Alright guys, after the last chapter was published I noticed I'd left some stuff that was meant to be in it out. So if you read the last chapter before the edit notice appeared at the top of the page go back and read Leon's segment again. Sorry it wasn't in the initial version, that was my bad.

Also, this would have been posted sooner, but I've been locked out of logging in for the past couple of days. By the looks of things most people have had the same problem.

Sora woke with a start when the door clanged open. A quick glance revealed it wasn't either Lieutenant Duck, or Lieutenant Gregory which meant he might actually be needed. Here were two new faces. One was a pretty brunette woman with intelligent green eyes who couldn't have been more than five years older than Sora himself. The other was a vaguely familiar, handsome brown-haired man in his late thirties or early forties. His face was marred only by a large scar that prevented it from being perfectly symmetrical. Their faces, while a pleasant change from the vague scariness that was Duck and Gregory, were as serious and grave as they were attractive. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Mr Skye, I'm sorry we're late. We had to investigate some other matters before we could attend to you," It was the older man who spoke. His voice was both sincere and serious. It was hard not to believe him.

"It's alright, just please, help me get Kairi back. She's all that matters."

"We will Sora. May I call you Sora?"

"Yeah. You must be Leon, right?"

"I am Leon and this is my partner Selphie. Feel free to use our names. We're going to need to trust you as much as you need to trust us and that's easier if we're all on a first name basis. Do you agree?"

"I do. That sounds good Leon."

"Alright Sora, I'm going to level with you. We need to know a lot about Kairi. Pretty much everything that you think could help. As such, we will ask you a series of questions. I need you to answer as best you can. The interview will be recorded. Afterwards we will turn off the recorder and then I'll tell you all I can in relation to what we know. But I need you to answer my questions, deal?" Sora couldn't help but admire the man. He was professional, he was likable and most of all Sora could see he really wanted to help.

"Deal, what do you want to know?"

"Alright, Selphie start the recorder."

The brunette woman placed a device that could only be a tape-recorder in the middle of the table. She pressed a button and the tapes began to spin. Leon did a brief introduction stating the date, time and officers present. Then the questions started.

"First off, state your name for the record,"

"Sora Skye,"

"And you are eighteen years old, correct?"

"Yes."

"Okay Sora, let's talk about Kairi. She's..." Leon consulted a file he'd brought in with him. "...seventeen, right?"

"Yes, and before you ask, we did get all the legal documents filled out before she moved in with me."

"Don't worry, we're not here about that. How long have you known Kairi?"

"I've known her since we were both about five. "

"And how long ago did you two become romantically involved?"

"About three years ago, though we both harbored feelings for a long time beforehand."

"You two live together?"

"Yes."

"Alright, when was the last time you saw Kairi?"

"The morning that she disappeared, I kissed her goodbye before I left for work. She just never came home."

"Do you have any idea when or where she was abducted from?"

"Abducted? I thought there were more options than just that."

"Just assume we know something you don't, do you know where or when she might have been grabbed?"

"Give me a second... Yeah, I spoke to her boss at the diner. She worked a full day that day, so assuming she was kidnapped it was probably somewhere on her route home, between five and five-thirty. I could mark it on a map for you."

"Where does Kairi work?"

"She works part-time at the Thirteenth Street Diner to pay for her studies. She's studying nursing at TCU."

"Does Kairi have any family nearby?"

"It's pretty much just me."

"Any family at all?"

"Well, there's Terra, her step-brother. He got married and moved away last year though. Then I suppose there's Axel. Axel might as well be her father, he's the closest thing she ever had."

"Closest thing she ever had?"

"Oh right... Kairi was adopted. But her mother wanted her to have a father figure in her life. Axel was Kairi's mother's boyfriend around the time she was supposedly conceived, and he'd always wanted a daughter. It just kind of clicked. She only found out a couple of years back that she wasn't theirs biologically. She didn't take it too badly. She still thinks of them as her parents and she still keeps in touch with Axel."

"And the adoptive mother?"

"Died, in a car accident last year."

"Ah... What was the mother's name?"

"Rikku, Rikku Lamb," There was a pause in the regular flow of conversation. Selphie, who was looking at the relatively at ease Sora turned to look at her partner. Leon's jaw was sitting open in what Selphie could only assume was surprise. It was a weird look on Leon.

"Are you sure?" Leon asked, urgency evident in his voice.

"Uh... Yes, why?"

"Excuse us for a minute. Interview suspended at 3:17 am."

Leon got up and left, Selphie followed.

Sora watched them go in amazed silence. What on Earth did Rikku have to do with all this?

The second Leon was out the room he took off like a rocket. Selphie tried her best to keep pace but found herself falling behind. It wasn't clear where he was going, the only thing she heard him say on the way to wherever they were going was "I don't fucking believe this."

Their arrival at their destination was signalled by Leon turning sharply and almost bashing down an office door. By the time Selphie arrived Leon was midway through a rapid-fire conversation with the chief of police.
"...you saying he's going for revenge?" Mickey was midway through saying.

"No, I don't know what this is. It's insane and twisted, but that's nothing new. The girl's not even her real daughter. What the hell is Prophecy playing at?"

"I don't know Leon but this can't be good."

"Yeah my thoughts exactly. I have to finish up the interview, can you get the morgue to send over the report. And I'm going to need those newspapers delivered to my office. I hate this, I hate that this could be a breakthrough... and I hate that it could just as easily be a red-herring designed to keep us off scent."

"That always was Prophecy's way, I'll see what I can do." Mickey picked up the phone on his desk and began to dial, meanwhile Leon had finally turned around and noticed a bewildered Selphie standing in the doorway.

"Selphie walk with me." He marched back out the door at a slightly less insane clip. Selphie fell into step behind him.

"What was that about?"

"You remember how I told you we had three surviving witnesses for the original abductions that we could actually locate?"

"Yeah... but what's that got to do with...?

"That number just shrank to two."

"What, the girl's adoptive mother?"

"Yes the girl's mother. She was one of the original victims. That was her witness protection ID no-less. I can't even remember the poor soul's original name. I only remember the assumed name because she was at Cloud and Tifa's wedding. In fact now that I think of it all three of the known victims were. I can't believe I forgot that. Regardless, Rikku Lamb is dead and Prophecy has her daughter. Adopted or not, that's quite the coincidence. And with Prophecy there are no coincidences. Just smoke, mirrors and rarely an actual clue. We can't afford not to investigate this.

"We need to find the other two surviving witnesses quickly. Their faces are clear in my mind but their names are gone. If I can get a hold of their previous names, we should be able to find their paper trail. Despite the disappearance of our case file, the paper trail left by witness relocation is a mile wide. I'm willing to bet that we've still got something that resembles a file on those two, it's just going to be hard to get to. Also, we need to check into Rikku's death. It could have been Prophecy making some kind of belated attempt at covering his tracks and if so, he might have finally slipped up."

Selphie just tried to keep breathing. The deeper she tumbled down this particular rabbit hole, the less she liked what she found.

They arrived back at the interview room door. Leon paused briefly with his hand on the lock. He turned back to face her.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked. Were her inner misgivings that obvious?

"I'll live." She stated, her face set.

Leon unlocked the door.

Sora watched in equal amazement as Leon and Selphie strode back into the room and sat back down.

"What was...?" He started but Leon waved him off.

"Nothing to with you," He said. Sora was quieted. "Interview resumed at 3:28 am, I'm sorry about that Sora. It was important."

"No harm done, as long as it helps I guess."

"Alright, let's continue. So Kairi's family basically consist of you, Terra and Axel at this point?"

"You could say that,"

"Can you give us the contact information for Axel and Terra?"

"Sure. If you can get me a piece of paper."

Selphie handed him a scrap of paper. Sora wrote down the requested details and handed it back.

"Thank you, that will save us some time."

"Sure, I'm not sure what they'll be able to tell you though."

"Alright, back onto the subject at hand, does Kairi have any enemies?"

"Not that I know of. Not that she ever mentioned. Although I honestly don't think she's capable of making enemies. She's all sweetness and light. She's never said a bad word about anyone in her life."

"That's what I thought."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I think that about wraps that up. Interview completed at 3:31 am." Selphie hit a button on the tape recorder and it stopped spinning. Leon paused for a moment before continuing.

"Alright Sora, as I said I'm going to be honest with you. We know who's got Kairi. And we know she's alive and will be kept that way. We just don't know where she's being kept and who's doing this."

"I thought you said..."

"Yes, it's complex. Kairi's being held by a serial abductor known only by his alter-ego, Prophecy." Do you have any questions?"

"A few. How haven't I heard of this guy before if he's this well known?"

"The last time he struck was around eighteen years ago."

"What was with the piece of paper stuck to my door?"

"Prophecy's calling card. His preferred method of telling us how little chance we have of catching him."

"Do you have a chance of catching him?" Sora's voice shook slightly.

"A better chance than he thinks." Leon didn't look too sure though.

Sora paused a second before asking the next question.

"Have I seen you on TV or something? You look quite familiar."

Leon's mouth smiled but his eyes remained solemn. "I'm what you'd call the poster boy around here."

"Why?"

"I'm just lucky like that."

Sora almost chuckled, but stopped when he saw Leon wasn't smiling. Selphie, Sora noticed, was frequently glancing at Leon with what could only be concern. There was just one more thing to ask.

"Leon, what's Prophecy going to do to Kairi?"

Selphie and Leon shared an unsettled glance. Sora's stomach sank, this wasn't good. Leon paused for a second, obviously thinking his next move through."

"You don't want to know. You really, really don't. A deal is a deal. I won't hold what little information I have back if you ask again, but think carefully before you do. I'm telling you, you don't want to know. Knowing won't change what's happening, but it will make it that much harder to carry on with your life for now. There's nothing you can do for her, other than stay safe. If you know, it'll make it that much harder. I'll wait for your decision."

Sora searched Leon's face for any sign of an ulterior motive. He found none. It was an impossible dilemma. Was it better to know why she had been taken and what was happening to her, or was it better to pretend she was alright. Knowing would hurt. Not knowing would hurt. In the end though, all Sora could think of were the immortal words of GI Joe. Knowing is half the battle.

"Leon, what's Prophecy doing to Kairi?" Leon's shoulders slumped. He'd been hoping he wouldn't have to say this.

"He's destroying her. That's the long and short of it. He's changing her to match his own twisted version of the world. Not physically but mentally and emotionally. I'm not sure how he does it, but I know the results. When you get her back she'll be the same girl deep inside but you'll have to help her deal with what he did to her."

Sora paused for a second and digested this, then nodded.

"Sora, do you have a recent photo of Kairi? The most recent photo we have of her is the photo from her passport which is several years old."

"Sure, hold on," Sora reached into his pocket and drew out his wallet. From this he withdrew a lightly creased photograph and handed it to Leon. "Could I have this one back after you make a copy? It means a lot to me." He said.

It was a picture of Sora and Kairi standing in the doorway of their apartment. It was from the day they'd moved in together. The smiles on their faces in the picture drove home the pain of the present day.

"Yeah, I think we should be able to get this back to you." Leon said distractedly. Sora watched his eyes scan over the photograph. The scarred face visibly softened. Leon looked back at Sora. "The two of you look good together," he said at some length.

"That's what everyone says." Sora's eyes felt heavy.

"It was nice to meet you Sora." Leon got up and started to leave. Selphie, ever his shadow, followed. Leon paused half-out the door.

"Sora, there's one more thing. Don't try to go after this guy yourself. Last time he was on the loose we lost more trained men than we could replace. He may not kill his victims but he has no such compunctions about anyone else. He'll kill you without a thought, and that's the very last thing Kairi needs. Stay safe."

And then Leon was gone.

A while later Lieutenant Duck came back. He handed Sora his photograph and told him he could leave. It was only when Sora was outside the Trinity City police headquarters, staring up at the muted stars that he sat down on the curb and began to cry.

It was time. Time for the prisoner to learn her last lesson. It escaped the prisoner that there might be more afterwards. It escaped her that there was anything but the game. The game and the facts. Nineteen facts down, one to go.

He had broken structure last time, they had played four times. She still hurt from it. Not as much as her betrayal and guilt hurt her from within but none of that mattered. What mattered was that she stood on the cusp of victory. She had nineteen facts. The meaning of the facts did not escape her but her mad desire to mend her treacherous ways now outshone all. Maybe after this she would stop hurting. No matter how much he hurt her during the final stage of play it could not compare t the pain she already felt. The pain of guilt, of failure, of her wrongness. Or so she thought. She had in this matter above all a history of misplaced expectations.

He stood before her, his ubiquitous, obscene smile seeming especially bright in the flickering light. The tip of the riding crop flicked lightly against the palm of his left hand. His black garb hadn't changed much in all his visits. Absent at the moment though was the white tie. Maybe it was nothing, or maybe it was his way of telling her the gloves were about to come off. She had no way of knowing. The thing that made that mask so damn terrifying was the inability to read the human beneath.

"The game has changed. I will keep asking until you answer all my questions. Each wrong answer is one lash. Clear?"

"Yes," The prisoner was quick and to the point. She was a little worried about having to figure the last fact out on her own but she would adapt. She always had.

"Let's begin, what's your name?"

"I don't have one."

"What are you?"

"Your toy, an object to be used for your pleasure."

"Do I lie?"

"You do not, but the truth is subjective."

"Good, does anybody want you?"

"No, nobody ever wanted me."

"Now that you're gone, does anybody miss you?"

"Nobody misses me."

"Did anybody love you?"

"Nobody ever loved me."

"Does anybody remember you?"

"No, they've already forgotten me."

"Will anybody try to find you?"

"No, I'm not worth it."

"Will you ever be free?"

"No, but there is freedom in slavery.'

"Do you matter?"

"I do not, but there is meaning in the meaningless."

"What do you know about the world?"

"Nothing, but ignorance is bliss."

"Do you love?"

"My body can love, I cannot."

"Do you feel?"

"Only pain and lust. Everything else is an illusion."
"Why are you here?"

"To be educated, to learn my place."

"Why do you need to be educated?"

"Everyone else lied, you never lie."

"Excellent, what is your sin?"

"Existence is my sin. Pleasure is my absolution."

"Why are you in pain?"

"Because I am wrong."

"Why are you chained?"

"Everything about me is wrong."

"Who am I?"

"You are my master and my teacher"

"Very good, now tell me, who are you?"

"I do not have a name." She was startled when she felt pain sear up her right leg.

"That's not what I asked, who are you?"

"I don't understand." More pain, but the pain was irrelevant. The prisoner could drown it out. What she couldn't understand was the question.

"Who are you?"

"I am... nobody." she tried. She was rewarded for her guess when he hit her again.

"Who are you?"

"I... I am your slave." She felt the blow coming before the whip fell.

"Who are you?"

"I'm no one of importance." Another vicious blow from the riding crop in response, the prisoner was getting worried.

"Who are you?"

"I am Kairi Lamb." He punished her twice for that.

"Who are you?"

"I am..." She trailed off in desperate thought. The riding crop stung the flesh of her breast twice. She bit back a yelp, if she cried out he'd hit her again.

"WHO ARE YOU?" He demanded. The prisoner was confused and tired and hurt and above all sad. This wasn't supposed to be like this. He had asked twenty questions. She had answered.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

She needed more time, there wasn't enough. She was frantic. The whip struck her other breast. And again.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

She didn't know, she really didn't know, why wouldn't he stop? Why wouldn't he tell her? Her flesh burned again and she howled in pain. And then without intending to, she began to sob and sniffle as the tears came again from that bottomless well in her heart.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" The cry burst from her lips before she could bite it back. The whip cracked again. But it didn't feel the same, it felt distant.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know..." The pain felt even less this time. The prisoner's world was contracting inwards, shrinking and shrinking until it was just a small space inside her head. The outside world in all it's beautiful agony vanished. No more could she hear her own sobbing, or the hum of the machine. No-one else mattered or existed. Her whole world was reduced to one image. It was a small girl, with shoulder-length cranberry tresses, tear-stained cheeks and sad, twilight eyes. The girl was scared, and alone. Painfully alone, it hurt the prisoner to watch as the girl turned one way and then the other looking for someone, for something, for anything. But all that surrounded her was darkness and pain and guilt.

The small girl turned to face the prisoner, her eyes brimming with so much sadness that the prisoner's heart broke. Please, can you tell me who I am? The prisoner was stunned, the girl's voice was very much like her own. Who am I? Where am I? The girl was directing the questions right at the prisoner. The prisoner wished she could say something, say anything to comfort the girl. But she couldn't. She didn't know the answers. The girl started to run, like she was looking for something she couldn't find. It was just her alone in the dark. What am I doing here? What am I supposed to do? The girl asked desperately. Then she collapsed to her knees began to cry. The prisoner cried with her. The prisoner realised that she was the girl. And she cried all the harder for it.

The Smiling One stood over his captive and assessed the situation with a practised eye. This was the moment he'd been working towards for the past four days. She'd lasted longer than he'd thought she would. Stockholm Syndrome and the final break should have onset hours ago. She should have broken earlier. He deducted that the cause was a strong sense of identity. That usually meant strong familial and/or romantic relationships . He'd have to investigate to see if they'd come around to bite him on the ass. She had been a tough one. But like all those before her she had broken. All succumbed to the methodology of Prophecy. It was time to go to phase two. It was time to rebuild her.

The prisoner's world expanded outwards again slowly, to the realisation that something had changed. It took her a few seconds to put her finger on it, the machine had stopped. And the smiling one, he was behind her. And then she heard a click, and suddenly her wrists were free. She slowly stretched her aching arms and rubbed her shoulders. The smiling one moved back to her. She shied away at his approach but not as much as she would have not too long ago. He knelt down in front of her and began to remove the machine. She shivered and jolted as it was pulled from her, but felt overwhelming relief and freedom. Then when he was done, he went to her largely disused bed and took the blanket from it, he used it to repack the machine in his bag. She looked on in, well, she wasn't sure. The feeling didn't quite have a name, it wasn't apprehension, and it wasn't anticipation. But when he returned to her holding a new blanket and presented it to her she knew the feeling. The feeling was gratitude. The blanket was everything her old one hadn't been. It was soft, and warm and comfortable on the skin. Tears welled in her eyes again. This time though, they were happy tears. It was the nicest thing the prisoner had ever known. She looked at The Smiling One and he smiled back.

"Thank you," she said. It was all she could think of.

"You've been a good girl," He replied with all the sincerity his angelic voice could carry. And then he left her.

She was too tired to think about what just happened or why, so she hobbled over to the unused mattress. Her disused muscles screamed in protest but she payed no heed. At last wrapped herself in her new blanket and promptly fell asleep.

Alright. I would have had this out sooner but it's been a busy week.

Firstly, to my reviewers.

Animal Lover Bebe- Sorry. It'll get worse before it gets better.

The Story will Continue – Almost there. I promise, I just needed this last chapter before things really kicked off.

Paradise Avenger- I have no idea what I would do without your reviews.

Next, the story I going to shift gears now. Next chapter will have a bit more progress by our protagonists and... well more progress by our antagonist. After that, well you'll just have to wait and see.

Finally, I'll see you all next time.

Read, Review and most importantly: Enjoy!

Yours Sincerely

Everhopeful83.