Radiant Garden was just like he remembered it. Great flowerbeds dressed in dozens of colors, loud fountains sprinkling water into the air, forming various shapes, large squares and wide roads filled to the brim with families coming and going. He had spent only a couple of hours within the great city, but the experience remained with him ever since.

"Where could she be? Maybe in the castle?" Ventus muttered, pondering about where to go first. He didn't know neither Radiant Garden nor Naminé well enough to be sure. And it all felt sort of weird, being on his own once more, like being on another journey. He wished it was as simple as that. Unfortunately though, circumstances were slightly more dire.

"I believe you are overthinking this, Venty." The familiar voice sent a chill down his spine. The boy looked to his left and right, as if expecting Vanitas to appear. "Really? You still can't get used to the idea that I'm inside you?"

"Just shut up" Ventus muttered barely audibly and slowly began edging towards the central square, which led to Ansem's castle.

The streets were crowded. Both young and old were enjoying their time outside, shopping or just taking a stroll around the markets and the lovely sights of the great city. Ventus noted to himself that once he's done with his business, he'd need to bring Aqua and Terra back here with him so they could look around as well. There were so many places to visit, so many things to see, but it wouldn't have been the same without his friends.

"You forgot to bring your dog!" Vanitas' nasty voice croaked.

"Chirithy is not a dog," Ventus scowled. "Are you this plain, or you're just pretending to be?"

"Oh I'm just having fun, don't you worry about me!" Vanitas needn't even laugh because Ven's mind filled the silence with the boy's snarky laughter by itself. The boy truly hoped that Naminé could help him with his troubles. He didn't know where else to go, who else to turn to.

Finding the central square wasn't as difficult as he had expected, thankfully Aerith's shop wasn't too far from it. The square however was packed with people and different stalls, as if there was some sort of festival going on. "Oh look, an event! Why don't you take a look around, earn a few medals with them games? Like in the old days?"

"What are rambling about?" Ven whispered crossly. "Just stay silent in there!"

"You know they say that speaking to yourself is a sign of big trouble!"

The boy decided to ignore the voice – as much as he possibly could – and just continue on his way. He fought through a large crowd and a couple of dozens of vendors, only to be stopped by two large fellows at the door. He vaguely remembered their names: Dilan and Aeleus. They were scientists under Ansem, but also members of the castle's security forces. Apparently, they were on guard duty.

"I am looking for Naminé" Ventus said.

"What business do you have with the lady?" Dilan frowned, not moving an inch. Both he and his partner regarded the boy carefully, ready to defend themselves if need be.

"I am a friend, from... well from afar. I'm here on official business."

"Official business, huh? So even you can lie, brother. Gosh, that surprised me!" Ven bit his lip, and thought about a good excuse. Unfortunately nothing came to mind, besides Vanitas' continuous taunting.

"I... I come on behalf of King Mickey" he blurted out, earning a slight surprise from Dilan. He looked over to his partner, who shrugged his shoulder uncertainly. The few second long contemplation ended, and finally Dilan took a step aside.

"Aeleus will escort you to the lady. We have our eyes on you, so don't do anything stupid."

"Yes sir."

The other man turned and began ascending the stairs beyond the gate. Ven followed quickly, climbing the hill to the castle. Aeleus didn't speak a single word, not until they were deep inside the castle. When they were far from all prying eyes and ears, he finally uttered his first words to Ven: "Are you Roxas?"

"Eh, no" Ventus grinned. "My name is Ventus, call me Ven!"

"You look just like him. Weird."

Ventus nodded wholeheartedly. The whole semblance thing seemed so weird to him. Sora looked just like Vanitas and Roxas looked just like he did. It had to do something with their strong connection to each other.

After reaching a hall-like room with a small interior fountain, Aeleus stopped and turned towards Ven. "You wait here. I go get her. Don't wander off." Ven nodded and leaned onto one of the columns of the room. Aeleus climbed a small set of stairs and left through a double-winged door.

"Nice crib. Could get used to it. Better than that oh-so-holy Land of Departure."

"Could you shut up for a minute?"

"I could. I won't. The more you acknowledge me, the stronger I am."

This declaration caught the boy off-guard. "And you're willing to reveal this?" he asked.

"Why shouldn't I? You cannot go around not noticing me. You may try, but you'll just fail."

The boy merely grunted angrily in return and tried focusing on something, anything besides the voice of Vanitas. He examined the portraits, the statues, stared at the fountain and listened to the noise of the water. Nothing helped. Vanitas' constant snickering or off-handed remarks brought him back again and again. If what he was saying had been true, Ventus was losing that fight.

"Ventus!"

The boy shuddered and looked up at the top of the staircase. Naminé was running down with a wide smile. "Welcome back! How are you?"

"Hello, Naminé. I'm so glad to see you" the boy said, forcing a smile on his face. "I need your help."

Hearing the boy's words, Naminé slowed down and looked at him. "Is everything alright? You look a bit pale, and your clothes seem torn. Did anything happen?"

"Ugh, yeah. I literally crashed into the city. Gotta practice my landing skills I'm afraid" he tried laughing it off, without much luck.

"Come here, let me take a look" she offered and stepped over to the boy, pushing him onto a nearby chair. She began examining his face, hands, legs, treating every scratch and scar she could find. "You know, you should be more careful."

"I know. Sorry."

She shook her head. "I'm not mad or anything, just worried. All set!" she stepped back, nodding at the results. "We'll apply bandages later. You might seem like a mummy afterwards, but better safe than sorry. So, why are you here?"

"I..." Ven fell silent for a second.

"Scared to speak? Should I take over for a bit?"

"Do you remember when you were kidnapped by the Organization?"

Naminé stiffened. She stepped to the other chair and sat down. "I do, why?" She looked into Ven's eye, maybe to try and figure out what was going on. Ventus looked away, he was afraid of what she would see.

"Riku told me that after you had put Sora to sleep, you also offered to seal away his darkness. But he... declined this offer."

"Yes. He said he didn't need his heart locked, that he'd face the darkness inside him."

Hearing this, Ventus faltered for a second. Was he that much weaker than Riku? That boy had overcome his own darkness, forged his own path, while he himself ran to grab the easiest way out immediately.

"Do I sense doubt?" Vanitas' voice mocked him playfully. "Oh, poor Ven. Must be sad, living in the shadow of those great Keyblade Masters! Aqua, Mickey, Riku... soon Terra, Lea and even Roxas will be ahead of you! Shame, really. Especially knowing how long you've been wielding the damn thing!"

"Why are you asking, Ven?" Naminé touched his cheek and turned his face back, so they could look into each other's eye. "What's the matter?"

"It's... the darkness inside me, inside my heart" he said, reaching for his chest. "For many years, the darkness of my heart was extracted from me. Master Xehanort siphoned it out and created Vanitas from this darkness. And now... we are back together, but he is there inside me. And he wants to take over my heart."

"Locking away the darkness in your heart might seem like a temporal solution to your troubles" someone declared, and Ventus looked at the stairs, finding Ansem and his apprentices descending them. "But believe me when I say that it is not the way to deal with the darkness."

"But I can't fight it. It is too much, he is too much."

"Ah, you're just weak brother."

"Even now I can hear him, taunting and mocking me. He had become so loud in just a couple of weeks. I'm afraid I'll starting seeing him soon!"

"You will, don't worry about that."

"I just don't know what to do. I only know that I need help"

Naminé looked at Ansem pleadingly, and the elder scientist approached the pair. "Young man, the darkness inside your heart is your own," he said gravely, pointing at Ven. "Even if he speaks a different tone, even if he mocks you... it is only you speaking. This is what you have to accept."

"Don't listen to the old creep. He doesn't know what he's talking about; remember the times we clashed with each other? Would be weird to think that it was you all along! I almost killed your dear friends! Wouldn't it be funny? If that turned out to be you!?"

"I can't face it alone" Ven shook his head. "He's too loud."

Ansem sighed, and scratched his goatee. The elderly researcher looked at Naminé, seemingly awaiting her decision. The blonde haired girl took Ven's hands and faced the boy. "Ven, if that's really what you want, I can help you, but it will be difficult. Locking your heart means locking memories with it. And you may end up forgetting much more than you'd expect."

"Forget?"

The girl gave a short nod. "To have the darkness locked away, you must also forget about it. Because of that, you may lose all your memories about the following years. There is a chance you won't remember Terra or Aqua. You will go back to the way you were before your heart was fractured.

"Ohhh... well that is interesting. Ready to sacrifice your happiness?"

Ven's hands slipped out of Naminé's, falling back onto his lap. He couldn't speak, couldn't move. In that moment, it was like his life was shattered. Why? He felt hopeless, lost. Was there really no other way?

"But you don't need to—"

"I do, Naminé," Ven whispered powerlessly. "I need to do this, or Vanitas will win. Even if it means I have to rebuild everything I had." He looked up at her, forcing a smile however hard it was. "Please, help me forget."

"You are making a mistake, brother." Vanitas sounded cold and grim all of a sudden. He had probably realized that Ventus was determined to go through with the process and felt his impending doom. This gave the boy a small respite.

"We shall prepare a chamber for the boy" Ansem declared and left the room with his apprentices. Even and Ienzo followed the man towards the western wing of the castle, leaving Naminé and Ven alone.

Ventus sighed with relief and his smile became more natural. Naminé probably realized, as she herself seemed to have became less tense.

"Does Terra or Aqua know that you're here?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Don't you want to... you know, talk to them? This might be your only chance."

Ven considered the girl's question. There were merits to her words, but there was also a very strong fear that if he hesitated or talked with them, he would be unable to proceed. He really had no choice in the end. If he wanted to do this, they had to do it now.

"No. I don't think they would understand." he lied, but regretted immediately; for he couldn't fool Naminé or himself. They both knew that Aqua and Terra would've been there for him, until his last moment, supporting him in whatever choice he made.

"Alright," Naminé nodded plainly, without voicing any concern or misgiving. "Come on, let's get this over with."

- O - O - O - O - O -

Terra was the first to land. He knew that storming the castle would've been ill advised, so instead of landing in its gardens, he had decided to stop outside the premises. The central square would've been a good spot, had it not been hosting some local festival.

"Of course, there always has to be something, right?" he commented angrily and looked up at the sky, looking for Aqua. She arrived a few minutes later in the same, smaller courtyard. "Come on, let's hurry!" Terra urged. Aqua opened her mouth to say something, but decided against speaking. She merely nodded and followed Terra.

The boy rushed through the overcrowded square and headed straight towards the gates of the castle grounds. He didn't realize that most of the people were going in the opposite direction, as he paid no attention to them. Neither did Aqua, though she was perceptive enough to realize something was off.

The gates were open and the guards were nowhere to be found, which bothered even Terra. He wasn't sure what to make of this, but he clearly remembered the castle and its grounds being restricted. He summoned his Keyblade forth and Aqua followed suit. They continued their on their way more cautiously, in case there was some danger lurking ahead.

"There, ahead!" Aqua yelled suddenly, pointing ahead at a small, dark creature. "Unversed!"

Terra's eyes widened as he saw the creature. It moved quickly and attacked a nearby guard, and probably would've succeeded if Aqua didn't cast a spell on it first. The Unversed froze, giving the guard enough time to run away, screaming. Terra dashed ahead and jumped the creature, slashing it in half with his Keyblade. Aqua ran past him and cast fire on another one, burning it away. "Why are they here?" Terra bellowed angrily.

"Ven. We must hurry!" Aqua replied as she destroyed a third one with her Keyblade. "You go ahead; I'll clear the path and help the guards. Go!"

Terra nodded and climbed the rest of the stairs, taking a turn towards the castle's entrance while Aqua turned the other way and headed towards a smaller group of guards, who were battling more Unversed.

Three Scrappers – smaller Unversed with large claws for hands – stood at the entrance. Terra destroyed the creatures with one swoop and opened the castle doors. There were even more of those creatures inside, battling with the apprentices and the castle guards. Aeleus and Dilan had no trouble destroying the creatures, but Even could only defend himself with a shield conjured of ice.

"Terra!" Naminé appeared at the top of a staircase leading to the upper floors and the loft. "Thank goodness! Come quickly!"

"Naminé, what happened?"

"It's Ven! Come on!"

"Will you all be alright?" he looked at the apprentices. Aeleus nodded and Dilan angrily ordered him to do as he was told. Terra sighed and rushed up the stairs. "What happened?" he asked immediately after reaching the landing.

"Ventus came to us earlier." she said and led him through a narrow foyer, deeper into the castle. "He told us about his troubles. He started hearing Vanitas and was afraid that his darkness would overtake him. He had asked me to seal away his darkness, alongside his memories."

"And did you do it?"

Naminé shook her head. "I couldn't. Vanitas is already too strong. And he is fighting with all his might to take over the body."

"I can see that. The Unversed are his, right?"

"Well... we could say that. Here we are!" She looked at Terra apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen!"

Terra shook his head. "It is our fault. We should've seen this coming. But the joy of reunion blinded us." He took the knob and turned it, opening the door. Beyond, there was a spacious room, with several small cabins on both sides. In front of them, a larger cabin, its glass shattered. Ansem lay on the floor, unconscious. Naminé went pale immediately. She ran over to Ansem and kneeled beside him. Terra looked at her, then at the cabin, then at Naminé again. "Where is he?"

"He escaped," she said with a quivering voice. "We put him into the cabin to start the procedure. But Vanitas got hold of him and the Unversed appeared. Ansem sent me to get Dilan and Aeleus, but when I left he was still inside!"

"So now he is on the loose" Terra concluded, and turned around. "I'll go and find him. Lock the door and stay here! Take care of Master Ansem."

"Terra, be careful!"

The boy needn't be warned. He knew exactly how dangerous Vanitas was. His grip on the Keyblade tightened as a surge of anger went through him. He quickly calmed himself and with a final sigh left the room. Outside, he stood guard until Naminé locked the room. It wouldn't matter much against Vanitas, but it was still a good defence against common Unversed. Alright. Where are you? Come out. He slowly went down the foyer, back towards the hall of the castle, hoping that he'll see or hear something on the way. But there was nothing.

He reached the hall without any clues, and met a confused Dilan, who was on his way to Ansem. "What happened?" he asked suspiciously. "Why are you not with the young Lady and the Master?"

"They are in the back. The boy is on the loose, I have to catch him."

"I'll help."

"No, it's far too dangerous! Go and help Naminé."

Dilan wanted to argue, but reconsidered. He nodded and hurried on, while Terra entered the hall and descended the stairs. Nobody else was there anymore. The rest of the apprentices and Aeleus had all left. Terra hurried towards the entrance, but after a few steps, noticed something was wrong.

Everything happened so fast that it was his instincts moving him. Had he remained there for another second, the dark fires would've severely burnt him. Now the flames were licking the ground of the castle instead. Terra looked up at the loft, and quickly recognized the blonde boy sporting not his regular clothes, but the one previously worn by Vanitas.

"Ven?"

"Nope" he replied bluntly and jumped the other. Terra raised his Keyblade, but the power of the blow smashed him into the ground and sent his weapon sliding across the marble. The boy stood over him and looked down with a cocky smile, which was almost impossible to connect with Ven's innocent face. "Well, you haven't gotten much stronger these last weeks, have you now?"

"Let Ven go!" Terra barked furiously.

"Or what? You'll kill me? Oh wait, we both know that's impossible." Vanitas mocked him with a wide, wicked grin on his face. Terra summoned his Keyblade and tried knocking Ven's weapon out of his hand. However, Vanitas caught on too fast and parried the attack with a long jump. He landed at the entrance and turned back towards Terra, who was already standing and ready for another attack. "Luckily for you, he still has enough hold over his heart not to let me deal the finishing blow. A pity, but don't worry; all in due time."

"Don't even think of running!"

"Oh... but I am!" Vanitas grinned and with the flick of his finger half a dozen Unversed appeared in front of him. "I'll let you catch up with these little guys! Do be careful with them. They too have feelings!"

Terra dashed ahead, but the Unversed jumped between him and Vanitas, giving the boy just enough time to escape. The brown-haired Keyblade wielder cut the creatures down within a couple of seconds, but he could only catch a glimpse of Vanitas before the boy jumped into a Dark Corridor, disappearing.

Terra rushed forward and tried jumping through the portal, which closed inches away from him. He landed on the ground, scraping off his knees and elbows. "DAMN IT!" he bellowed angrily, punching the ground.

"Terra! What happened?" Aqua appeared, full of bruises and out of breath. "Did you find Ven?"

The boy nodded. "But he escaped." He felt his throat going dry, his head was about to explode. He wanted to say so many things, yell, cry, punch. But instead he just sat there, eyes fallen, hands shaking. Aqua sat down beside him and put her arm around him.

"We will get him back" She promised and put her head on Terra's shoulder. "I just need to catch my breath. There were about a hundred of them."

He looked at him bewildered "A hundred? And, did you fight them alone?"

"Well, someone had to keep things contained. If they got out, it would've been a problem." she smiled tiredly. "Let me catch my breath, then we can go chase him."

"Do you two even know where he went to?" a high-pitched voice asked. A couple of seconds later a small orb of light descended and changed into Chirithy. Terra and Aqua looked at each other, their cluelessness written all over them. "I figured as much" the spirit sighed.

"Do you know where he went?" Aqua asked back.

"I can feel his struggle. Vanitas is strong, but cannot control the heart for too long, not yet at least. He probably just wanted to avoid being locked away for good. So he might actually give control back to Ventus!"

"But where did they go?" Terra repeated the question.

"That I do not know. If you ask me, Ventus will try to find alternative ways to combat his darkness. Is there anyone who could teach him how to do that?"

"Riku" said the duo in unison. "But after what happened, I'd be surprised if he'd go anywhere near his friends." Terra added. "He will be far too afraid to approach anyone."

"What happened inside?" Aqua looked at him, worry reflecting in her eyes.

"He knocked Ansem out, and almost killed me. But it wasn't Ventus. It was Vanitas."

"I know. I'm just worried for him. Where else could he have gone? Who can control the darkness?"

Terra's eyes widened suddenly. He had a very good idea of where they might find the boy. Aqua probably realized he was onto something, because she started asking him about it, until he blurted out the answer: "Maleficent, I think he went to Maleficent."