It was dark inside; dark and cold. Lia shivered as she heard water dripping from some place further on. Shad felt Cid enter behind her and she forced a smile, glad to have the company.

Her voice seemed to have left her now and she had given up on calling her mother's name. With every step she took she thought she felt something reach out and grab at her ankles, but it was too dark for her to see if it was her mind or reality.

There was no light at the end of the hallway and she heard Cid fumbling with something behind her. She heard something spark and she turned around to see him strike a match and light a lantern. The small hallway was soon filled with light and Lia sighed with relief and turned around.

Heartless were in their path, but they hissed and backed away as Cid stepped forward. Lia felt Cid's hand on her waist and she looked up at him.

"Stay close to me," he whispered, "if we stick together we may get through here without havin' to fight." Lia nodded and they both stepped forward at the same time. The heartless hissed and backed away once more.

The dripping water still made Lia nervous though. What if the light went out? After all it was fire and they were in a moist place. What if the oil in the lamp ran out? All these thoughts bombarded her, making her even more scared and nervous than before.

Neither one of them dared to speak. They didn't want to catch any unnecessary attention from any of the bigger heartless that might not be afraid of their minuscule light.

After quite some time they left the dark hallway they were in and entered a beautiful ball room. It had a tall ceiling and wonderful designs littering the walls, but what caught Lia's eye at first was the heart on the other side. It looked like a key hole to her and she wondered how it had gotten there. She stepped away from Cid to get closer to it, but he grabbed her and held her close to him. She struggled and tried to protest, but he hushed her and pointed to the side of the room she had missed.

There was a woman, hunched over, but she was obviously tall. Lia noticed her right off. She pushed away from Cid despite his strong grip.

"Mother?" She asked. The Woman looked up with cold and unfeeling eyes. Lia gasped, but did nothing more. Cid moved next to her and Maleficent's eyes fell on him. Her lips curled into a snarl.

"Lia," she said, "so nice of you to…visit." Her voice was dripping with the venom of hatred. Lia's heart sank and she took a step back, sensing a change in her mother's attitude towards her. She had just bitten off more than she could chew.

"H-Hello, mother." Lia said, trying her best to not seem scared out of her wits. "H-How have you been?"

"How have I been?" she said, placing a hand on her chest to appear offended. "My castle is crumbling to pieces, my strength has been weakened significantly, my minions threatening to take my heart at a moments notice…" she seemed to grow taller as she continued, "I've been just terrific, ever since your friend Sora decided to meddle in my plans!" she spat out the keywielder's name as if it were poisonous.

Maleficent paused, composing herself. She sighed heavily and leaned on her scepter for support. "Enough about me. How have you been, dearest Lia? Where is your… other friend?"

"I was, err, hoping you'd tell me." Lia responded softly, looking to the floor.

"Let me guess. He was being noble."

Lia pursed her lips and kept her gaze rooted to the floor, determined not to say anything that would anger her. "Yes."

"The idiot he is, the Heartless probably took him while he was protecting your weakling self, yes?"

Cid's grip on her shoulder tightened, whether from nerves or anger she couldn't be certain. It wasn't the way it had actually played out, but Lia thought it best to just agree with the story Maleficent gave out. "Y-yes."

"And now you're questing to save dear love lost and end up happily ever after?" she sneered.

"I hope to achieve that, yes."
"Well… I can't help you."
"What?"
"As I said, Sora and his friends weakened me significantly. I'm even having trouble reigning in the Heartless, as you can plainly see. How am I supposed to find a singular, pitiful Heartless among the multitudes, when I can't even control them to my will?"

Lia bowed her head lower. Maleficent raised her head and looked her over. "However," she said slowly, pausing as Lia's head shot up to look at her hopefully, "I may be able to do… something." She beckoned Lia forward. She looked up at Cid, who scowled, but let her go anyway. The girl walked forward until she was directly in front of Maleficent. She's much more intimidating up close, Lia thought with a shiver. Maleficent brought her staff in-between them and ran her hand over the orb set in the top. "Name?" She asked.

"Zeke C-Carlian." She stumbled. Even saying his name was painful now.

Maleficent hummed thoughtfully and kept running her hand over the orb. "He is in the darkness still… how he managed to remain human all this time is a wonder… It won't be long before he succumbs to the darkness. I suggest you find him quickly." She grinned smugly.

Lia stared as a figure began to take shape in the dark orb. Her eyes widened; then shut tightly as she turned her head away in horror. He looked exactly the same as when she had found him cold in Second District. Same clothes, same dark cuts and gashes… same hollow expression. All the guilt she had felt came rushing back.

"How?" Lia breathed quietly.

"Well… I could possibly retrieve him for you… but you'd have to do something for me in return."

Lia opened her eyes slowly and looked back at Zeke, floating in the darkness like a corpse. "Anything." She replied.

Maleficent smiled, leaning in so her head was beside Lia's ear. "Bring me Sora." She whispered. Lia's eyes widened as her mother returned to her full height. "Now be gone, before what little control I have over these Heartless departs from me."

Lia turned and walked away without a word, passing Cid with a troubled, frightened expression on her face. Cid glanced over his shoulder at Maleficent, who simply waved. He grunted scornfully and followed after Lia, lantern swinging.

She was silent as they drove back to Radiant Gardens. Cid was concerned about what Maleficent asked her to do, but he decided he wouldn't question her just yet.

Meanwhile, Lia's thoughts were in turmoil. Bring her Sora? What would she do to him, if anything? She definitely had a plan to get revenge on him; that was sure. She felt the charm on her necklace, her rose earring. Zeke had the other one, the both of them had always kept them on their person. Tears sprang to Lia's eyes without warning… She was so lost without Zeke there with her.

Cid glanced over and realized Lia was crying silently. He grunted and switched his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. "It ain't yer fault, ya know."

Lia looked up. "What?"

"Sora told me everythin' 'bout what happened to yer friend. It wasn't yer fault."

Lia looked down. "I could've saved him. He could still be here if I'd've helped."

"Well, yer savin' 'im now ain't yeh?"

Lia stared at her boots. Yes, it was true, she wasn't giving up on him… but still, she let him suffer in the darkness for so long…

Cid slammed on the brakes, jolting Lia out of her thoughts. "Now, let's get this straight right now, missy." He said, leaning an arm on the steering wheel to face her. "I won't take anymore of this depressing angsty pity-party nonsense! What's done is done, and now yeh gotta fix it. So fix it! Do what yeh gotta do. Now where the hell are we goin'?"

Lia stared at him in wonder. She hated it, but he was right. Being miserable wouldn't solve anything. "We need to find Sora." She muttered. "I don't know where he is."

"That's more like it." Cid grumbled, returning to his driving. "It just so happens I know where Sora is. So sit tight, kid." He said, grinning mischievously. "They haven't gotten around to putting in speed limits yet, so I suggest you buckle up."

Lia grimaced, but did as she was told. It wasn't long before she was glad she decided to ride in the cab and not the cargo bay.

Back at the castle, Maleficent was frowning in concentration, busy searching for someone else in her crystal staff. She grinned maliciously, spotting the boy she had been searching for.

"There you are… Kexze."