Whew. So I spend all morning writing this. I don't know how, but I have gotten into a really good binge on writing this.

I hope you all have been enjoying. Thanks to everyone who had read so far. Now this chapter goes back and forth between Ven and Roxas for a bit, so just a FYI.

Ch.6

Roxas paced back and forth in the kitchen. He was growing more and more impatient by the minute. Ventus had only left a little while ago, but to Roxas, it felt like hours. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were all sitting in the kitchen, but none of them said a word. No one knew what to say after Ventus ran out of the house. All of them waiting in silence, hoping Ventus would return soon.

Finally Roxas stopped pacing. "That's it… I am going after him."

"But Roxas," Kairi said, speaking up. "He said not to follow."

"Yeah, but I'm not just going to sit here while he runs over there without thinking."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You know… you kind of ran into the mansion without thinking."

Roxas sighed with frustration. "That's not the same! Ven has some trauma connected with the mansion. He could have a break down if he gets to close to it. I need to go after him."

"Then we will all go with you," Sora said as he stood up.

Roxas shook his head. "No, I'll be the only one to go. Ventus is my brother… and it's my fault he's so distressed about all of this. I have to be the one who goes after him."

"But…" Kairi started again, but Roxas held up a hand to stop her.

"I'll be fine. If Ven and I are not back in...let's say thirty minutes, you guys can come after us, okay?" Roxas said. "I promise I'll be safe."

Roxas didn't wait for a response from his friends as he ran out the door. He knew they would probably tell him to wait for Ventus or have them all go together. But he didn't want to run the risk of something happening to any of them. He still was unsure what the deal was with the mansion, but he figured there had to be something. Not only was Vanitas in the mansion and apparently alive, but there was also that girl.

"Namine…" Roxas muttered, recalling the name that Vanitas had said. "Just who is she? What does she have to do with the mansion?"

Roxas made his way back to the Underground Tunnel system. Everything was still open since Roxas had forgot to call back Pence to have him close them. He ran all the way through the tunnels until he got to the exit in the forest. He scanned the area to see if Ventus was there, but there was no sign of him. Roxas began to worry as he made his way up to the mansion.

A few minutes earlier

Ventus had run as fast as he could all the way to the mansion. As soon as he had left the forest, he froze at the building in front of him. It was the mansion. The cursed mansion. It still looked the same as it did those 14 years ago.

Ventus gripped his head as the memories came back again. Vanitas running into the mansion, the doors slamming shut, his terrified screams. THe pain in Ventus's head increased as he stumbled backwards. He was half tempted to run away, but he made himself stay where he was. If what Roxas said was true… than he had to go inside and find Vanitas. He had to find out why Vanitas was here all these years.

Ventus took in several deep breaths until the pain in his head calmed down. He walked back up to the gate of the mansion and slowly started to climb it. Once he had made his way down he shuffled across the yard to the front doors. His fingers traced over the handle several times before he found the courage to pull them open.

He peered inside the dark room before him. He saw no sign of anyone. Just a empty abandon lobby. He stepped inside and looked around some more when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. At the top of one of the staircases was a young girl in a white dress.

Ventus gasped. "That must be the girl Roxas talked about!"

The girl seemed to notice him as she stood up, staring wide eyed at Ventus. Before she had the chance to say anything he ran up to her and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Where is Vanitas?"

"Wh-What?" the girl asked, seemingly a little nervous from the close confrontation.

"I asked where Vantias is. He is here… right?" Ventus asked, uncertainty filling him.

The girl slowly nodded.

"Where? Please tell me!" Ventus pleaded.

"He's… He's in room 226," the girl answered meekly.

Ventus didn't bother to give any thanks to the girl, he just took off running up the rest of the stairs and down the hallway of the second floor. He looked at the doors and the numbers on them until he got down to room 226.

Ventus could feel the nervousness and fear rising in him. Vanitas could possibly be right behind this door. Or if he wasn't… Ventus didn't want to think about that. He had come all this way...he wasn't going to give up now. Ventus wrapped his fingers around the door handle and closed his eyes. He took in one more deep breath before quickly opening the door.

"Vanitas?!" Ventus shouted as the door was opening. He opened his eyes to see the bedroom in front of him. Much to his surprise there was a lamp that was turned on. Ventus didn't think that there was any electricity running in the building. Someone was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Ventus took a few steps forward as he stared at the person in front of him. He then he froze up.

It was Vanitas.

Vanitas was sitting on the edge of the bed. He stared at Ventus with wide, confused eyes. He leaned forward slightly.

"Ventus?" he asked, as if he was uncertain that Ventus was really there.

A second later without any words Ventus jumped at Vanitas, and wrapped his arms around him. It really was Vanitas. Of course though he did look older… since he had been 14 years, but Ventus knew it was really him.

"Vanitas!" Ventus said as he began to cry. He couldn't stop his emotions from pouring out. Here he was with his best friend, who he hadn't seen for 14 years. The friend he thought was dead for 14 years. He was still alive and well. Ventus had never been more relieved in his entire life.

"Ven…" Vanitas said, clearly shocked and surprised from the random hug. "What the… Why are you here?"

Ventus tried to speak through his cries, but it was already beginning to be hard to speak. "I… I c-came to… find y-you. I-I came… to s-save you."

Vanitas grumbled. "Well you're a little late for that." He then tried to shove Ventus of from him. "And get off me already! I can't believe after all these years you are still such a cry baby."

Ventus looked up at Vanitas with his blurry, tear-stained eyes. "B-But… I th-thought you were… d-dead. I haven't… s-seen you in f-fourteen years."

Vanitas scowled as he looked away. "Yeah? So what? It took you fourteen years to finally get some courage to come into this place. You never once tried to come back here after I ran in."

Ventus wiped away his tears as he stared at Vanitas. He knew from his childhood, Vanitas would sometimes be a bit rude or harsh, but his felt way harsher than he remembered. Though it had been 14 years, Vanitas could have very well changed. But still… something felt colder about Vanitas.

"Why… Why didn't you come back though? W-Why did you stay here all these years? We all worried about you. I… I missed you."

Vanitas whipped his head back to Ventus. He grabbed Ventus by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer. "You don't think I tried to leave?! You think I wanted to stay here?!"

"Vani…" Ventus said, trying to find the words to say next, but he couldn't figure out anything.

"You know, if you had not been such a scaredy cat I probably wouldn't be stuck here," Vanitas said as he let go of Ventus's shirt collar.

Ventus bit his lip. It hurt him to hear Vanitas say that. He figured that Vanitas must been holding a grudge towards him after all these years. "I'm sorry Vani…"

"Ugh… Don't be sorry idiot. I can't believe it took you this long to stop being so scared."

"I didn't think you were still alive… until Roxas told me he saw you."

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "Roxas?"

"He's my younger brother," Ventus answered.

"So that was the kid who was here before…" Vanitas mumbled. "Can't believe you are a big brother. I never thought you'd be good brother material… you know with you being such a scaredy cat."

Ventus wanted to chuckle a little. That sounded more like the Vanitas he was use to, a little rude, but still caring. But this was not the place to sit and catch up...though Ventus knew he had to tell Vanitas one thing right away.

"You're a big brother too."

"What?" Vanitas asked, almost sounding surprised.

"Did you forget? You told me all those years ago that you were going to be a big brother."

Vanitas sighed. "No… I didn't forget. I just didn't think about it." Vanitas paused as he gathered his thoughts. "Little brother or sister?"

"Brother, and he is friends with Roxas," Ventus said with a smile.

"Well what do you know… small world."

"Yeah it really is. You really gotta met him," Ventus said, hoping that Vanitas would want to come along. He still had no idea why Vanitas had been here all these years, but he was going to bring Vanitas back.

"Yeah right...Just get out of here already before you get stuck here too. I… I don't want to see your stupid face again," Vanitas said as he looked away again.

Ventus felt a stinging pain in his heart at those words. Vanitas was so cold now. Whether it was just being here for all those years or if it was something else, Ventus hated to see Vanitas act that way.

"Vani…" Ventus spoke again as he placed a hand on Vanitas's shoulder. He had to try to say something. He wasn't going to leave his best friend again.

Suddenly the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. It now felt noticeably colder in the room.

"Well… What do we have here?" a dark, ominous, demonic, voice asked. "A friend of yours Vanitas?"

Ventus looked around the room, but couldn't find the source of the voice. Vanitas's eyes widened though as he stared off at the wall across from him. "Ven… Get out of here… Now."

"But Vani…I'm not leaving you."

"No Ven! You need to get out of here!" Vanitas shouted as he turned towards Ventus again He gripped one of Ventus's arms. "You need to try to leave, right now!" Vanitas stood up and pulled Ventus up with him.

"Then come with me! Let's get out of here together," Ventus said as he took hold of Vanitas arm and tried to pull him along. Vanitas though did not move from where he stood.

"Ven… I can't."

"Yes you can Vani. Come on, let's go already!" Ventus said as he tried to pull Vanitas again but Vanitas just yanked his hand back.

"Ven! Listen to me. I literally CAN'T leave! That's part of the curse. I can't leave the mansion… and if you don't hurry… you'll be trapped here too."

Ventus looked at Vanitas. He saw that Vanitas seemed serious about what he was saying. Ventus almost couldn't believe it. The curse of the mansion was real. It didn't take people away… it trapped them.

"Don't be so rude Vanitas," the voice chuckled. "It's been a long time since we have had a… guest here."

Ventus shuddered at the way the voice said 'guest'. Whatever this voice was… it was clearly evil. Ventus had a feeling whomever or whatever it was must be the one who trapped everyone who entered the mansion.

Ventus was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt Vanitas shove him out of the bedroom. "Get moving already. Stop being an idiot and run!"

But... What about you though?" Ventus asked as he turned around, slowly backing away from Vanitas.

"I'll… I'll be fine. I've been here all these years after all. Just… please… get out of here. He will be here any minute… and if you don't hurry…" Vanitas closed his eyes as he shuddered. He took in a sharp, deep breath before he continued. "Just go…Please Ven."

Ventus wanted to ask what Vanitas was going to say, but he knew he had to get out of here. Ventus nodded at Vanitas and took off running towards the front of the mansion. Hoping he could make it in time. Hoping he could get away from… whatever that voice belonged to.

Back to Roxas's side of things

Roxas climbed over the gate and headed to the doors of the mansion, which were already open. That meant Ventus was already inside. Roxas stepped inside and stared looking around. He scolded himself for not bringing his flashlight back with him as he stumbled around in the dark room. Though since he didn't have the flashlight, his eyes were adjusting much better. He started his way up the stairs when he heard a voice.

"You… came back." It was Namine's voice!

Roxas spun around to see her standing right behind him. She looked at him with concerned eyes.

"Yeah I did. I came to find my brother… and also maybe get some answers about this place," Roxas answered.

"You want to know about this place?" Namine asked, seeming puzzled by his statement.

"Yes. I want to know what the deal is with this place. Is it really cursed?"

"If you want to know… come with me," Namine said as she held out her hand.

Roxas took a step back, not wanting to trust this random girl out of the blue. "Where would we be going?"

"Someplace in the mansion where it is safe to talk. Please… we must hurry," Namine said, still holding out her hand.

Roxas took a deep breath as he stepped closer to Namine. "All alright… if you say so."

Roxas reached out and held Namine's hand. A bright flash of light surrounded them, causing Roxas to close his eyes. When he opened them again, they were someplace else. The room they were in now was brightly lit and completely white. The floor, walls, ceiling and even the furniture were all white. There wasn't a whole lot of furniture though. There was one large table in the center, a dresser off on one wall and a bed next to another. Drawings were strewn throughout the entire room though. Some on the table and others taped to the walls.

"Where are we?" Roxas asked as he looked around.

"This is my room in the mansion," Namine answered.

"This room is in the mansion?" Roxas asked as he walked over to the large window in the room. He pulled back the curtains and peared outside. It was obvious that he was on the second story of the mansion now. He could see the whole courtyard of the mansion from where he was.

"Whoa wait a minute… if this is your room and there are lights in here. How come I couldn't see this room lit from outside?" Roxas asked as he looked at Namine.

Namine sighed as she sat down in the one of the chairs at the table. "The magic that flows over this mansion. It makes it look that way from the outside."

"But… Why did you bring me here? Why couldn't we have talked in the lobby?"

"Because…" Namine paused for a moment, looking as if she was afraid to speak. "Because he can't enter this room."

Roxas found himself wanting to ask more questions, so he sat himself down at the other end of the table. "Who is this that you keep talking about? Why can't he enter this room?"

"I used… my magic so he could never enter here. And he...he is the owner of this mansion."

Roxas gasped. "The owner?"

Namine nodded. "The one who… who created the curse of this mansion. The one who has cursed all of us…"

"All of us?" Roxas thought. "Are there other people here besides Namine and Vanitas? Are all the people who entered here all just living here or something?"

Roxas finally found his next question to ask. "Why don't any of you just leave this place?"

Namine took in a deep breath before she started to speak, she still seemed rather nervous speaking about the subject. "We can't leave...the curse won't let us."

Finally Roxas was getting somewhere with all of this. "Namine… Please tell me just what is the curse."

Namine hesitated as she seemed to be thinking it all over. Finally she slowly nodded. "Besides keeping us here, part of the curse… it… it takes away… our hearts."

Roxas blinked a few times, confused at what he just heard. "It… takes away your heart?"

"I'm sorry. It's hard to explain. But the owner implements the curse by taking away our hearts… though really what he is taking away is the embodiment of our heart that holds our true emotions."

Roxas sat quietly as he listen to Namine explain. All of this was rather confusing, but he was finally learning more about the mansion and the curse.

"The other part of the curse is the one that won't let us leave. Without our hearts... we are unable to get past the front gate or any exit. The magic of the curse prevents that."

"Um…" Roxas said, speaking up. "What do you mean though...with the owner taking away your 'true emotions'?"

Namine lowered her head. "We can no longer feel emotions. Again… it is a bit hard to explain. We may display emotions from time to time… We may laugh or seem to get anger… but we never can feel those emotions. If you were to cry because you were sad, you would feel that sadness in your heart. You would get all worked up because you are sad. But us… we may show tears in our eyes… but it doesn't go any further than that because we can't feel the sadness anymore."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that," Roxas said, feeling sympathy for all those who had been trapped in the mansion. That meant that Vanitas was the same way. That explained why he had been here all this time. Suddenly a different question came to mind. "Do you know though… why the original owner of this mansion…I mean the name…Why is it blurred out from all the newspapers?"

Namine sighed. "That's because of me. He has me use my magic to practically erase him from all of that. Though not everything about him is gone..."

"Why would he have you do that?"

Namine shook her head. "I don't know…"

"Wait a minute!" Roxas said, recalling what Namine had said just before. "Do you mean that the one who traps you all here… is the original owner of this mansion?!"

Namine nodded, but said nothing more.

"But how is that possible? He lived over two hundred years ago!"

"He… He gave himself into the dark magics. Using those dark magics he was able to make himself basically immortal."

Roxas leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. "Who is he though? Please tell me Namine."

Namine closed her eyes and she answered. "Ansem…"

Roxas was about to ask her more when she began to shudder. "He's… He's back." Namine quickly stood up and walked over to Roxas. "I need to get you out of here now."

"What? Why?"

"If I don't get you out now… he will get you as well. Your brother...i-it's too late for him."

"What?!" Roxas shouted. "Can't you do something? Can't you also save him?!"

Namine shrunk back and shook her head vigorously. She looked like she was terrified. "I'm sorry. I can't… He… Ansem already knows your brother is here. He doesn't know you're here though."

"Where is Ventus?" Roxas asked.

"He should be in the lobby by now...the doors are already locked though. If you want to get out of here safely, we'll have to wait."

Roxas sighed. This wasn't going the way he had hoped. He thought he could easily get his answers, find Ventus and Vanitas, and get out of there. But now… Ventus was going to be trapped. "Isn't there someway you can sneak me down there? Maybe we can try to save Ven."

Namine shook her head. "No… it's too dangerous. If I were to teleport us out to the courtyard, Ansem would see that and suspect something. The only thing I could do is have you be invisible down in the lobby… if… if you wanted to see… how the curse happens…"

Roxas frowned. He wanted to get frustrated and anger at Namine for not being able to do anything. But he saw that whomever Ansem was… it made Namine look afraid and distraught. He took in a deep breath, to try and suppress his anger. Finally he spoke again. "Fine… take me down there. You… You can get me out after that… right?"

"Yes… I should be able to."

"Then let's go," Roxas said. As much as he didn't want to see if the curse was real, he felt he needed one last thing to confirm all of this was really happening. He wanted to see that the curse was really and it wasn't everyone playing a joke on it. But if it was true… that meany Ventus was going to be trapped here. Roxas really didn't like the thought of that. But now he had some more information on this place at least… maybe… just maybe he could find a way to break the curse.

Namine took hold of Roxas's hands and the bright light returned again. "You'll be invisible to everyone, but me. But you still need to be quiet. And then once Ansem is gone again… I will be able to get you out of here."

The light grew bright and then faded away just as quickly as it had come. Roxas opened his eyes to see that they were back in the lobby. Also in the lobby was Ventus, who was frantically trying to open the front doors.

"Vanitas! Help me open the doors! Come on!" Ventus shouted to Vanitas, who was standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"They won't open Ven…" Vanitas looked down at the ground and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Darkness then filled in the center of the room. Ventus turned around and stared as the darkness began to take form. Within seconds a monstrous creature had come out from the darkness. It was hard but it must have been at least eight feet tall. It was a creature that looked like it was made up of strange muscles. It somewhat looked like a humanoid-type body. It had small yellow glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and long black antennas, there were two in front and four in back. The creature had long arms, but no legs. It has a wisp what seemed like a tail as it hovered above the ground.

The most interested parts of the creature was the large hole in its torso. The hole was in the shape of heart that a child would draw. The creature als had strange bandages wrapped around its face, neck and chest. It was completely black except for a little blue on its forehead and inside the heart-shaped hole.

"This...is this Ansem?" Roxas asked himself, remember Namine said that the owner of the mansion had given into dark magic. "Did he somehow transform himself into that thing?" Roxas wanted to ask Namine, since she stood quietly besides him, but he knew he shouldn't talk. Not with the creature… or Ansem right in the room.

Ventus was pinned up against the door, completely terrified by the demon-like creature in front of him.

"Welcome to my mansion," Ansem said. "We haven't had a visitor in such a long time."

"U-Unlock the doors! Let me out!" Ventus shouted at Ansem.

Ansem chuckled. It was a dark and demonic chuckle, one that suited the appearance he had very well. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave. You belong to this mansion now. You belong to me."

Ansem raised a hand and darkness formed around Ventus. Darkness wrapped around him like vines or chains and pulled him closer to Ansem. Ventus struggled, but the darkness held him tightly.

Roxas could feel his heart racing. He wanted to try to do something, but he had no idea what. And he figured whatever he would try would probably result in both him and Ventus getting trapped here.

"Please!" Ventus cried out. "Let me go!"

Ansem growled as he waved his hand again, causing Ventus to be lifted up in the air.

"You entered my mansion. This is your fate now, you cannot leave."

Ansem held out one of his hands as darkness swirled around it. In the next moment he plunged his hand into Ventus's chest. Right where he heart was. He didn't seem to stab Ventus's chest though, it looked liked the hand right when through, not causing any blood to form.

Roxas covered his ears as Ventus let out a shriek of pain. Ventus's eyes were wide as he screamed again. He continued to cry out until Ansem pulled his hand back out. Once he did, Ventus's eye's shut as his whole body went slack. The darkness around him faded and he dropped to the floor with a thud. He didn't move, but he was breathing slowly.

In Ansem's hand now seemed to be a glowing light. Roxas squiented to see it wasn't just a light, it seemed to be in the shape of a cartoon heart. It floated above Ansem's hand until darkness covered it and when the darkness cleared, it was gone.

Ansem looked over at Vanitas, who was staring wide-eyed at Ventus's limp body. He chuckled again. "Don't be so… upset Vanitas. You should be… happy your friend has joined us now."

Vanitas didn't say anything nor did he take his gaze off of Ventus.

Ansem looked over at Namine, who stiffened up from his gaze. "Namine see to it that he gets settled, I shall return to my business."

"Yes… master," Namine said as she lowered her head.

Ansem had darkness form around him and he was gone in the next second. Roxas still stood there, still in shock from what he had just witnessed. He was about to call out to his brother, when Vanitas beat him to it.

"Ven!" Vanitas ran over to where Ventus laid. He placed his hands under Ventus's body, and held him up slightly in his arms. "I'm sorry...This… This was all my fault." He muttered aloud.

"Roxas," Namine whispered, drawing his attention away from the other two. "I can get you out of here now."

Roxas opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't find any words to come out. So he just closed his mouth and nodded.

"It would be best if you didn't return… I don't want Ansem to also get you too. But…" Namine looked Roxas directly in his eyes. "Please… if you can find a way to break the curse. Please help us. I don't know what it is… but I know there must be some way to save us."

"I'll try…" Roxas said, finding his voice.

"Good luck," Namine said as she waved her hand and Roxas began to float again. He heard the doors open and he was sent back outside. In a moment he was visible again and back on the ground just outside of the mansion.

Roxas didn't take any time to stand and gawk, he turned around and ran as fast as he could back home. He had to tell the others what had happened. He had to find out more about this Ansem guy. He had to try to break the curse and save his brother and everyone else.

Meanwhile back in the mansion, Namine closed the doors once she saw Roxas run off. She turned around to find Vanitas still holding an unconscious Ventus. Vanitas had his forehead resting against Ventus's. He was holding his dear friend tightly.

"Vanitas, are you okay?"

Vanitas raised his head, revealing tears in his eyes, though he didn't actually look sad. He wasn't able to feel sadness. He could only look sad.

"I… I want to be able to feel again. I want to feel true emotions again," Vanitas muttered.

"I know… We all do," Namine agreed as she placed a hand on Vanitas's shoulder.

Vanitas looked back down at Ventus. "I want to actually feel happy to be seeing Ven again… and I also want to feel sad that he...that he is trapped just like the rest of us. I want to tell him how sorry I am, and actually feel sorry."

Namine wrapped her arms around Vanitas, trying to give him a comforting hug, though she knew it really didn't help. She could hug him all she wanted, but the feeling of warmth and comfort would never come. The only thing they had, was the never ending emptiness that resided inside them ever since Ansem took away their hearts.

Namine wanted to have hope that they would one day be free, but she couldn't even feel something like that. Even if she couldn't actually feel hopefully, she wanted to believe that Roxas would be able to help them. Someway, somehow he would find a way to break the curse and they would all get their hearts back and be free.

So that wraps up the end of another crazy chapter for this story. This was the one I was super excited to get to. Hope you all liked it!

Thanks everyone for reading! Let me know what you thought.