And here we go with another chapter. I wonder if we'll see Tenebrae suffer more. Guess we'll have to find out.


Tenebrae woke up the next morning, sore and tired. Even though he was drained the day before, he still felt tired. And the memories of the encounter with Alicx didn't help. He needed to get them out of his head.

He jumped from his rooftop and headed to grab some food. It was a small breakfast, but enough. He probably should have gotten more, but he wasn't very hungry.

Tenebrae walked to the Light Protectors' apartment and knocked on the door. To his surprise, Ray opened the door. The young Wielder was still wearing his mask. Without a word, Ray opened the door enough for Tenebrae to enter.

"You're just in time," Ray said, closing the door and walking to the kitchenette. "It's my turn to cook breakfast. And I'm quite the chef, if I do say so myself."

"Good for you." Tenebrae sat on one of the couches and relaxed. "But I'm not hungry. I came for a mission, nothing more.

"Well you may be waiting a while. I'm the only one up." Ray went back to cooking. "That's how it works. Whoever is cooking that day, has to be up before the others."

"Sounds lame." Tenebrae laid across the couch.

"Nah! It's fair. We all get to work on our skills. And no one person is stuck cooking for everyone. It was Keval's idea."

'Of course, it was. Lazy bum.' Tenebrae yawned, "Look I don't really care. I just want to go and kill some Heartless. I don't care with who."

"Well, I'm going to be waking the others in a bit. Then we'll see." Ray looked to him with a smirk.

Tenebrae couldn't help but notice how that looked like Keval. It seemed like his old Union mate was rubbing off on the boy. The poor child.

Tenebrae relaxed on the couch until he heard Ray call out. Ray went to each room and got the other Protectors up. They each seemed groggy but rested. Tenebrae raised an eyebrow at how bushy Mojie's hair looked.

Tenebrae watched as the others ate. They started to become more animated as they filled their stomachs. They became more awake as well. They looked like a proper party, making jokes and enjoying their time together.

Watching them, made Tenebrae feel sick. While the group wasn't bad, the concept of parties didn't make sense. Having more than a few Wielders together, made for less targets, meaning longer missions. Solo or duo missions were ideal, that way there were more enemies to take out.

"Yo! Tenny!" Keval was leaning on the back of the couch he was laying on. "Did you end up relaxing yesterday?"

Tenebrae sat up, facing away. "I did not. I went to do some research. And I relearned some abilities." He couldn't bring up Alicx. He needed to confront her on his own.

"That sounds pretty sweet," Keval said, the pressure left the couch as he walked around it. "I can't wait to see how much you grew."

"Hey Keval, about what we were talking about yesterday?" Solas walked up and sat opposite of Tenebrae. "Why don't I take Tenebrae here on that 'secret mission'?" The emphasis on 'secret' wasn't lost on Tenebrae.

"Sounds like a good plan," Keval said with a big grin. He went back to his room and came out with a small bag. He tossed it to Tenebrae. "You'll need these for the mission."

Tenebrae caught the bag and went to open it. Only for Solas to stop him.

"No, no," the brunette said, "You're not allowed to open that until we get to our destination. Hold on a sec." Solas ran into his room and came back with a bag about the same size. "Alright let's go."

Solas summoned his keyblade. It had a different design than most standard blades. The hilt was white but had no guard. The blade was a bright yellow, with three white spikes that made the teeth.

Solas opened a portal and gestured Tenebrae to walk through. He was hesitant but went along with it. He had nothing better to do. Solas followed behind shortly after. When Tenebrae emerged, he was surprised with what he saw.

The pair was in come kind of cave. There were chalk drawings and roots all around them. Tenebrae guessed they were under some big tree.

Tenebrae looked at one drawing in particular. It seemed to depict a boy with spikey hair and a girl with short, straight hair. Both had a hand facing the other, with what seemed to be stars. The picture looked like the two were going to feed each other.

"This way," Solas said. He dismissed his Keyblade and exited the cave.

Tenebrae followed. As he walked through the entrance, Tenebrae was blinded by the light of the sun. When his eyes adjusted, he took in the scene. His eyes widened in realization.

The pair was at a beach. But not just any beach. This beach looked exactly like the one connected to Kingdom Hearts. But that was in the Realm of Darkness.

"How?" Tenebrae looked around confused. "How are we back?"

"What do you mean?" Solas asked.

Tenebrae grabbed the other Wielder by the shoulders. He glared into Solas's eyes and growled. "Why are we back in the Realm of Darkness? How did you get us here?"

"Realm of Darkness?" Solas chuckled a little, making Tenebrae let go. "No dude, we are on Destiny Islands, in the Realm of Light. Have you been here before?"

"No." Tenebrae clutched his head. So, this World had fallen, but was brought back. Was it during that meteor shower a few days ago? "I guess I was mistaking it for someplace else."

"Uh huh?" Solas either didn't buy it or didn't care. "Well, we are going to start that mission after a quick change. Follow me."

Solas led the pair into a small shack. It was bare of anything. A small staircase lead to another area.

"Now you can look in the bag." Solas said with a grin.

Tenebrae raised an eyebrow. Hesitantly, he opened the bag Keval gave him. In it was a black towel and a pair of black swimming trunks with a flame design.

"Swimwear?" Tenebrae looked at Solas confused.

The other Wielder had a smile that could split his face. "Yep. Put those on and we will go." Solas ascended the stairs and out of sight.

With a shrug, Tenebrae disrobed. He was trying to think of what the mission could entail. He put on the trunks and thought. Maybe the mission would be underwater. But he would have been useless, even if he could use other types of magic.

Tenebrae put his clothes into the bag. He left his goggles on, resting them on his chest. He took a quick look at his body, and he noticed the definition. He was fighting on the frontlines more, and it showed.

Solas returned not long after. The other Wielder was dressed in trunks that matched the pattern of his scarf. He had the same smile from earlier. The smile worried Tenebrae.

"Alright, now that we changed, we can begin," Solas said. He took Tenebrae's bag and held it. "But we won't be needing these."

Tenebrae was confused. When a portal opened next to Solas, Tenebrae was surprised. He started freaking out when Solas threw both bags into the portal and it closed.

"What the hell!?" Tenebrae shouted, just as the portal closed. "Those were my only set of clothes! What were you thinking?"

"come on," Solas had his towel and walked out the shack. It looked like he was ignoring Tenebrae's question. "Time to start our mission."

Tenebrae growled. He grabbed the towel he was given and followed Solas How was he supposed to go back with no clothes.

The pair stopped at the edge of the water. Solas laid out his towel and smooth it out. He then ran to the water and jumped in.

Tenebrae stood there, confused and angry. What kind of mission was this? There were no Heartless, and nothing to fight. There was just water and sand.

"Come on in," Solas called, waving his hand. "The water is great!"

"What is you game?" Tenebrae growled, "What was the mission?"

"To relax," Solas started to swim backwards. "Keval said you spent a lot of time in the Library in Daybreak Town. And how you never really socialized. He was worried yesterday when you left. It looked like you were on the verge of burnout."

Tenebrae crossed his arms and looked away, "Well thanks for the concern, but I'm fine. I blew off some steam in my own way. And I prefer to do it that way again."

"But you were exhausted," Solas stepped back onto the sand. "We all saw it. Something is stressing you out. And since you won't say what, the next best thing is to relax and have fun."

Tenebrae scoffed. Fun? His idea of fun was either fighting Heartless or reading. He didn't need to run around like an idiot to have fun.

"I'm fine," Tenebrae said after a moment. "I just want to get things done. Something like this is a waste of time."

"Is it?" Solas had a smirk and walked behind Tenebrae. "Because this could also be training."

"Training? How's that?"

Tenebrae turned in time to see Solas thrust a hand of magic at him. Electricity shot from the brunette's hand, which impacted Tenebrae and sent him flying into the water. Tenebrae impacted the water, hard.

Tenebrae surfaced and spit out seawater. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!? What if I couldn't swim?"

"Then the training would have begun." Solas jumped into the water and swam towards Tenebrae. "Here is how this works; You can't leave the water until you catch me. If you catch me, I'll open a portal back to the Light Protectors. If you open a portal and try to go back, the Light Protectors will just push you back."

"I can go to other worlds, you know." Tenebrae rolled his eyes.

"True," Solas laughed, "But where are your items?"

"Ha! In the…" Tenebrae realized what had happened. "in the bag you threw into the portal. Dammit!"

"Yep, have fun." Solas dove underwater and out of sight.

Tenebrae lost sight and feeling of Solas. He growled as he treaded water. He didn't have time to be doing this. And even if he wanted to leave, his Munny was with his clothes.

Tenebrae dove underwater to look for Solas. He used a wind-based spell to help him breath underwater. He wanted to finish this quickly but couldn't find the other Wielder.

Tenebrae started to swim toward the dock first. Since the spell was small, it didn't take much focus to keep it active. He was able to breath easily as he swam. But it didn't help him find Solas.

Tenebrae made it to the dock and looked around. He didn't see Solas and wasn't sure what to do. Tenebrae turned and swam toward the islet he saw before.

Teenbrae couldn't see the other Wielder at all. The water was clear, so it shouldn't have been hard to see him. He swam to the islet and around it. He still wasn't sure how this was supposed to be fun.

Tenebrae swam back up to the surface. He took a look around. Tenebrae noticed something on the beach and got a bit angry.

Solas was laying down, facing the water. He had a shit-eating grin on his face. The kind that told Tenebrae he'd been had.

"Hey dude," the other Wielder waved lazily, "Did you enjoy your swim?"

"I WILL BURN YOU!" Tenebrae shouted. "I swam around LOOKING for you! And you were on the beach!"

"I said you had to catch me, without leaving the water." Solas still had the same grin. "I never said I couldn't leave. So come on, catch me."

Tenebrae growled and dove back into the water. He got tricked. Now the thought was how to get Solas without leaving the water. He may have wanted to end this, but he was going to do so by playing by the unfair rules.

'I can't leave the water. But it doesn't mean I can't go through anything.' Tenebrae thought as he swam towards the shore.

He memorized where Solas was sitting. Tenebrae swam lower and used his mana to manipulate the waster and sand. Slowly, he made a tunnel of sand as water traveled through it. He kept focusing as he swam, turning up when he went far enough in. When he was sure he was close enough, he used his mana to blast the water skyward.

Tenebrae broke the surface of the puddle he made. He looked around with a smirk looking for Solas. His smile dropped when he saw Solas waving from the shack. The other Wielder was waving nonchalantly with that damned grin. Tenebrae's eye twitched.

"How~~~~" Tenebrae hissed.

"Fun fact," Solas said, walking to Tenebrae. "My affinity is lightning. If I let it course through my body, I can move fast than the eye can see. And it slows down my perception of time enough to avoid certain attacks."

Tenebrae felt like a fool. He knew nothing of the other Wielders, besides Keval. That meant he had no way to guess their abilities. 'And he has an affinity that makes him more elusive.'

"So now what?" Tenebrae growled.

"Come on and rest," Solas said, sitting on his towel. "We are here to relax."

Tenebrae pulled himself out of his puddle. Without another word, Tenebrae walked to his towel. He grabbed it and flattened it out next to Solas. He went ahead and laid down next to the other Wielder.

"This is a waste of…" Tenebrae didn't even get his sentence out. His body gave out and he fell asleep. He didn't realize how tired he was. And the beach was very peaceful.

As he rested, Tenebrae dreamed. He saw himself, Laci, Mojie, Keval, Shaylex, Rylan, Ray and Solas. They were all together, laughing and having a good time. Everyone was smiling, it was a warming sight. 'This is what it is like to have friends, isn't it?' he thought as the dream went on. 'Too bad, they don't view me as one.'

When Tenebrae opened his eyes, the sun was close to setting. He felt refreshed as he stretched. Tenebrae wasn't as sore as when he slept outside. When his hands came down, he felt something lumpy.

Tenebrae looked down and saw the bag he had earlier. He picked it up, confused, and looked around. He saw Solas dressed in his original outfit, scarf and all.

"Have a good nap? You looked peaceful; I didn't want to mess that up." Solas had a warm smile.

"It was…" Tenebrae wasn't sure how to respond. He felt better than he had for the last few days. "It was refreshing."

Tenebrae got up and went to the shack, with his bag. He changed into his clothes, resting his goggles on his chest again. He walked out and met up with Solas.

"Let me take that." Solas took Tenebrae's bag and threw it through a portal. "Alright, now for the part you like. Since this World was brought back, the main area has had a small Heartless infestation. We can take care of some before we go."

Tenebrae chuckled. "Now you're speaking my language."

Solas nodded and opened a portal. The pair walked through and were deposited in the center of a town. It was dark, with a few streetlamps.

The pair was met with some low-level Heartless. They rushed in and took care of them. For the first time in a long time, Tenebrae had fun. He used to fight for a goal. And recently, he fought to quell his anger. Today was the first time he fought to compete with another, by his own choice.

When the two Wielders cleared the area, they rested. Tenebrae didn't feel tired though. He felt at ease, but also charged. He couldn't mistake the feeling, he was happy.

"Alright," Solas said, stretching. "We made good time. Let's head back."

"Yeah," Tenebrae had a genuine smile on his face. "I had fun today."

"Good to hear." Solas opened a portal. "Let's head home."

The pair walked through. They were met with the smell of food being cooked. Ray was in the kitchen, having a blast. Mojie was on one of the couches, reading. Rylan had a device in his hand, that he was messing with. Keval was snoring on another couch.

"We're back!" Solas called.

Keval lazily waved and hand. While Rylan and Mojie didn't look up from their activities, but each waved.

"so enthusiastic," Tenebrae said sarcastically. He faked a sigh, before saying, "And to think, I actually wanted to have dinner with you all tonight."

Keval's head snapped up. He was in front of Tenebrae in the blink of an eye. "You mean it!? You gonna join us?"

Tenebrae pushed him back with a finger. "Only for dinner. It's late and I don't want to pay. Once I'm done, I'm leaving."

"I'll take it!" Keval said with a fist bump. "It's one step closer."

Tenebrae smiled at Keval's antics. He was finding it hard to remember why he disliked the lightning-user. 'I was an idiot, wasn't I?' -


And there we go. No suffering, but Tenebrae did learn a good lesson. let's see how long it lasts.
And thanks to for letting me use Solas. His character was perfect for this particular task.