Everything was dark, he did not know where was, or when he was, was this the end? Or was it just the beginning? He did not know, and he wasn't sure if that relieved him, or terrified him. It was then, that the boy felt solid ground, a voice spoke to him "it's been so long, and you've been through so much". Arthur looked around, but could not see through the darkness, but the voice seemed familiar, but could not place it. A path opened to the young boy, he walked down the path, he walked forever until he reached the destination. The first figure he saw was his own Idol, but something was not right, he saw the next figure, the one Sora was facing, it was Hayner, Arthur noticed the quaint smile on Sora's face, noticed his plump cheeks, but when Arthur approached Sora, everything changed.
"Sora! Hey, what're you doing here?" When Sora turned to him, he noticed Sora was not happy, but… Rather angry, this shocked Arthur, as he had never seen his idol angry at anything.
"Oh, it's you" the way Sora said it was as if he were disgusted with him, this scared Arthur, he immediately felt like he had done something wrong
"S-Sora, did I do something wrong?" Suddenly Hayner pushed Arthur back, which shocked Arthur, sure, he was a bit of a jerk when they met, but to shove him like that, no warnings, not even a word, it worried him even more. Suddenly, Hayner spoke up
"Damn right you did something wrong, you're weighing him down, now I have to look after you, you're such a waste, right Sora?" Then, the horror, Sora nodded and also walked up to push him. Arthur fell on his butt and began quivering in fear
"P-p-please I p-promise I d-didn't mean t-to!" Arthur stuttered terribly when he was scared, to some, it was adorable, but to Sora and Hayner, it was laughable.
"What a loser, gonna cry? Gee Sora, you were right, he really is pathetic". They both laughed at him as he curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out
"Please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Arthur was on a loop, he could only say those words, he was too broken to think of anything else.
It had been 2 days since Sora left, and the gang were at his side when they heard his whimpers, they found him curled up in a ball, tears were down his cheeks, for moment they believed he was finally awake, but when they shook him, he did not respond, they peeled back his eyelids to see his pupils still enargened. "So he's having a nightmare?" Pence asked, Hayner and Olette nodded. They all looked guilty, none of them were in any position to help, he was on his own, but they'd make that up to him when he was awake.
In Christmas Town, where everything was joyful and pleasant, the heartless were nowhere to be found, Dr. Finkelstein's monster was finally destroyed, but something felt off. Though this place was cheery, Sora felt a pang of sadness, guilt? He did not understand why, he wasn't sure where it came from, but it made him hold his heart, Donald and Goofy looked at him concerned, but Sora dismissed their concern and said
"I just felt… Weird, it's fine now though, come on, the next world awaits our help. Donald and Goofy gave one another concerned looks before nodding, something was eating at Sora, but it didn't feel like it was him, or perhaps it was, just to deep for him to recognize it, he had to return to the Beast's Castle, to wrap up Xaladin's involvement there, soon he had to be done
Pence, Olette and Hayner took turns on watching over Arthur, to make sure if he awoke, everyone would know, so far, day 3, nothing had changed, Hayner was on duty when a teen in a black coat appeared before them "would you looky here, Destiny Boy has gone and gotten himself stuck in a coma". Hayner whirled around to see an unfamiliar figure in front of him.
"Who are you?" Hayner asked, somewhat scared of this figure towering over him.
"I'm Demyx, and I kinda need the kid, mind handing him over?" Hayner shook his head
"No way! Get lost you creep!" Demyx backed down and considered leaving, as he wasn't good at combat, but he knew his superiors would obliterate him if he even so much as considered cowering out of his duties, so he became more assertive.
"Listen, this isn't a request, he isn't going to wake up here, he needs proper help, if he doesn't, his heart could be lost forever, he may never wake up, so I need the boy". Hayner ignored his demand and hostility
"What do you mean he'll never wake up?! How would you help him, hell, why would you help him?" Demyx sighed
"You know what? Fine, I guess you don't want him to wake up, fine, let him die, see how much he appreciates your 'help'". He turned to leave but Hayner stopped him
"Wait! Y-you said you could help him?" Demyx nodded
"We have the ability to help him, we help him, he helps up, and he gets to live a normal life, would you deny him that?" Sure it was incredibly immoral to manipulate a kid like that, but it was either his fractured psyche or his obliteration, and Demyx cared more about himself than the kids therapist bills to be completely honest.
Hayner shook his head and said "no!" He looked down, and at Arthur "just promise you won't hurt him". Demyx nodded and gave him a thumbs up, he had no intention of hurting the kid at all
"You have my word, I promise" Demyx was completely sincere when he said that. Hayner looked back at Arthur, then stepped away, Demyx walked up and slung the boy over his shoulder, he turned away and summoned the dark corridor he used to get there, leaving Hayner to wonder if he had made the right choice, just then Pence and Olette had entered the hang out spot
"Hayner, we heard you yelling what- where's Arthur?" Olette asked with worry. Hayner looked down and said
"he promised he would wake Arthur up, said they had the tech to wake him up, that he'd be back with Arthur, I didn't think we had a better option available, so I let him take Arthur". Olette smiled, despite the weird vibes the situation gave her.
"Well that's good! Maybe he will help him!" Hayner smiled, feeling somewhat vindicated by Olette saying that, Pence only nodded
"Now cheer up Hayner!" Hayner smiled, Pence could always make him happy, no matter what tragedies befell him, whenever. That was what made Hayner fall for Pence so easily, on top of Pence just being great for hugs, no one else could compare in that regard. Pence pulled out from behind his back, 3 sea salt ice cream bars, one for each third of the trio. They both relaxed at the thought of the boy being true to his word, and with that, they began talking like normal, while trying to not feel like they were forgetting a friend of theirs, two now.