't…You thought Sephiroth was hot, didn't you?"

"Caelum!" she shrieked. Everyone stared at Arty with wide eyes. They could see her flushing face as she looked at everything but them. "I-Well…Okay, yeah! Fine! I admit it! I think Sephiroth was, to be bluntly, kinda…sexy."

"Arty!" the boys exclaimed in disbelief.

"What? Can you blame me? I mean, the man wasn't wearing a shirt under his coat! Did you see those abs? My goodness!"

"Arty!"

She whined, covering her face, flustered.

"What can you expect? I'm a girl! I can't help but notice these kinds of things!"

"We aren't talking about this right now," Arun said. He was almost as embarrassed as her. He really didn't know to know Arty thought an evil man like Sephiroth was attractive. What annoyed him was how she never described him like that. He had muscles like that. Well, he thought, looking down at his scrawny body, he used to.

Max chuckled nervously. "Anyway, we should go and help everyone out. No use standing around here, right?"

"Right!" they all readily agreed to get away from the awkward topic.

The group soon made their way towards the Restoration site. Making their way down the winding path and towering cliff walls surrounding them, they found Leon and Aerith being attacked by sword wielding Heartless. Leon was trying his best to both attack while protecting Aerith but it looked too difficult for him to manage.

"We'll help!" Sora brandished his Keyblade to go help Leon.

"Sora, behind you!" Aerith warned, pointing behind them.

They turned to find a group of pink humanoid Nobodies appear. Arun made a quick decision.

"Sora, you handle the Nobodies. Caelum and Max and I got the Heartless. Arty, protect Aerith!" he commanded, charging towards the Heartless with a battle cry. Everyone did as he said and scrambled to go fight against the Nobodies.

It was Arun's first time seeing Sora fight against different Nobodies that didn't have a face or a name. He had never encountered any of the Organization XIII members, save for Demyx and two others, so he didn't really know they would fight against them. But, he caught on quickly as he watched everyone else fight them. These pink Nobodies were agile and moved fluidly. They reminded Arun of graceful dancers if not for the fact they grabbed Sora's hand in a dance and threw him towards a wall. It looked painful.

So, he was lucky he decided to fight the Heartless, which he was used to fighting. Each of their attacks he knew by heart and he wasted no time in taking advantage of their weaknesses.

With everyone giving their all in the fight both enemy parties were eliminated.

Max lowered his shield and surveyed the area. He was looking for someone as he said, "Where's the King?"

"He's in the Bailey. You better head over there," Leon advised.

"But, what about you guys?" Arty asked, concerned.

"We'll handle things here. Go on ahead."

"Got it!" Sora ran on ahead. After a moment's consideration, Donald, Goofy, and Max went after him. Arun and his friends hesitated.

Aerith gave a little push to Arty's shoulder, smiling reassured.

"Go on. There are other people who need your help, right?" she asked in that ever soft voice of her's. It never seemed to change even in their current situation.

Arty thought for a moment and nodded. Because of that reassurance, Arun nudge her towards the Bailey's direction. She looked to him and Caelum for guidance and, when they both smiled, found it.

The three set off for the Bailey, leaving Leon and Aerith to catch up later.

The stairs to the Bailey had been torn apart by some blast. The Bailey was exposed where the stairs was broken apart, bits of stone thrown carelessly everywhere. Nimble as he was, Arun actually needed help to climb up the broken sections due to his height. Arty and Caelum had to climb up first and reach down to pull him up. Arty didn't mention his height, yet Caelum smirked in satisfaction. He didn't say anything due to time.

In the Bailey they found Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Max leaning over the stone edge that overlooked the chasm that everyone nicknamed 'Villian's Vale.' Mostly because the chasm was below where Maleficent's castle was. Arun went to stand by Sora's elbow to see what they were looking at. His jaw dropped, astounded. Arty and Caelum gasped.

Below, where the chasm held hundreds of Heartless, they saw those Heartless began to move. They squirmed around like the ants Arun originally thought they were. They broke off into large groups-some were headed towards the town while others went towards the broken castle. For those headed towards to the town they saw their friends take them out before they got there. Unfortunately, there were just so many of them they were being overwhelmed.

"We need to head down there," Arun decided. He may not have thought of Hollow Bastion as his home yet, but Arty and Caelum did. He refused to lose another home again like this.

"Yeah! We need to help!" Max agreed, enthusiastically.

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again the deep blue color shone in confidence.

"Leon, everybody…Hang in there! We're coming!"

No one else needed to be told what had to be done. Turning around, they jumped back down the broken staircase for the hole that led straight to what Arty told them was the Castle Gates. They got to the ledge to jump down. Suddenly, a small black figure jumped down from above in front of them to stop them.

Arun came to a halt before he ran straight into Mickey's back. The tiny mouse king had his back to them, arms stretched out to stop them.

"Okay, fellas. You gotta find Riku and Kairi," he told them, tilting his head over his shoulder to speak.

"But, Leon and the others are our friends, too," Sora argued.

"Don't worry. There's lotsa help here. We'll take care of this fight."

"You think the Restoration Committee can take care of this on their own?" There were literally hundreds of Heartless surrounding the town. Even if the committee members were exceedingly strong, they would eventually get overwhelmed. They needed all the help they could get. Arun couldn't believe Mickey would leave even a broken kingdom like Hollow Bastion to such a fate. Oswald's words echoed in his head.

"We'll be fine. I know you gotta go look for your Nobody, too, right? We can handle things here. Donald! Goofy! Max!"

The three mentioned stood up straight. Being the King's loyal subjects, it had to be an inherent habit.

"Take Sora, Arun, and Caelum and get goin'!" he ordered.

Sora's face crumbled. The look on his face made Arun's chest ache. Poor Sora. He was torn between helping his friends in Hollow Bastion and going off to find his childhood friends. Arun was the same. He wanted to go find his Nobody. Really, he did! It was just he couldn't leave in good faith when his friends were left to deal with this mess.

"Riku, Kairi…give me a little time, okay?" Sora promised to thin air, remorseful. He knew what he had to do.

Arun turned pleading eyes towards Max. His friend looked straight at him, torn between listening to the King and helping him. Max shared a glance with Donald and Goofy, both that shared his sentiments. They held a silent conversation through their eyes alone. Finally, they nodded, determined.

"Your Majesty!" Donald addressed with authority like the Court Wizard he was.

"We understand. We'll go search for Riku, Kairi, and Arun's Nobody," Goofy said in the same manner.

"Right. Watch out for danger," Mickey warned. Not once did he face them to see their reactions. He was too busy scanning the area for danger.

"You be careful, too," Max said in kind.

"Max, no!" Arun's heart dropped. What was he saying? Were they really going to leave behind their friends? Then, he became confused when Max grinned. He winked at him conspiratorially.

"Sora, Arun, Caelum, do as you're told," Donald scolded. It contrasted with the smile he was fighting back.

"Come on, Arun, Caelum. We've got more important things to worry about." Max nearly lost it as he fought to hold back a snicker. It was only then did Arun's hopes rise. He couldn't have asked for a better friend in Max. Their adventure together cemented how much Max valued them and it showed in that very moment.

Goofy had to do the same as he said, "You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!"

Arun, Caelum, and Arty glanced at one another to smile. They really did have good friends, didn't they? Sora was the only one bewildered by the smiles and the contradicting words as he looked at everyone, confused. It wasn't until Donald winked at him that he caught on.

"C'mon, Sora! Ya gotta be good."

Sora's mouth dropped in sudden realization. He picked it up and blinked several times, touched by their loyalty to their friendship. He smiled.

"Gotcha."

"Well, then, skedaddle!" Goofy ordered in his most Captain of the Guards voice.

Sora's mouth silently formed words to his friends. Arun was not sure what he said until, much later, did Arty tell him.

"Thank you," were the words he said sincerely to his traveling companions.

"Let's go!"

Sora, Arun, and their friends all charged right past pick, leaping down the ledge towards the cliffs where all their friends waited. They glanced back up to where Mickey stood, astounded.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty!" Sora apologized.

Just to show how sorry they all were for disobeying his orders they all saluted to him. Even Arty, who would be the only one to remain behind had they followed his orders. She was grateful they stayed behind.

"Hope you can forgive us," Max said, regretful.

Their apologies given, they all jumped over the ledge to go join the battle for Hollow Bastion.

xxx

They made their way down the Bailey and through the cliffs. Eventually, they reached the broken Castle Gates. Once upon a time, the gates were a sight to behold. Its majestic archway was the first thing visitors saw before entering the castle. Now, it was just a shell of what it once was-broken like the rest of the castle. The gate's ground was arranged in a beautiful mural of different shades of blue and yellow. In a bird's eye view the colorful mural made a flower in bloom.

When they arrived at the bottom of the staircase they found they weren't alone. Someone in a black Organization coat stood at the center of the mural. This was someone they were all familiar with.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively," Demyx greeted, casually.

Arun's blood boiled. He hadn't forgotten what the Nobody did to them in Olympus Coliseum.

"Considering you ditched us in the depths of the Underworld?" Caelum deadpanned, cross. Neither he nor Arun were happy with Demyx.

"Aw, c'mon! Are you still mad about that?"

Their silence and their frosty glares said it all. Arun still had to get payback for taking that cheap shot back in the Underworld. Demyx flinched especially when he saw Arun's killer intent behind his icy eyes. Arun rolled his eyes.

"How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?" he wondered aloud. He thought the Organization was made up of powerful Nobodies. Nothing about Demyx screamed 'powerful' to him.

"I bet you can't even fight," Sora taunted, just as unimpressed with Demyx as Arun.

"Yeah, but we can!" Donald bragged.

"Ah, ah! You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx told, wagging a gloved finger at them.

"We don't have time for this," Arty huffed. She held up her bow to aim at the Nobody. The rest followed her stance to get ready to fight. "Out of the way, Nobody! We've got bigger fish to fry."

Seeing them all ready their weapons, Demyx winced.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy," he muttered to himself.

"Who is this kook?" Sora asked Arun.

The younger looking Keyblade wielder shrugged.

"No clue. I just met him in a random castle after waking up and in the Underworld. Other than being annoying, I have no clue."

"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," Goofy cautioned.

"Right, no hearts," Max affirmed.

"Oh, we do, too, have hearts! Don't be mad," Demyx soothed, mocking.

Caelum snorted.

"As if we'd fall for that."

That seemed to be a trigger of some sorts. Demyx's face suddenly fell to one of stoicism. The temperature dropped several degrees when they saw no emotions in that once seemingly goofy looking face. Arun had a bad feeling all of a sudden. He leveled a finger straight at Sora.

"Silence, traitor." A shiver went down their backs. Somehow, even his voice became menacing! It was no longer full of good fun. It was at a lower octave that promised pain. A dome of water suddenly formed around him. He stretched out his hand at the pinnacle. The dome became a bubble in his hand where it exploded and formed his sitar. He grasped the weapon to point at them. "Dance, water! Dance!"

Much like in the Underworld, jets of water sprayed at them. However, this time there was no curse to hold Demyx back. The jets were at full power where it swept nearly all of them off their feet. Arun, Caelum, and Goofy were caught unaware and were sent across the grounds where they landed at the top of the small staircase. Everyone else stood their ground, soaked to the bone. Arun managed to right himself up in time to see a shimmering barrier to appear in front of him and the broken archway. Gasping, he stepped forward to go to his friends except was pushed back by an invisible wall.

"Arun!" Max yelped, seeing his friend and father struggle to get to them.

"It wouldn't be fair to me if it were seven against one," Demyx chuckled, stroking the chords of his sitar. "This is to even the odds a little better."

"You coward!" Caelum snarled. He stood and pounded his fist against the wall.

The Nobody shrugged.

"Sling your insults all you like. You can't do anything to help your friends." Demyx strummed a few more chords. Water formed around him to take shape of himself and what appeared to be eighth notes. He played a riff as the water clones surrounded Sora, Donald, Max, and Arty.

"Not this again!" Sora shouted, swiping his Keyblade through a clone. Though they were clones, they did not do anything to attack them. Instead, they came close to them as if to envelop them whole. It become more obvious when they were being pushed against one another's backs. "Donald! C'mon, let's show him what we can do!"

"Right!" Donald hopped onto top of Sora's shoulders. Waving his staff, a bunch of those magical fireworks he had used before. They gathered around them. Letting out a cry, he launched them at the clones as Sora leapt at another clone, Keyblade swinging. The fireworks hit a few of the clones where they dispersed into puddles. The ones that they missed Max and Arty took care of with a few swings and shots. Sora took out the last one that was right in front of Demyx.

His blade went through the clone and hit Demyx's right hand resting on the board. The Nobody yelped, waving his hand furiously. While he was distracted, Sora slashed at him as Donald sent the rest of his firework rockets at Demyx.

Demyx was not all that ignorant. He leapt backwards as he strummed a chord to summon water to wet the rockets before they hit him. A pillar of water shot up from beneath Demyx's feet. The pressure sent Sora and Donald away from him. The two barely had time to recover when the Nobody flew across the courtyard. Max dragged Arty out of his path before they were hit. Demyx landed, strummed a few more chords, and huge bubbles of water shot out around him. Everyone had to weave between the spaces to avoid getting hit. Otherwise, they were hit by scalding water that was demonstrated when Sora was hit. His arm turned a bright shade of red-a symptom of being burned. Donald healed it before it could scar.

Arun watched helplessly behind the barrier as his friends fought against the water frenzied Demyx. He clenched his hands tightly. His breath was held in anticipation. They were forced to stand, helpless, while they all fought against the most annoying Nobody they had ever met. Max and Arty were in there. He should be helping them! It was frustrating to watch them fight and there was not a thing he could do to help! If it weren't for the stubborn barrier, he'd be able to! Instead, he had to stand there like a good boy to see the outcome.

"Don't worry, fellas. They'll be fine," Goofy said, rest assured. He tried to soothe both boys, who were both anxious to go help their friends. How he could remain calm, Arun didn't know. It made him jealous the Captain could be like that in a dire situation. "They're all good at protectin' each other. They can handle this."

"I really hope you're right, Goofy." Caelum gritted his teeth to keep himself from exploding. His urge to break the barrier himself was strong, though he knew it would be no use. Unusually wide and worried eyes darted across the battlefield to watch Arty slide underneath a water sphere to head for Sora. "I know that they can take care of themselves. It's just-Sora, look out!"

"C'mon, keep to the beat!" Demyx laughed. A pillared wall of water shot up from behind and in front of him. They fell and rose to the beat of Demyx's instrument. They got to close to where Sora was away from either Donald and Max, both of whom were blasted to a stone wall by the water. Sora tried to get close to Demyx, diving and standing to his feet in front of Demyx, when Arty managed to tackle him out of harm's way. A second later six geysers rose from where Sora once stood.

Sora blinked up at Arty where she was lying on top of him. Her hair fell around her face as she pushed herself up to her elbows. Sora said something to Arty. They were too far away to hear he said or if Arty said anything back. She shook her head, getting to her feet. Surprisingly, she also pulled Sora to his feet and pushed him towards Demyx.

"Fight him, Sora! We'll talk later," she growled, loud enough for all of them to hear.

"B-But-" He froze at the sight of her sweeping her hair back. There was a glare in her eyes.

"We don't have time to talk now!"

Arty was right. As soon as Demyx finished his attack, he started another round that made them scramble around to dodge the water. They were left stumbling around like headless chickens. It was almost embarrassing to watch them go like that.

When the six pillars of water rose again Max was the one in danger now. Thankfully, he had the foresight to move out of the way in time around Demyx. The sitar player was so confident in his abilities he did not think Max would get around him.

"This is for Arun!" Max shouted. He raised his shield and slammed the flat side on Demys's head. His eyes crossed for a moment, staggering back. All water attacks stopped. Arun could not help but burst out laughing.

"When did you get so violent, Max?" he asked through his laughter.

"You and Caelum are bad influences on me. Anyway, Sora!"

Sora got the gist of what Max meant. He just made an opening for him. Holding his breath, light emitted from Sora's clothes. Arun could only wonder what was happening when the light burst out and something shattered. It nearly blinded Arun that he had to close his eyes. When the light faded Arun and Caelum stared at Sora in disbelief.

Somehow, Sora's clothes had changed colors. It was no longer predominantly black and was now a rich blue color. On the edges of his pants' legs were blue flames that made Arun think of the Bunsen burners used in science class. There were also blue sparks of magic emitting from the soles of his shoes that made him slide across the ground as if he were on an ice rink. Donald was nowhere to be seen.

"Fire!" Flames danced around Sora as he slid towards Demyx. The Nobody could not do a thing as Sora circled around him, the flames dancing around him. Demyx tried to summon more water to douse the flames except Sora was going too fast for him to do so. Arun almost lost sight of him, the black coat enveloped completely by the fire until bubble burst out.

Through the tiny opening the water bubble made, Demyx managed to escape the circling flames. He was not out of the clear yet because Arty was waiting for him. Bow ready, she fired an arrow straight at him. Demyx caught sight of the shining arrow and shifted to the side to dodge it. But, he did not expect for her to rush towards him with one of her arrows in hand like one would hold a knife. She slashed it down at where his hand rested, slicing through the strings and the back of his hand. Blood fell from the back and onto his instrument.

Taken back, Demyx was too stunned by what she did he did not notice Sora come up behind him to shoot a sharpened shard of ice at his back. Only too late he did. Whirling around, he raised his sitar to block the ice except the ice pierced through the sitar and through him.

There was an air of tense silence. Demyx froze. His instrument turned back to the water it originally was. As it faded, they saw the hole in his torso where the ice had pierced him. Instead of seeing blood, they saw darkness float out of him. Looking down, he screamed.

"No-No way!"

The darkness edged off of his form piece by piece until he vanished. The moment he fell so did the barriers that kept Arun, Caelum, and Goofy out.

Arun rushed to Arty and Max while Goofy went to Sora and Donald. Sora's clothes returned to normal and Donald came back from wherever he went. Arun needed to ask how Sora managed to use that power.

"Arty! Max! Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?" He shot off his questions at rapid fire. He just had to know if they were okay. Seeing would not tell him if they were. For all he knew they would hide their injuries from him.

"We're okay. Just soaking wet," Max said through chattering teeth. Both of them were soaked to the bone from all the water.

"That was a really risky thing of you to do, Arty." Caelum chuckled his anxiety away. He held out a hand where fire floated above the palm of his hand. Max huddled towards it to warm himself. "I didn't think you would do something like that. You're not usually the type to rush into battle like that."

Arty laughed, inching towards Arun to get some of his body warmth. Arun saw she was cold as well. He held out some fire for her to warm herself as well.

"I didn't know I had it in me, too. I just panicked," she admitted, reverting her bow back to its bracelet form. She cupped her hands around Arun's hands. They were barely just touching, which made Arun's cheeks warm. "But, if I had a choice, I don't want to do that again. That fight was scary."

"Tell that to Sora." Caelum nodded his head at Sora, who glared at their surroundings for any more enemies.

"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?" Sora shouted for all to hear.

"Sora, don't antagonize them!" Donald warned.

"Yeah, we barely managed to beat one of them. We don't need more on us," Arty panted, wringing out her hair of water. Max and Donald did the same with their clothes since they were soaked to the bone. Arty shivered, hugging her body.

Sora smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Aha! There you are!" Mickey came running up to them from the Bailey. He slowed to a halt as he caught up to them, crossing his arms. He frowned at the group like a father would with his mischievous children. This caused them to look at the ground like the kids most of them were. Arun glanced up to see him smile fondly, shaking his head. "You sure have lotsa friends to help. So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!"

They all sagged in relief. Thank goodness they weren't in trouble. Then, they straightened.

"Yes, your Majesty!"

They began to walk towards the stairs that would leave them to what would become a giant battle. Arun followed right behind Arty and Max, yet he paused at the sound of an explosion from above.

"Look out!" Goofy yelled behind them.

Arun whirled around in time to see Goofy push King Mickey out of the way before a huge boulder fell from above. It crashed straight into Goofy's head. Arty screamed as the impact threw his body against the cliff wall. Like a rag doll, he slid to the floor, motionless.

For a second everyone stood, frozen. They were too astonished the past five seconds. Arun couldn't even breathe.

"DAD!" Max yelled, terrified. He broke the spell left on them. He ran towards Goofy with Donald, Sora, and Arty screaming for Goofy. Once reaching him, Max fell to his knees beside him and began to shake him. "Dad! Dad, c'mon! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

Even with Max, Donald, and Sora urging him to open his eyes, Goofy did not stir. Arty stopped breathing entirely as Max's attempts began to become desperate.

"Please…I'm sorry I thought you were embarrassing. I won't be embarrassed anymore. Just please wake up…" Max was all but shaking Goofy violently. Arty placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. Tears clung to her eyes.

"Max, stop. There's-You can't-" Her voice cracked, unable to finish her words. She covered her mouth to hold back a sob. "He's not going to wake up."

The reality of her words hit them like that boulder. Donald held onto Goofy, sobbing, while Sora, Caelum, and Arun closed their eyes as if the words punched them in the gut.

"This can't be happening. It can't…" Sora said in denial. The pain in his voice spoke otherwise.

Arun didn't know what to feel. This was the first time he ever felt like he lost someone. All his life he had no one he truly cared for except Arty, her dad, and Caelum. When Arty's dad was taken that night a year ago he had no time to mourn before he was taken as well. It all happened too fast. Now, he had come to care for the people around him. It was not just Arty and Caelum he cared about anymore. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey and everyone else! He started to think of them as his friends. To see his comrade, his friend, fall before him…He suddenly felt empty. And he hated that feeling.

Rage bubbled up inside him. Max was his friend. He did not deserve to see his own father whom he had been waiting for to come home fall before him because of some stupid boulder. He did not deserve that. No one did!

They're gonna pay for this!

Arun's hand clenched tightly into a fist. Darkness danced around his fingertips to form his Keyblade. He spun on his heel and ran down the cliff path, ignoring Caelum calling after him. He did not care he was leaving his friends behind.

The Heartless were going to pay and they would realize they should fear him.