Ah ok so uh a few things before we get started with this one. First of all, my Super Edits of the early chapters of Keys are done! The first ten chapters are almost entirely revamped (and the Toy Story chapters are also vastly improved too) so I encourage you to go check them out because they're MUCH better now than they were before. Secondly, this chapter was supposed to be MUCH longer, but I decided to split it in half for the sake of brevity and focus. Which means I'll hopefully have the second half of it out for you all very soon! As for this one well... I gotta put a warning in front of it, not just for mentions of blood and vomit, but also for some... excessively dark themes. Again, this is one of those chapters that you probably shouldn't read if you're not in an ok place mentally right now. But if you do dare, well... good luck cause its a LOT. Let's get started!


Chapter 51: Rage and Blight

If you wanna take it to an even higher level
All you gotta do is say the word, you know I'll follow

When Sora glumly, yet obediently follows Xemnas into the dark corridor, he doesn't quite know what to expect on the other side of it. Initially, he thinks he's bound to be met with the other eleven members of Organization XIII, all waiting in the wings to welcome him into their vile fold. A fold that he's agreed to be a part of entirely on his own accord.

Yet instead of that Organization, what awaits when the darkness finally gives way is another world. He's shoved not so gently into that world as Xemnas remains standing in the shadows of the corridor, allowing Sora to fall into a grassy meadow blanketed by the darkness of night. In the seconds that follow, he hardly cares that one of his superiors is standing a few mere feet behind him. All he knows is that he can't handle the ill effect the portal has on him, namely the horrid sensation of his stomach churning relentlessly, one second longer. His agonized coughs echo through the otherwise empty area, his forceful retching producing little for how empty his stomach currently is. The only thing that does come up stains the grass beneath him in a slick shade of scarlet, scarlet that's permeated by several heavy splotches of inky blackness that Sora can't even begin to understand. Not when he's still in the midst of desperately trying to oust its toxic presence from his body.

"Are you finished with this little… display?" Xemnas sneers somewhere behind him. The sound of his condescending, compassionless voice alone sends an entirely new wave of sickness through Sora as even more blood floods into his mouth. "You should know, Sora, that acting out for attention to try and gain "sympathy" like this isn't something that your Organization appreciates."

"I-I'm not acting out…" Sora struggles to say, his voice strained as he swallows a bit of blood back. Even when he knows he should be doing anything but. "I just-"

He's swiftly silenced as a striking burst of pain slices through his chest. He's surprisingly allowed to cry out as he falls forward into the pool of blood and muck he'd just gotten out. It's still warm when the side of his face splashes into it, his stomach once again twisting in disgust as he tries and fails to pull himself up out of the revolting mess. He doesn't see Xemnas briefly smirk behind him, clearly amused by the humiliating scene of suffering before him. Suffering that he only seeks to continue in what he has to say next.

"You've been traveling far too carelessly, number thirteen," he says without an ounce of genuine concern in his tone. "It's surprising that you don't already know-then again, you do seem to know so very little to begin with. So I suppose it's only fair that you're properly informed: dark corridors deteriorate the bodies of those who cross through them without the proper protection. Protection that, as a loyal member of Organization XIII, you are entitled to."

"Protection…?" Sora somehow manages to wonder. He gets just about the last answer he could have hoped for, however, when he glances back at his superior, only to be met with the sight of a conspicuous black bundle of clothing in his arms. A bundle that sparks a flame of equal dread and anger that he has no choice but to brazenly act upon. "No," he hisses, swiftly pulling himself to stand. His vision blurs, his head sent spinning from the sudden movement, yet he forces himself to remain grounded nonetheless, Because no matter how pathetic and pitiful he must look right now, his body weak and emaciated and currently covered in his own blackened blood, he isn't about to cross what he considers to be the point of no return. "No way! Deal or not, you will never make me wear one of those-"

Sora doesn't even get a chance to get his final word out before Xemnas abruptly bridges the gap between them. His hand locks around the boy's throat, raising his body high into the air as he sends yet another spike of agony shooting through Sora's heart, clearly meant to punish him for his impulsive insubordination. "By now, I would have thought you'd have learned to show your Organization and your superiors the respect that we expect from you," Xemnas begins, his voice soft and dark as his gloved grip tightens around Sora's neck. "But it seems you still have far to go before you're where we need you to be. So if you want to continue being stubborn like this, then you're more than welcome to continue suffering as well."

By the time Sora starts struggling for air, Xemnas suddenly lets him go, essentially throwing him across the meadow toward the tall, wide tree a few feet away. Sora cries out when his head slams against it, to the point that he's only narrowly conscious as he glances up to see Xemnas turning away from him. He isn't sure whether to feel relief or something else entirely when he notices his superior dismiss the black coat that'd been intended for him, apparently not set on forcing him to actually wear it.

"Since you're so set on poisoning yourself instead of taking the protection we're so kindly offering you, then who are we to change your mind?" Xemnas begins, glancing back at him piercingly . "We only ask one simple request of you, Sora. I trust you know what that request is?"

"...Yes," Sora sighs, looking away in shame as he pulls himself into a sitting position. "To find the last two Keys…"

"And?"

"A-and… to hand them over to the Organization…" he mutters, hating his new mission, hating the deal he'd made that's forced him into it. Hating every poor decision and miserable mistake he's ever made to lead him here.

"Precisely," Xemnas finally smirks as he heads back to his dark corridor. Far too simple and sudden of an exit in Sora's eyes, especially when he realizes it seems as though his superior is merely going to leave him here alone.

"Wait," he speaks up, leaning against the tree for support as he stands. "Is… is that it?" He hesitates for a moment as Xemnas pauses, raising an eyebrow when he looks back at him again. Sora knows he shouldn't press his luck; he should just let this encounter come to a close so he can spare himself from any further harm or humiliation. And yet, in light of the bargain he's just bartered, he can't help but be curious on some level all the same. "You're not gonna drag me back to the rest of the Organization or to… t-to the master?" he winces, finding that he doesn't really have to be forced too much to call Xehanort that. That the homage he desperately doesn't want to give him is starting to come out far more naturally than he'd like it to.

"...Your time hasn't come yet," Xemnas says simply, cryptically. "And until it does, you must serve your Organization in another way: by finding the remaining Keys we need for our ultimate goal. So instead of wasting your time like you seem so intent on doing, I suggest you get to work."

"...What about my 'reward'?" Sora dares to ask, even though he knows he absolutely shouldn't.

"What was that, number thirteen?"

"You said that if I found more Keys for you guys, that I'd get some kind of reward," Sora presses, despite his more fearful thoughts practically begging him to shut up. "A-and the master said the same thing too: that if I served the Organization, you would-"

"We would what?" Xemnas scoffs as he turns around. "Feed you? Shelter you? Let you have a full night's sleep? Do you honestly think you've earned any such luxuries? After how long you've spent standing on the side of our foes? After how many times you've tried to resist us? After how many Keys you had to be forced into relinquishing to us instead of giving them up willingly?"

"But… no, I… I told you I'd do whatever you say!" Sora protests almost irrationally. Because at this point, he'd do just about anything for even the most humble scrap of food, for the shortest bout of unbothered sleep, for even just an hour of freedom from the feeling of his body slowly, painfully failing him altogether. "I basically just joined the Organization! I'm finally what you all want me to be! And you still won't help me?! How is that fair?!"

Xemnas' already vicious scowl deepens upon hearing this heated outburst, and while Sora is expecting him to lash out against him for it, surprisingly, he doesn't. Instead, he merely keeps his golden glare settled on Sora as he steps backward into his dark portal, leaving him with a simple, yet sinister statement.

"Your sole purpose is to serve your Organization, not the other way around," he says calmly, coldly to the point that it sends a bitter chill shooting down Sora's spine. "Never forget that, number thirteen."

"...I won't, superior…" Sora whispers dejectedly, not even watching as Xemnas finally disappears. And as he does, he leaves the Organization's newest member all alone in the dead night, with no food, no comfort, no rest, nothing. Nothing except for a clear, cutting reminder of what his place truly is now… and just how far he's fallen to get there.


For as little luck as the guardians of light have had in locating Sora and bringing him home, they've been having a similarly difficult time tracking down any of the remaining Keys. This task had fallen to Mickey, Aqua, and Terra almost a month ago now, and yet none of them have much of anything to show for it. Though they'd started out their search together, after several weeks of futilely looking for clues, they'd made the mutual decision to split up. While Mickey ventured back to the tower to seek further counsel from Yen Sid, Aqua and Terra continued their difficult mission as best they could. Which, with both the final few Keys proving to be every bit as elusive as Sora has been lately, has been anything but an easy feat.

Still, the couple continues their journey together, leaning on each other for support through what's been, by all accounts, a very challenging time for all of the lights on a number of levels. They walk alongside each other, hand in hand, through a world they've both been to before, Dwarf Woodlands. As much as they might want to, there's no time to find and catch up with any old friends they might've made here. Not that now would be a good time to anyway, as they travel through the thick of the forest in the middle of the night. It's not exactly the best time to be searching for anything, but with both of them far too on edge to really be tired, it's a way to fill their otherwise idle time at the very least. A way to keep their minds off of all of the unpleasant thoughts they'd rather not dwell on any longer than they already have.

Aqua shudders as another chilly breeze dances through the forest. She presses in just a bit closer to Terra, who wastes no time wrapping a strong, secure arm around her. She sighs tiredly, but contentedly, appreciating the gesture, savoring his touch, admiring how he's everything she's currently not. He's calm where she can't be, as solid and steady as the earth below their feet as a stark contrast to her own trembling, tremulous waters. For as cool and levelheaded as she tries to be around the others, around him, her walls go down, just as they always have. Around him, she isn't afraid to show all of the fears and worries she'd otherwise keep buried as deep as her heart will allow them to go. Around him, she can voice how she truly feels. Around him, she can be herself.

"Are you cold?" he asks her, breaking her out of her wandering thoughts. "We could always stop for the night and set up camp if you want."

"No, I feel fine," she begins, catching herself in the immediate lie. Because really, she hasn't felt truly fine in quite some time. "It's just… I can't stop thinking about that last call from Ven a few days ago…"

Terra nods solemnly, the same call weighing heavy in his thoughts too. About a week ago, Ventus had called them, distressed and distraught as he revealed he and Roxas had indeed found Sora… only to lose him just as quickly. Both boys had been battered and bloody on the other end of the line, but their pressing injuries hardly seemed to matter to either of them as much as what Sora had supposedly done. Because if what they said is to be believed, he's all but surrendered himself over to the Organization, and in doing so, has given Xehanort exactly what he's after. At least as far as any of them know.

"I'm worried too," he says, pulling Aqua just a bit closer in a further attempt at soothing her. "But even if Sora is one of…" he pauses, quickly deciding to rephrase. "E-even if they do have him now, I still believe we can find some way to help him."

"What makes you so sure?" Aqua asks intently, morosely. "Because from the way Ven and Roxas made it sound, it's too late for anyone to do anything for him now…"

Terra catches her off guard as he stops, tenderly taking her hand before drawing it to his lips in a soft, loving kiss. "It wasn't too late for you and Ven to save me, was it?"

"Well… no, but-"

"Then it's not too late for Sora either," Terra assures with all the confidence Aqua desperately wishes she had. "Trust me. Xehanort may be powerful, but he can't control everyone as well as he thinks he can. No matter how much of their heart he might try to take over."

"...I hope you're right," Aqua sighs, still not entirely allayed. "I can't imagine how he must be feeling. He's so young, but Xehanort is doing something so unspeakably awful to him. I know what it's like to be completely engulfed in darkness with no escape in sight…" She hesitates for a moment, almost mentioning that she knows what it's like to be filled with that same darkness too. And yet, she can't bear to burden Terra with such grave knowledge, not when he's spent so long struggling with the same sort of malicious shadows himself. "But what's happening to Sora, it's… I don't even think I can begin to understand it…"

"To be honest, I'm not so sure I do either," Terra admits, glancing away. "Not only is Xehanort doing this to Sora much slower than when he did it to me, it looks like he's letting him stay himself through all of it. At least for now."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Aqua frowns, shaking her head. "If he really wants to make Sora his vessel, then wouldn't he want to do it as quickly and easily as possible? What is he waiting for?"

"I couldn't tell you," Terra replies remorsefully. He wishes that, for all the time his body and heart had been forced to endure under Xehanort's thrall, he could have at least been able to glean something about his abhorrent ambitions. But for his part, he has nothing other than mere suspicions and speculations, none of which really mean anything substantial at the end of the day. Especially when it comes to saving the newest target of those ambitions. "But whatever he's planning," he continues, voicing the only thing he really is certain of at this point. "I doubt it means anything good for Sora."

Aqua jolts at this, her nerves practically skyrocketing as she once again imagines Sora, so kind and good and caring and innocent, at the mercy of a monster like Master Xehanort. A monster who she wants nothing more than to take down once and for all, to make him regret ever laying eyes on any of her friends both old and new. "Then that's all the more reason for us to find him as quickly as we can," she insists, pressing on ahead. She stops after only a few feet however, when she's suddenly struck by a scent, small, but noticeable enough, wafting through the trees. "Wait," she holds an arm up to halt Terra alongside her. "Do you smell that?"

"...Smoke," Terra nods, his brow furrowing. "There might be a fire somewhere nearby. Do you think we should check it out?"

"Well, considering we're in a forest filled with very flammable trees," Aqua begins, finally managing a wry smirk. "I'd say it probably wouldn't hurt."

"Good point," Terra returns her grin, linking arms with her. "You always were the smart one."

"I know," Aqua chuckles, playfully patting him on the cheek.

The pair ventures deeper into the forest, guided by the ashy scent that only starts to grow stronger the closer they get to it. Their former conversation fades when an odd scraping sound soon becomes apparent along with it, a sound that, as they slowly, yet steadily approach it, soon mingles with something else. With a voice that's struggling, straining with something unseen. A voice that starts to sound notably familiar to Aqua as they start to catch their first glimpse of a flame flickering between the trees.

"Hold on," she sweeps an arm out, stopping Terra once more. Her voice drops down to a whisper, her footsteps every bit as soft and carefully as she creeps a bit closer to the clearing ahead. Terra trails after her, letting her keen senses lead them both. But what those senses lead them to… is just about the last thing either of them could have been expecting.

Terra draws in a sharp breath, one that he briefly fears is far too loud. But by some stroke of luck, it goes unheard by the lone figure sitting huddled in front of the poor excuse for a campfire, a collection of sticks and foliage that's largely burnt itself out into embers by this point. But the fire itself only catches the pairs' attention for the sparsest of seconds. Because the boy who's trying to use that fire to stay warm is much more significant by far.

"Sora…" Aqua nearly sobs when she says his name, though tears quickly swell in her eyes all the same. They're still standing too far out in the darkness of the surrounding trees for him to see them, too far out of his earshot for him to hear. But they can both clearly see him, his almost entirely golden eyes glowing even under the shade of his hood, a few messy locks of white hair draping out from underneath it as well. They can both hear his sporadic hisses and small whimpers as he does something they initially find strange and concerning. From a first glance, he almost seems to be grating his own fingertips against the side of a small, jagged rock, something that's obviously causing him pain, yet even then he doesn't stop. It's only as Aqua looks a bit closer to see just how sharp his fingers now appear to be that she understands why.

"Claws…" she whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. "Just like I…" she trails off, stealing a glance down at her own hands, at the similarly crimson claws she barely remembers them once bearing. Claws that Sora now has in her stead, claws that he's clearly desperate to do anything to even try to rid himself of, even if he must certainly know that he can't.

"What should we do?" Terra asks, resting a hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumps out of her skin when he touches her, her already frayed nerves now completely rattled by the mere sight of the boy before them. A boy who's been out of everyone's reach for far too many weeks, simply sitting only a few short feet away from them now.

"I-I don't know," Aqua admits, trying her best to control her terse breathing before it can turn too loud. After all, the last thing she wants is to startle Sora before they can even take another step toward him. "I didn't think we'd actually find him, much less all of the sudden like this. Ven said he's scared to come back for some reason. What are we even supposed to say to convince him to-"

She stops when Terra's hand suddenly leaves her shoulder, as he steps past her to continue approaching Sora instead. "Wait here," he tells her, glancing back with a small, somewhat nervous smile. "I think I have an idea."

Aqua hesitates, wanting to know more about this newfound idea, wanting to do her part in bringing it to fruition, whatever it might be. But in the end, she simply nods, deciding to trust Terra. After all, who better to try and reach out to someone who's suffering so immensely than someone who's had a taste of that same sort of suffering himself?

So Aqua tucks herself behind a nearby tree, still wanting to see Terra's plan play out and offer her support to it if the need arises. For his part, Terra takes a moment to ready himself for the arduous task ahead, a task he's not entirely sure he's properly prepared for. In that moment, he briefly wonders if he's really the right one of them to be doing this; after all, he barely even knows Sora outside of the single, very short conversation the Lingering Will had with him once before. He doesn't know how the younger boy will react to him in general, much less to anything he might have to say to him; and even beyond that, he doesn't know just how tightly Xehanort's wrapped his toxic chains of control around his newest vessel's heart. But what Terra does know is that the boy before him, futilely sanding away at his own unwanted claws while sitting alone and forlorn in a dark and dreary forest, needs help. And that help is something he's determined to do his very best to give.

After another deep breath, Terra finally starts to step out into the open. Yet before he's even fully in the clearing, his foot just so happens to land on a twig, sending a sharp snap echoing through the area. The very second Sora hears it, the rock falls out of his hand, his breath hitching into a frightened gasp as he darts to his feet. A badly cracked Keyblade flashes into one of his hands, his other raised as an aura of equal darkness and equal light hovers around it. Terra frowns when he notices that both of those hands are bleeding, no doubt from his attempt at trying to file his fingertips clean off. But it's only as he takes another step closer that he notices just how frail and filthy he is, how his body is so fragile and unsteady from what he can only assume to be longstanding starvation.

How very different the boy standing before him now, scared out of his mind to the point that he's shaking, is from the boy who'd once stood before him, bravely promising to save him and his friends so many months ago.

"W-who's there?!" Sora demands, his voice anxious and afraid. "Don't come any closer! I-I'm warning you!"

Terra pauses, only for a moment of curiosity over how Sora might intend to carry such shaky threats out. He doesn't bother finding out as he finally fully emerges from the forest, his hands raised and his voice calm as he properly sets his plan into motion. "Whoa there," he begins, remaining on the other side of the fire, far enough away to give Sora the space he needs. "It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

At first, Sora keeps his guard up, though the distrust written all over his face soon turns to shock when he finally realizes who his unexpected "visitor" actually is. "Wait…" he starts, one of his hands falling, though his Keyblade remains in the other. "Y-you're… No way… Terra…?"

"Yeah," Terra nods, smiling as much as he's able to. "It's good to finally meet you in person, Sora. Even if… this probably isn't how either of us hoped it would happen."

"But… but how?" Sora asks, still engulfed in disbelief to the point that he isn't able to ask much more. Terra understands exactly what he means though.

"Aqua and Ven saved me," Terra explains, a hand resting over his heart. "But they were only able to do that after you saved them. I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be myself again, if it wasn't for you, Sora. Thank you."

Despite his sincerity, Sora still doesn't ease up. If anything, his suspicion rises once again as he takes a small, apprehensive step back. "I-is this a trap?" he asks, glancing around the clearing. Aqua presses back behind the tree she's using to hide, not wanting to take any momentum out of Terra's plan before it can even truly begin. "Did… did the master send you?"

Terra's smile swiftly fades when he hears Sora refer to Xehanort in such a way, yet another troubling testament to just how far the poor boy has truly fallen. "I… no," he shakes his head, still trying to tread as carefully as he can. "Xehanort has no control over my heart or my body anymore; I'm free." He stops for a moment, gauging Sora's reaction to this news. He draws in an inaudible gasp, his golden eyes wide as he tries to understand what he's just been told. As he still keeps a tight, relentless hold on his Keyblade all the while. "You don't believe me, do you?" Terra assumes with a small, largely humorless chuckle. "It's ok. Sometimes I have a hard time believing it myself. But if you need more proof…" He trails off as he taps the metal plate on his shoulder. His armor, sturdy and strong, flashes into existence over his body, armor that Sora recognizes almost immediately.

"It really is you!" he exclaims, his Keyblade finally disappearing. "I can't believe it. What are you doing here? Did you know I was here? Wait," he stops short, a new burst of fear overtaking him as he scans the area once again, his voice dropping down to an anxious whisper as he does. "Is… is anyone else with you?"

Terra resists the urge to steal a glance behind him to where Aqua is hiding. Instead, he offers the younger boy a lie, but a necessary one to maintain the already unstable rapport he's only just started establishing with him. "No, I'm here alone," he replies as he retracts his armor. "To be honest, I… wasn't expecting to find anyone out here this late, much less you. But since I'm here, I'd like to see if there's anything I can do to help you, Sora."

Terra watches as several emotions rapidly flash across Sora's face: surprise, remorse, and perhaps the most visible and worrying of them all, grief. "You can't…" he mutters, his voice almost too quiet for Terra to catch. "That's why I'm… why I left. Because it's way too late for anyone to help me now…"

As soon as he hears this, Terra can practically imagine Xehanort himself, standing over his young, terrified new vessel, telling him that there's no hope left for him, that the only future he has left is to be nothing more than a lowly slave, a simple tool for the master's dark designs. He knows all too well what that feels like, how helpless and horrible it is to be used for something so unspeakable. Which is why he decides to change his approach to reflect that, the one thing they both have in common, the prolonged pain that Xehanort has brought them both. Pain that Sora should have never had to suffer through to begin with.

"I don't buy that," Terra says, crossing his arms.

"Huh?" Sora frowns, confused.

"The last time we met, you told me that it wasn't too late for me, and look: you were right," Terra explains, a soft, reassuring smile on his face. "So why do you think it's too late for you?"

"B-because it is," Sora replies diffidently. As if it's a fact he's always known, one he's largely accepted by this point, even for as grim and condemning as it might be. "If there was a way to stop this, I would have found it by now. And everything I've tried to do to stop it… hasn't worked…"

Terra lets out a long sigh, wondering exactly how many failed attempts at saving himself Sora's made by this point. As well as how much those attempts have contributed to the sorry state he's in now. "I know how you feel," he says, sadness lingering in his tone for all the time he'd lost. "I'd been Xehanort's vessel for over ten years. There were times when I thought I'd never escape from him, that he'd just keep using my body and my heart as his own forever. But then… my friends found a way to bring me back to the light, even after all this time. And Sora, trust me when I say that your friends want to do the same for you."

"My friends…" Sora repeats, shaken. "Y-you mean… Riku and Kairi? You've… talked to them? About me?"

"I have," Terra nods. "They're both out there right now, doing everything they can to find you. I know they'll both be very happy to see you when you get back-"

"I'm not going back," Sora interrupts. He holds his hands close to his heart, his posture tense and his manner defensive and nervous. "I can't. It's not safe…"

"Not safe?" Terra repeats, frowning.

"If I go back, t-then everyone will be in danger," Sora says, his voice small and fretful. "I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me, not again. Never again."

Terra falls into silence at this, unsure of how to respond to such a despondent resolve. By now, he and Aqua, and just about all of the other guardians of light for that matter, have gotten word from Roxas and Ventus about the deadly deal Sora has brokered with Organization XIII. A deal that's no doubt meant to create even more distance between him and his friends than there already was before. Terra can't exactly blame Sora for wanting to keep that distance, given just how cunning and cruel Xehanort and his followers have proven themselves to be. The countless lies they must have told him have planted seeds of fear that have rooted themselves so deeply within his heart, that they'll likely be all but impossible to prune. Yet Terra still refuses to give up in doing exactly that, in setting another lost soul from the same sadistic spiral he'd once fallen through himself.

"Sora, listen," he begins, closing his eyes as he keeps his voice calm and collected. "I'm not going to try and force you to come back if that's not what you want to do. But I do want you to know that no matter what they tell you, you're not alone in this. There are so many people who want to help you-I want to help you. But you have to want that help for yourself too."

"...That's just it," Sora lets out a small, bitter laugh as he looks away. "I… don't. I mean, why should I want something that I'll never be able to get?"

Words swiftly fail Terra entirely, especially when he sees the tears starting to slip down Sora's cheeks. Likewise, from her spot behind the tree, Aqua holds a hand over her mouth, fighting back similarly distraught tears herself. She can't believe what she's hearing, much less that she's hearing it from Sora, of all people. Sora, who she's seen smile so brightly, whose heart she once thought was so warm, who had brought her hope when no one else could. Sora, who's been beaten down so badly by pain and despair, who's fading away in more ways than one, who thinks his anguish is something he not only can't escape from, but that he doesn't deserve to in the first place. Sora, who's being devoured by darkness far more deep and damaging than even someone like her, someone who spent over a decade drowning in it, could ever even hope to comprehend.

And yet, as she keeps her focus solely on Sora, Aqua fails to hear the almost silent footsteps slowly starting to approach her from the shadows of the woods behind her. Footsteps that she'll never get the chance to see the owner of.

After what feels like ages, Terra finally manages to speak again. "You… you can get that help," he assures, but his voice wavers just the slightest bit. "There is a way out of this for you, Sora, just like there was a way out for me. All we need to do is find it."

Sora hesitates, lightly wiping away a few of his tears. He takes in a small, shuddering breath, looking to Terra like he's the only lifeline he has left. And, after everything he's been through, he might as well be. "Y-you really think that I… that there's still a chance for me?" he asks, his voice so quiet Terra barely catches it.

"I do," Terra nods without any doubts at all. He smiles as he shares the newfound hope starting to take shape inside of him, hope that perhaps he truly can convince Sora to finally, finally come home after all. "Do you want to know how I know that? Because even after all this time, even after everything he's done to you, you're still you. When he stole my heart, he took everything from me; I couldn't hold onto any part of myself outside of my armor. But you, Sora? You've been fighting him from the inside for such a long time, that even now there's still so much left of who you used to be-of who you are. You're still holding on for some reason, even if you don't know what that reason is. And that's how I know there's a chance for you, and a good one at that; because you're so much stronger than you think you are. In fact, you might even be stronger than Xehanort himself."

Sora starts, surprised to hear such an incredible claim. "I-I… I've never thought of it that way…" he says softly, a ghost of a smile starting to show on his face. "I've spent all this time thinking that I'm trapped… that there's nothing I can do to stop any of this, but… if you can be free again, Terra, then… maybe I can too…"

"You'll never know if you stay out here all by yourself," Terra's tone turns even warmer as he extends a welcoming, friendly hand out to the younger boy. A boy who reminds him so much of Ven, but even more of himself. A boy who's ever bit as lost, scared, and lonely as he'd once been well over a decade ago, when he'd first fallen prey to the master's twisted trap himself. "So, why don't we start looking for your way to freedom together?"

Sora doesn't immediately respond as he stares at Terra's outstretched hand for several silent, uncertain moments. He wavers initially, his guarded posture not changing as he takes his time treading toward a decision. Terra is more than patient enough to give him that time too, all the time he needs as long as he feels safe and comfortable. Even so, he isn't quite able to hold back a small sigh of relief when Sora finally takes his first step forward, readying his own hand to meet the one Terra's reaching out to him. To finally accept the help he's been denying himself for so very long now, the help he needs to not just save himself, but to simply survive at this point.

At least, of course, until it all goes wrong at the absolute worst moment imaginable.

Aqua gasps in loud alarm as something, a hand, she presumes, suddenly slams into her back. It shoves her forward with enough force to send her falling to the ground; and when she falls, she just so happens to land in full, open view of Sora himself.

"A-Aqua?!" he gasps, fear swiftly filling into his features where the first signs of trust had been only seconds before. "What are you doing here?"

Aqua winces, exchanging a worried glance with Terra as she picks herself up off the ground. "Sora, I-I-"

"Wait…" Sora stops her, looking to Terra instead. "You said you came here alone. But you knew she was here all along-you had to have known! Why didn't I see this coming?" he lets out a harsh, incredulous laugh as tears start to fill his eyes. "You lied to me!"

"It's not like that, Sora," Terra says, still trying to keep some semblance of control over a situation that's quickly spiraling into chaos. "We were just trying to-"

"Oh, I know exactly what you were trying to do!" Sora snaps, furious by what he believes to be a bitter betrayal. Aqua and Terra both watch with wide eyes as dark, glowing spikes begin to shoot up from the ground around him, his golden eyes glowing even brighter as his terrified voice hitches higher. "'We can find your way to freedom together'-I can't believe I was stupid enough to almost believe that! I already told you, there's no way to stop what's happening to me. But you both already knew that, didn't you?"

"No, Sora, that's not true," Aqua says, her voice firm, yet unsteady all at once. "Please, you have to listen to us-"

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say!" Sora shouts as his dark, dangerous magic continues bursting violently all around him. "He was right all along. All of you would say or do anything to drag me back and lock me away. But I'm not about to let that happen because I'm never, ever going back!"

"Lock you away?" Terra asks, equally confused and alarmed by such an implication as Aqua is. "What are you talking about?"

"Sora, you know we'd never do something like that to you," Aqua tries to reason, taking a step closer to him. Only for him to take a large step away. "We just want to help you-"

"Stop lying!" Sora yells, gripping the sides of his head as his magic surges once more. "Just… just leave me alone!" He chokes out a heavy sob, only sparing the concerned pair before him one final glance before he throws both of his arms up, a thick wall of black spikes bursting up from the ground to rise high into the air. There are only a few sparse gaps between them as Aqua and Terra rush forward the second they see Sora take off into the trees, intent on fleeing before they can even try to bring him back again.

"Sora!" Aqua calls after him, slamming her Keyblade into the spikes. And yet, they remain completely undamaged, unbroken, even as Terra does the same. "Wait!"

This time, Sora doesn't offer either of them a response. He keeps his back turned to them as he continues running, thrusting a hand forward to create a dark corridor to further aid his escape.

"No!" Terra shouts, not knowing what either of them could possibly say to convince the boy to stay. Especially when he's so clearly already made up his mind about running, about hiding, about staying as far away from the friends who want nothing more than to set his heart free as he possibly can. "Sora, please, just-"

His pleas go unfinished and unheard the second Sora slips into the shadows that swallow him up too swiftly for either of them to do a single thing about it. Within seconds, he's gone, once again out of anyone's reach, in far more ways than one.

The spikes sink back into the soil as Aqua and Terra stand in the solemn, newfound silence that settles over the woods. Their hearts both hang heavy as they exchange a mournful glance, wondering where things had taken a turn for the worst so suddenly. And wondering what might have happened, what help they could have given him if they hadn't.

"What now?" Aqua asks, her voice quiet as she wraps her hands around Terra's arm, seeking comfort that he's ill-equipped to give.

Terra shakes his head as he stares off in the direction Sora had run off in. He wishes he had an answer for her, wishes that so many things were different than they really are. But in the end, there's only one thing he can say, only one thing that can be said when so much seems to be so wrong. "...I don't know."


After well over a month spent on the run and on his own, Sora's largely stopped going into towns and villages altogether. It's mostly due to money, or rather his lack of it, barring him from any comforts he could easily find within them, such as food or shelter or undamaged clothing. But today, he got another poignant, downright painful reminder as to why he should stay far, far away.

That reminder came when he'd stumbled onto a small, rather archaic village tucked within a mostly wooded world. He had almost decided to go around it instead of through it, but his own empty stomach had loudly protested that plan, prompting him to head into town to see if he could find something, anything at all to make up for the past few days he'd spent without eating. At first, there'd been no incident as he ventured into the village, his claws tucked into his pockets, his hood pulled up tight, and his focus on the ground so as not to draw any unnecessary attention. His plan was to simply pass through without incident, maybe find a stray scrap of unattended or unwanted food along the way. But when he started to head into the local market, he'd been drawn in by the tantalizing scent of several stalls selling their wares. Along the way, the familiar, frustrating temptation once again struck him to slip away with a single piece of fruit or a handful of biscuits while no one's looking. A temptation he only narrowly forced out of his mind when he thought about the Oracle, about the rift, about how stealing always brings him far more turmoil and trouble than he ever could have anticipated.

As he tried his best to ignore the food he needed but knew he couldn't have, what he didn't notice were the several sets of eyes following him as he hurried through the village. He didn't see their narrow, suspicious gazes, didn't hear their cautious, distrustful whispers, didn't even know anyone was thinking twice about him at all. At least, until he felt a strong pair of hands fall upon his shoulders.

He only barely managed to keep his powers and panic in check when he'd spun around to find more than a few armored guards standing behind him. A group of various villagers, torn between fear and disgust, shielded themselves behind the soldiers as they began interrogating the mysterious, unsettling young stranger within their midst. Not wanting any conflict, Sora complied, answering their coldly-asked questions as tersely and calmly as he could. But when he'd made the mistake of absently removing one of his hands from his pockets without thinking that's when everything quickly started falling apart.

That's when the cries of "monster!" began, when the shouts of "demon!" started. When the guards issued the bone-chilling order to "seize that vile creature!"

When Sora knew he had no choice but to run. The only choice he ever seems to have lately.

So he did, though his escape had not been without injury. While he'd sped off through the rest of the town, he'd narrowly evaded capture, throwing out bursts of dark magic behind him to slow the soldiers down. Several villagers had joined the chase, armed with pitchforks and makeshift swords to rid their home of the perceived threat currently fleeing from them in fear. Sora hadn't even bothered trying to reason with them; after all, how could he hope to convince them that he wasn't a monster when he so clearly, so obviously is?

He'd almost made it out of the village, almost made it to freedom, when things went from bad to so much worse. One of the guards had thrown his spear, and of course, instead of flying right by Sora like it might've if he had any sort of luck on his side, it grazed his side instead, creating a deep gash across his torso. It was agonizing, blood rapidly pouring from the new wound as he raced to cover it the best he could. But even then, he hadn't stopped running, he kept on going until he was finally out of the soldiers' range, out of the town altogether. Until he was far away from anyone else who might try to kill or capture him because of something he has no control over whatsoever.

His pace is still quick several hours later and several miles away. He knows he should stop, at the very least to tend to his still gushing wound as it sends white hot agony shooting through his body with every single step. He knows he can't go on for too much longer like this, but he doesn't care. Because the mere possibility of being caught and chained up again by anyone, by his friends, his enemies, even by mere oblivious strangers, is far more painful than any injury his body could possibly sustain.

And if that's a possibility that's going to keep following him, no matter where he goes, then he figures he might as well be alone. At least if he is, he can't be hurt any worse than he already has been. At least he can't risk hurting anyone else in turn.

He finally forces himself to stop as night falls over the forest. He collapses against a tree, his blood staining its bark in much of the same way it's painting most of his body. As he lets himself go slack against that tree and the forest floor, he stares up at the stars shining through the leaves high above him, his breathing shallow and slowing. At this point, he knows he could bleed out within a matter of minutes, but he can't be bothered to care. Not when he knows that much like the essentials of life, the comfort of death is something that he's no longer allowed to have either.

Yet if he can't get death, at least he can get the next best thing. He's on the cusp of unconsciousness, something he craves to temporarily take the edge of the pounding pain away if nothing else. But he isn't even lucky enough to drift away like he hopes to when a burst of bright, blinding white energy suddenly slams into the side of the tree directly above his head. He narrowly rolls out of its path as it comes crashing to the ground, his side screaming in pain from the sudden movement. Still, he somehow manages to steal a glance in the direction the unexpected attack had come from, only to find a Keyblade-bearing shadow emerge from the surrounding trees. A shadow who just so happens to look almost exactly like him.

"Finally," Vanitas scowls down at him, his Keyblade resting in both his hands. Sora tenses up at the sight of his near-twin, once again bewildered by the alarming resemblance they share. Though this time, that resemblance has changed somewhat, with Vanitas' eyes now a deep shade of crimson instead of the bright orange they'd once been. Even so, they still reflect the exact same vicious hatred he'd had to offer him the last time they met what feels like ages ago now. "I thought I'd never find you. And now that I have, that means we can finish this right where we left off, 'twin'."

Sora lets out a strained shout as he calls upon a dark spike to block the burst of powerful light Vanitas sends his way. He struggles to stand, the Kingdom Key flashing into his hand as he tries to prepare himself both physically and mentally for the impending battle ahead. A battle that even still, he tries to find a way out of. "Vanitas, can we please… not do this right now?" he asks, his tone breathless, borderline annoyed. "I'm hurt, I've been running for a long time, and I'm just… really not in the mood to deal with this right now, ok?"

"Aw, what? Is the poor baby tired? Do you wanna take a nap? How about I call your mommy to tuck you in?" Vanitas taunts with a haughty smirk as he eyes Sora's injury. "You oughta consider yourself lucky while you still can. That tiny scratch you've got there is nothing compared to what I plan on doing to you."

With this, Vanitas swings his Keyblade out wide and fast. Sora narrowly manages to counter the heavy blow with his own weapon, though his stance is wavering, his side searing with even more pain from the force of the impact alone. He tries using some of his own magic to knock Vanitas back long enough so he can try to get away, though his near-twin essentially steals his plan before he can even try to put it in motion. With a single wave of his arm, a shower of glistening shards rains down onto Sora, tearing his clothes, slicing his skin, and stabbing into his almost entirely exposed wound. To add insult to injury, Vanitas suddenly kicks him hard in the stomach, sending him flying back into a nearby tree, a burst of blood and that strange, unknown black sludge tearing its way out of his throat the moment his back impacts it.

"What happened to you anyway?" Vanitas continues his cruel taunts as he saunters forward. He calls upon several more glowing spikes, their shimmering tips keeping Sora essentially pinned in place. "You look terrible."

"W-well, you look so much like me," Sora counters as defiantly as he possibly can. "So I guess that means you look just as terrible as I do."

Fury flashes across Vanitas' face as he suddenly lunges forward, gripping Sora by the edge of his collar to lean in dangerously close to his near-twin. "You stupid little waste of space," he hisses, his teeth barred so that Sora can see they're every bit as sharp and pointed as his own are now. "Believe me, I'm as fed up with sharing a face with you as you are of keeping your own miserable existence going anymore. So maybe once I take you out, we'll both finally get the long-awaited reprieve we've both been after for ages now."

Sora sighs, disgruntled as he decides to let his Keyblade disappear. It's not like it's doing him any good right now anyway. "Whatever you're planning on doing to me, it's not gonna work," he says, all the while wishing that it would. That someone like Vanitas, that anyone really, could finally put him out of his long-lasting, seemingly never-ending misery already. "I-I can't… The master won't let me-"

Vanitas suddenly cuts him off with a sharp, mocking laugh, one that echoes harshly through the trees. "Are you serious?" he mocks, practically beside himself with twisted delight. "The old man has you so tightly wrapped around his little finger that you're calling him master now?! Oh, that's priceless! Just when I thought you couldn't get any more pathetic, you keep finding all new ways to surprise me."

Sora bristles at this snide comment, perturbed by it to the point that he pushes himself into action. He throws both of his hands forward, shadows pouring from his palms that solidify the moment they strike Vanitas. The white spikes retreat as he's thrown back, allowing Sora to charge after him. He doesn't even call upon his Keyblade again, instead relying on his powers to lash out in an aggressive, angry barrage. He shows no restraint, mostly because he has no reason to, not against someone who's stalked him all the way out here simply for the sake of killing him in cold blood. So he unleashes the full force of his long pent-up frustration on Vanitas, knowing that it's the best he can do when he can't take that same fury out on the ones who really deserve it.

For his part, Vanitas uses a mix of his Keyblade and his magic to try and fend off Sora's almost manic assault. He revels in this kind of raw, rapid battle, though, grinning twistedly as he holds his own in the thrill of the fight. With both of them bearing such similar skill and almost identical, yet opposite powers, they're largely evenly matched. But as their brutal brawl rages on, Sora soon manages to gain the upper hand when one of his blackened spikes suddenly trips Vanitas up from behind, sending him crashing to the ground.

He's caught off guard by the sudden break in the flow of the fight, to the point that he genuinely flinches in surprise when he realizes he's on the wrong end of the knife-like shards Sora's preparing to send his way. His eyes glow a bitter shade of gold under the shadows of his hood, his face filled with disdain that perfectly matches Vanitas' own. Yet even though he's largely lost this skirmish in a matter of mere seconds, he still finds room to make another disparaging remark against his hated 'twin'.

"Ooo, look at you, so 'tough' now that nobody's around to hold you back anymore," Vanitas sneers, wiping a bit of stray blood from his mouth. "Since you're clearly not even a shadow of the hero you used to be, why don't you finish me off? Prove once and for all that you really do fit in the rest of your 'master's' loyal little lapdogs."

Though this claim easily makes Sora tense up, ultimately, it's also what causes him to back down, to cool his violent temper as he forces himself to show mercy. Even when he'd really rather do anything but. "I've had enough of this," he mutters, sighing as he pulls his spikes away from Vanitas. "Just… get out of here and leave me alone already… Please..."

"You really think this is over?" Vanitas scoffs as he starts picking himself up off the ground. "We're not even close to being done. I came here to do only one thing…" his voice lowers, light flashing around his hands as he prepares to seize his moment. No matter how that moment might possibly end. "And I'm not leaving until I do it!"

Sora gasps, glancing over his shoulder just in time to see Vanitas leap for him once more. He summons his Keyblade once again to block his high strike, keeping his weapon in contention with his near-twin's as they each try to overpower the other. A struggle that hasn't gotten either of them anywhere so far. "Vanitas, just stop it already!" Sora shouts as sparks rise up between their grinding weapons. "I don't want to fight you!"

"You should have thought about that before you tainted Ventus' heart with that darkness of yours and took away my one chance to get the only thing I've ever wanted!" Vanitas snaps back, his voice hitching in rage and something else. Something that almost, almost sounds like despair.

"I didn't do any of that on purpose and you know it!" Sora shoots back, tired of being blamed for so many horrible things. Even when he knows most of those horrible things are entirely his fault.

"Suuuure, you didn't," Vanitas rolls his eyes. "Just like how you didn't mean to infect me with your stupid light, right?"

"For the last time, I didn't-" Sora's abruptly cut off when Vanitas slams his foot into his chest, essentially slamming him to the ground. He keeps his foot securely planted in place, preventing Sora from even so much as trying to rise again, especially as Vanitas aims the tip of his Keyblade straight for his head.

"You may be ruled by darkness now, but you don't know the first thing about it, not like I do," he says, his voice quiet, yet filled with malice so raw Sora can practically feel it. "Darkness is cold and uncaring and it kills everything it touches. And if you can't do what it wants, then you don't deserve to have it."

"I-I never wanted it," Sora stammers, tears starting to find their usual place in his eyes. "I never wanted any of this!"

"Well, I never wanted to have to deal with this awful light I have inside of me because of you!" Vanitas shouts, his hands brimming with that light to the point that they're practically haloed in its radiance. "Everyone always talks about how the light is so 'pure' and 'perfect', but it's not! It feels like it's burning every inch of my heart from the inside out, every second of every day because it's not supposed to be there! And no matter what I do, no matter what I try, I can't get rid of it! And the worst part of it all is I don't even know why!"

Sora finds himself stunned into silence when he hears this, his eyes widening as he spots a tear, and only a single tear, slipping down Vanitas' cheek. And in that moment, perhaps for the first time ever, he realizes that maybe, the two of them share more than just the same face. That maybe whatever Vanitas is going through, and what he's been going through aren't so different after all. That maybe they're far more alike than they could have ever thought possible, especially when it comes to the unparalleled pain they've both been forced to bear. "...Vanitas…"

"But in the end, it doesn't matter," Vanitas doesn't let him get another word out as he shakes his head, quickly wiping his face dry. "Because if you aren't strong enough to wield the light, then just like the darkness, it'll only end up destroying you. And maybe at this point…" he sighs, his severe expression finally softening as he looks down at Sora with what almost seems like pity, solidarity, or something else entirely. "That's what we both deserve…"

Sora falls into silence, not knowing what else can possibly be said at this point. Some small, sad part of him wants to try and talk Vanitas down from the edge he's so clearly on. But how can he do that when he's been balancing on that edge himself for such a long time now? So instead, he simply lets out a deep breath, offering Vanitas a look of silent resignation and forgiveness for whatever it is he's about to do. And with that, he simply closes his eyes and lets it happen.

And it does happen only a moment or two later. When a Keyblade slides, slow and smoothly, straight into the space between his ribs. When pain, so immense and so incredible that he can't even cry out because of it, drags him somewhere below the surface, into some unknown, cold and murky, yet quiet and peaceful sea.

But before he's even granted the mercy of hitting the bottom of that sea where he so longs to be, he's suddenly drudged right back up to the agonizing air of the surface again. Just like he knew he would be.

His broken body is thrown into chaos, his back hitching as a horrible sound that's somewhere between a scream and a roar tears its way out of his fanged mouth. But his own scream isn't the only one sounding through the forest. Another agonized yell erupts into the open air as light flashes over the area, a stark contrast to the heavy shadows starting to swell over his own prone form. This terrifying transformation is something he should be used to by now, but it's still just as unbearable as it always is as his claws lengthen, his eyes turn fully gold and void, his body shifts and mutates in ways he knows it never should. But something's strange about it this time; this time, he's entirely aware throughout it all. This time, his thoughts, his senses, his own conscious mind doesn't begin to fade as the darkness overwhelms him physically.

This time, he somehow stays himself through it all. And this time, he's not alone in this either.

He falls to all forms, unable to properly support his own weight as a result of his new hunched posture. His throat rumbles with a confused growl, his true voice taken from him where his coherency isn't. Nothing about this makes sense, he thinks, his panic swiftly beginning to rise as he realizes he's trapped in this monstrous form, stuck in shadows he's powerless to escape from. And now, forced to think and feel and experience every horrific second of it all.

At the very least though, he does seem to have control of his own malformed body. A haze of darkness hovers over his vision, draining the world around him of any semblance of color as he tries to look around. He recalls briefly that this is how the Heartless see, just a dull, dreary reality devoid of any of the vibrance and life he knows it should have. It's almost maddening as he tries to make out any real point of reference, only to find one that all but scares him stiff. A bright beacon of light hovers just a few feet away from him, light that's so bright that his current darkened form can barely stand the sight of it. He hisses as he cowers away from it, though in the process, he catches its attention. And when it turns to face him, he soon finds that it isn't a mere unliving pillar of almost ghostly radiance at all; it's a person.

"No! Not again!" a frantic, frightened voice booms through his mind and his mind alone. A voice that shocks him every bit as much as the blinding being floating before him, a being bathed in a pure white glow that doesn't fit his ruthless near-twin in the slightest.

"V-Vanitas…?" his own thoughts wonder where his voice currently can't. And yet, even though he doesn't speak a single word aloud, Vanitas somehow still hears him all the same.

"...You…" his eyes are wide, dark blue and entirely empty as he uncovers his face to look at the lowly monster before him. "YOU!"

Sora doesn't even have time to react before Vanitas pounces at him, still not bound by gravity as he tackles his near-twin to the ground. Sora lets out an anguished howl as Vanitas' burning light scorches his shadow-soaked skin, though that pain is reciprocated as the creature of light reels back, screeching in response to the devouring darkness he's just come in contact with. The pair are quick to pull apart after this, staring at each other with an unsettled mix of confusion, alarm, and outrage, none of which they can currently come to terms with while in their current opposite, equally inhuman forms.

"What is this…?" Vanitas looks down at his glowing hands before glaring back at Sora. "What's going on?!"

"I-I don't know," Sora shakes his head, another growl slipping out, though his thoughts still remain internal. Or rather, only audible to himself and Vanitas. "This has happened to me before, but… I've never been in control like this. I've never been able to stay myself when I'm…" His thoughts trail off as he shudders upon stealing a glance down at his claws, far longer and more deadly than he's used to them being. He's only able to find some small sense of relief that he can't see what the rest of his body currently looks like. "Have… have you ever-"

"Of course, I have!" Vanitas' thoughts snap back at him as a small, angry screech erupts from his fanged maw. "But… it's never been like this before… What have you done to us?!"

"Me?! Last time I checked, you're the one who stabbed me!" Sora rears low, intentionally growling this time as he fixes his near-twin with a sharp glare.

"Only because you let me, you idiot!" Vanitas counters, hovering just a bit higher into the air. "You just have to throw a wrench into EVERYTHING, don't you? First with what you did to Ventus, and now this! Killing you was supposed to be quick, easy, and fun; so why wasn't it?"

"You think I know?" Sora bitterly responds, trying his best not to look down at his own reviled, revolting form. "You're not the only one who's disappointed it didn't work; maybe if it had, then I wouldn't be-"

"That you'd be gone? What, did you think I was trying to do you some kind of favor? To 'rescue' you?" Vanitas lets out something of a scoffing chirp. "I didn't want to kill you out of mercy; I wanted to kill you because I HATE you! I hate how you try to act so good and kind when you're really just as miserable as everyone else out there." As he continues, his thoughts suddenly start to devolve into a kind of manic devastation that almost scares Sora as he has no choice but to listen to what Vanitas would never dare admit to anyone aloud. "I hate how you're so much like Ventus. I hate how the old man chose you over me! I hate how you're the reason I'll never get to be whole again! And most of all, I hate how each and every time I look at you, the only thing I can think about is how much I hate MYSELF!"

Sora stills at this, shaken by what he's just heard. Though Vanitas doesn't actually speak a word of it, his fierce, final proclamation still echoes through both of their hearts just as loudly. An echo that Vanitas all too quickly realizes he can't even try to take back when Sora slowly starts trying to crawl toward him.

"Vanitas… I'm sorry…" he thinks, but as for what exactly he's apologizing for, he's not entirely sure. "I… I didn't think you were… I-I'm not…" He shakes his head, a soft, sympathetic groan rumbling its way out of him as he extends a clawed hand out toward his shining near-twin. "You said before that we used to be connected, but that we aren't anymore," he starts over on a different tangent entirely. One that he only hopes Vanitas will listen to. "But I don't think that's true. How else would we be able to understand each other while we're like this? I think we still are connected somehow; that's why I have some of your darkness and you have some of my light. And… if we stopped fighting each other all the time and decided to help each other instead, maybe we could both finally figure out what that really means…"

"Help?" Vanitas pulls back, his dark eyes staring down at Sora in cold disbelief. "How could you possibly help me when you can't even help yourself!?Just face it already! you can't fix this, you can't fix yourself-" He wraps his arms around himself, his light only dulling the slightest bit as he looks away in undeniable despondency this time. "And you definitely can't fix me."

"But… I still want to try-"

"Why? Why do you even CARE so much in the first place?!"

"I… I don't know why," Sora replies honestly, knowing he isn't entitled to. He has no obligation to someone who's only ever shown sheer hatred toward him, no reason to help someone who's sole mission is to kill him in the most painful way possible. And yet… "I just… feel like I should…"

"No, you don't," Vanitas calls his bluff, his very thoughts somehow sounding venomous. "The only reason you're acting like you do is so you can try to find some last ditch way to free your weak little heart from your 'master's' control even when you already know you can't. You're every bit as much of a lost cause as I've always been. When are you finally gonna grow up and accept that?"

"I already have…" Sora admits, morosely looking down at his claws again, at the monster he knows himself to be, both in this hideous form and out of it. "But… even if it's too late for me, Vanitas, maybe you could still-"

"Ugh! Would you just shut up already?!" Vanitas cuts him off, thoroughly annoyed as he digs his hands into his now-white hair. "You're even worse than Ventus! And somehow even stupider! How many times do I have to tell you, I don't want your useless help! The only thing I want is for you to just DIE!"

"...I wish I could..." is all Sora has time to softly, sadly think before everything shifts completely.

Because suddenly, the entire flow of their mental shouting match is broken the second the forest surrounding them is flushed with an eerie green aura. An aura that's accompanied by something that's suddenly flung out of the woods from some unseen point, something that sharply strikes Sora just shy of it covering him completely.

And that something just so happens to be a net.

It's surprisingly heavy, its weight proving enough to easily pull him completely to the ground. Naturally, Sora lashes out in immense fear the moment he realizes he's restrained, swinging his claws out wildly in a frantic attempt at escaping. That attempt does little though, as he soon finds that the net entrapping him is made not of simple rope, but of strong, unyielding metal that even his deadly claws can't slice through. He keeps his panicked struggle going all the same, a series of distraught hisses and roars ripping from his glowing maw, at least until he happens to set his sights back on Vanitas.

He isn't trapped; instead, he still remains hovering just a few feet away, his dark eyes wide as he stares down at Sora in apt alarm. And yet, strangely, he doesn't move, doesn't seem to even be thinking anything at all as he keeps his shaken sights set on his trapped twin alone.

"V-Vanitas!" Sora thinks as loudly and desperately as he can. He reaches a trembling hand out from the net, though his movements are severely limited as the chain links composing it essentially lock him into place. "Help me!"

Yet for his part, Vanitas still keeps his thoughts silent. Instead, his wide gaze snaps upward as he catches onto some sort of movement in the trees behind Sora. Movement that's more than enough to prompt him to make his own escape before it's too late.

He swiftly spins around, gliding straight across the clearing in a matter of mere seconds. And yet, he does surprisingly stop short when he hears Sora's thoughts pleading to him once again. "Wait!" his mind cries and Vanitas can sense the raw, unbridled terror rushing through it. Terror that he shares far more of than he'd like to ever admit. "Y-you can't just leave me here like this! You have to do something! You have to set me free!"

Vanitas' back is still turned to him, his body still bathed in that strange, otherworldly glow as he only briefly looks back. And when he does, his nearly featureless face is filled with only two contrasting emotions, emotions that echo through his thoughts every bit as clearly: hatred… and guilt. "No… I don't…"

And just like that, he disappears into the forest, taking both his light… and something far more important with him.

"No!" Sora pulls hard against the net, trying to bite it, trying to do anything that'll release him from this horrid trap. "Vanitas! Don't go!" But of course, Vanitas doesn't come back. No one comes to save him; and certainly, if anyone else could see him now, no one would. But that doesn't keep his frenzied mind from futilely begging for that salvation all the same. "Come back! Help! P-please…" His ongoing growls suddenly shift into sudden savagery, his once-clear mind slowly starting to grow hazy and muddled. Amidst his distress, he starts to realize what's happening here. For whatever reason, he and Vanitas had balanced each other out while in their opposing forms; they'd kept each other awake and aware when they otherwise wouldn't have been. But now that Vanitas is putting more and more distance between them, that rare clarity is starting to fade.

And for Sora, that means that something much more mindless, much more monstrous is starting to take its place.

"Need… hearts…" the first violent burst of instinct blooms into his frayed thoughts unbidden. But as he clings onto the last fleeting shreds of humanity his dimming mind has left, he tries his best to fight those thoughts away. "N-no… I… I have a heart! I don't… I'm not…"

"Heart… lost…" the monster argues, and he finds he can't really protest that. Mostly because, by almost all accounts, he knows that it's true. "Must… find new heart…"

"P-please…" he begs himself, desperate not to be thrown back into the mire of madness the darkness brings. Desperate not to become even more of a bloodthirsty beast than he already is. "Don't…"

"Find heart…"

"N-no…"

"Consume heart…"

"I-I…"

"NEED HEART! MUST HAVE HEART!"

With his strength sapped and his mind numb, he isn't able to argue anymore as those instincts overwhelm him. So he lets go, knowing there's nothing else he can possibly do. There's nothing he's ever able to do, it seems, other than succumb to the darkness he's fallen so far into. Darkness that makes it so very hard for him to remember what it had felt like when he'd once been able to stand in the light so very long ago.

His body stills, only for a second, as his own thoughts finally diminish completely. Raving, ravenous rage awakens in their place, pushing him to once again fight against the heavy net holding him down. Yet even then, he isn't able to escape it, even as a lone, towering figure finally emerges from the glowing forest behind him.

"Hello again, my dearest pet…" He senses her presence, spinning around as quickly as he can, his fangs bared as he lets out a fierce, feral growl. Maleficent simply smiles as she stands over him, her cruel trap working exactly as intended as she takes in the sight of her shadowy prey. Prey that she's more than prepared to use to his fullest powerful potential. "I do believe it's time for you to finally come home…"


AH BOY HERE WE GO :3 Just when you think things couldn't possibly get ANY worse for Sora, they always do. I will say, I was gonna keep this chapter going, but I want to give Maleficent the proper time to shine in the next chapter, so, I'll leave you here with this. Don't forget to leave a REVIEW please to let me know what you thought! Until next time!