Still in serching for beta. R&R.

II

Aqua didn't know how long she had been running, but when she lost all her strength and stopped, she still could hear the vicious growls of Heartless. It was pointless, she didn't have her Keyblade and was surrounded by the enemies, there was no way she would get out of it alive. She sat down on the ground, breathing heavily, and looked up at the gray sky above.

"I'm sorry Ven, I'm afraid we won't see each other anytime soon," she said quietly.

She wanted to cry but there was no point in it either. In this dark, cruel realm no one will listen to her prayers or screams. There was only death, waiting for any sign of weakness and at that moment Aqua felt weaker than ever. She was trying to stay awake but tiredness came back with double force and was attacking every part of her body. She knew that if she fell asleep it would be over. Heartless were everywhere, she could feel their dark presence, she could hear their footsteps, she almost felt their fangs against her skin. It was a matter of time as they would find and kill her. She was alone, defenseless, and deadly tired, in that state she couldn't fight or flee, and moreover, she lost her will to struggle with destiny. She almost wished she had died in the battle with Xehanort. It would be an honorable death, not such rotting.

Suddenly she heard many steps. They were close, too close for her comfort, so she got up, and despite everything, prepared to fight.

The attack came out of the blue when three Shadows fell on her from above. Aqua jumped aside, but there were another few Heartless and one of them bit her in the arm. She screamed in pain and cast Fira to clean her path. But there were too many of them and she didn't have her Keyblade to defend herself. It was hopeless.

More Heartless jumped on her and she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She had no chance to get up as more claws pierced her body. She couldn't see the sky above, only the dark bodies of Heartless and their yellow, inhuman eyes. Aqua tried to push monsters from her but there were too many of them and she was too weak. She couldn't breathe and began to tremble with both fear and pain.

Aqua was terrified and started to scream in panic when black flame annihilated most of the Heartless in her surroundings. Next, she heard a metallic clang as something fell near her. She opened her eyes, she didn't know she had closed and saw her Master's Keyblade. Still stunned, she set up and closed her palms on a familiar hilt. It was like getting back the lost limb - a breathtaking feeling.

And then she focused on a person standing a few steps away from her. He was still covered in blood and on his face was a furious grimace as he cast another Dark Firaga and destroyed all remaining Heartless.

"Never! Never, ever again try to save me! You fucking witch! I don't want to have any debt to you! Understand?!" he shouted so angrily that she winced.

She knew that he was the creature of darkness, but at this point Vanitas was far beyond it. He was so furious, so full of hate, that the malice and darkness almost were evaporating from him. It was strange, he didn't react that way when they were fighting. He was brutal and taunting but showed no such fury. Aqua didn't understand it. Was the reason for his behavior because she had saved him, she had shown him a little kindness? Was it enraging him that much? In that case, why did he save her?

She stared at him in silence for a few seconds and then tried to stand up. Her legs were weak and she felt pain in almost every part of her body, but she wasn't sure if Vanitas wouldn't try to attack her now the Heartless were gone. On the other hand, he also looked like he could collapse at any moment.

The silence prolonged as they stood in front of each other too tired to fight, too paranoid to turn back from the enemy. Aqua tightened her grip on the Keyblade as she spotted how tight he was holding his. And suddenly they heard heavy steps that made the ground tremble. In the distance, they saw three huge creatures, walking towards them. There wasn't time to fight, and neither of them had the strength for the next battle.

"Vanitas…" she started, didn't exactly know what she wanted to say. She hated him more than anybody, he was a pure abomination, but now he was the only human being here, and the better company than Heartless.

"What?!" he snapped angrily.

"I need a break and you either. You have to choose: me or them," she pointed to giant Heartless.

She saw as he glanced at the monster for a moment and winced.

"What a bullshit," he cursed and crossed his arms. "So what is the plan?"

"Hide somewhere, rest, and kill those things".

"Fine, but if you try something I will cut your throat."

That should be her line, but she stopped the riposte, and still with Keyblade in her hand she ran from this battlefield.

She managed only to run to the nearest destroyed building that must have been pulled into this realm many years ago, because it was broken, destroyed, and almost entirely ruined. But it had walls that hid them from the eyes of Heartless so it was better than she could wish for.

She sat down on the ground near a glassless window and saw as Vanitas walked to the furthest side of the room and sat against the opposite wall. He was staring at her with wary eyes as if he thought she might attack him at any time.

"You have four hours," she said quietly. "I'll be on guard."

He snorted but said nothing. She saw as he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He held the Keyblade firmly in his hand.

It was so strange. About an hour ago they had tried to kill each other and now they sat almost peacefully in one room, it was so unnerving that Aqua doubted she could sleep in his presence. He didn't seem to have that kind of thoughts, because he very quickly fell asleep, or maybe he was more exhausted than he wanted to show.

Although, it was very hard for her to stay awake when she sat in silence and there was nothing to disturb her. Few times she saw Heartless far away but they didn't spot her. This hideout turned out quite safe.

She said four hours, but it was a little pointless because she hadn't anything to check the time, so she waited as long as she could and when tiredness was unbearable she said louder.

"Your turn."

Almost right away, Vanitas opened his eyes. He seemed a little startled for one second, but quickly regained his composure and looked at her with a scowl. Then he got to his feet and went to the window. When he looked around and didn't notice the enemy, he said with a growl.

"Don't waste my time."

She didn't want to show how weak she felt, but her legs were trembling so annoyingly and she swayed a little as she stood up, so it was impossible for him not to notice. She hid in the furthest corner of the room and closed her eyes. However, she still could feel his dark presence. Even with her eyes closed, she knew that he was sitting a few meters away and she felt this ugly, metallic scent that was caused by his magic.

But she needed sleep. It was a matter of life and death. She couldn't fight in this state and if Vanitas will kill her in sleep it will only speed up everything. In this place, death seemed to be inevitable.

With this in her thoughts, she breathed heavily and was trying to think about something nice. As she was falling asleep she saw the day when she and Ven had baked the apple pie on Terra's birthday.

She was awakened by a pull on her arm. When she opened her eyes, she shuddered as she saw a pair of yellow eyes above and felt a gloved hand on her mouth. At first, she panicked but then she saw as Vanitas placed one finger on his lips and looked at the window. There was a monstrous, black hand with huge claws that was reaching inside. She held her breath and sat up when Vanitas showed her three fingers and then three different directions. She understood and nodded. Keyblade automatically appeared in her hand. She didn't know how much time she was asleep, but soreness in her limb still was present. But it wasn't a good time for complaining. She should be happy that Vanitas woke her up, instead of running away and leaving her with Darksiders.

He gave her a sign to stay in place and wait. The fear that crawled under her skin moved faster as she saw Vanitas' increasing concentration. She didn't know what he was doing, but she already didn't like it as the darkness was thickening around them. She felt severe nausea and she was sure that she would vomit as she felt the air filled with this sticky, ugly dark. It was as if every happiness, every hope was taken away from her. She wanted to scream, but she had to remember that every noise could reveal their hideout.

She saw as darkness was evaporating from Vanitas' body and was filling the whole room. She couldn't breathe and began to lose consciousness, but as suddenly as it started it had stopped. The air cleared and Heartless vanished.

She looked with confusion at the man next to her.

"Are you insane?! Do you want to kill both of us?!" he barked and got up to his feet.

She didn't understand what he meant by this.

"What…"

Vanitas growled and he looked like he wanted to bite her.

"Do you know where you are? Those creatures are luring to every light and you started shining like some fucking North Star. Any Heartless within a few miles could feel it."

She looked at him in disbelief, was it possible that her dream had caused the attack? Were even happy dreams forbidden in this cursed place?

But it wasn't important now.

"What have you done?"

He rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't matter now, it never works for too long."

She saw as he was looking at the outside and materialized his Keyblade in hand. She didn't have to ask what to do. She stood up and went to the door. As she opened it, she saw three massive creatures that were going back and forth maybe two hundred feet away from them. They couldn't escape, as soon as they leave the shelter, they would be spotted. There weren't many places to hide in sight, and the three Darksiders weren't their only problem. Many small Heartless could hide in the shadows.

She was trying to think about the best tactic when she saw Vanitas running to the monsters. He was insane and apparently didn't think about the consequences of his actions.

At first, she wanted to stop him but after a second thought, she stayed in place. Last time, when she had helped him, he was furious, so maybe she should leave him alone. If he wanted to be killed it was his choice.

But at the same time, she thought that she shouldn't pay attention to what he said or did. He wasn't her teammate or companion, now he was only a little less than the enemy, so she didn't want to stay behind. She wasn't going to show weakness even when she still felt so tired, not to him, no to anybody.

With the Keyblade in hand, she rushed to the nearest monster and slashed his huge arm with a strong blow. Then she jumped and cast Thundaga right into his dark head. She didn't have much time and her magic powers didn't fully return, but she managed to add a few more strikes and felt a familiar rush of power. Without another thought, she unleashed Ghost Drive that made her faster than any Heartless could be.

She was jumping between Darksiders attacking them without hesitation. Each strike glowed with white light that seemed to add more damages to Heartless. In the end, she managed to do the final strike when a dozen of bright blades stuck to one of the monsters and blew up causing a powerful shockwave. The eruption melted one of the Darksiders to nothing, and a shockwave destroyed the other two.

Aqua landed on the ground with grace and looked at Vanitas who stood nearby with disbelief painted on his face.

"Witch," he murmured when recovered from the shock.

She frowned and lifted her Keyblade to eye level.

"This is the power of worth less than nothing Master," she said with the barely hidden threat in her voice.

He still kept his Keyblade in hand ready for the attack but on his face, the shock made the room for a familiar taunting smile.

"Look who has regained her confidence. I'm not afraid of you, I can beat your mastery ass at any time."

"You are disgusting," she said and lowered her weapon.

She felt the rush of adrenaline had ended and her limbs began to tremble. She didn't want to show any weakness, so she turned around and moved on without knowing the direction.

"Where are you going?! Don't turn back from me!" Vanitas yelled angrily.

Aqua stopped and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

She didn't know where to go, but she understood one thing:

"I have to get away from this realm, there is no point in staying here."

Vanitas began to laugh sardonically at her statement.

"I didn't think you are so naive," he shouted after her. "This is the Realm of the Darkness, this is a cage, a prison for the cursed souls as ours. You will be searching for an exit forever!"

She didn't look at him anymore, she didn't believe him, she simply couldn't, otherwise, everything would have been for nothing.