Listen, guys and girls, there's no excuse for the wait I gave you. I'd love to tell you about how busy I've been, how I've probably spent two entire months away from home, and stuff, but the fact comes down to that I've been pretty lazy. I'm sorry about this. I mean, yes, I've been more busy in the last few months than I've ever been before, considering I began my Senior year of High School this year. I'm also still very involved in a serious relationship with a girl… as well as in helping her with her epic story. I'm a busy guy nowadays, so that is one of the major reasons I haven't written. The other reason would indeed be that I'm lazy and listen to my writer's blocks too much.

Moving on. Up until now, I have been alternating between my stories, one chapter at a time. Kingdom Hearts. Sonic. Kingdom Hearts. Sonic. Etc. It's not working. Whenever I write KH, I want to write Sonic. Whenever I write Sonic, I want to write KH. Combine this with my busy schedule and you get the reasons I get so many writer's blocks. Can you tell that it's not working? Well, things are changing—and hopefully this will help. I'm going to start writing what I want to write, when I want to write. I may be even adding a third story to my repertoire in some time.

This may indeed signal more waits for Kingdom Hearts at times… while it may signal three chapters coming out in two weeks another time. However, it means that I'll be able to write more, which is something I need to do. I know it may not seem all that good for some… but, trust me… it's better than what I had planned up until a few weeks ago. I had planned that this chapter would be the last for Journey of the Heart. I changed my mind, thankfully!

Now, my author's notes are coming to a close! Go ahead and read the story now! I don't own it! I own no Disney or Square-Enix characters, nor the storyline of Kingdom Hearts. I don't even own the mystery guest in this chapter. He belongs to my girlfriend (I'll explain more at the end of the chapter).

Chapter 12: Lost Light

You know… I seriously thought dying would hurt a lot more. And, man, the afterlife's bright. I can't see a thing! It's so windy. And loud. And hot. … … …I hope I didn't go to the other place. Hey, the brightness is clearing a bit! …That figure… Oh no… Crap, I have gone to the other place!

The bright cloud over Sora's eyes cleared slowly, but soon the howling wind died down and the heat dissipated. As the three heads of Cerberus came back into view—as well as the Coliseum, he soon gathered something had happened that wasn't supposed to have happened. After all, somehow, he had lived the monstrous fireball that was sure to have incinerated him. And yet there he was. Alive. Whole. Well!

And then it hit him.

He.

Was.

ALIVE!

He let out a whoop and thrust the Keyblade into the air. Its polished golden hilt glinted in the sunlight and then Sora noticed something. The blade… was glowing a bit red. He frowned and brought it to his face. The air around the Keyblade waved—as if it was extremely hot. He reached up tentatively with his left hand and touched it with his ungloved fingertips..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" He cried and immediately shoved his entire hand into his mouth, glove and all. He could have sworn he heard it steam when it contacted with his saliva. On a better day, he probably would have figured if something metal was glowing red, it meant it was extremely hot. But no. He had to experiment and touch it, didn't he? Of course, this told him one thing. Somehow, someway the Keyblade had protected him. He could only suppose the white light was an explosion of sorts. The Blade had absorbed some of the explosion, obviously, and somehow diffused the rest from hurting Sora. Maybe his luck was changing! Or, maybe not.

Unfortunately for the young Keyblade Master, his scream had not only alerted his friends of his still-breathing self, but also the Devil's Dog itself. All three heads swiveled his way… again. All three pairs of eyes widened. All three noses snorted. All three mouths opened to revealed bared teeth, dripping with saliva. One particularly large glob fell and splashed against the hot stone, sizzling slightly. Sora shuddered—how he would hate to be the one to be hit by that.

His friends may have been calling for him in that moment. Voices full of shock and joy. But he really didn't care. He'd already had too many near-death experiences—this one was the worst! He didn't know how much longer his luck was going to hold out in the battle. It was time to end this. He held the Keyblade out, parallel to the ground and his eyes narrowed at Cerberus. And then an idea struck his mind. What if… His eyes widened. It would work! It would really work!

He brought his arm back and suddenly threw it forward, flinging the Keyblade towards Cerberus' middle head. His shot could not have been truer. It spun through the air like a saw blade—spinning much faster than Sora had expected it to—and flew straight for Cerberus. It struck the left side of the middle head and the head jerked to the right, yelping in pain.

"Okay, come back to me…" Sora said under his breath. He saw a flash of light by Cerberus' head and suddenly felt a weight in his hand again. He grinned as the Keyblade materialized, already in the grasp of his fist. In front of him, only about fifty feet away stood Cerberus, one head whimpering—two others growling menacingly. He cranked his arm back again and threw the Keyblade again—this one at Cerberus' right head. It connected. When the Keyblade reappeared again, Sora shot it off immediately and watched as it slammed into the left and final head.

Cerberus stumbled a bit. His heavy footsteps rumbled throughout the arena as he struggled to keep his balance. All three heads whimpered pitifully. One of his legs gave way and Cerberus collapsed to the ground. He struggled to rise, but it seemed the Keyblade did some damage.

Sora's light footfalls echoed off the stone bleachers on either side of the arena. He was bent low, Keyblade parallel to the ground. He ran towards Cerberus with shocking speed—a blur shooting across the stone. Cerberus was just rising to his wobbly feet when Sora reached him. The Keyblade crackled with electricity as it flew upwards in a smoldering uppercut to the middle head that sent the beast stumbling backwards. And then the left head was hit with what seemed to be a weapon of ice. Ice crystals formed where the Keyblade had hit. Sora landed on the ground quietly after hitting the side of Cerberus' head. He looked at the right head and grinned before taking off again. He reached the point just under the middle head and leapt, seemingly floating through the air. He curled up and flipped before straightening out his body and delivering a strong one-two kick to Cerberus' jaw.

He cried out in surprise as he fell and hit the hard stone. That would leave a bruise. However, Cerberus was in far worse shape then Sora's bruised bottom. He whimpered weakly and all three pairs of eyes drooped. His footing did not seem sure and all four legs wobbled. The teen's eyes widened and he rolled to the side just in time. Cerberus collapsed just as Sora was clear. All three of his heads thudded against the ground and a cloud of dust and dirt sprayed out from underneath him. Besides the slow rising and falling of his back in accord to his breathing, he did not move.

"And after proving yourself to be strong of will and compassion, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Furthermore, with the title of junior heroes, you shall—"

Donald quacked angrily. "What do you mean by 'junior heroes'?" He demanded furiously, his eyes narrow.

Phil dismissed him with the wave of a hand. "You rookies still don't know what it means to be true heroes and—" Donald shook his fist and quacked loudly. Sora sighed heavily and shook his head.

"So… what does it mean to be a true hero?" Goofy asked, saying what was on all three of their minds. Hercules smiled a large smile and looked at Meg warmly before turning back to the trio.

"That's something you'll just have to find out for yourselves. Just like I was forced to." He rubbed Phil's bald head—much to the dismay of the goat. "Being a hero isn't an easy task. Most don't even have what it takes, and most that do never reach it."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll prove ourselves in the games."

"There ain't gonna be any games for a while, kid. Not until we clean up the mess you made out there." Phil said with a smirk.

"I made? How can you say—"

Phil cut him off with a laugh. "Come back when the games are back on, Rookie. Then we'll see how heroic you are."

Sora snorted and turned away from him. "We'll be back, all right, goat-boy." Phil stamped his foot. "Count on it." And with that, Sora walked out of the Coliseum lobby. Donald and Goofy followed.

"I still can't believe that squirt beat Cerberus." Phil said, shaking his head.

"Well, just between you and me…" Hercules said. He bent down to be level with Phil's ear. "I had already worn down Cerberus before the little guy got there."

Phil smirked. "My lips are sealed."

Sora turned the laminated Junior Hero License card around in his hands. All in all, the white card with his name on it wasn't very special. It definitely wasn't an entire tapestry devoted to one of his amazing battles, but…

He paused, seeing a slight reflection in the card. There was the reflection of a cloaked figure on top of the Coliseum walls. His eyes widened and he stared at the card. His head jerked upwards. His eyes locked on the spot where he had seen the figure…

…And no one was there. He blinked and looked back down at the card. There too was nothing. He frowned and looked up from his card again, but, this time, his eyes caught sight of something else. Cloud, his former opponent was sitting on some steps near the entrance to the Coliseum, knees folded up vertically and his head in his hands. He was muttering to himself, but Sora couldn't hear anything he was saying.

"D'ya think he's okay?" Goofy asked quietly.

"I don't know. He looked pretty hurt earlier." Sora replied, his eyes locked on the apparently distressed form.

"Well, it doesn't matter! We need to go, so—Sora!" Sora walked away from Goofy and the now fuming Donald and headed for the man.

His footsteps crunched under the sand and Cloud looked up at the sound. His bright, blue eyes looked sad and his face was much softer than it was when Sora fought him. He acknowledged Sora with a slight nod, but without a word. Sora, however, was not giving up so easily.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Yeah," replied Cloud, looking Sora in the eyes.

Sora recalled a conversation that they'd had with Hercules and Phil after Cerberus was defeated. From this conversation, Sora had learned that Cloud had been hired by none other than Hades himself to fight in the tournament. The interesting part of it, of course, was Hades' eventual betrayal of Cloud. Sora shuffled his feet a bit, unsure of whether or not to ask about it. Finally, his curiosity won over his consideration, though.

"So, why did you go with him, anyway?" Sora asked quietly, sure that Cloud wasn't an evil man like Hades was. Cloud was silent for a long time. His eyes fell from Sora's and focused on the coliseum's walls behind Sora. His eyes grew darker in a way and when he finally spoke, his voice seemed to be suppressing a lot of emotion.

"I'm… looking for someone." He shook his head slightly and his blonde spikes quivered. "Hades promised to help me." He snorted. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but, obviously, it backfired." Cloud stood up and looked down at the brown-headed boy. "I fell into darkness," he said, his voice now sounding much colder than before. He was bitter. "And I couldn't find my light."

Sora frowned slightly. His… light? The way he said it… it sounded like it had a definite double meaning. Could he mean that someone he had lost? He smiled slightly. He decided then that Cloud and Sora had something in common.

"You'll find it," Sora said with assurance. Then he added, "I'm searching too." Cloud's gaze kept on him, but he was silent for a few moments. The darkness in his eyes faded and his facial expression was softer.

"For your light?" he asked softly, almost incredulously. He laughed slightly. "Don't lose sight of it, Sora. Don't ever lose sight of your light." Like I did… he finished silently. He stretched out his arm and gripped Sora's shoulder. "Sora, whatever you're doing, you're doing it right. You've got some people angry at you—people who would only be angry at some good things." He looked up towards where Sora and his friends just came from. "I know you got Hades furious. He was definitely after you… but why?"

Sora frowned. "I… I don't know, Cloud."

"Well, he's threatened by you, kid. Be careful—I have a feeling he's not something to laugh at."

"We can handle him! We handled Cerberus, didn't we?"

"Hades isn't Cerberus. Cerberus is his pet dog." Sora grew a bit colder at that. Cerberus almost finished Sora off… "I hope you never have to face him, kid. Really—I do." Cloud pulled away. "Take care of yourself." He turned and started walking for the exit to the Coliseum.

"Cloud!" Sora called, taking a step towards him. He looked behind his shoulder. "How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

The blonde chuckled slightly. With a wave of his hand, he said, "I think I'll pass." Sora watched as he walked out and then looked back to the others.

"Well… let's go!" He exclaimed. With that, he ran out the doors… and suddenly ran straight into someone. "Sorry, Cloud…!" He cried, backing up, arms wind milling to keep his balance. He failed and fell down on his backside.

The person grunted. "Name's not Cloud." His voice was gravelly and dark.

Sora looked up… and gasped. His eyes widened and he crab-walked backwards.

The man…

The man! It was the man from Destiny Island! The man who talked about understanding nothing! This man was on his island right before it was destroyed! He was from Sora's home!

Sora vaguely heard Donald and Goofy run out. Donald was busy interrogated the man on why Sora was on the ground. Goofy was bending down to help Sora up. But Sora shot up to his feet before Goofy could even reach him.

"You! You were that guy on my island! You talked about the door being opened or something!" Sora pointed at him. "Do you know what happened to all my friends!?" The man crossed his cloaked arms across his chest. It didn't faze Sora that he was wearing a black cloak instead of a brown one. If Sora could have seen his face from within the shadow, he would have supposed he was looking at Sora coolly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, his gravelly voice emotionless. It didn't really sound like the man, now that Sora thought about it. His eyes widened when he noticed the man was wearing a black cloak. The realization hit him like a hammer. This man wasn't the man from the Secret Place. He wasn't from Destiny Island. He… he wasn't Sora's key to finding his friends.

"You pushed him, didn't you!?" Donald quacked, his face red. Sora found it weird that his feathers all turned so red… but he decided not to question it.

"No. He ran into me." The man's voice chilled Sora's spirits. He didn't think he had ever heard someone so… dark.

"Yeah, I… I did." Sora said softly. Donald spun around and gave him an angry look that told Sora that he was about to scold him, so Sora turned to the man. "I'm sorry about that, I… I thought you were someone else."

The man scoffed. "You think?" Sora was a bit taken aback by his rude attitude. Apparently, Donald was too. Sora cut him off again before Donald could throw a fit. Again.

"Well… sorry." Sora moved to walk past him, but just as he passed, he felt a callous hand grab his left arm tightly. He felt a twang of fear and he froze. His right arm was at his side and he was ready at any moment to recall the Keyblade to his hand. He looked up at the man apprehensively and found the man watching Donald and Goofy warily.

"What's your name?" He asked with little curiosity, as if the information didn't really interest him in the least.

"Sora," the teen answered carefully. He looked up at his companions. Donald was gripped his rod with a death grip and Goofy looked alert and ready to grab the shield off its place on his back at any second.

"Sora…" The man said gratingly. Sora noticed that it sounded like there was a bit of contempt mixed in it. Who was this man? He looked back up at him and noticed a sliver of blonde hair visible from underneath the dark hood.

Suddenly, the pressure on his arm abated as the man released him. The man crisply spun around and started walking away. Sora watched as one of his hands reached up to his chest… and then the man stopped. He whipped around and Sora could have sworn his shadowed eyes narrowed in Sora's direction.

"Hey… what's this?" Goofy asked to the side. The man's head snapped in the direction of Goofy. He took large steps, his booted feet just visible underneath his cloak, towards Goofy, who was currently straightening up after bending down and picking something off the ground.

"Give… me… that!" The man snarled. Goofy glanced at him and then held out his white-gloved hand, the object—whatever it was—on his palm. The man snarled once more and swiped the object so quickly that Goofy hand jerked to the side. The object was gone and the man was, again, briskly walking off.

"Bye!" Goofy called, waving, as if the whole ordeal didn't even faze him. But Sora watched as he finished waving and then rubbed the hand the man had hit while snatching the prized object. Sora looked back towards the man, but then gasped in surprise and blinked rapidly. The cloaked figure—whoever he was—had disappeared.

"What was that thing, Goofy?" Donald quacked.

"It looked like a green rock thing…" Goofy replied slowly. "But it was like a necklace because it had some kind of string on it."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck. He asked, "You okay?"

"Yep!" replied the Goof.

"Well, in that case, let's go! I wanna explore more worlds!"

"He's strong! He's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot! He's perfect." Hades snarled and the blue flames atop his head exploded into a raging inferno of red, yellow, and orange, extending down his neck, shoulders, arms, and back. "Perfect!" In his hand was a smoky image of Hercules, standing with his fists on his hips, legs spread. Hades crushed the image in his fist, causing it to puff out into nonexistence. "Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy!" The flames flashed white for a second and then died back down to the dull blue color, shrinking back to just atop his head.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about, Hades old buddy? Everything's in place! Relax. All right, here's the plan. Let Hercules train the kid. Sure, it's dangerous, but come next chance I get, I'll take them both out with one stone!" A smoke image of both Hercules and Sora cowering on the ground appeared on one side of his palm. On his fingertips was a large, three headed beast—the Hydra. He sneered, revealing crooked, yellow teeth as two of the Hydra's heads snapped forward, catching both Hercules and Sora, devouring them in a heartbeat. The image disappeared. "Oh yes. Things will be perfect."

A cold wind blew past him from behind, causing his robe to ripple in black waves. Even through his constantly warm skin, he felt a cold chill that ran to his black heart. He didn't need to turn to see who the source of this chill was.

"Who invited you here?" he questioned offhandedly. "This is my show; stay out of it." He could just see her lips twist into a dark sneer. He could feel her yellow eyes drilling a hole through the back of his flaming skull. He felt as though he could feel her hot breath on his neck. The coldness in his heart got worse.

"As you wish," she said. Her voice had taken on a mocking tone. "Fight to your heart's content." And then Maleficent was gone. Hades stood there for a moment. A moment turned to a full minute. That minute finally became two before he shuddered visibly, emitted a "Brrr…" sound, and moved into the shadows, where a circle of bright green appeared, soon filling in. The circle became a swirling vortex of green and black. He stepped into it and the vortex closed up on itself just as fast as it had appeared. Hades was gone.

The silver-haired fifteen-year-old boy sat upon a rooftop in the formerly largest city, the capitol city of Galbadia, on Hollow Bastion. Now, of course, it was mostly the world's largest pile of trash. The Heartless had ravaged the city when Maleficent had staged the coup and took over the world of Hollow Bastion with the help of those without hearts. Although the king Ansem had long since disappeared, the world was left in the control of his trusted friend and captain of Hollow Bastion's military, SeeD, a Squall Leonhart. With the help of a select group of other leaders, he led the world up until Maleficent attacked with the Heartless. However, Squall and his SeeD were pushed farther and farther back until their last stand was made in the Hollow Bastion Castle. After that, the SeeD and other militia boarded the limited amount of Gummi Ships available and flew off to other worlds, retreating to live to fight another day. So the boy had been told.

Brushing some of his bangs away from his face, Riku sighed and looked around. From his vantage point, he could see a great deal around him. All the streets crawled with Heartless of any kind. However, he noticed that the majority of them consisted of the Dark Balls (big, floating dark balls with Shadow-like antennae and eyes and huge, chomping mouths) and Wyverns (strange, red Dragon-like Heartless that would dive-bomb its prey and attempt to rip the victim's heart out with its white teeth.)

A Wyvern shrieked and slammed to the roof he was sitting upon only five feet away, glaring at him with its cold, yellow eyes. Riku didn't flinch. The creature wanted his heart—he knew it did. For the Heartless, it was its most favorable food. However, Riku also knew that the Heartless had been forbidden to touch him. And, just as predicted, the Wyvern glared at him for a few more moments before flapping its wings and lifting into the air again, shrieking in frustration.

Riku sighed once more and looked at his palms, studying them. His throat constricted and he struggled to repress the sudden surge of emotion. He was lonely. Riku was lonelier than he had ever been before. The Heartless obviously would never keep him company and there was no way he'd ever trust Maleficent and her cronies. But that left him with virtually no one. At most, it left him with a pocket of resistance here and there, but he wouldn't know how to even find them, much less befriend them. And even then, he had agreed to join Maleficent, hadn't he?

Yet… she had given him freedom to do virtually whatever he wanted to. She had given him the freedom to go anywhere he so desired. He had already visited dozens of worlds, experienced things he had never experienced before… and found himself frustrated more and more by those experiences. He had everything he ever wanted; yet he was beginning to hate it.

"I wonder where Sora is now…" Riku said aloud, ignoring the Dark Ball that flew dangerously close to his head, jaws snapping like clockwork. "Probably with Kairi," he finished with a scowl. But he noticed that the scowl was more forced—as a habit—than actually heartfelt. He missed those two. He missed those two like he'd miss his own heart. He wasn't sure if he could stand for long being around the lovebirds, but…

But he found himself missing their company. He found that having power, but being without a friend was a mental and emotional torture that he had never been prepared for. It ripped him apart inside. Every passing day, he felt his heart grow colder. Darker. He longed to hold onto the warmth of friendship. To escape the confines of the Island, he accepted Darkness. Yet now, after experiencing it, he found it lacking… and outright terrifying. It filled him with a strong dread for what could lay beyond if he kept going down that path. And, at the same time, the more he had of it, the more he wanted it.

That's what scared Riku the most. Regardless of how evil the Darkness truly was, he found himself wanting it more and more every day. He regretted accepting it now, yet he wasn't sure that, if he were allowed to relive that moment in his life, he would change his decision. What was happening to him? The Light was fading from his heart. It faded from his heart faster than he could even notice, half of the time. But he had no doubt about it. He felt an unbalance in his heart and he knew that he had to do something to correct that, or soon it would be too late.

He had to leave Hollow Bastion, he knew. He had to leave Maleficent, leave the Heartless, leave the Darkness, embark on a journey—this one to find Sora and Kairi and then to go back home to Destiny Islands with them hot on his trail.

Another shriek—this one the cry of a terrified woman—shook him from his thoughts. He grabbed his sword and shot to his feet, running to the edge of the building. Directly below him, one of Maleficent's henchmen—not a Heartless, but a simple, stupid, hairy, smelly human—was dragging a kicking and screaming lady past the building… right towards a group of Heartless. The woman had raven hair and looked to be in her early twenties. She was probably slightly taller than Riku. She was dressed in a light blue dress and had some sort of projectile weapon attached to her right forearm. With a flash, the projectile—some kind of spinning, sharp disk—blasted off it and whistled through the air, cutting through a Darkball, eradicating it. It whirled through the air and actually turned back like a boomerang, flying straight back at her and the henchman. However, the henchman jerked the girl to the side and the disked missed them cleanly, hitting the ground with a loud crack and a shower of sparks. The woman's struggles doubled, but the henchman's grip would not lose her.

Riku's eyes narrowed and he inched along the rooftop, watching the henchman and the woman. When Riku reached the edge of the roof, he leapt down and landed with a roll, rolling to a stop behind the remains of what used to be one of the walls of a house. He crept along the remains until he reached the end, where he peeked out once more. The Heartless had spotted the man and the woman by now and crowded around them both, all snarling and shrieking in excitement. A few of them started towards the two humans, but those Heartless were beaten back by other Heartless that grew angry at the prospect of losing a heart. The circle around the henchman and woman closed and Riku's grip on his sword tightened.

This was wrong. He couldn't let this happen! He dug his foot into the ground and tore away from his hiding spot behind the wall. He crossed out into the open and his presence was noticed immediately. Several of the Heartless turned to face him, anger and hunger etched on their features. However, for some, it was too late. Dozens of Heartless dived at the henchman and woman, teeth and claws longing for the feeling of their flesh.

"No!" Riku cried, rushing forward as fast as his legs could carry him. Yet… he was slower than usual… why couldn't he move like normal…? During his stay at Hallow Bastion, everything about him had been made better by the darkness that Maleficent had imparted on him, yet now, that darkness seemed to flee… in fact, he felt weaker than before. He doubled and tripled his efforts and rushed past the first line of Heartless, whom did not attack him because of who he was. However, judging by the swarm ahead, Riku knew he would be too late.

His sword cut through the air and Heartless alike, eliminating two, three, five, and then up to ten separate Heartless. Many of the creatures of snarled and screeched in disagreement, but still none attacked. He was closer now and finally reached the pile of Heartless that had leapt upon the henchman and the woman. Even as he cut through their ranks with ease, he feared the worst. Finally, though, the creatures backed away, furious at his intrusion, but none daring to go against their orders. On the ground were a tattered shirt, pants, and boots—remnants of the henchman… and the girl hiding beneath them, still kicking and screaming in a panic.

A lump formed in Riku's throat and he felt a surge of joy well up in his stomach, threatening to burst forth in yells and whoops. She had lived! Somehow the girl survived the onslaught! From her position, Riku guessed that when the Heartless attacked, she had taken cover behind the large man. When the man was pushed over, she was left in relative safety as the Heartless tore at him. However, Riku knew full well that if he was only a few seconds slower, he would have been too late.

However, Riku trusted the Heartless about as far as he could throw the former henchman, and would not endanger the woman further. He quickly reached down and grabbed her flailing arm (eliciting more shrieking and kicking) and wrenched her to her feet.

"Hey!" Riku said sharply, grabbing her other arm and giving her a forceful shake. The woman stopped screaming and resisting immediately and her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing soft, chocolate eyes. She stared at him for a long time and her bottom lip quivered. Suddenly, in a burst of emotion, she let out a sharp shout of joy and hugged him tightly around his neck, causing Riku blush deeply. Granted, he'd been hugged by Kairi before, but this was another girl entirely.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, releasing him and clasping her hands together. However, her joy dimmed by a lot when she saw the Heartless gathering behind Riku, each and every one leering at one of the two humans with menacingly.

"We need to move," Riku said softly. "They won't be able to control their hunger much longer," The girl said nothing, but just nodded, suddenly unsure of whose side this hero was on. However, for the moment, she would trust and follow him. "Do you know anywhere you can hide out?"

Immediately, alarms went off in the girl's heart. He could be a spy, and, if so, she could be leading him right back to their base! No, the Forest Owls would be continually protected from Maleficent. Instead, she would take him to the former hideout… and there would she test him. If he passed the test, she would contact the Forest Owls and have the resistance group come to them and make the final decision. If he failed, she would run away in the night and get back to the Owls on her own.

"Yeah!" she said, a smile brightening her features. "Follow me! And hurry!" And with those words, the two of them took off down the opposite road, away from the angry Heartless. All the while, Riku felt as if he was on his last reserves of strength.

What's happening to me…?

The dark man sat upon a large, sandy rock on the outskirts of Athens. To the east was the tall peak of Mt. Olympus. Clouds swirled around the top of it, preventing those on the ground from seeing what was above—which was supposedly because at the peak of the mountain was the god paradise of Olympus. His face contorted with anger. Paradise. The word was a lie. That word was a joke created by idiots who decided that they had the right to play with the emotions of others.

He squeezed his right fist so tightly that his arm began to tremble. The object in his hand did not give into the pressure and held strong, not breaking under the power of his grip. He opened his hand, ignoring the four small cuts on his palm created by his nails, and peered at the object in it. The object was a small, green, translucent stone with golden trim around the side of it. It was tear-shaped and had two thin strips of leather tied together at the peak of its curve.

"Stupid," he said gravely. "I almost lost this..." He let the stone fall through his fingers and closed them around the string, causing it to dangle below his hand. He lifted it up and swung it gently back and forth, letting it act as a pendulum, as if this action would hypnotize him and free him from the emptiness that ripped at his heart.

His eyes followed it lazily, watching as the sunlight shone through brokenly, curving and zigzagging through the stone. Finally, he swung it harder than before and it wrapped around his outstretched hand multiple times before the string ran out of line and the stone slapped to his palm with a dull thwack. His palm closed into a fist and he brought that fist to his lips. After kissing his hand he moved it up and rested his forehead against it, feeling the onslaught of emotion threatening to overthrow his emotional barriers.

His lips moved without a sound, a silent word passing from his mouth to the wind. A single droplet of moisture traveled down his rugged and scraggly cheek, getting caught in the rough, blonde stubble lining his jaw. He didn't move to wipe his cheek. Instead, his body gave a shudder and more tears slipped from his hard eyes. His hazel eyes unleashed the torrent that had been held back for ages like a dam finally crumbling under the pressure of the river behind it.

Eitan the Vagabond stayed in that spot until the moon was high. Finally, he resolved to look into the sky and watched as a shooting star crossed the blackness of the infinity. He did not see it, but far away, another star flickered and dimmed before disappearing completely from existence. Eitan's eyelids drooped and he fell into a fitful slumber.

There you have it, folks. The long awaited and overdue Chapter 12 is now finished with. …About time. Anyway, I need to give credit where credit is due. To those who have followed my wishes and read my girlfriend's story, you already know exactly who Eitan is. To those who have no clue what the story I'm talking about is, Eitan is an original character created by my girlfriend in her story, Breaking the Shadows. My story doesn't do him justice either. If you're interested in him, I'd suggest reading that story. …I'd suggest it either way. My girlfriend is an amazing writer and I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

If you wish to read Breaking the Shadows, you can find the URL to it in my Author Bio or in my Favorite Stories list. Again, I'd really suggest it—whether or not you're into Monster Rancher. It is a story that can be picked up and read, even if you aren't very familiar with Monster Rancher. So, once more, go and read it! It's awesome.

Moving on, I'm not going to do any shout-outs in this chapter. Thank you all for your reviews and thank you Merry-Brisnell for your flame. It's been a long time since someone flamed me for the sole purpose of ridiculing my faith. …I've genuinely missed it.

Anywho, thanks again to all those who reviewed. I am truly sorry for the long wait and I hope your next wait won't be as long.

God bless you all and Happy Belated Thanksgiving! And if I don't see you again beforehand, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

--Harvestboy2001