Well, the worlds and action will start next chapter, but this one will set everything up, so it's pretty short. (And by that I mean it is annoying short and I am a little ticked that I got everything I needed into such a small chapter!)

I hope you enjoy it!

I forgot the VA for one of Yami's characters... I'M SORRY!

Thank you to Hero King Zeta 1991 for following/favoriting.

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Sasuke and Hinata © to Yamichaos27!

Luna © to Nintendoman01!

Other OCs © to me!

Chapter 3: Split

The large group stood in the middle of the castle at Radiant Garden. Usually, this group would be laughing, talking, and joking, but only silence filled the air now. The only words spoken were hushed "I'm sorry"'s and "we'll find him"'s to Kairi, Sora, and Patria.

Sasuke looked over at Sora and sighed. "There's no way we can fit all of them on a single ship."

"That's why Yen Sid sent me with multiple trackers. We can split up, each taking a tracker. That way we can scour more worlds for him."

"Sounds good."

Sasuke looked at the large group. "Well, if you're going to split up, we need to know who is going with who. If you'd like, I can assign groups to make things go a little faster."

"Go for it."

"Sora," the captain looked around, "your family should join be joined by Hikari and her friends. I'm sure Riku would be happy to have you guys keeping an eye on her. Lea, your family, and Xion's family will be the next group. Terra, you'll be paired with Ry and Luna."

Sora handed out little objects that looked like dark purple star shards. "This will help us locate Braig or any of his flunkies."

Terra took one, looking down at it. "Ry, once we set out, we should go by Traverse Town and see if Vanitas will join us."

"We can try," the boy nodded. "I don't know if he'll want to, but it doesn't hurt to try."

Aqua knelt down to her youngest son, who stood holding the hand of his friend, Hinata. "Ignis, you be good for Sasuke and Rydia(1). We'll be back soon."

"Ok." He hugged her. "Love you…"

"We love you too, baby."

"Dad," Patria put her hands behind her head. "I know we can find him, so let's get moving."

Sora sighed, clenching the small object in his hand. "Yeah."

The three ships shot out into interspace; Ansem and Sasuke watched from the hanger. The old man coughed. "That poor boy. What could Braig possibly want with him?"

"I do not know, but it can't be good." The captain looked down as two sets of feet ran towards them. Ignis and Hinata ran to him. "Hey, Hinata, why don't you take Ignis and find Mommy?"

"Ok, Daddy!"

The two men watched them go. They could not see the innocence as their minds clung to the horrifying circumstances that Pith now found himself in.

Pith paced around his cell.

How long had he been here?

His stomach growled, and his headache grew worse by the moment.

"Ugh…" the boy lightly hit his head against the wall. "If they wanted to kill me they should've just done it rather than leave me here to go nuts from isolation, starve to death, and pass out from dehydration."

"Don't be so dramatic." A dark corridor opened and Briana, Jazzy, Malachi, and Cander stepped out.

"If you didn't bring me food or water, please go away."

"I thought you'd be more open to us visiting since we haven't fed you in about 12 hours."

Pith leaned back, glaring at his enemies. "You know, I've decided not to panic. Since I'm a prisoner, I'm going to be sarcastic, sassy, and just generally annoying. And if I'm in a good mood, I might be a little passive-aggressive."

"Wow." Malachi groaned. "You are going to be a pain… should we starve him a little more?"

The former princess rolled her eyes, summoning her crossbows. "No. We'll go ahead and do it now." She nodded to Jazzy.

"Yes, ma'am." The mutant slammed Pith into the wall using her sand powers. The swirling force turned Pith around so his back faced the four. Malachi grabbed two knives from his belt and jabbed them into the boy's sleeves, pinning them to the wall as Jazzy's powers stopped.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Cander pointed his wand at Pith, causing the boy to become still. "Milady, he is all yours."

Briana smirked. "Pith. Your bravery is commendable, but we want you to break and beg for mercy. Why? Because causing people pain is fun!" She pulled out a whip, drew it back, and swung the lash across Pith's back(2).

Over and over.

Terra, Aqua, Glacies, and Ryô landed on Traverse Town, leaving Luna and the younger kids behind on the ship. The blond boy pointed down the street. "Vanitas' home is that way. Follow me."

He led them down the dark streets. Children played along the road, laughing. Ryô smiled as he saw the white house belonging to the Ater family(3). The front door hung open with some Unversed going in and out.

"That's definitely their house."

Aqua knocked on the open door. "Hello?"

"Who's there?" Alya poked her head out from the dining room. "Oh! Hello. Come in!" The woman smiled. "I'm so happy to see all of you; it's been a while."

Glacies bowed her head. "Hello, Alya. How are you?"

"I'm doing wonderful! Are you here to see my husband?"

"Yes," Terra nodded. "Is he here?"

The pale-haired woman nodded. "He is upstairs getting ready for work. You came just in time; just go on upstairs." She sat down at a nearby table, a sewing machine and blue fabric in front of her.

"Thank you." Glacies, Terra, and Ryô went upstairs, but Aqua sat down beside Alya.

"What are you making?"

Alya smiled. "Well, I have been taking commissions lately, and this is a dress a neighbor wants her daughter to have for her birthday."

"It's lovely."

"Thank you!"

Upstairs, Vanitas looked up as the three walked in, his eyes narrowing. "Why are you here?"

"Godfather, we need your help!" Ryô stepped forward. "Pith Kumo was kidnapped by Braig's daughter. We're trying to find him and we wanted you to joi…"

"No!" Vanitas stood up. "Can't go. I have a family to provide for. If I leave my job, someone will scoop it up and I won't have a way to provide for them. It took me months to get this job, even though I hate it." He sighed when he saw their distressed faces. "Look, it's not that I don't care, but do you understand how hard it is to get a job here? There are so many refugees that want jobs that most jobs are part-time. To even get a full-time job, you have to have lived here and held a job for five years. Right now, I'm barely providing for my family as it is. If you want my help, I can send the Unversed out to search out in the different worlds."

Terra smiled. "We understand… Thank you. We'll leave you to your work."

Ryô let out a long sigh as they walked downstairs. "Well, dang it."

"At least he's helping in any way he can." Glacies patted her friend's shoulder. "Let's hurry and get back to the ship."

"Sounds good."

Cander's spell wore off and Pith's body relaxed. All the pain stored up from the spell hit his nerves like a fire.

"AAAAUGH!" He slumped down, his sleeves tearing where the knives had him pinned. His body crumpled down. Behind him, Briana and the two boys laughed; only Jazzy kept silent. He heard them vanish into a dark corridor but didn't move. He just laid there.

Time passed, and Pith laid there, blood still pooling around him.

The cell door slid open, but he was far too weak to move. He heard Xext yelling. "You keep trying to escape! You'll regret that!" A moment later, the cell door shut again. A grating sound echoed off the walls. "Here's your food…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Pith saw Angel standing up from where her twin had thrown her. The white-haired girl looked around until she saw Pith. "Oh no!" The girl ran over, kneeling beside him. Angel pulled a white shawl from around her shoulders, pressing it against the tears on his back.

"Augh!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She pulled back, running over one of two food trays her brother put in the cell. She grabbed one glass of water and brought it over to Pith. The boy felt the cool water trickling down his back; he cringed as she pressed the shawl against his back again. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine…"

Angel's voice faded away as darkness covered Pith's eyes, blocking out everything around him.

Again, I said it would be short, but that's only because the real fun starts next chapter!

Please review!

Footnotes:

(1) If you don't remember, Sasuke is married to Rydia from FF4.

(2) Briana is a sadist…

(3) The dalmatian's house from KH1.

VAs:

Malachi- Khary Payton (Aqualad/ Kaldur'ahm, Wasabi, Grimlock, Cyborg, Black Manta)

Jazzy- Lauren Landa (Merlin, Sakuya, Annie Leonhart, Sailor Neptune, Robin [female])

Cander- John Patrick Lowrie (Sniper, Galar, William the Kid)

Hinata Kazekiri- Stephanie Sheh (Hinata Hyuga, Yui, Sailor Moon, Shu Li)

Xext- Austin Tindle (Alzack Connell, Karma Akabane, Marco Bodt, Ken Kaneki)

Angel- Bryn Apprill (Meldy, Ritsu, Krista Lenz, Ibara Shiozaki, Anna Clement, Urith)

This Is Me

For many years, I've dealt with loneliness and potential social anxiety, worrying about being completely alone, and even choosing to be alone than to be around people I think don't like me.

I allowed what people have said about me to dictate what I think about myself. I wonder what is wrong with me, what did I do.

I am still dealing with this and it doesn't get fixed in one day, but it is a process.

I am learning to see myself not through my peers but through God's eyes. Throughout the Bible, God shows and says how much he loves us and how he sees us. He formed us, knew every part of us before we were even born. He sees us as his children and loves us regardless of what we do.

Again, it is a process, and it takes work on our end to catch ourselves when we speak bad things against ourselves, saying what other people say or make us feel, we need to stop those thoughts and remind ourselves what God thinks of us.