Chapter 22:

Too Late

"Sora!" Ryo cried out helplessly through the blazing winds. It was very evident that a storm was brewing in the midnight sky. A storm? In Traverse Town? How...peculiar. If there was going to be a storm, Ryo knew it wasn't going to be a good thing, and not just because she was going to get drenched, but she sensed that something horrible would occur within a few hours, so she knew she must pick up her pace.

She called out for Sora many more times, but still, the only reply was the crying winds. She huffed. This was beginning to become a hopeless mission. Maybe Sora had given up looking for Zan, or maybe he didn't look for her at all? No, from what Riku told her, he wouldn't give up like that. Plus, you'd think after not seeing one of your friends for years just suddenly appear and then disappear again, you'd look for them...Who knew, but Ryo knew one thing: she was ready to head back to the hotel.

And she was about to until suddenly,

"Hey, you!" a voice called.

Ryo spun around, her eyes widened to see a brunette haired boy with a duck and a dog. She got lucky after all, "Sora..." she whispered.

Sora cocked his head slightly, "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Sora, I'm a friend of Riku and Zan's. My name is Ryo-oki..." she replied.

Sora's eyes widened, "You know Riku and Zan? Do you know where they are!"

Ryo looked down at the ground sadly, "Well...I do, but it's not a pretty sight to see..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"It's Zan, the darkness...it kind of is...destroying her mind basically..."

"What do you mean kind of? It probably is! Ryo-oki, take me to her please!" Sora begged.

"Ok, I sure will." she said.

Ryo walked over to Sora and grabbed his hand, begninning to drag him through the hotel. Goofy and Donald followed.

xxx

"Hozannah?"

Zan looked up from her tear-stained pillow. To see two people eclipsed in the shadows, "What do you want?" she cried.

One of them stepped forward, "It's me, Yuri."

Zan's eyes widened, "Y-Y-Yuri? You survived!"

The girl, Yuri smiled, "I'm a survivor."

Zan smiled, "I guess so. I'm glad you're ok."

"Me, too," Yuri whispered. "Zan, there's someone I would like you to meet."

"Who's that?" Zan asked.

The unseen figure behind Yuri stepped into the lighter part of the room. It was someone short, very short indeed. Zan couldn't see whoever this strange person was, due to the hooded coat covering their face. She didn't even think it was a human once she noticed those two big ears. She rubbed her eyes. Could it be?

"His name is Mickey, and he's here to help you," Yuri smiled.

"Your Majesty..." Zan whispered in shock

The 'person' unmasked -or unhooded themselves-. It wasn't a person after all. It was a humanoid mouse. He smiled brightly, and the laughed, "Please, call me Mickey. I'm not a fan of formalties."

"Mickey needs to tell you something very important and I think it's best if you listen. Otherwise, you may never see him again..." Yuri instructed.

Zan looked at the mouse hopefully, "Can you get Riku back?"

Mickey shook his head, "I don't know. None of this should have happened to begin with..."

"What do you mean?" Zan asked.

The king took in a huge breath, then exhaled in a slow manner, while Yuri looked down at the ground sadly.

"Well?" Zan began growing impatient.

"You were never meant to be kidnapped," the king finally said.

What the king had said took a few minutes to register in Zan's brain. She couldn't believe this at all.

"Then why was I kidnapped, and who kidnapped me?" she asked.

"It was-" Mickey began, but he was cut off by an eerie breeze. "No, not now..."

"Wha--what's going on?" Zan asked.

"Riku's here..." Mickey said.

"Riku? He's here!"

"This isn't a good thing, Zan," Yuri said in a scared tone.

"We need to leave!" Mickey shouted. "Come, Zan." Mickey and Yuri ran out of the room. Zan was about to follow, but something held her back. She couldn't move. The room grew extremely cold, and darker than what it was. She heard something behind her, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around. She was frozen. Whoever this being was behind her, slowly approached her. She could feel their icy breath on her neck. She shivered and let out a blood curddling scream. This was followed by laughter, but not the teasing kind of laughter, no. It was the cold and sadistic laughter.

"Riku," she whispered.

"We have another deal for you, Zan," Riku whispered coldy.

"I'm not making anymore deals!" she snapped.

At this remark, she felt something cold and sharp against her neck. Her sword, "Then do you want to be murdered by your own brother? Your own weapon..."

"What do you want?" she asked.

He chuckled slightly, as he pulled the sword away from her neck. He came close to her ear and whispered, "You..."

"What? Why me?" she exclaimed.

"If you come, then you will know," Riku said.

"I'm won't do anything unless you tell me what the hell is going on!" Zan growled.

Riku chuckled yet again, "Come on, Zan. It doesn't hurt to be a little bit curious about things...I let you in on a little secret. If you join us, no one will be hurt. I promise..."

Zan sighed, and closed her eyes in thought. Well, Ansem sure didn't come through, what made her think this...'Riku' would? Well, he was right about one thing, though, she was curious about their plans. She could figure it out, and then stab them in the back. She took a deep breath in, "Fine, I'll go."

Riku grabbed her by the waste and pulled her to him with a laugh. Everything grew darker and darker for Zan, and all she could hear was her evil brother's cruel laughter. Darkness...It was here again, but she wouldn't let herself scream. She couldn't be afraid this time. For that may be her downfall.

xxx

"Zan!" Sora banged hard on the door. Ryo and the others just stood there with worried looks on their faces as he banged harder and harder, but it was no use. He began kicking on the door, and luckily that wasn't a futile effort. As the door broke, he stormed into the room, followed by the others, "Zan!" he called. But she wasn't there, she was gone.

"We're too late..." Yuri whispered darkly.

xxx

Yup, you guessed it: Writer's Block. I'M SOOOO SORRY! but it's finally here, and pathetically short. Oh well expect something better for the next chapter. This fic is about to come to an end, and ther MAY be a sequel in the works. I dunno yet, but anywho, plz be kind and Review!

Disclaimer: You should know by now

R&R!