D/N: Okay. I've finished with the stuff that I had already written. Now's the time for things chapters that'll take longer to post. Thank you all for the reviews. .. I can't remember usernames really well, so I apologize for not recognizing you properly. Heh; okay, we're going deeper and deeper into the plot. I don't really like the elements that Disney added, so I might be a bit bad and forsake some of them. Yet again, this is a new chapter and a new plot, so it might be much better to introduce a few new characters, right? Right! I think I'm typing too much. . . Who reads the author notes, anyway? shrugs I also need to edit this section a lot. . . My first couple chapters sucked bows deeply again Do not hurt me kind reviewers! Mwehehe. Onward my friends!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Those who created it know who they are, so why should they bristle about me feeling no inclination in mentioning them here? THEY SHOULD BE PROUD FOR BEING THE CREATORS FOR SUCH A MAGNIFICENT GAME!rants until Devura corks her up and drags her away from the keyboard Ahem; kudos to Squaresoft and Disney.

Unceremoniously, Em was dumped into a small and dingy room, her platinum hair shining white in the semi-darkness. She sat up, slowly, and dragged herself over to the cot in the corner of the room, clutching at her pounding head. Despite being reassured that she would come to no harm here, the darkness that clung to her skin cold and clouding her soul; it scared her to feel so cold so deep inside of her heart and soul.

There were no doors that she could see; only a small bar at the top of the wall above the cot that looked like a window, for ventilation, she expected. The cot itself was covered in a rough sacking that smelt musty, but clean, like it had not been used by anything alive for a very long time.

When she stood up on tiptoes to look out the window, to perhaps call for help from someone outside, she stood there, shocked. A shiver wound its way down her spine and to her tailbone, a shuddering jerk passing through her body, as though she was throwing a fit. Outside, the sky was the black of freshly spilt India ink, the land only a few feet away completely invisible to her. The flickering torches that were set outside her window in brackets barely penetrated the darkness; it seemed to swallow the light up in its depths. This is the land of the shadows, no doubt about it, and Hatori and Raine weren't here with her; she was alone is a cold black world.

One of the smooth stone walls slid back sharply, Em crying out and falling to lie, spread-eagled, on the floor. A tall shadow walked in through the doorway, not noticing her uncomfortable position. It whispered to her, its mouth undistinguishable from the rest of its body, its voice like the smooth underbelly of a snake whispering across sand, "Our master will see you now. He apologizes for locking you up so; there was a mistake when you were taken here. You were meant to be a guest, not a prisoner."

Em hesitated before taking the shadow's outstretched limb. Blindly, she thought as the rubbery and cold flesh pulsated unpleasantly under her skin, Arm? Hand? Tentacle? What could it be? Her experience with shadows was limited; she knew nothing about what their anatomy was like, or if they were supposed to resemble a certain species that she knew of.

The shadow led her up several stone staircases, barely lighted by torches that were firmly bolted to the wall. The shadow paused, and then placed its hand on a patch of bare stone, uninterrupted by the seemingly random torches. Slowly, it slid back, and the shadow escaped into the ones cast by the torches, leaving Em to enter alone, trembling.

Light. Light so bright that turned the backs of my eyelids red. I groaned, and shifted over from my back onto my side, not wanting to let go of the warmth of sleep; it was so pleasant, much different from the suffocating dark. The word reverberated around my head, as though it should mean something, and I frowned in my sleep. What was it? What was wrong with the dark?

Suddenly, I shot up, finally wide awake. The dark, the shadows, of course! Where was Hatori? What was this place? Who was I? Quickly, I shook my head to get rid of my sense of disorientation. Something bit into the back of my thighs as feeling returned, and I winced, removing the object; I had been sitting on the key blade for who knows how long.

I looked around, and quickly assessed my surroundings, not knowing what could threaten me now. Behind me was a bright streetlamp, a perfect hole in the glass covering it, perfect for shining in the place where my face had been only a few moments ago. Hatori was sprawled on the cobblestones a few feet away, looking as if he was asleep. Nothing looked abnormal about this place, except for the fact that it was slightly old fashioned; the buildings were something that I had seen in only my social studies text books, the chapter on the Renaissance. What shadows were cast by the objects were normal, which looked as tangible as a cloud was.

I used the key blade in order to keep my balance as I stood; I had been lying on it for too long, both of my legs asleep. Painfully, wincing as every new wave of pins and needles ran through my legs, I hobbled over to my friend, poking him with one toe, "Get up, stupid."

He moaned, and turned on his side away from me, "Ten more minutes, mom."

"I'm not your mother! Get the hell up!" Losing my temper, I kicked him, and promptly fell back onto my butt; I was still weak and my balance was shot. How long had I been lying there, anyway? I had neglected to wear a watch that morning; that was probably a bad decision on my part.

Hatori yelped as he was kicked, and rolled for a bit, before coming to a rest on his back, blinking owlishly at the sky. "Did you have to kick me?" He asked, sluggishly, the remnants of sleep still clinging to him.

"Yes, or you'd never get up. Come on, I don't know how long we can remain safe." I scrambled once more onto my feet, offering a hand to help him up.

Suddenly, Hatori surged to his feet, nearly knocking me over once more, and cried out, "What happened? Where are the shadows!"

"Shh, Haa-chan, calm down. I don't know where we are, yes, but I don't see anything that could harm us just yet."

He frowned, pointing at the buildings around us. "They're so strange. Are you sure it isn't a trap?"

I followed to where his finger pointed; only the bare wall of a building, "What's so strange about them?"

"Look. They don't have any windows or doors. How are people supposed to go in and out?"

This time, I looked at the detail of the buildings, which I hadn't bothered with before. He was right. The walls were bare of adornment of all sorts, and a uniform brown. Nothing on the surface showed us where a simple entrance was. It was as though we were trapped in a maze-like prison.

Hatori's hands moved in a strange gesture, his mouth moving in a silent spell. Suddenly, a green light formed and grew, and he was holding his staff between both hands, eyes warily looking around. "Keep your weapon ready; I don't want to get caught unprepared."

My key blade was in my hands almost as soon as he had finished telling me; I did not need to be told twice with such suspicious surroundings. Hatori began to slowly step forward toward the only exit out of this small dead end, eyes flickering around. I stopped him, one hand on his shoulder, "Let me go first. I can handle an attack, you, not so much. If the time comes, I'm sure you can pull up a barrier."

"I don't know that spell yet," He told me, wryly, but still allowed me to be the leader; it took several moments for him to cast a spell, but I could defend myself near instantly. That is, if I didn't freeze up first.

As we neared the edge, the sound of heavy shoes hitting pavement reached my ears. I looked back at Hatori, and he nodded, eyes wide, and I readied my key blade to strike as the sound came closer and closer to us.

D/N: Cliffhanger. :P Sorry about the long break. Many things had to be done before I could finish this. So, the long awaited new chapter!

Read and review and don't hold back on any flames! Hehehe.