Author's Note: Sorry for the long period of time with no updates. I have been really busy lately. Plus, I had none of Ch.16 done by the time I posted Ch.15. I have decided to do one last episode after this. It will be called Twilight Exodus. I have a fair idea of what I want to do in that one, but I will take suggestions. Thank you for the reviews and your patience.

Enjoy.

Chapter 16

7:53 A.M.

Kairi:

Sora's presence was back again, looming behind me like a shadow. It had already pierced my link, much like it did before. There was insanity on the frays on the link…

"Kairi…come back to me."

His voice sounded so real, so close. I swear he could have been lying next to me whispering in my ear.

"Don't try to run from me!"

The room in front of my eyes slowly came back into focus. Everyone was staring at me as if I had grown a pair of shadow antennae. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Please stop staring at me," I said softly.

"It's worse than I feared. Sora is deliberately breaching Kairi's mind," Roxas muttered.

"He's not deliberately doing that!" I snapped.

"Thank about it, Kairi. You and Sora have a mental link—"

"Enough! That's what Mickey wants. He's playing with our minds," Riku interrupted.

"He's right, Roxas. We need to focus and act as one. Let's step outside."

This was it. After six hours of rest, we were going to go back outside. Sora was waiting—I didn't exactly know where. Riku opened the door and went out first. Axel and Roxas went second. A wary Demyx went out third and Daisy and I went out last. Blood was everywhere. The air reeked of it strongly. My Heartless senses sharpened just from inhaling it. A loud hiss tore my attention from the blood to…Sora.

"He's finally snapped," Riku whispered.

I cringed when I heard that. I could confirm that fact…but I didn't want to believe it. All of a sudden, Sora vanished. Axel and Roxas immediately drew their weapons. Sora reappeared in front of me seconds later. Riku, Axel and Roxas immediately reacted by pointing their weapons at him. My bonded stared at them with blank, dull eyes. He lifted his hands…

I felt the energy before it left his body. Axel, Roxas and Riku flew across the street into a building. Sora turned around to face me. I shivered when his eyes met me again.

"Dance, Water, Dance!"

Water separated us in a flash. I was pulled backwards by Demyx. Water forms closed the distance between me and Sora. Sora roared and started through the water forms. Roxas was first to intercept him with two keyblade.

"Demyx! Get her and Daisy out of here!" Axel ordered.

"Okay!" Demyx shouted.

He led us down the street away from the castle and Memory's Skyscraper. The noises of battle lessened as we got away.

What could I do?

I was here to help Sora, but I wasn't back there, trying to subdue him.

Guilt nagged at my thoughts.

You should turn back. Turn back and help him.

I took in a deep breath and ran back.

"Kairi, don't!"

I ignored Demyx and kept going. By the time I got back to the Memory's Skyscraper area, Sora and Riku pinned down to the ground. Axel and Roxas were struggling to get up to their feet.

"Sora! Stop it!" I screamed.

Sora paused and cocked his head to the side.

"Kairi, what are you doing here?" Axel asked.

Sora stood up and started towards me. He stopped in front of me and touched my cheek.

I'm sorry, Sora.

Without hesitation, I grabbed his arm, twisted it savagely and threw him off to the side.

"Go get Mickey, you guys! I'll handle Sora?"

Axel and Roxas stared at me incredulously. Sora slowly started to lift himself off of the bloody ground. I could feel his outrage. I rushed over to him and kicked him in the chest.

"Go!" I shouted.

"You heard her, you guys!" Riku shouted.

They were gone in a matter of seconds. Demyx and Daisy followed soon after. I was relieved to see them go. Sora latched onto my legs, digging his claws in with force. I hissed in pain and tried to 'shake' him off literally. He pulled backwards violently, forcing me off-balance. I fell onto my back roughly. Sora removed his claws and proceeded to move into a straddling position.

"Sora, come back to me. Please, don't let him control you!" I said quickly.

He didn't seem to be affected. I balled my hand into a fist and punched him as hard as I could. I managed to knock him off of me and rolled over onto my chest. Sora slowly sat up and bared his fangs.

God, he was going to kill me…

Roxas;

We were at the top of the castle when Mickey finally appeared in front of us. The former mouse king as Riku put it, appeared clad back in the Organization garb. I wasn't sure what the hype was about the mouse. Yes, I was brought back by the disturbance that he caused, but I didn't see why he was intimidating. All of a sudden, the room exploded into intense flames. Yes, I didn't see how he was intimidating…until now.

A wall of water rose up between us and Mickey, shielding us from the fire. I turned my head slightly so that I could see Demyx. The brown-haired musician was actively focused on playing his sitar. I silently thanked him and turned back to the action. The fire spell vanished. The water wall instantly vaporized. I summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion and was off in a flash.

Mickey summoned a keyblade of his own and brought it up. I used Oblivion to start the swordfight…and swung for his head. He easily blocked it and jumped up to strike at my midsection. Oathkeeper met it and deflected his keyblade out wide. Oblivion came in unbelievably fast, scoring a hit on his upper chest. Mickey backed away and snapped his fingers. Heartless, Dusks, Creepers and Dragoons started to appear all around us. Axel let out a burst of fire at the now growing crowd.

Demyx went back to playing his sitar, summoning random columns of powerful water.

"Dance, Water, Dance!" He shouted.

His water forms surrounded me. Mickey cut through the water forms determined to get to me. I poured energy into Oblivion and let it fly. The dark keyblade embedded itself in Mickey's chest with so much force that it sent him flying. In the meantime, the volume of Heartless and summoned Nobodies had increased significantly.

"Demyx, do you remember that thing Xemnas told you not to do?" Axel asked.

"Yeah."

"Do it!"

The blonde musician took a breath…

Wait, Xemnas told him not to do that high-pitched note…

Oh great…

Kairi:

Something that resembled a high-pitched note shattered the silence of the air. Sora paused and screamed. He was in pain. It was filtering through our link. I guess the noise was getting to him.

"Kairi…"

The sound of my name caught my attention. Sora was staring at me with normal yellow eyes. I watched him warily.

"Is that you, Sora?" I asked.

I mentally prepared another spell to strike him down with. It hurt me that I would have to do this—to hurt him.

"Why am I here?"

The high-pitched noise stopped as suddenly as it came. And Sora was starting at me with blackened irises. I willed away the urge to cry.

"Let's go again."