Dedicated to my Life.

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I had tests.

Disclaimer: I'll own Kingdom Hearts when I rule the world. (Snorts.)

ooo

Riku pressed his palms against Tarsus' veil. It didn't yield to his touch, witch both surprised and unsurprised him. (Nothing was easy.) The thought of Sora succeeding where he, himself, failed was...

Especially since Sora wasn't concerted with his own, best interest.

Riku sighed. "You made this look so easy," he grumbled.

Riku focused his attention on the veil. Once, it had been a World, so full of promise. Now it was nothing more than the Mastery's stronghold. Sora, Kairi, and Nevaeh were trapped – inches beyond his fingertips. Yet Riku was powerless.

Riku hammered the veil. It resonated a dull thong at his abuse. Nothing more. Riku sighed. "Why can't I get through?" he demanded to nobody in particular.

A girly scoff was cause for Riku to turn. And there Nevaeh stood, ghostly, looking much too pleased for Riku's liking. "The only way you can enter," Nevaeh tapped Riku on the end of his nose (He didn't feel anything.), "is by steeping yourself in darkness." Nevaeh smiled. "Light is not permitted." She gestured for him to leave. "I suggest you follow the King's orders and-"

"You forget..."

Nevaeh balked. Her phantom hair billowed every which way. "Don't you dare!" She maneuvered herself between Riku and Tarsus' veil. "Can't you see that's what Tarsus wants you to do?" Nevaeh stood firm. Despite her being a non-solid. "I can't let you go."

Riku eyed Nevaeh from behind his bangs. His lips turned to smirk. "I'm coming for you whether you like it or not."

Stupidity in the name of love was new to Nevaeh. "You..." She collected herself. "Stop playing hero! What if you never turn back to normal? What if-"

"Anything I have to be..." Riku faltered. He closed his eyes. Whether based on concentration or based on not-wanting-to-see-Nevaeh's-blushing, who could say. It was hard to tell. "Anything I have to be, I'll be. For you." Riku focused on the evil that resided in his heart. The evil he needed to save his friends.

Riku knew he was playing into Tarsus' hands. He also knew that to 'transform' would mean shrouding Nevaeh's heart...the very one beating at an unsurpassed pace...the very organ pulsing quickly enough to stave the pain in his legs...

Sora's power to slip into Tarsus' veil was explained, at least. He was an embodiment of evil. Almost. The light of Kairi's heart wasn't and couldn't be detected.

"I'll do anything." Riku cleared his throat. Expressing himself with words wasn't exactly simple. "Even if it means laying down my life, Heaven, I promise..." He decided not to finish.

"Mr. Riku." Nevaeh, overwhelmed by Riku's folly, leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek. Since Riku couldn't feel the presence of her lips, she needn't worry about pretenses. "Don't die," she whispered.

"I'll try."

Nevaeh pressed her face into his. Melding, nearly. "Keep your pulse. I won't be there to come to your rescue."

Riku's eyebrows peeked. He wondered at her tone of voice. "Don't you mean flirt with me?" Riku gulped for air. He had to prepare himself – in case the worst should happen. He didn't realize that, in the midst of this, he was inhaling Nevaeh's apparition. "I'll be on the move. I doubt my pulse will suffer. No matter what spell Tarsus has on my blood."

Neveah delayed him with her words: "Don't go looking for trouble."

"Can't guarantee I won't."

"Be careful."

"That's impossible."

"Whatever you do, don't get lost. Don't forget yourself."

"Noted."

"Most importantly: Don't drop your guard."

"Hn." Riku's skin darkened to mocha. The hair at his temples shortened and stood on end. His bangs combed against his crown, sleek and white. His height increased, but not enough for his pants to tear. Or limit his mobility. Riku came to the realization that he knew himself. More so than the time his alter ego decided to go head-to-head with Tony Sarmiento. He had a feeling Nevaeh's heart was the root.

Nevaeh vanished, whispering a sentiment Riku couldn't hear.

ooo

Axel laughed. He sat on a comfortable sofa right-smack-dab between the two, hottest girls he knew. Larxene and...the lady with the bow and the braid. He forgot her name. They were busy feeding him chocolates while Leon's ninja-friend fanned him with an extravagant feather.

Axel stretched his long shanks. He plopped his tuckered footsies on the coffee table laden with more treats to devour via beautiful hands. "No need to rush, ladies," Axel purred. "There's more than enough Axel to go around."

A soft tap to the forehead revived Axel's dreaming subconscious. He unwillingly closed his eyes against his fantasy and opened them to find the King. Axel scowled. "No offense, your Majesty, but yours isn't a face worth awaking to." Axel sighed at the loss of his dream. "What a drag."

Mickey acted as if he hadn't heard him. "Get up. We need to get out of here before Tarsus-"

Axel waved an interruption. "Wait!" He sat upright as quick as anything. He studied his surroundings with bug-eyes. "Tarsus was here! And he-" Axel clapped a hand over his mouth before palming himself in the forehead. "Dang." He took his pointer and drew the score: "Tarsus: 1. Good guys: 0."

The King made a face. "His score will keep improving if we don't move." Abrupt and out of the blue, Mickey held his wrist in front of his nose. He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a tiny radio in the shape of a watch. "Leon, we have a situation."

Leon's voice replied: "Tell me about it..."

In the background, a multitude of voices were heard, echoing off the palace walls.

"As soon as The Pete helps obliterate Tarsus 'n his Chasers, Maleficent'll open a can of freak on all of you!"

"Oh d-d-dear!"

"This reminds a genie of his traveling days. Picture it. Sicily. 1762..."

Lions were roaring.

"What-ev-ah shall we do?"

"Ah, Fifi, do not fret, my love."

Leon sighed. "It's a circus."

Mickey almost smiled. But his ears fell. "Sora and Riku aren't coming."

(A/N: The King knows they disobeyed because...he's the King. Hehe.)

"What?" Leon's voice hissed. "Why not? What's happened?"

"YEAH!" Axel interjected. "What's going on here?" He stood to his feet, albeit wobbly.

Mickey prepared to cut the connection with his thumb. "I'll explain when I arrive." He pulled his sleeve over the built-in mic. He turned to face Donald and Goofy, who were still in the process of shaking off their sleep. "We need to hurry. The first wave it coming."

ooo

Sora sprinted straight ahead, past the monolith columns of onyx. The darkness was nothing to him anymore. What once might have been chilling didn't stave or suppress. It thrived in his body. Made him faster. Stronger. Angrier.

Hordes of Chasers blinked at him from the depths of the shadows of Tarsus' realm. They didn't dare approach. Sora couldn't help but notice that he was looking more and more like Tarsus' creations. His ears were lengthening. His feet were more claw than not. His hair trickled from the nape of his neck down in-between his shoulder blades. A snout was also taking shape. Fangs were in plenty.

Sora's pace grew and grew. He was nothing more than a shadow amongst shadows. Mobility was surprisingly unhindered. By darkness or its forces. Sora expected resistance. Resistance of what kind, he wasn't sure. But 'nothing' was almost as scary.

Sora spotted a break in the distance. He aimed for the archway, only to find an exit. A mile-long drawbridge connected the castle interior to the far-away bank. And even though Sora crouched at such a gap. He could tell what lay across the way.

People. From every World. The ones Tarsus captured with his lies.

All of them were chained to the ground – chained at their ankles. Likewise, they all held spades with which they turned the soil beneath their feet - slimy, thick, and pungent. Their work bred Chasers, newly born from the evil below, small and shaking. It wasn't long before Tarsus' oppressive power invigorated them to rise, transform, and torture the very person that released them.

In spite of Sora's state of being, he shuddered.

ooo

Riku found his footing. He took a moment to calm himself – let his eyes adjust. Nevaeh's heart wasn't responding as well as he'd hoped. It beat, maybe, once every ten seconds. The pain in his legs was horrendous, but Riku withstood. He hadn't been reduced to his knees just yet. He was going to keep moving until he couldn't move anymore.

Riku discovered that he'd materialized inside a long, claustrophobic antechamber. Water dripped from the ceiling. The floor was littered with fermenting puddles of who-knew-what. Though he decided to steer clear, Riku utilized the sizzling pools as a mirror. He cringed at what he saw. "Ansem..." he muttered to himself with a different voice.

He could feel that part of him strive to take control. He could feel it gaining ground. And quickly.

"Hold on, Heaven," Riku announced. "I'm coming to save you." He took a step forward.

"Holdz it, lover boy."

Riku's insides were consumed by a fire he didn't know he had. "Sarmiento." He cut his eyes to the right and caught a glimpse of Tony peripherally. "Where. Is. Heaven?"

Sarmiento shrugged. He walked toward Riku from behind. His legs were whole, his physical condition was in perfect health, and his flippancy was infuriating. He sloshed through the toxic fluids, but his bare feet didn't burn. "I'd likes to know where she is, myself..." Tony squinted his violet eyes. "...Bodyguard."

Riku bristled.

"I can tellz its you," Tony scoffed. "I nevah forgets a face."

Riku ignored his comment. He stood stiff. "What do you want?"

"Wantz?" Tony smirked. "I wantz to save 'Vaeh." Before Riku could express his surprise, Sarmiento withdrew a large handful of memory. A bright, white-blue. Like a ball of snow. "I'z even gots all her memories, thanks to Mastah." He considered each particle with vague interest. "The only promblemz is you." Tony pried a grain of memory from the sparkling sphere he held. "Aw," he cooed. "Will ya looks at dis. A kiss," he said bitterly.

Tony crushed the memory ember.

Riku tried to curb his rage. Losing himself was non-negotiable.

Sarmiento laughed. "If youze insist on searchin' for 'Vaeh..." He plucked another memory from his collection. He didn't bother finishing his threat. "And don't thinkz I won't."

ooo

A/N: Tony's evil.

POLL: Would you rather I post:

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YAY! It's almost Christmas! If I'm not finished with TW by Christmas, and I haven't started on the 'holiday' section of The Afters, then I'll post my fun-holiday-cheer right here. Just so you know.

Leave a review and I'll try to get back to you if I'm not studying for finals!

God bless!