A/N: *looks at chapter titles* One of these things is not like the others…

Sleep trickled away like sand from an hourglass, taking the last dregs of Aqua's dream with it. That was too bad. It had been such a nice dream, she was sure, though now that she tried to chase it she couldn't quite remember what it had been about. There was a vague impression of twinkling stars…

Her bed shifted beneath her, jolting her the last few steps into consciousness. Light, she hadn't fallen asleep with Terra or Ven, had she? It had been at least a year since any of them had had a nightmare bad enough to send them running to the other's rooms, and though the three of them were close as siblings, they were probably too old for that now.

But she hadn't fallen asleep with her friends. She looked around and found herself alone and in the dark. The only light fell in three misshapen patches on the ground, as if through small windows. Where in the worlds…?

The ground again shifted beneath her, and suddenly the jagged middle window widened, exposing her to the outside. She squinted against the brighter light, even though it was still relatively dim - her little room seemed to be inside a larger room, if the dusty floor strewn with wooden crates was any clue.

"Nngh…" She groaned as a wave of nausea hit her. She had felt that only once before, when a few Heartless had breached the protective wards around the Land of Departure.

"Master… what is this? I feel so sick…"

"Do not worry, it will pass. I suspect you have an ability common to many of the old keyblade wielders. Remember this feeling well - it is the sensation of darkness."

Yes, she did remember it well. The feeling was definitely the same, maybe not quite so intense. The Master had said that it would fade to more manageable levels in time. But where was it coming from…?

"Huh, the princess finally wakes." A bored voice drawled from somewhere outside her line of sight. She shook off the dark feeling and tried to stand to get a better view, but the ground heaved, sending her falling to her knees. "I wouldn't try that if I were you."

"What's going on?" Regardless of the darkness, there was a more pressing question: how did she get here? The last thing she remembered, she had been wishing on a star...

"Oh, nothing much." The sound of boots hitting the ground, then a low chuckle. "I just thought I'd give a more realistic ending to your little fairy tale."

She shuffled to the window, gripped the bar-like spikes protruding from its top, and peaked her head out. It wasn't entirely necessary, as the owner of the dark voice picked that moment to strut into her view.

He was clothed in something that couldn't be native to this world, or at least this part of it - he wore a suit that seemed to be woven from the darkness itself, with a bleeding heart traced out in red veins over the chest. His face was hidden by a glassy helmet, rimmed at the bottom with jagged metal. But that wasn't the strangest thing. In spite of his obvious effort to appear intimidating, he wore a navy-and-red skirt of all things.

She decided to ignore that for now, as there were still more urgent questions to ask. Like, "Who are you?"

He paused, as if he'd expected her to scream, or gasp in fear, or ask anything else but that. Then he laughed, a sharp, sudden sound that shocked her back. "Who am I? I thought that would be obvious." He strode towards her with the sharp focus of a predator. Maybe she should have been more intimidated. She likely would have been, had his approach not highlighted how short he was. That thought fled her mind when he grasped the bar right beside her head and brought his shielded face far too close to hers.

"I'm a monster." His voice betrayed the smirk his mask hid. Then, with another eerie chuckle, he leapt back and crouched atop one of the wooden crates. "But you can call me Void."

Void. She shuddered. "Alright, Void. What do you want with me?" It was easy enough to piece together that she was being held "captive" - this smaller room must be some kind of cage, if a strangely squishy one - which meant that this Void person must not know about her keyblade. As soon as he was distracted, she would be able to burst out of here easily. But before that, it would be useful to find out what he did know.

"I want a lot of things," he replied cryptically. "Your light, mostly."

She blinked, having not expected a straight answer. Or, well, a somewhat straight answer. "What do you mean, my light?"

"Tch." He jumped down again, his skirt flaring out around his waist with the motion. "How about I just show you?"

He was there in a blink, reaching through her window. She scrambled back; though her movements were hindered by the strangely squishy ground, she still avoided his grip.

"Stay back!" She shouted. "You don't know what you're dealing with!"

He chuckled; she was beginning to hate that sound. "I know more than you think, Aqua." He sneered her name.

Pressed against the concave back of her cell, she froze. "You… how do you…?"

"That's enough questions." He turned his back to her. The fact that he knew her name was concerning, but that didn't necessarily mean he knew about her powers. Now would be as good a time as any to- "And don't even think about summoning your keyblade."

Her hand, outstretched and waiting to be filled, closed around empty air. He did know. But then how did he expect to keep her here? She was debating whether or not to heed his warning when he spoke up again.

"Haven't you wondered where you are yet?" He leaned against the crate, crossing his arms. For now she decided to indulge his conversation.

"Didn't you say not to ask any more questions?" She raised her eyebrows, looking as defiant as she could while trapped in a glorified, squishy cage.

"Fair enough." He shrugged. "I'll give you this one free of charge, since I'm in a good mood. Though I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."

She didn't want to rise to the taunt, but she found herself looking around anyway, searching for more clues, but always keeping him in her periphery. The pale orange walls of her prison weren't perfectly spherical as she had first assumed; they were ribbed, like the each section had been caved out. It was difficult to see the floor other than in the spaces illuminated through the windows, but it didn't look as squishy as it felt. It looked smooth, almost glossy, a texture she mostly associated with…

The cage jolted, bouncing of its own accord. It didn't make any sense, but she had only one guess of what it was.

She tried to keep her balance without touching the walls. She didn't want to touch the floor either, but she didn't have much of a choice in that matter. "Am I… inside an Unversed?"

It sounded ridiculous, but Void's laugh confirmed it. "Congratulations, maybe you're not an idiot!"

"But… how…" The prison had felt spacious enough moments ago, but now… Stay calm! Her lungs didn't want to listen; they were heaving, gasping, as if all the air was due to disappear any second.

"They're made of what I feel," Void said smugly. "When you destroy them, they just return to me. So don't bother trying to kill it. I'll know, and I'll be here faster than you can cry for help."

Oh light. Oh light… She had to tell Terra, somehow. This Void was the person he was looking for, the source of the Unversed.

"Then I'll fight you, too," she said, glaring him down for all she was worth. "You really think you can kidnap a Keyblade Master and get away with it?"

He uncrossed his arms and held out a hand, palm outstretched. In his grasp appeared a charcoal-colored keyblade, with serrated teeth rimmed in red. Set just above the hilt and near the teeth were two piercing aquamarine eyes.

"Yeah." He plunged the dark keyblade into the side of the crate, where it stayed, staring at Aqua with its one visible eye. "I think I can."

Aqua's fingers flexed, itching to summon her own blade. But she couldn't, not yet. She had no way of knowing how strong this Void was. Clearly he had been strong enough to overpower her, to trap her here… how had this even happened? The last thing she remembered was watching the stars with -

"Vanitas!" She gasped, suddenly remembering. To her surprise, Void jumped as if he'd been struck. "Where is he? What did you do with him?"

Void shook his head with a laugh that quickly rose to a cackle. "Why do you care? You've got enough to worry about already."

"Please, just tell me." She didn't expect to ask so sincerely, not from this monster, but she had to know. Vanitas had been grumpy and a little rude, but he had also been sweet in his own way, and eager to spend time with her, however dubious his reasons had been. She hadn't completely understood him, but she had thought she could help him. Now, because of her, he might be in trouble. Or worse.

"I thought I told you to stop asking questions," Void muttered. "This is the last one you're gonna get, so you better ask yourself: is it really worth it?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "He was just a boy. He didn't deserve to get hurt!" Especially not because of me…!

"Tch. I don't think you know what he deserves." Void pulled his keyblade free, sending wooden splinters flying, then set to pacing back and forth between her Unversed cage and the dusty crates.

"And you do?" Aqua challenged. "Just tell me!"

"You make it sound like he actually mattered. Well, you should know he put up a good fight, at least."

Aqua choked. "You mean… you mean he…" Could Void really have killed him? She took one look at his dark blade, the taut muscles highlighted by his suit, the mask that covered the face of a monster. Yes. She didn't need her sense for darkness to know that Void was capable of killing.

As for Vanitas… she hadn't known him for long. A few hours at most. But that was long enough for her to decide that he could have been her friend. He could have been anything, if only he had chosen to dance with anyone but her… If only she hadn't been foolish enough to let her girlish fantasies get the best of her…

"Are you crying?" Void asked incredulously. "You're kidding."

She wiped away the water trickling from her eyes. "You - you freak!" She spat, rising to her feet. Her head nearly grazed the roof of her cage, but she didn't care. "He was a person! He had people who cared about him, and you just - you just murdered him!"

Void took a step back, as if he actually had enough of a conscience to be offended. "I never said that. I just said he put up a good fight. He tried to protect you, after I put you to sleep. Didn't expect that, but I just decided to take him along too. Figured it might give you a little incentive to cooperate."

Aqua's mind slowly processed the words. Her heart felt like it had been jerked back and forth too many times; she wasn't sure she could believe him. "Then he's alive?"

"Yes, he's alive. Weren't you listening?" He dismissed his keyblade, returning to sitting on one of the crates. "He'll only stay that way as long as you play nice, though."

Oh. So that was Void's plan. She might be able to take him on herself, but knowing what he could do to Vanitas… She couldn't try to escape. Not yet. She'd need to at least find out where Void was keeping him first.

"...Alright." She sighed, slumping to the ground. The cage bounced like it wanted to remind her that it was alive. As if she could forget. "What are you going to do with me, then?"

Void tsk-tsked. "Sorry, Aqua. You're out of questions."

A pool of darkness rose from the ground behind him, and he stepped back into it. When the darkness faded, he was gone, leaving Aqua with a head full of questions and no answers.

"Vanitas…" She whispered, as the fear squeezed more warm drops from her eyes. "I'll find a way to get you out of here. Somehow…"

XXX

Vanitas emerged from his dark corridor just outside the storage room's door. Not far enough to make the corridor worth it, except for the dramatic effect; it would have been easier, and safer, to just use the door. Abandoned as this part of the castle may seem, he never knew when a stray servant might decide to stick his nose where it didn't belong.

He pressed his ear to the old wooden door. No noise. Either Aqua had listened and decided to behave herself, or the storage room was big enough that no cries for help she made would be heard. He felt for his Cursed Coach Unversed - the one that served as her cage - and found it no more agitated than usual. So she wasn't hasty enough to try and escape just yet.

Vanitas let out a shaky laugh, then threw off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. That had been close. He'd thought for sure that she'd recognized him, that he hadn't changed his voice enough, or maybe his height had given him away. But no, she was just worried about him, of all things. The him she thought she knew, anyway.

"He was a person! He had people who cared about him!"

He shook his head roughly. She'd never know how big a lie that really was.

"You - you freak!" He couldn't help remembering too. He hadn't flinched at those words. After all, they were true.

He scratched at the veins over his chest. So why did something about it still hurt?

"She's getting in my head again," he muttered, smacking his forehead against the dome of his helmet. This plan had seemed so simple in the dark of night, when she was unconscious and he was running on impulse. Capture her. Keep her hidden in an abandoned turret of the Castle of Dreams, in an Unversed of his creation. Have access to her light whenever he needed it, especially in case anything happened to Ventus. None of her friends knew that she had left the Land of Departure; they wouldn't come looking. Not until it was too late.

Claiming to have kidnapped "Vanitas" too hadn't been part of the plan. She had given him that one all on her own. He'd planned to tell her he'd killed him. The guilt and pain in her expression would have been good entertainment.

Only… they weren't. What was wrong with him? Was he broken? Aqua had to suffer. If she thought he was weak, if she thought she could reason with him or risk breaking out, she would try to escape. In a fair fight, Vanitas wasn't as confident as he'd like to be that he could win. At least, not without damage that Xehanort would question. And if Xehanort found out…

He wouldn't find out. Not unless Vanitas chose to merge with Aqua in the end, and by then it would be too late. He would have the X-Blade, and there would be nothing Xehanort could do to hurt him then.

Vanitas stood, shoved his helmet back over his mess of hair, and wandered down the winding stairs. The storage room was in a turret high above the rest of the castle; it would have been easier to corridor down, but he had a purpose in walking. He needed to make sure this area was as abandoned as it seemed, plus he wanted to do some sneaking around the rest of the castle. If he could leave his Unversed in other wings, the guards would be too busy to investigate his new lair.

He emerged from the stone stairway into a hall where bright morning light streamed in through the large windows. Ugh. He'd hardly slept the previous night, worried as he'd been that Aqua would wake before him. The light pierced through his helmet; he had to shield the glare with his hand as he searched for any signs of life. No servants or guards bustled here, though. The castle seemed entirely too big for just the king and the prince; what was the point of it? Did being royalty just mean wasting lots of empty space? Vanitas would've been happy with any space protected from the elements. Preferably a space with a mattress. That wasn't a bad idea, actually; maybe he could find a spare one to steal while he made his rounds.

More halls and stairs, like a gilded but useless labyrinth. He'd need the dark corridors to even find his way back to the tower room. At least he knew that if Aqua tried to escape, she wasn't likely to make it far either.

Finally he peeked through a door and saw people. Cooks, it looked like, if their shining silver platters were any clue. Vanitas's mouth watered at the smell of bacon and eggs steaming from them. A couple of Scrappers itched under his skin, spurred on by his hunger and desire for the hot food.

With a sly grin, he let the Unversed out. They burst from his sides and streaked towards the cooks, who let out a shrill scream.

"Monsters! Guards, come quick!" One had the sense to shout as he ran away, dropping the platter to the floor with a clang. The Scrappers wanted to give chase, but Vanitas stepped out of his hiding place and grabbed them both by their heads.

"Now, now, you can play later." He winced as he absorbed their negativity back through his palms - that was never pleasant - but a fresh grin quickly replaced it.

"Breakfast is served."

XXX

Aqua ripped out the fourth page in her journal, crumpled it into a ball, and chucked it at the side of her cage. The Unversed jumped at the soft impact, just like it had the last three times. The wide half-barred window - which she could only assume was the creature's mouth - gnashed ominously.

Could this thing really eat me? She wondered, not for the first time in the past… however long since Void had abandoned her. If it's made out of his emotions, it shouldn't have any kind of digestive system, right? The biology of the Unversed hadn't been her largest priority. That mental effort was saved for her plan.

Unfortunately, as evidenced by the four paper wads scattered around the Unversed's insides, that plan wasn't coming together. Each fragmented idea came bundled with a dozen problems. She could try to squeeze through one of the Unversed's windows, but even if Void could only feel his monsters' pain, it was likely to attack her, and then she'd still be forced to fight her way out. She could take her chances with fighting and hope that Void would come for her before hurting Vanitas, but that would be too big of a risk. Gambling her own life was one thing; dragging in another's was something else.

Lacking the necessary information to form a proper plan, she instead tried to collect as many clues as she could about her prison. She was clearly inside a building, but soft light illuminated the motes of dust floating through the air. Unless this world had electricity, the room had windows. She couldn't see any of them directly, though; maybe they were up too high to reach. Surely someone would be able to hear her if she yelled, though?

And then Void will just hurt Vanitas, she thought. Was there no way out of this?

She stood, pacing the soft floor. The Unversed seemed to swell to accommodate her desire for space. The creature was surprisingly well-behaved for a monster - had Void commanded it not to attack her? That could be a clue in itself. He seemed to want her intact, for whatever reason. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

A distinctive whoosh echoed in the room - the same noise that had accompanied Void's exit before. Aqua stopped her pacing to stare out one of the top windows. To her surprise, it wasn't Void entering through one of those dark portals, but… was that a bed frame? The screeching of wood on stone made her wince as the bed emerged, followed by the two Bruisers pushing it, and then lastly by Void himself. The sickening feeling of darkness hit her short seconds later.

"Not bad," Void muttered to himself. Then he held out his hands, and the two Unversed faded into mist that streamed into him. Aqua gasped at the sight - these monsters literally were born from him. If Void noticed her noise, he didn't acknowledge it; he was too busy pacing the circumference of the bed, as if looking for flaws.

"Are you… giving me a better place to sleep?" Aqua dared to ask. She didn't have to stay inside an Unversed, right? He could just as easily have his monsters guard her room. After all, as long as he had Vanitas, she couldn't risk doing much.

Void's head turned in her direction, and then he let out a piercing cackle. "You really think I'd bring this for you? No. This is mine." He lounged on it with his feet kicked up on the baseboard and his hands behind his head to prove it.

"You're - you're going to sleep here?" The shock laced her voice. Was he planning on staying here all the time? How was she going to find a way out of this if he did?

He sat up, and somehow she felt he was glaring in spite of the dark glass covering his eyes. "What? Do you have a problem with that?"

Yes, she wanted to say, but that would only make him more likely to do it. So instead she didn't say anything. That didn't stop him, though.

"Have you come up with an escape plan yet?" He asked, making her jump. He chuckled. "Of course you have. Might as well spit it out. It's not going to work anyway."

"Quit playing mind games!" She shouted. "Why did you bring me here, really?"

He slid from the bed, then prowled towards her. She suddenly regretted her outburst, but all he did was snap his fingers, and a Scrapper came running through a portal. In its three-clawed hands was a steaming plate of scrambled eggs and sausage. Void snatched the plate, and Aqua thought for a second that he might reveal his face in order to eat. Instead, he thrust the food through her cage window.

She stared at the dish. Was it poisoned? As much as she distrusted her mysterious captor, that wouldn't make much sense after all the effort he'd made to keep her here alive. Still, she hesitated to come close enough to him to accept the food.

"Come on, you're hungry, aren't you?" He growled, waving the plate so that a speck of scrambled egg fell to the Unversed's floor. "If I had someone offering me fresh-cooked food, I wouldn't be so picky."

She still hung back, trying to analyze the situation. Eventually he huffed and started to turn away.

"Fine, starve if you want. I'll just-"

She darted forward, snatching the plate before he could take it from her reach. But he'd apparently been expecting that. Just as she'd taken the food from his grasp, he gripped both of her wrists.

She screamed. It was an involuntary reflex, one that earned her bruises as his grip tightened.

If that had been the worst part, she would have been grateful. But as soon as he'd touched her, she felt a terrible emptiness, as if pieces of her heart were being sucked away. The room grew dim around her, its already sparse colors fading to grey. For a few horrifying moments, she couldn't breathe.

Then he released her. She dropped the plate, then collapsed to her knees gagging and panting. She wanted to sob, but forced herself to hold it in. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking her so easily.

"To answer your question, this is why I took you." He turned his back on her and took a deep breath. "Keep your light strong, Aqua. I wouldn't want the darkness to take you like your friend Terra."

She gasped. She wanted to scream, to demand to know how he knew about her and Terra, but her mouth wouldn't form the words.

Did he… did he just steal my light…?

She didn't get to ask. He opened another portal of darkness and disappeared, leaving her kneeling in a pile of spilled breakfast food.

Since he was no longer there to see her shame, she picked up a sausage and bit into it.

XXX

"There you are," Master Xehanort grumbled as Vanitas emerged in the Keyblade Graveyard. "Insolent boy. Why did you ignore my summons?"

"I was occupied," Vanitas snapped. Xehanort always expected him to drop everything on a whim, when the old man usually just wanted him to spread Unversed in a different world or run some menial errand. "What do you want?"

"I expected a report on Aqua's demise hours ago. Or did she prove to be more than you could handle?"

Vanitas snorted. "Good to know you have such confidence in me. I took care of her."

"Good. My plan proceeds as I've foreseen. Spread your abominations in Radiant Garden; I will be luring Terra there soon." Xehanort folded his arms behind his back and hunched away, not bothering to make sure Vanitas would obey. After all, he always did; he wanted to reunite with Ventus, and Xehanort's plan was the most reasonable way. The old Master might treat him like dirt, but he knew what he was doing.

Soon I'll be whole again, and none of this will matter, Vanitas reminded himself. Then Xehanort would love him again.

Or Vanitas would kill him. Either way, he wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Though Xehanort had opened a corridor, he suddenly stopped before walking through it. "Vanitas."

"What?"

"Your darkness. Why is it hidden from my senses?"

He hesitated a beat too long before answering, "I needed a cloaking spell to sneak up on Aqua. I borrowed some of that Princess's light."

"Hmm. Your spell needs improvement. I can still feel your darkness when I concentrate."

"...Yes, Master," he forced himself to reply. Finally the geezer shuffled off through his dark corridor.

No time to bask in the success of his lie. He released his held breath and faded through a dark corridor of his own.

XXX

It was dark by the time Void returned again. Or, it would have been dark, if not for the hovering Fire spell that kept Aqua company. It had set off the Unversed at first, but once it apparently realized that she didn't mean to set it ablaze, the monster had calmed down. So it was that Void found her sprawled on her stomach, writing in her journal by the flickering light.

"I hate everything,"she thought she heard him mutter as he flopped down gracelessly on the bed. She ignored him. She may not have a plan of escape yet, but she did have a plan. He was obviously trying to manipulate her in some way. Well, he couldn't do that if she didn't rise to his taunts.

Void is back again, she wrote. He seems angry about something. Good. He deserves it for what he's done to me. That sentence sounded a little too spiteful, but it was true. I still can't believe this has happened. I'm supposed to be a Keyblade Master, yet I've been defeated in my very first world. I don't even know if I'm still in the Castle of Dreams. With his portals of darkness, Void could have taken me anywhere in the worlds.

She glanced up at him; he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Or maybe he was asleep. Would he sleep with that awful helmet on? That couldn't be comfortable.

He didn't seem to care about feeding her this time, which was fine by her. She had packed enough food in the special pocket of her skirt-wrap to last a week. After that… well, she didn't plan to still be here after that.

I have to find out what he did with Vanitas, she continued writing. If I can ensure his safety, I'm sure I can find a way out of here for myself.

Unfortunately, finding anything else out would probably require speaking with Void again. She sighed.

"Why do you hate everything?" She asked. He sat up a little.

"What?"

"Why do you hate everything?" She repeated. "Did something happen?"

He snorted and laid back down. "Don't pretend like you care."

He lapsed back into silence. Well, fine then. He was right; she didn't care.

"...I went to a stupid world," he eventually spoke, to her surprise. "Some dumb guards attacked me when I tried to release Unversed by their castle." He pressed a hand to his side. "Stupid Cure isn't doing a good enough job…"

If he expected her to offer to help, he was going to be disappointed. "Serves you right, terrorizing the worlds like that."

"So now you think you know what I deserve. How typical." He snorted again. "Get rid of that Fire. I'm going to bed."

Much as she itched to argue, she knew it would be useless. She dismissed the spell, and the room was plunged into darkness.

"Goodnight, Aqua." Void's words echoed, sending a shiver down her spine. "Dream up some good nightmares for me."

Unfortunately, she suspected that was exactly what would happen.