A/N: Thank you SO MUCH you guys, really, you all have been great, and also for having the patience to deal with me, so I'm really thankful, believe me. Also it took me longer to write this because of my final exams, I just need one more day and I'm done. Also this chapter is broken into a couple of parts, I was going to give you guys a mega chapter, and then the ending, but I figured so that you'd want more I'd give you little chunks of the whole big picture so yeah, I'm making you guys wait a bit longer… sorry!

Rozen: thank you so much Rozen-san without you I don't think I'd be able to feel inspired, and your quotes are magnificent, thank you, thank you, thank you! Your patience is greatly appreciated as well.

Nameless Dragon: Thanks man! Heh, well I try to keep up the good work, so I won't let you guys down!

Sorasheart281: I haven't head the word 'emu' in so long… But yes I am sorry about that but I think you'll like this chapter, a bit more, well sort of anyway, you have to read it!

December Sky: Thank, I'm glad you're liking the story so far, so keep reading!

Xejicka: I always wondered about the amber/yellow eye thing, so thank you for the clear up, I'll do my best. Hehe, well Sora might change, the keyword here is 'might' you'll have to see.

On with the story!

Chapter 40: Tot altus itaque mugio SECUI UNUS (so many highs and lows, part one)

'What the hell did you do to her?!' Riku's mind yelled out violently. Ignis' voice could be heard chuckling at the boy's outburst. 'I don't find that funny you fucking…!' he felt his whole body completely shut down and with a loud thud he went through the mind of the Dark Master, and was falling into darkness.

"I really suggest you pay attention to what you say, insolent brat. I'm giving you a chance here to not completely fade; I've permitted to keep your mind and whatever is left of your heart within your own body. Not that you have a say in it anyway," as Ignis spoke Riku could feel his body falling deeper in the depths of darkness within the man's mind.

'You didn't have to…!' Riku's body jerked violently. He stopped moving and he tried to regain control of his breathing. He's arms felt like jelly, and his stomach was churning, he wasn't use to falling down like this, especially being surrounded in complete darkness.

"She's not dead, merely frozen," Ignis responded back harshly. "I was only having fun, I do deserve some exhilaration around here, I've been gone for too long." His response was as devious as ever. Riku made a sound attempting to speak out in protest, but the Dark Master controlled his body, only allowing him to 'breathe'. "What am I going to have to do to keep you quiet? Perhaps some sort of punishment is in order for you, Riku. Where do I being?"

'I get your point. Just let me go!' it was no use. As much as he tried to break free from his control he didn't have the strength to do it. Riku felt his body move right side up, and soon his feet connected with the ground. He regained control of his arms, and was, for once, able to move around. 'Why the…?'

"Do not get too comfortable 'vessel' but I felt like I should let you walk around here. And only here. Not that you have a choice, although… Making it seem like you do is assuming, but nevertheless I've work to do. Keep yourself occupied within here." Ignis' voice left Riku's presence and once again the silver haired boy was gone, the silence and the darkness were the only things that kept his being company.

"I hope you're all right, Naminé." The boy said to himself, sitting down on the solid floor of the dark 'room'. He couldn't see his hands, and at times he felt that he was somehow sinking into the floor. "I have to get out of here…"

"Riku!" the girl ran to his side, and he looked away from her. He didn't feel like talking today with her, because Sora and Kairi had asked him if he wanted to hang out with them again. "Riku…?" the girl called him out again, and he turned his back to her. "Oh come on, talk or say something, anything, heck, you know tell me to go away, I'll leave."

"I just don't feel like talking, that's all…" Riku said looking down at the other pair of shoes that belonged to the girl. "But I don't want you to go away…"

The girl smiled and sat down next to him. Riku found himself stealing glances whenever she made herself laugh, watching the dark brown hair lightly fall whenever she pushed it back. This was when she went by the name of ' Selma' but he will always remember her as Amaterasu.

"You know…" she began to speak. "I hope that things work out for the two of them." She was referring to Sora and Kairi. Riku's eyes looked up at her for a moment.

"They've liked each other since they were kids, why wouldn't it work out?" he asked, failing to notice the coldness in his voice.

"Someone's jealous…" she said, her dark eyes staring back at the confused turquoise eyes before her.

Riku found himself chuckling a bit and he shook his head. "I hope you're all right, Amaterasu. I'd kill myself if I found out something happened to you…" he wasn't sure if he meant what he said. "But I don't know what I'd do if something did happen to you…" he knew that part was true. He felt the solid room around him, his hands lightly touching the dark floor of the second level of the mind. "What the hell does he want with me?" he didn't know where exactly he was. "Where the hell am I?" he knew he was within the mind of the Dark Master, but that was just it. Riku felt something like static buzz about in his head, and soon it stopped, and something replayed within his mind.

Ventus sighed and looked back at Ignis, wondering why he wasn't moving. 'Is he sleeping or something?' he was about to wave his hands in front of him when something scared him. "Ah! It's only you…" he sighed in relief taking in to account the other pair of blue eyes staring at him. "…Aquan…" he said purposely, and the girl sighed, letting her new nickname take root within her personality. "Professor Xehanort told us to meet with him, and he's sleeping…"

Aqua looked back at the older man, and noted that his breathing was shallow, which meant he probably was asleep. 'He's not even that old though…' she registered that mentally in her mind. "Hey you two…" the two younger individuals looked back at the taller figure with the strange brown spiky hair. Aqua's blue eyes noticed that there was a bandage wrapped around the wrist of their buddy, Terra. He pulled his wrist back instinctively and noted that their professor was slowly waking up.

"Mornin' Professor!" they all said noticing that he was slowly opening his eyes for a moment. He was surprised to see Terra, but quickly masked it with a small smile back to his pupils. Ignis nodded, and slowly rose up from the chair he was resting against. "So why did you call us down here?" Ventus asked noticing that the sun was starting to set slowly.

"Rumors are that there are creatures around here that appear after sundown, in this very spot." This place had once been used as a warehouse of some sort, but it was abandoned decades ago. Ignis had made this place something of his own, adding light touches to the back room. Ventus looked around the area, trying to figure out how creatures could appear in a dull warehouse. Aqua felt a chill run down her spine at the very thought of seeing something pop out from the shadows. Terra felt his light blue eyes scan several spots and he gripped his injured wrist for a moment. "I want you to see if you can come across one, and defeat it."

"Is it strong?" Aqua and Ven asked. Professor Xehanort let out a small chuckle, and Terra had a bad feeling about the whole thing. "Come on, Professor Xehanort…" Ventus begged, hoping that he would allow more information to be released.

"You'll just have to find out." He said simply, and Aqua shivered feeling a tinge of paranoia catch up with her now. "You'll fight as a group, understood?" the three of them nodded. "Good," he noticed that each teen had with them their wooden training sword. "Happy hunting then…"

"You're not going to stay?" Terra asked raising a brow in suspicion. Aqua and Ventus looked back at their professor and gave him the same reaction as Terra had done moments ago. "But why?" Ventus asked hoping that he would somehow change his mind. "I mean what if something happens?" Aqua asked in a soft voice. "You're in charge of us…"

"I have complete faith in the three of you, you'll do fine." Ignis said and with that he turned his back and walked away, farther and farther to the entrance of the warehouse. "Use whatever you can to your advantage, and don't be afraid of the dark."

The silver haired teen sighed, and felt something wrap around his body, it was very frigid and almost felt like water, and it was very moist. Riku felt his eyes widen when he noted that yellow eyes stared at him. The entity's eyes moved to a separate part of the 'dark' room and Riku noted that it wanted something. He stood up now, and before he could support himself, he felt black strands quickly take hold of him, and the ferocious growl that was too close for comfort.

"That's enough for now, boy… don't want you learning my whole past now…" Ignis' voice filled Riku's mind as the yellow eyes emitted another growl, and the silver haired teenager felt nothing after that.

Radiant Garden

Sora looked at his arm and looked down at his leg, and noted that his skin was turning as dark as the skin of the Heartless. 'He's going to pay…' his hands turned into claws, and his hair became as dark as the night. A vicious growl emitted from deep within his throat. 'I'll kill him…' they weren't his own thoughts, but the thoughts of his dark side. He let out a deafening yell and pounded both of his fists into the platform of earth. A shockwave sprang forth from the force of the attack; a strange purple and black aura shot out, and quickly disappeared. His body stood up straight again, and shook of the derby from the sudden outburst of the attack. Yellow eyes sought out revenge, but soon enough Sora regained control of his body and before long the darkness slipped away back into the far corner of his mind. He noted that his weapon was on the ground next to him.

Ultima weapon's wielder looked around the broken area again. The platform on which he stood gave him a view of the distorted physical world. Streaks of lightning filled the chaotic world, showing, at the same time, the inner sentiments of the wielder. He gripped his weapon tightly and stared once again at the area where the Dark Master was last seen. 'He's strong than Xemnas… He's more powerful than any other enemy we've come to face,' he thought falling to his knees, his body was battling with fatigue and rage.

"Sora!" his Nobody call out. Naminé's cold body was pressed against his. "I'm sorry Naminé," he said softly. The look in her eyes asked for forgiveness, but he assured her that it wasn't her fault, but his own. The ice on his arm was slowly melting, and he was soon able to take her in his arms. He hoped that soon the ice would melt for her sake, and his. The wind was howling loudly, and his voice couldn't reach his other half. Sora went back down after a couple of minutes, steadying himself down the earth formed platform. He let himself free fall the last twelve feet. He panted for a moment withdrawing his weapon, and soon he felt his eyes fixate on Naminé physical condition. 'She's… frozen…' it was the only thing getting through his head.

"Umbra…" the Shadow Hound appeared before his master's side. A dark liquid formed the whole anatomy of the animal within seconds of the name being called. It looked up at the blue eyes, and the boy stared back at the yellow eyes of the strange animal. "Go and get Aerith," he instructed and the Shadow Hound took a second to catch the sent of the flower maiden. When Sora looked back at Naminé all he could feel was more rage build up within his system. 'Damn that guy!' his mind yelled. 'I'll get him. I'll make sure of it.' He could feel that even Roxas was feeling that way, being that he was a Nobody and he could remember what it was like to have a heart. 'Damn straight I am…' he could hear Roxas' voice in his mind, 'That fucking bastard… look what he did to her,' Roxas looked back at Naminé's eyes, they moved again.

"Ro…" her voice was so low it pained the two boys to see her speak. "Rox…" her lips parted and it was a very straining task to muster, and her breathe could be seen as plain as day. Roxas begged her not to speak, but she wanted to tell him he was sorry. "S…so…" Roxas shook his head and held her once again. 'Don't speak, please Naminé it's okay…' she still wanted to say it. She felt that she wouldn't be at peace if she didn't make an apology. "It's all right…" Roxas said feeling her icy cheek against his, "I'm the one that should be sorry…"

"Both of us are…" Sora said dimly looking away from the scene for a moment. "We shouldn't stay here. I have a feeling that this world will be gone too…" more of the earth began to shift in different areas, and something like a vortex ripped through the sky of the world. "Sora!" a voice battled to be heard through the howling wind. He noticed that the Shadow Hound was running alongside the female figure. Her body stopped and she finally made it to where Naminé and Roxas were at, and gasped noticing Naminé's condition. The ice covering her body was slowly thawing out, but still it didn't seem fast enough.

"Hypothermia…" was the only thing audible from the flower maiden's mouth. "Sora, quick cast a Firaga spell!" Aerith said hurriedly. "Now!"

Sunset Horizon

"Don' touch that you wretched girl!" Maleficent snapped harshly at the girl, and she flinched as her hand barely hovered over the strange looking artifact. Amaterasu growled lowly under her breath and looked at the strange thing titled as a 'compass'. 'What the hell does that thing even do?' she wondered about it for a moment, and sighed. 'Can you peer into it?' she looked again at it, trying to make out anything, but to her avail nothing could be sought out from the whole artifact. Amaterasu felt a frown from at the edge of her mouth, and she looked back at the yellow eyed witch. 'Why is she being so sensitive now? I mean can she feel his presence?' she walked away from the strange artifact and sat down next to Maleficent in a seat that was slightly higher than the one the witch sat in. 'I'm continuously being watched by the stupid pet raven, that's the only bird I don't like, hers…'

Amaterasu looked down the chamber room and noticed a familiar head filled with blonde hair and watched the figure carefully. 'Where's she going?' the girl thought, gripping the edge of the armrest for a moment. Her dark brown eyes made contact, with the blue eyes of the Heartless, and Lightning stared back at her for a moment, not really displaying any sort of emotion on her facial feature. Lightning made her way past the chamber room, and off into another room. 'She's keeping something from me,' the girl thought scrunching up her nose in displeasure of the whole notion. "I'll be back…" the girl said hopping down from the seat, and running down to the entrance.

Lightning took a moment to let the girl catch up to her, and she felt someone tug at the edge of the crimson scarf. The Heartless turned around and met up with the one with the dark eyes. "Yes, what is it, Amaterasu?" she asked simply, and the girl didn't really know what to respond to for now. "Well, come on, say something." The Heartless said again, looking around once again. "You're here alone, right?" she asked the girl softly, and Amaterasu answered honestly, saying she didn't know for sure or not. Lightning growled for a moment, fearing that something would soon come running up towards them. "Come on…" and the girl felt a violent tug on her wrist.

After putting some distance between her and whatever was going to follow them the girl finally spoke, and pulled away. "Why hasn't he come?" the girl finally managed to say something, and she could feel Lightning shiver at the mention of the Dark Master. Lightning shrugged her shoulders and her 'client' just sighed for a moment. "Wait, wait, wait… Why the heck are you being so moody?" Amaterasu demanded to know why exactly she was acting this way. "You know in case if you haven't noticed, you've been acting really weird."

"I don't know why." Lightning said sounding a bit confused at the whole idea. 'If it's because of the Dark Master then well she would be acting moody as well. And she has…' the Heartless looked back at her 'client' and sighed for a moment. "But you've been acting a bit temperamental, Amaterasu."

"I have a right to act like that." She said crossing her arms over her chest. "You'd be more than upset if you can't…" Amaterasu growled for a moment knowing she couldn't feel that part of the sentence. "You know why…" she said coldly and looked away from the Heartless. 'She smells like him…' the voice in the back of her head hissed out, 'That man, the Heartless smells like that certain heir…' Amaterasu tilted her head studying the way Lightning carried herself, and walked around her for a moment. Her mood changed slightly now, trying to see if the voice was right. "So, you never told me where you went."

Lightning scratched the back of her head and gave a fake smile, hoping to shake her off, but it was impossible. Amaterasu was like a Heartless, once it found a small patch of darkness, this being the little secret Lightning didn't want to mention, she'd hunt it down till it killed her. "Will you let it go if I tell you?" Lightning asked hoping that she would nod and say yes.

"Sure…" Amaterasu said stopping in front of Lightning again.

"Fine…" the Heartless felt a bit uncomfortable now, sharing this information with her. "I was with…"

Radiant Garden gummi dock

"So the bald guy is Rude, the red head is Reno…" Sora looked back at the people that stood before a different colored ship, it was blue and black. "And they're friends of yours?" he repeated, and looked back at the raven spiky hared man.

Zack nodded, "But enough with the intro's little man, we've got to go," Zack said looking back as the world began to shift again in the distance. With the crowd of people it seemed to look like everyone was here, and their last destination was a place a called the End of the World.

"So then, you all ready?" Sora asked looking at everyone that was around a red gummi ship, and the other blue and black one.

"She isn't back yet…" Cloud said walking forward towards Sora, and Zack Fair. He was referring to the flower maiden.

"Where is she at?" Zack asked getting ready to head out and look for her.

"Zack you can't go out there, it's too dangerous." Tifa warned him, as the earth began once again to shift unexpectedly.

"Our friend is out there, Teef," Zack said looking back at her, sounding a bit hurt.

"Never mind I'll go and find her…" Cloud said heading out once again.

"Be careful, Cloud!" Tifa yelled, hoping her voice would reach him.

Cloud ran past the crumbling walls that started their destructive path. 'Where is she?' his mind raced as he rolled forward, narrowly missing a falling column. He looked back, 'I can't come back this way now…' he continued to run forward and for a moment he stopped, noticing a pink and light green outfit. 'Aerith?' he stepped forward and again the ground began to shift once more. "Don't move!" a female voice said somewhere along the rooftops. His blue eyes looked up at a building and noticed that there was a women and a boy up there. "Don't move, Cloud!" it was music to his ears. 'Why is she…?' Cloud jumped back feeling the earth beneath his feet shift.

Aerith looked back at the blonde figure that was on the ground, and she looked back at the brown haired boy who clung to her. "That's him…" she said watching the child look at he man called Cloud below. "I told you he'd come." She said happily and again the ground began to shift. She noticed that by the rooftop they were one they could easily jump down to the ground, there were little platforms. 'But I wonder if they can hold the two of us?' she didn't want to jeopardize the child's life, but it wouldn't do them any good if the roof collapsed. "Denzel, was it?" she asked, and the boy nodded, "hold on tight to me…"

Back with Sora and the others

"How is she?" Roxas asked looking back at the sealed doorway, a room held the blonde female Nobody within of the area of the gummi ship.

"Aerith said that she'll wake up, but we don't know when…" Tifa said, sitting next to Roxas. He sighed and looked down at his feet for a moment.

"It's not your fault…" Rinoa said finally climbing into the gummi ship.

"I could've done more…" Roxas said looking back at Tifa and Rinoa. He noticed that a little girl was sleeping at the other side of a row.

"That's Marlene," Tifa explained. "She was put into Reeve's care, you see her parents, they died recently, and we haven't heard from her foster father, Barret. He was a good friend of ours," she paused for a moment and didn't know whether or not she should continue. As Tifa was about to speak again but noticed a familiar women with emerald eyes stepped into the ship carrying a brown hared boy. "Aerith!" the other two women said in relief.

"Sorry you guys… It's been pretty hectic out there now…" the flower maiden said setting the boy down on a seat. "Cloud and Leon are on the other ship with Zack and the others." She said and noticed Roxas who sat silently, staring back once in a while at the sealed door. "The King left already, and he's going to wait for us at the End of the World. Sora, Reeve, Vincent, Shelke, and Nanaki are coming aboard with us, along with this boy by the name of Denzel," a wave of relief fell on Tifa noting that Sephiroth wasn't going to board with them, "Reno, Rude, Zack, Cloud, Leon and Seph…" she paused for a moment, "yeah the… erm, guys are going in another gummi ship."

"I feel bad for Cloud; he's got to be stuck on the same ship with him." Tifa said noticing Aerith shake her head slightly. "Oh yeah, you know it's a good thing we got your call when we did, or else we'd still be in Midgar…"

"I know, it's a good thing Zack always picks up his phone… and Reno too he wouldn't have offered to give you guys that ride over here, unless it was under Zack's orders," Aerith said patting Denzel lightly on the head, he had fallen asleep clinging to the side of the flower maiden's dress. "Speaking about the others also… Yomigami and Yuffie left already."

"What?!" Rinoa raised her voice. "You mean he just took her, like that!" Aerith nodded, understanding what she meant by that. "But… but, doesn't he care how it's going to affect her heart?"

"I don't know… I mean she's got a strong heart…" Aerith said, and Roxas finally seemed interested in the conversation. 'So then Ammi's older brother has a crush on Yuffie, haha she'll get a kick out of that… Hold on but how did they leave so early?' Roxas thought about it for a moment. Rinoa spoke up once again, and they listened.

"I know he can put up with it, I mean he was part of 'Project Blitz' but she's still just a kid, her heart can't take that kind of abuse… Traveling through a dark portal… with that magnitude of distance… that'll almost crush the human heart!" she finally managed to put everything together. "He's insane!"

"He's Yomigami…" Aerith said rubbing the back of her head. "He's always been like that; you should've seen when he taught Amaterasu how to tap into that Heartless form… Not even Hojo knew it was possible after the experiment."

'Anti-form…' Roxas thought thinking back to how Sora had let his rage get the best of him. 'So then they can do it too?' he finally snapped back into reality, hearing Sora answer for him, 'Yeah they're pretty strong, remember the info we found in the terminal? They were the only ones to actually SURVIVE the whole procedure…' he could hear Sora chuckle a bit in his mind. 'How is she?' he asked sincerely. 'She's sleeping, but I don't know when she'll wake up…'

"Cid and Shera left around the same time too…" Aerith said trying to remember if anyone else was going to meet up with them there.

The Dark Master

Ignis Xehanort, the man whose full title strikes fear into those who remember the event. Ignis the Dark Master of the Keyblades, in any language it meant the same thing, darkness of seemingly infinite power. He walked back to the land he called 'the beginning'. A place he had once come to love, a place that was almost left in ruins now. 'Sunset Horizon' where everything had begun and had ended for him, but now he had a second chance to rewrite his own history. 'He'll find a way to stop you, they all will!' Riku's voice seemed to pester him to no end, but he did his best to restrain him, plunging him deeper and deeper into the darkness that filled his heart. 'Don't you ever shut up?' another voice asked loudly. 'Both of you, silence!' Ignis' own thought yelled violently at the two entities. 'Xehanort, come out…' Ignis felt his body jump for a moment and a figure dressed in a black tight suit with a black faceguard appeared right next to him.

"I have a little job for you…" Ignis told the Heartless. "See if you can find me the Atrum Procer, and report where you've found her."

The Heartless nodded, with a Keyblade ready at hand. "With pleasure," the voice said and the black suited Heartless ran off.

'What the hell are you doing Ignis? You can't trust that idiot, he'll attack her! That fucking Heartless, he'll…' Ignis sighed for a moment and stopped to rest against one of the earth made columns.

"Are you telling me you doubt the power of the Atrum Procer?" Ignis asked, chuckling.

'No… I mean she can fight but…' Riku didn't know what to say really.

"It sounds to me like you are. You're not a very good friend to her if you are…" but he was interrupted.

Riku growled for a moment. 'You're one to talk you left your pupils all alone out there; they barely made it out alive…'

"Just give it a rest already!" the Dark Master said loudly, his Keyblade stabbed the slab of earth. "That's it Riku, maybe this way you'll learn to be quiet…" his mind filled Riku's head. 'I'll kill the girl myself, that's it. Once she has done her job, fulfilled her last purpose I'll dispose of her… Just to make it a bit fitting, you'll do it for me…' he said feeling a malicious smile form on his lips.

'You…! No, I won't do it! You bastard I won't kill her!' Riku's voice became louder and more violent tempered than ever, and the Dark Master chuckled hearing the vicious roars and growls from within the deepest level of his mind. The silver haired boy had found his feral nature within the mind of the Dark Master, and it was something that Ignis could probably use, but Riku would be hard to control in that form.

"You don't really have a say in it, Riku…" Ignis chuckled, hearing Riku roar loudly within the frame of the Dark Master's mind. "You'll be under my control soon enough, I just have to wait a bit longer, and you'll see." The process of controlling something that was that unstable was something that didn't seem to faze the Dark Master of the Keyblades.

R i k u

My throat is burning, but why? I don't really know why, but I remember hearing bits and pieces of what Ignis said, but other than that everything is just one big blank. 'My throat's killing me…' I thought to myself, and again I'm back in the dark room. At least that weird Heartless creature isn't here anymore. 'What was that thing anyway?' still my thoughts wouldn't be answered. Again that static noise came flooding into my mind, and everything froze for a moment.

"So then…" Terra breathed in for a moment. "We're leaving Sunset Horizon?" Ignis nodded and Ven and Aqua didn't look to happy with the news. "But why?" he asked.

"The Heartless," Ignis said pulling out a little colorful block. "Those things you found in the warehouse, they'll eventually swallow up this world."

Ventus walked around for a moment looking back at the collapsed warehouse. It had been a month since they found those dark creatures lurking around there. It was there at the same time that only Terra had acquired a Keyblade by the name of 'Kingdom Key'. "Since you've been chosen as the keeper of Kingdom Key, you'll be the one that links the worlds together." Ignis said and noticed that Ven sighed for a moment, he looked back at Terra with his blue eyes.

"I don't want it though…" Terra said and as he held out his hand Kingdom Key appeared right before their eyes. "I don't think I'm ready to have such a gigantic responsibly like this. I wanted to be a soldier for the capital, not a Keyblade wielder…"

Everything went back to normal and instead of finding people I found the darkness once again. 'So then, he had Kingdom Key… But the sphere's did they lie to us? They showed us something completely different, or maybe it was because of…'

"I was chosen to wield Kingdom Key…" I told her.

It was back when I was able to see her for the last time, in Radiant Garden; after Reeve had told me that she was there. A lot of things had happened after those seven months, but I never told her about the Keyblade I had given up.

"Why didn't you take it?" she asked looking back at me for a moment, her dark brown eyes held curiosity towards the whole event.

"Darkness seemed better… I wasn't afraid of the darkness…" I told her, and she looked lost in thought.

"Darkness always has that allure to it…" she said hugging her knees. "At least you do have the 'Way to Dawn'."

I sighed again, losing myself in those memories. "I can't really regret anything now…" I said softly looking up, staring into the dark abyss.

'A moment ago you were trashing about saying you regretted everything, and now you've done a 360 degree change, I'll never understand you human…' it wasn't Ignis' voice but someone completely different, 'My name is Vieh and like my name states, I'm a beast…' there was a certain husky growl to it all.

"Were you that yellow eyed thing?" I asked thinking back to the whole scenario. There was this intense pain from the side of my neck. I flinched and brought a hand over to it.

The thing by the name of 'Vieh' was snickering.

'Well yes, and no, I'm you, the beast you try to hide. I know how you act, especially when around that girl, I just wanted to see when I'd come out and play, and well today is the day, with that nasty Heartless gone…'

"In case you didn't notice Vieh," I said coldly. "I have no physical body… So how do you…?"

'Ah, you'll see my little buddy. You'll see, I just need permission from the one who calls us 'you' but not 'me'.' Vieh was a rather strange disembodied voice; it'd speak in rhymes at times. 'Anyway, I'll be here for a VERY long time, so until then this is a sort of…'

"Goodbye?"

This is just great now it's got me speaking in its weird little manner. Just great, as if things couldn't get any weirder than they already are.

A m a t e r a s u

"I knew it!" I whispered jumping up and down. "I had a feeling you'd go to him sooner or later." I cleared my throat and noticed that something with wings was coming in our directions. I scrunched up my nose and sighed for a moment. 'Well that's the only good news going for me…' the raven perched up on my shoulder, and I shooed it away. "Come on, you know where I am, now just go back already…" I said trying to shoo it away with my hand. "Go you little bird…" the raven cawed in retaliation and if flew off again, somewhere, it was probably going somewhere so that it could feast. "So then, you happy now?" Lightning asked and I turned to look at the blue eyed Heartless. "Yeah…" I said nodding my head slightly.

Somehow we walked down the ruined hallway and past the rotten archways of the hideout, and found ourselves outside for a moment, staring at the sand before us. The winds were starting to pick up, kicking up some of the ground from the desert that was a couple of miles away. Somewhere in the distance Versus was with his men, preparing for what they called the 'Second Keyblade War' but it didn't seem like a second coming, but rather another beginning of destruction. 'And he's out there somewhere…'I thought looking out into the distance. My heart beat was slower than usual, which meant that he was closer than ever.

Amaterasu…

It sounds so much like his voice, but I can't feel anything now, my heart won't race. It's because he's too close to this world. I'd give anything to hear Riku's voice just once more, to at least hug him or something. I'm asking for a miracle at this point, because he's gone now. I don't want to accept the fact that he's gone from this world, but what else can I do now? To be honest the deities haven't been that kind to us since we started our journey, and they have every right to, but they didn't have to take Riku into the equation of my unhappiness. They subtracted him from my life now, as you can probably tell, but somehow I want to be able to say something. "He's out there somewhere…" I told myself right now, whispering it as the winds began to pick up again.

I really wish you could hear me, but I doubt it…

"I can hear you just fine, Riku… Riku…?" I asked softly blinking for a moment. The only thing before my eyes was just sand, and ruins, and nearby buildings from a city. 'I must be losing it or something…' I thought shaking my head for a moment. Lightning asked me if I was all right, and I told her that I was okay. I know she worries about me, but I don't want her to, it's not the nature of a Heartless to care, but since she's been with me she's gotten at least one heartbeat.

I could've sworn I heard your voice just now…

You did, at least I think you did, but what do I know?

Obviously not a lot if you don't even know… But anyway if it's a trick of the mind then I'm purposely putting myself in this hole. Everything's dark down here, and well I miss you…

"Now I know I'm not crazy…" I said moving forward. I heard his voice that was his voice, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

With the black suited Heartless

Xehanort sighed, feeling hot air press against his face. 'That damn child, calling me Terra…' he thought as he continued his search for the Dark Princess. 'Why does he want me to find her, she has no other purpose now. To be honest she's better of going into the next life she's lived up to her purpose.' The Heartless paused taking off the black faceguard and breathing in the air outside of his suit. If he had a heart this place would've seemed awfully familiar to him, but that wasn't the case now. 'I don't even…' he thought back to when Riku had dozed off in memories, he had a clear picture now of what the Atrum Procer looked like. The desert wind became less of a problem as he soon reached an abandoned warehouse of some sort. The scent of age crept up alongside the warehouse, and it was slowly breaking apart with age.

'He said she smelled of cherry blossoms…' Xehanort thought pushing back some of the silver wisps of hair from his face. He sighed once again and continued to walk in search of the girl. 'She amalgamates with the scent of Heartless and flowers, that much I know from that damn boy…' for a moment the Heartless could pick up the aroma of the familiar combination of the scent, the wind was carrying it from somewhere. 'Over there…' he thought placing the black faceguard over his face once again, and set of with his Keyblade ready in hand.

Amaterasu sighed for a moment looking again up at the sky, the wind began to die down, and Lightning had gone back inside for a while, to 'rest' as she called it. 'At least it was fun while it lasted…' she thought thinking back to the event of hearing Riku's voice pop in her head. The girl sighed heavily leaning against one of the fallen columns, a lizard moved in on her arm. With its tongue it lightly felt the human girl's skin, smelling her scent, and scurried off in the opposite direction. "Even an animal can taste the darkness…" she said watching the lizard run off. She breathed in the air, and could feel a presence somehow mingle with the scent of the earth. 'It smells awful… Like a… Heartless?' she thought walking further and further away from the hideout.

"I've got you now…" a voice whispered in back of Amaterasu. She felt metal lightly touch the side of her neck, and she flinched for a moment.

'You got to careless!' the other voice in her head yelled at her, punishing her.

'Yeah well I'm sorry, I guess this is what it means when curiosity killed the cat… what a crappy way to die…' she thought noticing the weapon was a Keyblade of some sort.

'Focus silly girl!' A black faceguard was the only thing she could see, as she finally was able to put some distance between herself and the mysterious figure. Her Keyblade 'Way to Night' appeared in her left hand, cautiously moving it towards her body in defense.

"What do you want?" she asked, watching the red and black Keyblade for a moment. The strange black suited Heartless let out a chuckle of some sort, and brought the Keyblade to a fighting stance.

'Satisfied?' the voice in her head asked.

'Not really…' she thought watching the figure move forward now. She jumped back, and blocked an overhead attack, the clank sound of metal against metal. 'Firaga…' flames came forth from the tip of her weapon and the black suited Heartless countered with a Blizzaga spell all on its own.

"…" the Keyblade from the opponent went flying through the air like a boomerang, and Amaterasu barely had time to dodge it with a back flip. The edge of the Keyblade hit part of her ankle, and she landed wrong, falling on the ground with a loud thud. 'You're gonna pay…' she thought and the Heartless caught a glance of yellow flicker within her eyes. Xehanort smirked feeling the pressure around him change for a moment. If he were human his heart would've felt heavy, but since he was a Heartless it didn't apply to him at all. Within moments he looked forward, and from the dark mist that began to clear, he spotted a black humanoid Heartless, depleted of a Keyblade.

"It's been a while Atrum Procer…" Xehanort said chuckling at the sight of the humanoid Heartless. It growled at the sight of the other Heartless known as Xehanort, and the Heartless brought his weapon down. Amaterasu ran forward on all four charging straight at him with a different kind of energy. "…" her claw was raised high and mighty in the air ready to slice whatever stood in her way. Amaterasu wanted to see crimson ribbons stain the floor. Xehanort rose up his weapon to block the attack, and was moved back an inch from the force of the speed. "…ugh…" he flinched and his hand quickly went over to his side, feeling pain. He was surprised to see that the shockwave had sent a quick blow to the side of him

Purple and black mingled together, setting a strange aura around her frame. Yellow eyes stared hungrily hoping to see the Heartless Xehanort flinch again in pain. The entity before Xehanort now knew no other emotion but rage, and she wanted to let it all out. She ran forward again, black mist followed wherever she went, and Xehanort was on the ground trying to thrust back the Heartless that wanted to claw his eyes out. Her black claws managed to crack the black tinted visor from the faceguard, and before letting her get to close he found the strength to push her off. Her body rolled backwards and she let out a vicious roar. Yellow eyes found amber eyes, and for a moment she paused on her assault.

With the others

Sora kissed the ground of the distorted world known as the End of the World. Being cooped up too long within a gummi ship would do that to a person. Roxas helped the little girl known as Marlene down from the red gummi ship, and looked back at the blue and black painted ship as it finally landed down. Denzel was still asleep and Aerith decided to stay with him until he woke up.

"Did you sleep well?" Roxas asked the girl and she nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Do you know where my dad is at?" she asked. 'How can I tell a kid that her father was taken by the Heartless?' he thought looking away from the brown eyed girl.

"No…" Roxas said feeling melancholy at the moment and shook his head, "but he told us to take care of you, for when he gets back. Is that okay with you?"

Marlene nodded and took Roxas by the hand. 'So I'm a doting parent now…' he thought walking Marlene along the distorted world. Sora went off with several other people to look around the world once again. 'You, a family guy?' Sora's voice rang out in his head, and Roxas felt a smile creep up on his lips.

"That is the last time I'm letting you take directions!" someone said as the door whooshed open from the black and blue painted gummi ship. Reno was grumbling something rather 'unfitting' for young ears, and Roxas covered the young girl's ears.

"I'm sorry!" Zack said laughing for a moment, "Sephiroth come on, get out here!" Cloud sighed for a moment and waited for Sephiroth to leave the gummi ship, he just wanted to sleep. 'Finally…' he thought closing his eyes for a moment. He heard someone rustling around the ship, and kept one eyes open, a familiar man with black hair gave him a small smile. "You too buddy." He said forcing the ex-SOLDIER up from his slumber. Cloud growled for a moment and got up.

Nanaki, Yomigami and Yuffie had gone with Sora to see the world. "Look a Moogle!" Marlene cried out happily noticing that Reeve, Cid, and Shera were walking alongside the red pompom wielding creature. Roxas looked back and smiled for a moment. 'Naminé loves them too…' he thought and looked back at the red gummi ship. He noticed that Cloud walked in there.

With Sora

Sora sighed for a moment and they all stopped at the ravine of the End of the World. Everything seemed to beautiful, crystals were sparkling, and each step you took little showers of light seemed to spread out for a moment. The world though, despite the calm appearance, was home to the Heartless. "So then, we're going to use the dark terminals?" Yomigami asked looking at the back of Sora's spiky hair. The Keyblade wielder nodded and looked back at Nanaki and Yuffie for a moment.

"Hold on, you know about the terminals, Yomigami?" Yuffie said, finally letting it click in her head. "I thought that info was closed to the public…" she said noticing that Yomigami was rubbing the back of her head. "We used the dark terminal to get to Destiny Island… Just like the Heartless do. It's not that hard to use…" He admitted to using it, but only once.

"See this way without depleting fuel, and supplies we can travel to Sunset Horizon." Sora said letting his mind fix things together.

"Wait, but when we want to go back we'll have to go through the heart of the world…?" Yuffie asked hoping that it wouldn't be true.

"I guess so…" Sora shrugged for a moment and looked back at Nanaki and Yomigami. "Either that or have Yomigami conjure up another dark portal," and Yuffie shuddered as Nanaki offered that bit of advice.

"I don't like those portals…" she said feeling her stomach churn for a moment.

"You get air sickness and motion sickness… I'm beginning to think you're a hypochondriac, Yuffie…" Yomigami said placing his hands on his head, and stretching for a moment.

"I am NOT!" she said blowing her cheeks up. Sora laughed a bit and stopped noticing Yuffie's death glare, and he gulped.

Sunset Horizon

Amaterasu opened her eyes groggily, and found herself staring up at two blue eyes. "Where…" she sat, and winced feeling her head spin. "Take it easy…" the figure said. 'That voice…' Amaterasu finally put two and two together. The two were in the room of the younger girl, and she was resting back on her soft mattress.

"Lightning…?" the girl still couldn't organize her thoughts yet. "What happened?" she asked feeling some bandages that were wrapped around her arm. The Heartless explained the form that she found her in, and Amaterasu thought back to the figure dressed in black, with the black faceguard. 'That black clothed solider…' she thought. For some reason he seemed really familiar but she couldn't put it together at all. "He smelled like a Heartless…" Amaterasu said softly, closing her eyes once again.

"Just don't go all berserk again…" Lightning said rubbing the side of her shoulder. "You really do like trashing around like some caged animal in that form…" Amaterasu opened her eyes again and looked back at Lightning; she had her shoulder wrapped up. "Don't worry I won't tell Maleficent anything about this."

"You never tell her anything…" the girl said knowing that she had nothing to worry about. 'Still I wish I could remember what had happened exactly; I must have been pretty ticked off if I can't remember that fight…' the dark eyed girl sat up once again, this time steadying herself as Lightning relaxed for a moment. "Was there anyone there?" Lightning shook her head. "Huh…" she said to herself and breathed in for a moment. Her head was pounding.

'He's coming, you can feel it can't you?' the voice hissed in her mind and Amaterasu took the moment to listen to the beating of her heart, it was very slow, slower than it normally was. 'He's really close now…' the girl thought and Lightning was sensing the presence as well. 'Pretty soon it'll feel like I can't breathe…' she thought looking back at the bandaged arm. There was a strange scent in the air now; it seemed really familiar to the two individuals. "Sea-salt?" the Heartless asked titling her head. "What would this scent be doing here?"

"Riku…" Amaterasu whispered cautiously to herself. 'He smelled like sea-salt…' she thought back at that certain event. The girl shook her head trying not to let anything get to her at this point. 'Is it really you Riku?' but nothing responded to her thoughts. 'Maybe I was just imagining that conversation…' she thought looking back down at her feet, her shoes were still on and they were covered with dirt from the outside. "I kind of like the smell of sea-salt, it's better than the Heartless scent…" she realized what she said and looked back at Lightning. "I mean, well… What I'm trying to say is that… You … You're…"

"No offense partner…" Lightning said smiling for a moment. "I'm surprised you don't smell like sea-salt, you just about ate that for almost a whole year along with a whole mess of other foods…" Amaterasu gave a sheepish grin and sighed happily, it was a change of persona, meaning that the mood swings would set in once again. "I'm gonna be really happy when he's gone, it's weird feeling one emotion the first second and then yelling, or crying the next…" Lightning said recounting everything that was stirring up in her slow beating heart.

"Riku smelled like sea-salt…" Amaterasu said noticing a smile creep up, etching on to the corners of her mouth. She completely ignored what Lightning was saying. "So maybe…"

A/N: You know what to do one review please!

Random fact, in the song Passion and Sanctuary there's a reversed lyric that says 'so many ups and downs' which is the title of this chapter, so yeah just thought I'd let you know.