Alright! We are back with another chapter for this. I somehow am on a crazy role with this so here we go!

Thanks to everyone again for reading this story. I hope you are all enjoying the world building I have created for this story.

Also one quiet thing, it does get a tiny, tiny bit violent in this beginning part here. Just giving a small warning for you all just in case.

Ch.8

Throughout the entire night Roxas turned back and forth in his bed. He may have been asleep, but his mind in his dream was restless. His dream was plaguing him terribly, but he couldn't seem to wake up from it. It was worse than a dream… it was a nightmare.

He had found himself running through the mansion, or what he thought was the mansion. He still hadn't gotten a good enough look around, but his mind was creating the images for him. He was running quickly, looking for Ventus, but he was also being chased. He was being chased by the demonic creature that was Ansem. Roxas kept running and running, turning down one corner and then another. But even though he kept running, he could hear the sinister, unsettling laughter coming from Ansem.

Roxas ran around another corner and saw that one of the doors in the hallway was open! Roxas picked up pace and bolted inside the room and slammed the door shut. He made sure to lock it as he didn't want Ansem to find him.

Roxas dropped to his knees as he caught his breath. His heart was racing and sweat was running down his head. He didn't know if he could run anymore after this, but he had a feeling he might.

"Roxas…" a quiet voice said.

Roxas turned around to see Namine standing in the center of the room. "Namine! Are you okay?" Roxas asked as he approached Namine, but as soon as he got close she backed away.

"You need to save us."

"I'm going to try. I just gotta figure out how."

"Please save us Roxas," Namine said as she took another step back.

"I said I am, don't worry."

"You need to save us. Please save us," Namine repeated.

"I-I am!" Roxas shouted. "Just give me time to find out how!"

Roxas reached forward towards Namine, but as soon as his hand got near her, she vanished. Roxas blinked in confusion as he looked around the room. "Namine?!"

Suddenly a moment of realization came over Roxas. He was still just a kid. He wasn't even fourteen yet. How was he suppose to save a bunch of people trapped in a mansion by a curse? He had no magic of his own or any special powers. How was he supposed to break the curse? How was he suppose to deal with Ansem? Ansem was a former man who seemed to become a demon-like creature through dark magic.

"Would the curse break if I fought him? Or… killed him? I.. I don't know if I can do that!" Roxas shouted in his mind.

The room around him started to warp and change. Everything began to spin as Roxas gripped as a sharp pain stung in the back of his head. Roxas let out a yell. He was so confused, so frustrated. The fate of so many now rested on his shoulders. He wanted to save them all, he really did. But he had no idea how to do any of it, and that just made him upset.

The room around him finally stopped spinning and Roxas found himself to be back in the lobby of the mansion. He looked around, thinking at first he was alone, but then he saw something in the shadows in the far end of the room.

"W-Who's there?" Roxas asked as his voice cracked with nervousness.

Whatever or whomever it was stepped forward out of the shadows, and much to Roxas's surprise it was Ventus. He didn't say anything though. He only started at Roxas with sad eyes. Roxas started to run towards his brother when the walls and ground began to shake.

Without notice Ansem appeared behind Ventus. His small yellow eyes glowing brightly in the darkness. His dark laughter filled the room. Darkness seemed to be seeping from the ceiling and walls, closing in on the two of them.

Roxas started to move forward again. This time he would save Ventus. He would save him and they would both get out of there together. But Roxas found that he couldn't move his legs, they felt as heavy as cement. He tried to pull them forward, but it was no use, he was stuck.

Ansem was slowly getting closer to Ventus, who still just stood there doing nothing. Roxas started to panic as he shouted for Ventus to move… only he found that he had no voice. He tried to scream and shout, but not a sound came from his voice.

Roxas really started to panic now.

He was stuck.

He couldn't do anything to save Ventus.

Suddenly Ansem grabbed Ventus by his head as he lifted him off the ground. Ventus said nothing but tried to break free from Ansem. Roxas watched completely frozen in horror as Ansem plunged his hand into Ventus's back. The hand burst through the front of Ventus's chest. The large demonic hand dripping in blood. Ventus let out a terrifying scream. It was a scream full of pain and shock. It made Roxas shake with fear as he covered his ears, but he could still hear the screaming. The horrible screaming. It wouldn't stop.

A moment later Ventus's eyes rolled up as his body became completely still. The blood soaked through Ventus's shirt as Ansem pulled his hand back and carelessly threw him at Roxas's feet.

Roxas finally was able to let out a scream. He screamed and screamed at the sight of his brother.

The shock of seeing that was enough to wake him.

Roxas woke up screaming. He screamed and screamed as he began to hyperventilate. His head was throbbing and his heart was racing faster than ever before. As he screamed he heard concerned voices and arms wrapping around him. He couldn't focus who was holding him though, his head hurt too much right now.

"Roxas! Roxas are you okay?!" one voice asked.

"You gotta try to calm down. Take deep breaths," another instructed.

"Take it easy. You're going to be okay," another one said.

Roxas tried to calm down, but he couldn't stop his panicked breathing or his racing heart. His vision blurred with tears that began to streak down his face. The nightmare still lingered vivily in his head. Though he tried to remind himself Ventus wasn't actually dead, he couldn't help but fear something like that happening. He tried to take in deep breaths as he tried to push the images from his nightmare away.

The warm embrace though never let up, and that helped calm Roxas a bit more. He let out a sobbed as he buried his hands into his face.

"I-It's all my fault," Roxas sobbed.

"No. No it's not Roxas. Don't think that," the sweetest and kindest voice said.

"B-But…It's all my fault that all of this happened," Roxas mumbled before he let out another sob.

"Maybe we should call your parents to let them know what happened," one of them stated.

Roxas quickly shook his head. "No! D-Don't call them! They can't know about this. Not only w-would I be grounded for life… but I don't want them to worry about V-Ven…"

"How about we go down for breakfast then? Maybe some food will help clear your mind," one of the others said.

"Yeah…" Roxas said with a sigh, finally feeling more calm. He finally had enough attention to focus. He realized that it wasn't just one person hugging him, but all three of his friends were holding him. They hugged him, bringing forth a warm and comforting feeling. He knew his friends cared deeply about him and that helped him feel better. "And then… I can tell you guys what happened."

"Don't push yourself though if you don't feel ready to talk about it," Riku said.

"I won't, but I think I really have to tell you guys. I don't think I could keep this to myself for much longer."

"Okay, let's go downstairs then," Kairi said as she finally let go of Roxas.

The four all headed downstairs and grabbed some cereal from the cabinet. Once they were all seated with their food at the table Roxas began to tell them what happened after he ran off. He tried to explain everything the best he could, not leaving out anything. He told them everything Namine had explained to him about the curse and who was doing it. Eventually he started to explain what happened to Ventus. Chills snuck through his entire body as we recalled the horrifying event. Roxas wrapped his arms around himself as he shuddered. Though he struggled through it, he managed to tell Sora, Riku, and Kairi what Ansem did to Ventus. As soon as Roxas finished his story, his three friends stared at him with wide eyes, almost in disbelief that something like that could happen.

Kairi placed her hand over her mouth, looking like she might be sick. "That's awful!"

"Now I see why Vanitas could never return home," Sora said, a sullen expression formed across his face as he lowered his head.

"And it's all my fault Ventus is trapped there…" Roxas muttered.

"No Roxas! It's not your fault!" Kairi said, trying to persuade Roxas otherwise.

"But if it weren't for me being so curious about the place, Ventus would never have gone there!" Roxas retorted, frustrated with himself over the situation.

"If you hadn't gone though… We would have never found out Vanitas is still alive," Sora said looking up at Roxas. "I know he is trapped there… but I'm glad that he is still alive. If we can find a way to break the curse… I will finally get to met him."

"I guess… But now I know how Ventus must have felt when he first went there," Roxas said with a heavy sigh.

"It's still not your fault, it's Ansem's. If he never did what he did, then no one would have been trapped in the first place," Kairi replied.

"Yeah I know… But how do we even break a curse like that? If any of us go back to that mansion… we will just get trapped like the rest," Roxas said.

"You said Namine said the owner's name was Ansem. Did she give a last name? That could help with researching," Riku said.

Roxas was about to say yes when he realized something. Namine never had given a last name. She had only said 'Ansem' and that was it. Roxas sighed, finding out information on the guy may be harder than they thought. It was going to especially hard since Namine said pretty much all the information about him was erased, but that meant there had to be some things left.

"No she didn't," Roxas finally answered.

"Well I am sure there haven't been a whole ton of guys in Twilight Town named Ansem. So it shouldn't be too hard to find something," Riku said as he leaned back in his chair.

"We'll start with that then. We'll look up what we can find about him and that monster he had become. Maybe there is some old history on a demon that steals people's emotions," Kairi said.

Roxas nodded before he smiled a little. "Thanks guys. I'm really glad you're here. I… I wouldn't know what to do without you."

Kairi gave Roxas a smile as he placed a hand on his arms. "We're glad to help. We wouldn't want to leave you alone to handle this."

"Sorry though that our summer of fun is ruined by this," Roxas then added.

"It's fine. I'm sure we can solve this before the week is up," Sora said.

"You're our friend, so we will stand by you," Riku added.

"All right then… let's get to this," Roxas said as he stood up, with new found confidence. "We are going to find out how to solve the curse of the Twilight Manor and save everyone who is trapped there."

All three of Roxas's friends and agreed. They were going to find a way to save everyone. They would find a way to break the curse. And then everyone would be fine. Roxas took in a deep breath as he pushed the nightmare images farther away. They still haunted him and made him shudder. The image of Ventus laying bloody and dead at his feet was something that would be with him for a while. The screams Ventus had let out… the real ones he had heard back in the mansion… that was also something he could never forget. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. He couldn't let that stop him. He would find a way, he knew he would… or he really, really hoped he would.

At the mansion in the morning Ventus slowly woke up, taking in his surroundings. He was still in the mansion as he expected. Trapped like Vanitas. Trapped with no way to leave or escape. Ventus placed his hand over his chest again, he could still felt his heartbeat, but everything still was hollow and empty. This wasn't a dream or a nightmare. He was really stuck here with no emotions. But he was with Vanitas again. His closest childhood friend. Finally he had reunited with him after so long.

There was a knock suddenly on Ventus's door.

"Come in," Ventus said.

The door opened and none other than Vanitas walked in, carrying a plate of food in one hand. He walked over and sat down next to Ventus.

"You slept pretty long there. Missed breakfast and stuff… but I brought you some food," Vanitas said as he held out the plate.

Ventus thanked Vanitas before taking the plate and picking up a piece of bread. "Is it bad that I slept that long?"

"Nah… Everyone sleeps for a different amount of time on their first night since losing their heart," Vanitas explained. "Isa told me that Lea apparently slept the whole entire day after… well you know."

"Isa and Lea?" Ventus asked as he continued to eat.

"They were trapped here before me… They kind of looked after me when I got trapped," Vanitas explained as he looked off to the side. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he turned back to Ventus.

"So are you going to tell me about it then? What happened all this time?"

"Yeah I know, I said I would tell you. Well as you can probably guess...it all started when those damn doors slammed shut on me…"

Now that we wrapped all that up I can now go on to writing the Vanitas flashback arc! Woo for that! Hope you are all ready to learn about what happened to Vanitas and all those other things. But yeah, this chapter was another chapter setting up for the big things to come as well! I got many things planned :)

Thanks again for reading and I will see you all next time.