Chapter 6 - Oblivion

His voice... it's left me.

"Kydran..."

My... name...?

"Kydran, wake up!"

Kydran...? Where are you...?

"I'm so scared..."

Pandora...?

"Please, you have to come back!"

I...

Pandora, frightened, looked wildly around herself, nearly paralyzed by shock. She clung tightly to Kydran's body. The two were lost in a realm of inky blackness. She could not see anything beyond the two of them; it was as if light was being reflected off of them, but the source was beyond sight, and they were the only things in this vast realm of Darkness.

"Kydran! Please!"

He would not stir. She was terrified. The Darkness was already eating away at her memories; she was beginning to forget where she had come from. She had almost forgotten Kydran. This frightened her more than anything else; what if she forgot entirely? What would happen to her?

The girl felt something within her stir, felt emotions for the boy in her arms churn and roil for escape. The Darkness was eating at the outer layers of her heart; she could already feel the color fading from her memories.

With all her willpower, she kept the memory of Kydran alive. Finding him in the alleyway. Seeing him enter that doorway in Traverse Town like a knight errant, rescuing her, saving her life. Holding her, the only one there for her. In the Coliseum.

Sitting beside a boy with hair of black and red on a decrepit old rooftop, looking up at the shining silver spire that pierced into a sky of gray...

She looked away from him for a moment. Ahead of them, where they were destined, she could see ground; or, the closest thing to it. A massive slab of blue-white stone, stalactites clinging to the bottom of it, flattened at its top.

Pandora suddenly had the sensation of slowing down, from passing through air to entering water. He clothing, and Kydran's, billowed, as if caught in a great wind. The two landed softly, Kydran on his back, the girl beside him. Her frightened eyes traced along the ground, up into the "sky", out into the Abyss, the realm of Darkness. She fought to her feet, focusing still on her memories of Kydran. She had to fight, to keep them both from being eaten by the Darkness.

Pandora felt a headache gathering in her head, like a thunderstorm gathers over the plains. She raised a hand to a temple, sighing. She had to be strong, Kydran could not fight. This was her time.

Then, the boy groaned loudly, grasping his chest, a cry of pain following that groan. She whipped about, came back to his side and dropped to her knees beside him.

"Kydran!"

"My... name..."

"Kydran, what's happening!" her voice came, splitting through the awful silence, shrill and terrified.

"Pan... Pandora! What- augh!" Kydran attempted to say, his voice muffled and broken by gasps of agony.

"No...!"

(what am I doing here its so cold too cold winter cold)

"Kydran, tell me what's wrong!"

(who are you)

He was long gone. Her hands went to the sides of his head, lightly, as if he were too fragile to hold. His breathing was troubled.

And then he flickered.

Pandora thought it was a figment of her imagination, but it had happened again. He had flickered. It was as if he was some sort of holographic image, and the channel had been changed and changed back. One instant he was wearing the black clothing, the next he was clad in rags, his face covered with soot. Her heart ached, and she didn't know why. By the time she had realized that it had happened, he was as he had been.

(wheres Sora)

"Kydran..."

Was he dying? Already dead? She felt irrevocably lost. The wielder of the Heart Key could not save her. She couldn't help Kydran, and she knew something was wrong, that they were in terrible danger. She was helpless.

Pandora pulled Kydran closer, tears stinging at her eyes. Indignance, frustration, sorrow, all of them welled up within her. She shouted at the top of her lungs, at the black sky, hoping in vain that maybe it would all just go away.

Twin emerald oculars shot open. Kydran cried out, flailed, flickering once more.

"Kydran! What's wrong! Tell me!"

(you brought me back whats going on where are we)

"Come back!"

"...no... go back..."

"I can't!"

(no this cant be happening hes here its here in this place my Nemesis)

The girl felt chilled, suddenly. As though having been plunged into glacial waters, she lost her breath, but within herself she felt a heat. Like being microwaved. Her gut ached; the heat from within her spread outward. The feeling was the same as one would get when in a car that has gone out of control, unstoppably, inevitably careening toward a cliff. She knew she was in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.

Inky black tentacles, small in size but immeasurable in number, slipped onto the edge of the floating rock the two were on. They were followed by more, and more, and more. The whipping sounds they made as they flailed chaotically through the air intimidated Pandora even further, tore her thoughts away from Kydran. She stood up, and turned to face the monster, getting to her feet as well as she was able.

From over the edge of the platform rose black fire. An immense crystal, easily twice the size of a fully grown man, emitted this energy, and from it were spawned the limitless tentacles, extensions of the unadulterated Darkness within it.

She would have screamed if she had had the breath.

Kydran had stopped convulsing, and lay, wide awake, staring into the pure nothingness above him. His head lolled to the side, his face emotionless but the heart within him screaming, sobbing, losing control.

The crystal was in the shape of a heart; within it was a neon-green haze, the center of it a blinding white, comparable to a sun in brightness. The light disappeared- or, rather, opened up to reveal the Darkness within.

An eye, mystifying and hypnotic, opened within the crystal. The dark fire intensified, lightning crackling along the faceted edges of this crystalline heart. The tendrils of Darkness had stopped their advance, but were now forming appendages, limbs. Around this crystal, a ribcage was manifesting, though the sternum remained unformed- the ribcage was open.

Pandora was frozen in place.

She heard a voice speak; it was the voice of the last person she expected to hear in this dark place.

"Do not resist. Give me what I desire," came Reifa's voice, grotesque and malicious, resonating from the crystal. Pandora gasped sharply, amazed she could still breathe.

"I know... you're here for your boy. I know your face, you slime."

Her mouth was moving, but Pandora had not willed the words out; or had she? It was impossible to tell anymore.

"Stand aside or be forever trapped in oblivion."

"He would never forget me."

Kydran, laying on the ground, sunk beneath the surface of his consciousness, drowning in his own chaotic thoughts. He would have suffocated on his memories, died there, if not for one thing:

His heart was not pulsing on its own.

Pandora raised a hand over her chest, glaring back at this eye. This time, she knew it was her words. Her will. Her anger. Her defiance.

"You cannot have him."

The Darkheart Crystal said nothing.

Kydran felt the heartbeat, not his own but still his own. He wept.

(here I am again so miserable so cold so alone can't I just have one friend without a price-)

Power gathered before the eye, dark energy, purest of voids, devourer of worlds and memories.

(here I am in this cold room is it even a room or is it my hell)

Pandora stood strong, Light blazing about her form as her thoughts of Kydran intensified, carried beyond what she thought she knew, further and further back, tapping into a force she did not know existed, especially not in the depths of Darkness. Every lock had come undone.

Kydran was very cold. He wrapped his arms around his legs, placing his head on his knees. His breath was visible. He looked around him. The room was empty. It was his own room. The one window was broken, boarded up. Snow fell softly outside, but he could find no warmth or happiness in the beautiful weather. He felt terrified. He felt hungry. He was freezing.

His green eyes moved to the doorway, where he thought he had heard something. Deep within him welled a feeling of horror, a feeling that told him not to be where he was because something terrible was going to come through the door.

He heard the front door slam. A man was shouting loudly, angrily, though Kydran could not make out the words.

The pendant. The pendant the man in black gave him would save him.

Right?

Kydran reeled back from the blow, his father's hand striking (perfectly) squarely with his jaw. He stumbled, nearly fell.

He was outside. The man that stood before him was one he admired most of all; he had to smile. He saw his father's hair on the man, raven locks, the man who was clad in ragged clothing. No matter; the boy was dressed in rags, too.

The castle walls looked so solid; he felt safe. Maybe not because of the walls, but because of his companion. Sora. That goofy, homohaired best-friend-you-could-ask-for. The boy in the red jumpsuit turned, grinned, and motioned for him to follow.

The beach was beautiful that day... beach? No, this couldn't be his. The girl, wearing a plaid blue dress and a white tank top, moved to where the ocean met the land, the sea breeze moving through her hair, entrancing him.

Impossible. No Light in this place.

"You cannot have him! I will not let you take him!"

Pandora covered her face, standing before Kydran's body protectively. Was this her destiny? Did she have a destiny? If it was to protect the boy who lay helpless behind her, so be it.

She was unable to move anymore, soon to be unable to think.

The figure rose before him, looming, frightening except for that sense of dead nostalgia its visage brought on. The silhouette, clad in a jet-black raincoat, extended a fist out. The gloved hand opened. Its contents gleamed silver in the artificial light.

Nothing. A buzz filled his ears; the images before him blurred. He saw nothing.

The blow caught him off-guard; had he been off-guard? No, he was just too slow, and the man was too fast. He couldn't see through his hands, for they covered his face defensively. There was only the dull ache in his abdomen. Then he heard his own voice, in the back of his mind, whispering malice and vengeance.

It hadn't been the first time.

The castle grounds were so beautiful; snow-covered, amidst a scene of sharp, talonlike mountains, a tired sun spreading dying light down in a gorgeous display. He looked to his left; beside him, the raincoated figure stood, hood raised to hide its visage.

The small cave did not feel musty or humid anymore; rather, it felt empty, devoid of anything except those boulders with the scribbled of children upon them. He glanced right; upon the wall, there was a drawing of two people sharing a star-shaped object. He turned back to face the door. Dark fire seeped from the edges of the door, black tentacles about to force it open.

The man, so like himself but older, his idol, his hero, began to turn away. The boy felt empty; as empty as possible. A huge piece of himself was ripped away. No, no! He coulnd't go! The boy couldn't just... let him walk away!

The vision blurred, the buzzing growing louder and louder and louder until Kydran felt his eyes head was going to pop like a balloon. Nothing but static.

He was floating. No, not floating... flying. Rocketing. Faster than he thought possible. He was greased lightning, faster than that, unfathomably fast. He could make out a shape in the distance, growing steadily larger. A massive building.

The man turned away. The boy had never felt so cold.

Fiery eyes glared back at the boy, suddenly, emerald eyes screaming only hatred. A mane of crimson flared about his head, and a derisive expression was on the face of the boy's Id. He was surrounded on all sides. No place was safe, not even his own mind anymore.

He extended his fingers, eyes widening at the sight of this glorious manifestation of Light. Or was it Dark? The immense heart before him pulsed loudly, emitting the buzzing that he was now getting used to. Darkness all around him, shadows, creeping forth toward this heart... the Light within the Dark?

He felt so empty. Empty beyond words. Sora had turned his back- just like his own brother had. Even the Keyblade Master knew now what his destiny was. Was the black-haired boy ever to be a part of it?

So like Kydran... the boy's back was so similar to his brother's back... the same... a cycle...

The building grew ever-closer. He realized it was a castle; huge, unknowably complex, so like his own memories, intertwined, inseparable despite the yearning for separation. What had separated them? He didn't know. Or maybe he didn't want to know.

The blonde-haired boy. Dyne. Wielder of the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper. So much fog; like clouds, they came in pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle that came with no hint as to how to be put together. But it would never put itself together.

Five of them stood, facing the black-clad boy. They donned raincoats, all of them, the Unknowns... was that not what they called themselves?

Hollow Bastion. He recognized that place. The leader, so familiar to the boy, raised his arms, beckoning, welcoming.

He didn't see memories anymore.

He could only see the Darkheart Eye, that invasive force that allowed him no rest. How could he possibly survive against the creation of his own ignorance?

"Pandora! NO!"

Before his voice had reacher her, her form had already been engulfed in a black ray; the Darkness's ultimate destructive force. Pandora resisted. The Light flared in defiance before it, and the girl, were extinguished.

Gravity took hold. He felt that pull once more. The castle was ever-closer. There, on the ground. A boy. How did he...? His took a nose-dive, as if drawn by an implacable magnetic force, and slammed into the blue-white rock below him.

He flew through the other boy.

(It's all coming back to me, the true...)