Ch. 11 is finished! Yay for free time and boredom. Again, I have to thank andrhats and Carriles for reviewing.

Warning: This chapter contains some...torture-esque(...sure, let's go with that) scenes. Be warned.

"Speaking"

/Thinking\

Writing

"Maleficent speaking"(forgot this for the last chapter...oops?)

The dark pathway wasn't long, but the swirling of the black and purple made Aldrick dizzy, and he shut his eyes, trying not to be sick. Feeling cold air against his face, he opened his eyes, only to find his gaze falling on a stone ceiling.

/...I need to get away...No matter the cost!\ The teen started to struggle against his two captors, trying to make them release their grasp on his wrists and ankles. However, this only made Maleficent, who remained in the lead, to become agitated. "Silence him, fools!"

With a swift kick, the heartless that didn't hold the teen knocked Aldrick out with a blow to the head. Carrying his limp body, they continued their trek into the depths of the building.

Aldrick awoke to find himself on his knees in the center of what appeared to be a jail cell. His wrists were chained and suspended above his head, the chain itself attached to the ceiling, meaning that lying down was not an option. He could see a flame blazing in a wall lantern outside the bars, but felt not a trace of heat from it. The room was cold, and water could be heard dripping into an unseen puddle.

With a squeaky creak, the door to the cell opened, and Maleficent stepped in. "Where am I?! What the hell do you want with me?!" Aldrick screamed, his head hurting from both thinking and the previous kick.

"Hollow Bastion, my base. That's where you are. And what I want..." She waved her wand, and a green flame shot out of it towards the teen. It made contact on his torso, and Aldrick cried out in pain. "...Is to make those foolish light dwellers lose hope."

"What...do you...mean?" Gasping for air, the teen slowly stood, using the chain as a brace.

"The leaders of Traverse Town, of course. The one you had feelings for...Cid, I believe? He's one of the main threats to me. However, if his 'light' fades, then he's nothing to me. An insignificant flea."

"His...'light'?" This confused the teen, and he showed it well.

"What makes him happy, what brightens his day." The anger and sarcasm in her voice dripped like venom, showing just how much the dark fairy hated saying those words. "That means you."

"What makes you think Cid will give up on me?" Aldrick was buying time. For what, he didn't know, but he was determined to try anything.

Stepping closer, she smirked. "You left without a word. Without letting anybody know anything. What else would he think?"

Aldrick then did something he wished he hadn't, no matter how natural it seemed. He snorted, and spit the biggest loogie he could make into the face of the witch. Her smirk turned into a frown, and she wiped her face off, flicking it back at the teen. "You insolent little brat!" Maleficent swung her cane, setting it ablaze in emerald flames, and hit the teen's chest, full force. His shirt burned away, and a large, circular burn was now settled in the center of his chest as he fell back to his knees.

With a little chuckle, the witch recomposed herself. "That'll teach you to never try that again. Next time, I might not be so merciful." She then stepped out of the cell, shut the door, and stepped out of sight, cackling maniacally as she left the teen to deal with the pain and the smell of burning flesh.

With the lack of a window, Aldrick's sense of time was completely disrupted. All he knew was that heartless would come every so often, accompanied by Maleficent herself, to beat him. Whip lashes, burns, cuts, scratches. Every time they came, they brought some form of pain or punishment with them.

Aldrick shivered in the cold, fearfully awaiting the next time his captors would come and listening for footsteps. His stomach was empty, and his shirt in tatters from the beatings. He wanted nothing more then to be with Cid, at home, at school, anywhere but here.

An infinite number of hours seemed to pass by, filled with restless sleeps and numerous punishments. During a whip lashing, Aldrick got the nerve to ask only two questions. "Why are you doing this? What's the point?"

Laughing at the teen as she motioned for the knight-like heartless to pause the lashings, the dark fairy said "Your fear, your anger, your despair, all of your negative emotions feed my power. Why wouldn't I want more power?"

Looking up, Aldrick now had a smug tone in his voice. "Too much power is a bad thing. In fact, I have a feeling that your lust for power will be your downfall."

"Hm. We shall see about that." As Maleficent raised her hand to make the whip continue tearing at the teen's back, she was interrupted by a loud, ferocious roar that echoed from the distance. "Looks like other prey has come. Sounds like he wants his precious princess back. You're lucky. But, I shall be back as soon as I take care of this pest."

With that, the witch had left with her heartless following her, leaving Aldrick alone once more. He could only hear the water dripping into the same puddle, plus an occasional roar from other parts of the castle.

For the longest time, no one and nothing came. Aldrick was alone, cold, hungry, and thirsty, but nothing would hear him. /...Is it really going to end this way? After I was actually happy?\

More time passed, and Aldrick stopped caring. Stopped caring about whether or not someone would come, whether he would get hurt anymore, or even if he died. It just didn't matter. He just sat on the floor, his legs beneath him, his arms raised by the chains. He closed his eyes, too tired from the lack of food, and he tried to rest.

Never actually falling asleep, Aldrick sat with his eyes closed as time seemed to slowly pass him by. The water drops were like the ticking of an eternal clock, but it didn't bother him. His wounds were itchy from the healing process, but again, he didn't really care. He even stopped worrying about his hunger.

Finally, after so long, he heard footsteps. The teen ignored them, figuring that it was someone coming to hurt him some more. He could hear the footsteps become quicker, as if the person was running. The bars could be heard being grabbed, and the door being pushed open with it's usual squeak.

He could hear a whisper, but couldn't make it out. He raised his head a little, but still didn't open his eyes. He flinched away as a hand made contact with his face, but stopped as soon as he felt it's warm and gentle touch. The hand pulled away, then Aldrick fell completely to the ground, his body limp, as he heard metal breaking. He opened his eyes a little, and found himself staring into bright blue eyes...familiar eyes.

Cid, his spear now re-strapped to his back, bent down and gingerly scooped Aldrick off the ground, trying to be careful around the wounds. Once in the man's arms, the teen could feel the warmth of Cid's body, and snuggled against it, quietly saying "I know you're not a teddy bear...but...please, let me do this..."

The mechanic let out a soft chuckle, and started to walk away. After a small walk, the two emerged from the castle gates, and into the warm, orange light of the rising sun. Sitting on the ground and against the wall, the two faced the morning light, Aldrick sitting in Cid's lap.

"...How long was I gone?" Aldrick asked quietly.

"Three days." Cid responded.

"...I'm sorry!" Aldrick cried out, then turned and hugged Cid, burrowing his face in the man's neck as he cried. He cried for ten minutes straight, letting out everything that he had held inside him. All the worry, the pain, the sadness, everything. Cid quietly held him, stoking the teen's hair and letting him get the tears out of his system.

Once the tears had stopped, Aldrick quietly went to sleep. Cid continued to hold him as the sun rose higher into the sky, pulling out a long toothpick to quietly chew on.

Yuffie and Aerith started to run over to Cid to help Aldrick, but were stopped by a muscular arm.

"Wait. Let Cid be with him a while longer." Leon spoke without emotion, but the hidden kindness clearly showed.

"But..." the ninja had started, but stopped herself, realizing that the gunblader was right.

"Let them be together. At least until..." Leon cut himself off, and the two girls silently nodded.

To be continued...

Oh, I wonder what Leon was going to say? I know, but you guys(and gals) have to wait. Review, please!