Several images shimmered in the air near the dome for the onlookers who came and went, each focused on a single contestant and their progress. It was the third day of the competition and only a few people remained strong for the running of being the victor. Xehanort studied the screens keenly, yet his thoughts remained scattered over recent events. He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach, one that had remained since Namine had told him of a broken vision she had seen years ago.

Footsteps behind him stirred the older man from his thoughts. Glancing behind him, he noted the three men who had joined him on the balcony before promptly returning his attention to the remaining contestants. His golden eyes picked out Riku, who was currently struggling his way through the elements of air to reach the Tempest stone.

"Any progress with that wolf shifter?" he inquired as he watched the shifter dance across flying debris. A short silence followed before he heard a response.

"He's still fighting it, but it's a losing battle. He won't be able to hold out for much longer." Xehanort hummed in disappointment. It was one thing for a shifter to be unable to connect to their animal, but it was another when one refused their other half completely. "In fact, he may have made the situation worse when he resorted to dark magic. He hasn't been looking too hot lately."

Xehanort turned fully this time toward the men, eyeing the one who had spoken to him. He pinned a look to the scar on the middle of the man's face before letting a smirk show.

"He seems to be doing just fine in the competition, Seifer. He's tied in second place right now with nary a struggle against his wolf. Seems like he had less control of it when he gave you that little trophy on your face."

Seifer scowled at the older man. It has been during Riku's first year and Seifer had pestered him long and hard to get the boy to let his wolf out, to assess his strength and control. It was then that they realized the younger boy's wolf was larger than average, almost the size of a dire wolf. His lion and the wolf fight had been forced to end with the help Xehanort and a few others, but not before the silver wolf had left a gash across his face. He had never again pushed the boy as far, but he prodded in hopes of getting results.

"Yes, yes. But we do need to get this settled. If what you've said is true, then he could very well be the destruction that ensues in the future. Shifters who can't complete the bond with their animal never just roll over and die," Seifer said gruffly.

"Of course. But his wolf is growing stronger..." Xehanort paused, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the ground. "He is a descendant of Fenrir. With the strength and stamina that Riku possesses already, plus the size of the wolf, I am almost certain of this."

The three men all stared at him, shock plastered on their faces.

"Does he-"

"No, he doesn't know. I would be quite surprised if anyone knew, to be honest. The animal side of shifters are not simply passed down by their parents. You know this, do you not, Seifer?"

"Y-yes. When we come of age, a spirit animal pairs with us, thus creating two halves of a whole. It's been explained in books if parents are too lazy to teach their children, or if they have no parents," he replied.

"Good. You may be a brute, but at least you aren't completely brainless." He ignored Seifer as he sputtered over words, once again returning his attention to the screens.

Riku had just achieved his achieved his fifth stone and was following his steps back into the area of dark magic. His eyes drifted to a young girl with short black hair, a highly spirited sylph if he had ever seen one. With obtaining her sixth stone, she was in the lead. Axel wasn't far behind, working his way through the illusion challenge toward the Phantasm stone. Next, he studied Sora and his progress. When he had read his report, Xehanort had had doubts of the boy. Aside from the rumored mental disorders, he hadn't shown signs of being a very good vampire, if that was such a thing. It only showed in certain instances which, according to his parents, put everyone's safety at risk. It was interesting, to say the least, which was why he had allowed the boy to come to the Academy. He had felt there was a further mystery behind the brunette, and so far he had only drawn up a couple of hypotheses.

"And what of Sora?"

"His skills come to him naturally. Don't let his personality fool you, Headmaster," came Vincent's reply. "Aside from the report I had given you a week ago, nothing else has happened. To be frank, he carries on like he's trying to forget that it had."

"Ah, but if he's under the assumption he has psychosis, or even a split personality, wouldn't it be traumatic that it could have spurred his reaction? It isn't every day someone comes in here and simply wants to kill another, let alone an Elder. Humor me by giving me your real thoughts Valentine."

Vincent regarded Xehanort with a cold stare.

"Even if Sora had psychosis or split personality, it doesn't explain the fact that his abilities had easily matched mine. His speed was enhanced to the point of flash stepping. He hasn't had enough experience or practice to do such a thing," he reported, taking a few slow steps toward the edge of the balcony. He raised his eyes to the screen showing Sora as he maneuvered and battled several forms of murky shadows. If the boy had possessed any of the abilities he had shown that day, he could easily flash step his way to the stone and ignore the fighting. But at least he had come into his skills easily, with the training they had been doing every day. Vincent sat, balancing himself on the sub wall, and tapped at his jaw. "Aside from that, the boy broke from my thrall. That in itself is a mystery I am still trying to figure out. My only lead is that, when it happened, his eyes weren't simply red from being in a frenzy. One was red and one was yellow."

"A mystery, indeed. Do you think he has another personality, like his parents believe?" asked Xehanort.

"Doubtful."

Xehanort hummed again in thought, processing the information. He had many interesting students in his care, all carrying their own mysteries. But it was only a matter of time before someone caused genocide, not just for them, but for the humans. They had to work at a faster pace if they wanted to attempt to change Namine's vision of fire, blood and darkness.

"Marluxia. It's time that you and Paine worked some of your magic on these boys. We need to test them further, to get answers." Vincent furrowed his brows at the Headmaster's demands, but Marluxia simply smiled as he crossed an arm over his chest and mocked a bow.

"I'm sure we can most definitely do that, sir."

"Stop following me."

Riku walked faster, as if by miracle he could leave the brunette behind. They had, literally, ran into each other once again. But instead of inciting a squabble, the shifter had pushed his way past the shorter vampire and continued forward to his next destination. It was to his dismay that he realized that Sora was following the same path, and most likely headed to the same place.

"What? You want me to let you win, just like that? There's no way," retorted Sora, pushing forward after the shifter.

"You really should just give up. You look like shit."

It wasn't a dishonest statement, rather the reason why Riku didn't want to go at it with him in the first place. The brunette not only bore scratches, gashes and wounds randomly strewn around his body, but he looked like he hadn't slept in days and his eyes were rimmed red and slowly bleeding into the oceanic irises. If the shifter had to guess anything at all, Sora had gone the last three days without a single feeding.

"Not happening. You don't look any better, you know," snapped the brunette. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and, as he looked past the shifter and around them, came to a stop. "Do you even know where you're going?"

Hearing the lack of footsteps, Riku glanced behind him. Before he could respond, he noticed that a heavy fog had surrounded the area and effectively blocked off any visual of the path they were walking. He silently cursed himself for being distracted enough to not realize what had been happening. Riku began crossing areas off of his mental list. This was one of the last two places he hadn't been before, and seeing as this didn't seem to relate to anything nature related, this was the place he could find the Phantasm stone.

The shifter looked toward the vampire once again, but he was gone, covered by the thickness of the fog. Thinking quickly, he recalled the name the twins had shouted out from the crowd.

"Sora!"

A scuffle to his left made Riku spin in the direction. Nothing but misty white clouded his vision. Another scuffle from behind made him turn again, but this time he caught a glimpse of something. He tried to follow the shift in the fog, taking a few steps forward only to come face to face with a tree. He touched his hand to the bark, feeling a chill run down his spine. Whatever was happening, whatever the element of this place was, he didn't like it.

"What's wrong? Afraid of what you can't see?"

Riku spun around once again, but instead the white haze blocking his view, he was looking at himself. Clawed hands and sharp teeth were the only things that separated himself from the doppelganger before him, a feat he couldn't naturally do as a shifter. But even as he processed the fact he was staring at a duplicate, fear was gnawing at him.

"You're not real," he said quietly. He began to take slow calculated steps to the side, hoping to be able to put a little distance between them and to get his back away from the tree. Being pinned wasn't on the top of his list. But even as he did so, the doppelganger slashed out with a hand. Riku leapt at an attempt to dodge, feeling the graze of claws on his arm and the warmth of blood trickling a steady stream down his skin.

Okay, apparently real enough...

"I beg to differ. What I want to know is why you're still afraid," said the Riku replica, a tinge of giddiness lacing his voice. He followed the shifter's retreat, slashing out with his claws every chance he got. "You can see me, you know who I am, so why run? Are you afraid to face yourself?"

Riku breathed out sharply and grimaced as he ran his injured arm into the trunk of a tree in his mad escape, attempting to lose the doppelganger whilst dodging around trees and bushes. But the words the replica said rang in his ears. Perhaps he was afraid to face himself. He had been fighting all these years, afraid of his future and what could happen. He was afraid of what he couldn't see. It was then that it dawned on the shifter what he was facing. The element of the Phantasm stone was illusion. The type of magic being used was to weed out and manipulate a person's current greatest fear. Gritting his teeth, he reached toward the wolf in the recess of his mind as he found cover, pulling his shirt over his head and to the side.

"Where, oh where, could my little wolf have ran off to? You're only delaying the inevitable," cooed the doppelganger as he ripped through branches and shrubbery with his claws. When the replica came upon Riku's shirt hanging off of a tree limb, he smirked. "Oh, clever wolf. Finally facing your fears, eh?"

A growl rumbled and a gust of warm air ruffled his silver hair as a large silver wolf bent his head down just above the replica. Before he could turn around and spit out another witty remark, a massive maw snapped shut over his torso. The wolf didn't feel the crunch of bones between his teeth, but he felt the form dissolve into a mist and disappear from sight. Now it was time to find Sora. Despite the rivalry between the two, the vampire wasn't up for a fight, and Riku wasn't the type to ride on an easy victory. Nudging at the wolf mentally, the lupine began to trace back their steps to Riku's clothing, then continued in search of Sora as best as he could.

Sora kept moving forward. As long as he hadn't changed direction, Riku should have been just ahead. But as the seconds ticked by, the shifter was nowhere to be seen and he was feeling worse for wear. He had been right. Sora probably looked exactly how he felt; washed up, tired and extremely hungry. At this rate, the only thing that was keeping him from resting was the fact he wanted to push through his weaknesses to win at the competition. What few wildlife he had ran across between challenges was enough to keep him going, but like the first lesson in Vincent's class, a vampire couldn't be sustained by them.

Well, well. I'd say that's a rather nice looking fellow. Really handsome. Don't you think?

Sora glanced up as he heard the voice resonate in his head. With his weakness came him. But he was right on one thing. Someone was ahead, their head bent toward the ground and their arms crossed over their chest. A fleeting thought that it was Riku spurred him forward, but as he got closer, he realized that it wasn't the shifter. Sora's eyes widened as he recognized the figure, fear lancing through his chest. It was impossible.

Impossible? I don't believe in such a thing, cooed the voice just as the figure lifted their head. Before him was a doppelganger, but not quite himself. It was the doppelganger of the boy everyone claimed he hallucinated. Bright golden eyes stared back at Sora under a mop of soft spiked black hair. Oh, yes. Whoever this guy belongs to did a great job, if I say so myself. Unfortunately, there can't realistically be two of me. I'm already the second you.

"Why so surprised, Sora? You knew it would happen eventually," said the hallucination, a wide grin spreading across his face as Sora clamped his hands to his head.

He barely heard the crunch of footsteps as he walked closer. He wasn't sure whether it was the fear or the fatigue catching up with him that caused him to fall to his knees, but the ebon haired boy was already there. Hands framed Sora's face, forcing him to look up and into the bright eyes just inches away from his own.

"You and I are the same, forever intertwined since the day you died. You do remember, don't you?" Sora could only answer him with silence, his breathing ragged and shaking. "Of course not. Just know that, without me, you are only half of what you are and what you could be. Without me, you're useless and powerless. All you have to do is give in. Let me in control and you'll be one of the most powerful vampires this place will ever see."

Well, he isn't wrong. But this guy is starting to rub me the wrong way. Just let go and let me handle him.

"Get out of my head," whispered the brunette as his fingers gripped his head tighter. A response came to him, but he wasn't sure if it was the doppelganger or the voice in his head. "Get out of my head!"

"Sora!"

The vampire barely registered Riku's voice. He gripped the boy's shoulder in front of him, forcefully shoving him back before struggling to his feet. Piercing the doppelganger with a sharp glare, Sora felt his fangs descend and his nails sharpened to points. In the blink of an eye, his body disappeared. Riku let out a sharp breath as he saw the brunette reappear just as quickly behind the boy, arm already drawn back to strike. Without hesitation, his arm shot through the chest of the ebon haired boy, causing him to fade into a misty fog once more.

Riku felt his feet carry him forward, stopping just couple of short feet from Sora. Aside from falling back to his knees, the vampire hadn't even bothered to move or respond to the shifter. He thought of the black haired boy, Sora's greatest fear. Had it been himself, or was it another person entirely? Whoever it was, they had done some sort of number to the brunette.

"Sora, it's over. We can go get the Phantasm stone," said the shifter, taking a step forward. This caused Sora to snap his head up, crimson eyes causing the silverette to pause and curse under his breath. He was on the brink of a feeding frenzy, having spent whatever energy he had left fighting the illusion. Without thinking twice about it, Riku closed the distance between them and crouched down. He knew it was dangerous to be this close with an open wound, but he knew - no, felt - that it had to be done. This competition wasn't over yet. Lifting his arm near Sora's face, blood still trickled out of the fresh claw marks from his own fight. "You need to drink."

"Why?" The brunette's voice came out quietly, but his eyes were glued to the blood on the shifter's arm.

"Why do you even care?" Riku shot back, gritting his teeth.

Sora looked at him as recognition entered his mind. The same words he had used in the infirmary. He still had the same response. Why did he care? Riku was obviously offering, so why fight it?

Because I don't want to hurt him...

Even as he told himself that, he felt himself grab a hold of the shifter's arm lightly and his tongue swept out to clean the blood off of the wound. Muscles tensed as Sora's fangs scraped lightly over the healing marks before he settled on a small unmarred patch of skin. A hum escaped his throat at Riku's sharp intake of breath when felt his fangs pierce through and the blood of the shifter filled his mouth.

Riku had clenched his jaw at the sharp pain, but soon felt himself relaxing as a light numbness began spreading through his arm. As the strange feeling continued to work through his body, he felt himself raise his hand to the brunette's head, fingers deftly threading through the soft locks before closing in a light grip. With a ragged breath and a tightness forming low in his abdomen, the shifter began to realize what was happening.

"S-sora," he gasped out between clenched teeth. Riku tightened his hold on the brunette's hair until he raised his head, flicking his tongue over the puncture marks to heal them. Blue eyes, flecked with crimson, met his. He couldn't help but watch as the boy cleaned his bottom lip free of blood with a sweep of his tongue. With that and a face flushed from feeding, Riku felt as if the boy had enjoyed it a little too much.

Before giving it more thought, he quickly let go of the brunette's hair and stood with a shaky breath, instantly searching for wherever the Phantasm stones had been placed. The best method he could think of was to distract his mind from it until the effects wore off, as well as some distance. He didn't know what made the vampire do that to him, but it had been unnecessary.

"W-wait. Riku. At least let me say thank you." Sora scrambled after the shifter in haste.

"How about you focus on the competition. Help me find the stones so we can go our separate ways and be done with this. I'd like to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night instead of catnapping in the dust," snapped Riku.

Wincing slightly at the sharpness of his tone, Sora simply sighed and began his search. He would get him to talk another time, if that had to be the case, to figure out what made the shifter's mood turn so quickly. Shortly after, the two found the stones hanging from a branch several feet away. Plucking one of them out the air, Sora dug in his pocket for the pieces he had collected so far, placing the new addition in place to nearly form a whole heart. The only one remaining was the one in the center.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Riku stared at the pieces in the boy's hand, noting that they were once again heading in the same direction. "If you're going to keep following me, just stay back there. I can't afford for your mouth to-uh...words, your words. Don't distract me."

Sora raised an eyebrow at the silverette's terms, but followed them nonetheless. They walked in the silence of the forest noises for twenty minutes before they stopped in unison and glanced around. Aside from their lack of talking, it was much more quiet than before, to the point where it seemed all life had been stripped of the area. Uncertainty settled in the pit of both of their stomachs.

"Riku, I...I'm not...feeling..." Sora rubbed at his face in an attempt to fight off the heavy feeling in his eyelids, but it persisted. He tried to look at the shifter, but his vision blurred and became distorted. Brown rushed to me him, then it was black.