Eraqus stepped through the portal, dismissing his armor. He looked around at the land and sea that surrounded him. Sadness falling through his heart. It always brought pain to his heart to think of his old friend Xehanort and how his obsession with darkness began to take him over and being in his homeworld didn't help to dull that pain and sadness. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had a job to do.

Something had seemed to appear in this world that had not only himself curious, but also Master Yen Sid. This was something to be aware of as the old Master had taken a step down from the role of a Keyblade Master, but even he seemed unable to ignore whatever disturbance had occurred. Because of this, he would need to be on guard for anything.

The wind passed around him, blowing the sand across the beach of this small island. As he watched the grains of sand move he saw what looked to be footprints that scattered across the sand's surface. Normally he would look past these, as in the past Xehanort had said that this island was mainly used as a playground for young children, but something about these footprints seemed different.

He approached them as he came closer his suspicions seemed to grow. These footprints looked like that of an older child, probably around the age of a preteen. He raised an eyebrow. These footprints most likely didn't have anything to do with why he was here. Xehanort had spent a lot of time here as a teenager, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for other children to do the same as they grew.

He continued to look around the beach, leaving the footprints behind. So far nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary that could warrant an investigation. What was here that needed to be - what was that?

He quickly turned to look at the middle of the island where the keyhole resided inside the cave behind the waterfall. What had caught his attention? He continued to eye the cave entrance, waiting for something to happen. There. A small movement at the edges of the entrance, like something was hiding behind the walls. He quickly ran to the cave. What was it? Was it a resident of this world just hiding from him, or was this the cause of the disturbance?

Coming up to the entrance of the cave he carefully looked inside. At a first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he could only see so much from the cave's entrance. Entering he began to look around the cave. The inside of the cave was covered in roots from the outside plants before opening up into a bigger cavern. His eyes scanned the area, searching around the roots and possible hiding spots in the alcoves in the stone walls. Nothing. What could have possibly caught his attention?

He took a step closer inside the cave, only to quickly step back. A small wave of what looked to be darkness quickly cut through the air where he had been standing just mere seconds ago. Quickly summoned his keyblade as he prepared to fight. Whatever this was it was clear to him that he had found the source of the disturbance.

A growl came to his ears, but with the way that the cave was formed the sound bounced around the walls, making it impossible to locate where it had originated from. He took a cautious step further into the cave, aware that another attack could happen. The growls seemed to grow louder as he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly turned as he raised his keyblade to block the incoming attack, and was shocked with what he came face to face with.

In front of him was a young boy, possibly around fifteen or sixteen. The boy's skin was pale which contrasted greatly with his spikey black hair and sharp red eyes wearing some kind of black and red bodysuit. Small waves of darkness flowed around and off of the boy as he glared up at the man. The boy's grip on his keyblade tightened before he jumped away in a defensive form, almost like a warning. Where had this boy come from?

The boy continued to glare at him as a low growl escaped his throat, refusing to come out of his protective crouch or that location. Eraqus's brows furrowed. Something about that area seemed to warrant this reaction, possibly something that had a connection to the darkness of this boy.

He prepared for another attack as he attempted to look at what was behind the boy, causing the boy to tense, waiting for an attack from the older man. Neither of them moved from their positions, never taking their eyes off of the others.

A groan suddenly filled the cave, causing the two of them to tense further. There was another in this cave? Was this boy controlled by darkness and put someone else in danger?

Eraqus quickly jumped to the side as the boy jumped towards him, darkness beginning to accumulate around his hands as he tried to punch the other. Thinking quickly, he rammed the guard of his keyblade into the back of the boy's neck. The boy crumpled to the ground, stunned. Eraqus used this opening to quickly move to the alcove that the boy seemed so insistent on guarding, most likely because of what could be someone in danger.

He froze at the sight in front of him. Of all the things that he expected to find in this cave, he was not prepared for the sight of another boy of the same age but looked to be the complete opposite to the first in appearance with lighter clothes and bright blond hair. The boy laid against the wall of the cave unconscious. What had happened to this boy? Was the first boy the reason he was currently like this?

Eraqus quickly knelt and brought his hand up to hover over the boy as he cast a Cure spell. The boy gave no reaction except a small sigh as whatever had happened to him seemed to begin healing, even if barely. Shuffling quickly caught his attention as he quickly turned to look at the first boy. Before he could react to the boy's actions he felt two hands grip his wrist, but instead of being pulled away from the blond boy his hand was pushed further towards him. He looked at the black-haired boy and was surprised at the look on his face. The boy kept looking between the other boy and him, his face full of worry and what seemed to be hope.

"Help."

Eraqus was shocked at the small rasp. Since he encountered the boy all he would do was growl and his voice gave the impression that he had never used it as well. Eraqus continued to stare at the boy, causing him to turn his full attention to the elder.

"Help Ventus. Please."

Eraqus looked the boy in the eyes before looking back at the other boy. A determined look came across his face as he carefully cast another Cure on the blond. The blond seemed to relax, even by a minuscule amount. The black-haired boy also began to relax, never taking his eyes off of the other boy. When the spell reached completion the blond remained unconscious, but at least the other was no longer jumping to attack him.

"Other half."

Eraqus looked back at the black-haired boy.

"What?"

The boy looked up at him, before pointing to the other boy and then himself.

"Light. Darkness. Separated."

Eraqus looked between the two with wide eyes. Was this boy saying what he thought he was?

"Are you…"

The boy looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Same heart. Forced apart."

Eraqus's heart froze. Why would someone do this? Why would they separate the light and darkness from someone's heart into two separate forms?

"Who did this to you?"

The black-haired boy didn't say anything for a couple of seconds before looking at the other boy.

"Old man. Wore black robes."

Eraqus felt his mind fill with worry. Please don't be him. Please don't be him.

"Tell me," he said, catching the boy's attention. "Did the man have a grey beard and gold eyes and wielded a similar weapon to mine?"

The boy slowly nodded his head.

Eraqus's body froze at the confirmation of who would do this. He knew Xehanort had become obsessed with the darkness, but to go as far as this? What was he planning to do? What would require him to separate these two from one another?

Eraqus swallowed the lump in his throat. He could figure out Xehanort's plan later, right now he had to figure out what to do with these two.

"What are your names?"

The boy looked at him before once again speaking pointing at the blond.

"Ventus, original." the boy answered before pointing to himself. "Vanitas, separated."

Eraqus nodded as he stood up from his kneeling position. He carefully gathered the blond, Ventus, into his arms, causing Vanitas to tense and eye him intently. He turned to look at the dark-haired boy.

"I believe it would best if you two come with me. I have an idea who did this and it would be safer for you two with me."

Vanitas continued to stare at him before slowly standing up and moving to Eraqus's side, gently grabbing hold of his robes. With confirmation that the boy would willingly come with him, he began to head outside the cave, the boy following close behind.

What had he gotten himself into?