Warren, Nori, and Dusty sat at a small café booth. Warren and Nori were on one side, and Dusty was on the other. Just the minute before, another strange wave had come over Warren, and he just fell asleep on Nori's arm. After a while of Nori and Dusty just staring skeptically at one another across the table, Troy came back with four milkshakes. He caught sight of Warren and was greatly taken aback. How was it possible that his friend could be…Then, he realized what it was and laughed.

"So, I guess the transformation does exist," he mentioned.

"The transformation?" Nori wondered, not yet familiar with the expression.

"Yeah, it's like a common legend that the process of going between light and dark is worse than actually being in one or the other. It is so totally hitting him worse than most people."

Nori and Dusty glanced at each other and both agreed, "Yeah."

"He's only tried to rip my head off like four times," Nori began.

"And then he saved my life, and there was a whole hour he wouldn't stop laughing, but he was scared to death of OEOHFPPE, and then he was so nice to you," Dusty continued.

"I thought you two were supposed to be shy."

"And I thought you were a Roman soldier," Dusty replied with a little attitude.

Nori decided he should explain, "Warren probably just didn't want us to say something out of place, since he didn't know who you were yet, and we really wanted to get in the city."

"Dudes, why did you want to get into the city so bad if Roxas is lost somewhere in the forest?" Troy asked curiously.

"Well…we actually know where Roxas is. We just don't know how to get there," Nori answered.

"And this book we have told us we have to come here first," Dusty finished, "so that we can find 'The Chosen One,' whatever that means."

Troy frowned for a while, seeming to be very confused, before finally sitting down and responding, "It's a good thing that there, like, aren't many people here, 'cuz you dudes would have been in big trouble for saying that."

"What?" Nori questioned curiously.

"The Chosen Ones…they're girls who spend their entire lives as six year olds and lead people to places in the forest no one is supposed to find. If anyone finds out you're lookin' for one of those places, the king will have you executed before you even make it close to where you're goin'."

Smiling slightly, Nori stated, "We all prepared for that before we decided to take this journey. If you only knew where Roxas was, you could have assumed that."

"I'm not so sure I want to know anymore," Troy interrupted. "I'll help you dudes a little, but I don't want to get in trouble, all right Man?"

"So where is this girl we can't mention?" Dusty inquired.

"Depends on where you're goin'," Troy replied.

Suddenly, Nori went flying out of the booth. Warren had woken up and now towered over Nori angrily as if it were Nori's fault he had fallen asleep. He raised his hand like he might backslap Nori except his hand was filled with fire. Nervously, Nori tried to scramble backwards. Dusty and Troy lunged at Warren to stop him. They restrained his arms, and Warren struggled to get free.

After a second of vain struggling, Warren growled, "You leave my sister out of this!"

All three looked at him and questioned, "Your sister?"

It wasn't too long after that, that the four of them knocked on the door of an average house on an average street in the middle of Central City. A small girl opened the door. Seeing the four people there, she focused on Warren.

"Warren!" She exclaimed, running and jumping into the arms of the teenage pyro.

"Madeline," Warren replied, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Dusty looked curiously to Nori. "Is that even possible…for him to cry?"

"I saw it once," Nori replied, "when he got salsa in his eye."

"Would you stop whispering? You're ruining my reunion here," Warren complained.

Slightly embarrassed, Dusty looked up and asked, "So is this your sister?"

"Yes, I would like you two to meet Madeline, she's six."

"Hello everybody," Madeline greeted, waving excitedly.

"Still six…" Dusty noted, understanding now, "does that make you one of the 'Chosen Ones'?"

Madeline looked at Warren in shock. "You're meaning to say, that after all this time, you came back here just because I'm one of those girls."

"Uh," Warren had to think for a second, "I didn't even know we were coming back here."

"Oh, fine, where are you guys going?"

"The…Castle That Never Was."

"Oh God," Troy muttered as Madeline let the four into her house. "I thought you guys said he was lost, not back home at the castle. What on earth did you get me into?"

As we ran along, the vision of Hallom suddenly turned into an eight year old before my eyes. A voice with no face stated, "You are an abomination."

"W-what's an abomination?" The small wolf asked, stopping and looking around nervously.

"Something so ugly, so unnatural, that even it's own mother can't stand to look in it's face."

That look which had become so familiar once again spread across Hallom's face, and he laid his ears back. The voice went away, but Hallom just stood there, seeming shocked that he'd just been told his mother hated him. I tried to get his attention, to remind him to keep moving, by saying his name. It certainly caught his attention, but not in a good way. He jumped slightly at the sound of my voice and looked at me fearfully.

"Who are you?" He inquired timidly.

"Someone who doesn't mind looking at your adorable little ears, who you promised you'd take someplace."

He thought for a second before the vision faded back into the regular Hallom with a confused look on his face. I could tell he recognized me again, though, and he ran off again. It wasn't very long before he stopped, exhausted, outside of a warehouse. Squinting away some pain, the vision of him began to fade away.

I tried to stop him, but he just muttered, "Hide here. Don't come in until they leave."

"They?" I wondered, but it was too late. Hallom was gone.

After a few moments of standing there visibly out of place, I snuck over to the warehouse and peaked through a conveniently located window. Hallom was lying there motionless on a cement floor. Considering he had been walking with me the moment before, I couldn't believe things were that serious. There were two scientist-looking men in white coats obviously causing his pain, and there were illusions of horses spread randomly across the room. I didn't realize it, but Hallom was once again trying to block away their attacks.

It was actually kind of working, only letting Dr. Agari through sometimes. Only one more attack was necessary, though. It punched through Hallom's defenses, disintegrating his horses. That would have been the perfect time to do all their research on his helpless mind. However, a third person entered the room, telling the two scientists there was something more urgent for them to care for. The two of them left, and the third man stayed to stand guard.

Even though Hallom told me to wait until they were all gone, I couldn't just sit there watching him lay there like that. I snuck around to the main entrance to the warehouse, and in through the door. To the side of me was what looked like a punch in box, and next to it was a rack full of white coats. Grabbing one, I slipped it on and took a bag full of important looking stuff with a clipboard. Then, I headed off through the dark abandoned hallways.

There were people off in other little hallways, but none of them were close enough to notice me. About halfway down the hallway, I spotted my first person, but they just smiled and nodded. I returned the gesture. Perhaps it was too dark for them to recognize me as an imposter. I had to turn down one of the crowded hallways to get to Hallom's room. In fact, Hallom's room was in that hallway. One man stood guard at the door, following his instructions to let no one enter or exit the room. What was I going to do?

I blended myself into the shadows near the wall to look through the things I had in my bag. There were half a dozen saline solutions and empty needles to give IVs, tons of gauze, something that looked like a brain scan of one of their other experiments, and a metal bowl. The bowl was the best thing in there. I supposed I would have no other option. Other people were surely going to see or hear that. I would just have to be fast enough.

After taking a couple deep breaths, I charged the man, smacking him as hard as I could on the head with the bowl. He turned around and looked at me. It hadn't been hard enough, so I smacked him again before he could do anything to me. That time it broke his nose. I smashed his head against the wall, and finally, he passed out. Running straight to Hallom, I didn't even bother to ask if he was awake. He clearly couldn't walk anyway, so I just picked him up and threw him over my shoulder.

I ran back to the door of the room, reaching there just before a mob of people in white coats. I ran as fast as I could with a person on my back, which—small as he was—wasn't very fast. Suddenly, an emergency alarm and red lights began flashing. That meant the two main scientists would probably be back soon. Hallom laid his ears back, trying to lessen the loud noise. At least I knew he was alive, perhaps not functioning, but alive.

Once I finally made it out of the building, it wasn't too hard to get away from the reach of the white-coated men. There were so many other people around that they couldn't follow me, so I stopped running only a block away from the warehouse. Remembering the path Hallom had led me on through the city, I carried him back to the forest. A couple feet into the forest, I dropped to my knees, also dropping him to the ground.

I just looked at him for a moment, and then, with tears in my eyes, I questioned, "Hallom I'm lost. Where are we going? How do we get there? What did they do to you? Who were they? Are you going to be okay?"

He opened his eyes slightly for a moment and then answered only one of my questions. Slowly, painfully, he moved one of his arms just barely enough for me to see him point to his right. I swallowed back the urge to cry because that was all he could do. Turning my back to him, I grabbed his hands and pulled him up for the longest piggyback ride I would ever give anyone. Of course, it started raining.

Wesley looked up from the ground at four figures, their faces completely cloaked by their black hoods. One of them had the voice of a girl and a huge syringe. They definitely weren't the only four people he thought would still have access to him. The four people laughed and mocked him until one of them with a deep voice ordered that they "get it on." As commanded, the girl jabbed the needle into Wesley's thigh.

The voices started to fade into the distance as the chemical took effect. All the colors turned purple, and Wesley felt like he was falling. After a couple seconds, he ripped a hole in the purple he was falling through, and fell onto a beautiful beach with a sky that reached as far as you could see. There was no breeze, nor any trees, just the sand and the sky. Wesley grabbed a handful, letting the sand slip out between his fingers. He smiled.

The people watching him wondered why he smiled. IN fact, another girl asked, "Did it not work?"

"Why is he happy?" The first added.

Wesley didn't care. He laid lazily under the sky, thanking fate he could just imagine himself somewhere other than that hole. Minutes passed as he just basked contently. After not too long, however, his dagger was ripped from its sheath. It hovered above him for a little while, and Wesley just stared at it in a daze until it stabbed into his chest.

Immediately, Wesley jumped to his feet, pulling the dagger from his chest. It tried to get out of his grasp, but Wesley held tight. He took it and swung it around him. A second later, a staff-like weapon pierced through him. That, added to the wound in his chest, brought him to the ground.

The man with the deep voice shuddered as his weapon disappeared. There was so much blood. He hadn't seen blood in a very long time. It had been necessary, though. The pirate had been half-dead, and he'd still been able to take out all three fanfic members before they could even form their weapons. He was certainly too strong of an opponent. The man was definitely glad he'd killed Wesley, but he couldn't stand to look at it anymore. He left, leaving Wesley there dying, but imagining he was on a beach, dreaming of death.

Warren, his sister, Dusty, Troy, and Nori were now all on their way through the forest again. The two new additions were fairly resentful about going to break Roxas out of the Castle That Never Was, but for some reason, they still helped. They were about to go over a bridge when Madeline stopped, looking behind her warily. A second later, she let out some sort of shrill call, which led a Hubabaloo to show itself with an aggravated hiss.

"Oh great," Troy complained, being the drama queen of the group, "what are we gonna do now, Man?"

"This," Dusty responded, pulling a Three Musketeer bar from her backpack, unwrapping it, and tossing it past the creature. It ran off, more interested in the chocolate.

Madeline looked awed. "Even I didn't know that," she commented, "all I knew is their easier to beat if you draw them out of hiding first."

Then, they hurried across the bridge. It was unstable but safe enough if you watched your step and stayed close to a side. They were halfway across when the Hubabaloo—yes "the," not "a," as in the same one as before—appeared on the other side of the bridge, waving evilly. Dusty scrambled to get another chocolate bar, but before she did, the Hubabaloo cut the bridge away from the other side.

The bridge started falling. Everyone hooked hands, and Nori grabbed the bridge and Dusty. Dusty grabbed Troy, Troy grabbed Warren, and Warren grabbed his sister. They paused for a second to figure out what to do from there. The pause was a bad idea. The Hubabaloo jumped across the huge gap, landing on Troy's back.

"Nori! Do something!" Dusty shouted.

Nori looked down, thinking, It's bad enough I have to hold all you up. How am I supposed to do something with zero hands? He never got a chance to think of a plan, however. The extra weight from the Hubabaloo—which was heavier than it would seem—caused the plank Nori was holding to break. The Hubabaloo jumped onto the ledge quickly because it didn't like the raging river the five travelers were about to fall into.

All five of them returned to the surface as quickly as possible and then looked around to make sure they were all there. The water was quickly pushing them downstream. At first, it was just slightly annoying to Madeline who knew they were getting pushed off course. Everyone tried to swim toward the shore, but not a single one made it there. A waterfall showed up in front of them, sucking them even faster to their new doom.

Fortunately for them, there was a rock at the edge of the falls. Madeline made it there first. Then Dusty, Troy, and Warren made it. The rock was just outside of Nori's reach, though. He desperately grabbed for it in vain.

Dusty looked in shock to Warren, who was on that side of the rock. "Warren! Catch him!" Warren just sat there, perched on the rock like he was looking for a fish to jump out of the water. "Warren!" Dusty shouted again, as Nori passed right by him.

"No," Warren replied bluntly.

"No!" Dusty was horrified as Nori tumbled over the edge. Since she was on the tip of the rock, it was up to her to grab Nori. She reached over the rock edge and grabbed his wrist.

Nori opened his eyes when he realized he wasn't falling. First, he looked down at where he would have fallen, and then up at Dusty so relieved. Hanging there over the edge by one hand was significantly better than knowing you were falling. Dusty started trying to pull him back up to the rock, but the rock was slippery. She lost her footing and almost fell herself. Troy grabbed onto her, and they both started pulling Nori up together.

It was working really well until Dusty collapsed unexpectedly and began shivering. Troy looked at his hands, perplexed, stating, "I swear I didn't do it," as Warren shot a glare at him. Nori had been able to catch himself on the very edge of the rock instead of starting to fall again, but a piece of the rock crumbled, leaving him dangling by just his left hand. Warren only noticed Dusty. He rolled her onto her back and wiped a strand of hair from her face.

After a second, he asked, "Are you all right?"

Dusty stuttered through chattering teeth, "I-I-I'm c-col-ld."

Warren took off his coat, and Troy—seeing it but not understanding it—inquired, "Dude, why're you giving the chick a wet coat to keep her warm?"

Tossing the coat at Troy, Warren ordered, "Hold this." He rolled up his sleeves and pulled Dusty up into his arms. Clutching her to his chest, and sliding his hands up the back of her shirt, he began transferring heat from his body to hers. A moment later, the shivering calmed down a bit.

Warren leaned his forehead against hers, whispering, "Is that better?"

She nodded slightly. After taking a couple deep breaths, she opened her eyes, and they gazed straight into his. The mystery, the danger…To be so close…It just felt right. She turned her head to the side for just one—just a little one. Halfway expecting Warren to react violently, Dusty quickly pulled away. Warren held her close, though, instead returning the kiss ever more passionately. When it gradually ended, they looked back into the eyes of one another, and Dusty instantly dissolved into the night.

This time it was Warren's turn to glance down at his now empty hands. Madeline and Troy also stared in shock where Dusty had sat the second before. Where could she possibly have gone? Why did it have to be at such an inconvenient time? All these questions flooding their minds at the same moment as Nori still hung precariously from a slippery rock over a huge waterfall.