not much to say before the chapter. hope you enjoy it. :)

"So what are we gonna do?" Riku asked Sora as he paced around the room. It was a nervous habit of his, and he couldn't help but indulging himself in it at a time like this.

Sora shrugged. "There's really not a whole lot we can do," he pointed out.

Riku sighed, frustrated. "So what can we do? There's no other way out of here except that door, right?"

"Trust me, Riku, if there'd been any other way out of here, neither of us would be here. I'd be outside saving you from rapacious men and women and other vampires while you were running away from home."

"Wait—rapacious women?"

Sora tried to explain using the slow approach, going step by step. "Riku, have you ever liked a movie or a book a lot? I mean, a lot a lot?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"And have you ever gone on the internet and found communities that were basically fan clubs for that movie or book?"

"Not really, no."

Sora sighed. The step by step approach obviously wasn't going to work then. Time to change tactics to blunt honesty. "Riku, there's a creature among humans usually referred to as a fangirl. And fangirls are scary, scary women that fall in love with fictional characters and actors, becoming obsessed to the point of possibly becoming a rapacious woman should they ever meet the actor or a lookalike of either the actor or the fictional character. Understand?"

Shock probably wouldn't have completely covered Riku's face at the moment, but it'd have to do. Fatigue covered it a moment later though as he sank into the bed and groaned, "I really should've known that—Mom always told me not to be sexist . . ."

Sora laughed. "Just remember that there are good, evil, scary, and ugly people of both genders and I'm sure you'll be fine."

Leaning back onto the bed so far that his hands dangled off the other side, Riku said, "So what are we going to do, Sora?"

"Hmm . . ." Idly snagging a strand of Riku's hair, he curled it around his finger as he answered, "We can't leave the room until they open it for us, and I doubt they'll let you walk home free if I say I'm not hungry. The best we can do is wait for them to come. We can try to convince them to let both of us out of here, but that probably won't work . . . You wouldn't be able to play dead—that wouldn't work in front of a vampire—and there's no telling what they'd do with your body, anyway. So, when they come, they'll probably try to take you away from me since I haven't drank from you and refuse to do so. And when they do, I'll try to fight them off and if I can defeat them, we'll stay here. If not, you run for your life and pray that your God is feeling especially gracious and merciful today."

Riku stared at him. "That's your plan?"

"Can you come up with anything better?"

Coming to the sad conclusion that he couldn't, Riku exhaled deeply, saying simply, "We're screwed."

-

shiver ice cold numb getting lightheaded Cloud? where—

Roxas tumbled onto a hard, unforgiving floor as his thoughts cleared and became less garbled. He groaned as his nerves sent a jolt of pain from his knee to his brain; he barely noticed Cloud close behind, moaning as well when his attention was brought to Larxene.

"Welcome to Castle Oblivion, boys! And now, I bid you farewell—good luck! You'll need it!" with that, the female vampire spun another portal into being and disappeared.

"Wait!" Roxas cried uselessly. "What do we—where?"

"Roxas," Cloud grumbled as he attempted to sit up. "It's no use. She said she'd have to leave us as soon as we got here, remember?"

"Yeah, but—" the younger started, finishing, "—I thought she'd at least tell us where to go or something . . ."

Cloud sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like we're on our own from here on out."

"I guess," Roxas agreed reluctantly. "Where now? I can barely see anything."

It was true. Their eyes could barely make out the lines differentiating the floor from the walls. Given the distance between the walls, they were probably in a hallway of some sort. The darkness seemed to permeate the atmosphere. Roxas compared it to waking up in the middle of the night, realizing you had to pee, and stumbling through the familiar home without flipping the lights on because you knew the building so well.

Except Roxas didn't know this building very well. Not at all. He had no idea which way was which or where it would lead them. For once, he might have actually confessed to being lost.

After thinking for a moment, Cloud nodded to himself as he came to some sort of decision.

"Alright, let's go this way."

"Which way?" Roxas couldn't help but ask—it wasn't as if he could see which way Cloud was pointing.

Rolling his eyes, Cloud pressed his hand between Roxas's shoulder blades and pushed forward, saying only, "This way."

"Don't need to be so pushy," Roxas grumbled as he stumbled a little before regaining his balance.

Bickering just a bit in a normal brotherly fashion (though they kept it quiet), Roxas and Cloud wandered the halls of Castle Oblivion.

-

"Hey, tell me about Kingdom Hearts," Riku said randomly. They were still lounging on Sora's bed—Sora sitting and leaning against the wall behind the head of the bed while Riku just kind of flopped on the furniture.

"Kingdom Hearts? Why do you wanna know about a depressing place like that?" Sora asked, wrinkling his nose slightly.

Turning his head to face him, Riku replied, pointing out, "Why not? Besides, it can't be any more depressing than our situation right now."

Sighing, Sora conceded, "Alright, but only a little bit . . . What do you want to know?"

"Well, what exactly is it?"

"Technically speaking, it's another dimension. I think I told you that vampires go through it to get somewhere else, right?" At his nod, Sora continued, "Well, you've been through it, too, now, but I'll bet you passed out, right?" Again, Riku nodded albeit slightly embarrassed. "Thought so, that's 'cause Kingdom Hearts is basically a place for demons—there isn't really a good word for them, but that's the closest we can get. Vampires are partly demon, so that's how we're connected. The big difference between us and them is that we're also connected to humans at the same time in more than one way—besides feeding on you, we come from you and still use a mockery of your form."

"A mockery? Does that mean you could change if you wanted?" Riku questioned.

Sora squirmed uncomfortably at the thought. "I think so, but we'd only be able to do that by giving ourselves up to Kingdom Hearts completely, losing the little humanity we have left. Not many vampires are willing to give that up. Plus, the demons of Kingdom Hearts—while easily more powerful—aren't very pretty. They don't just lose their hearts, they destroy them."

Riku gave Sora a confused look. What exactly did he mean by that?

But he lost track of his thoughts again as Sora went on with his speech.

"Technically, we aren't supposed to go into Kingdom Hearts at all, and if any of the demons catch us . . ." He winced, finishing with, "It wouldn't be a pretty sight."

"Then why do you go through it?" Riku asked curiously.

"Because," Sora explained, "it's really convenient, and besides, we don't actually go through it, just skit along the edges so that we can reenter this dimension wherever we want. Not many of the demons go near the borders of Kingdom Hearts. I'm not sure if it's true, but I heard that demons that go near the edge usually go insane from sudden extreme indecisiveness or something . . . I don't know, it doesn't make much sense to me."

"So," the human began. "If somebody wanted to see the demons of Kingdom Hearts, what would they have to do?"

"They'd have to go through the front door, but there's a special procedure to do that . . . Why?" Sora wondered suspiciously.

Riku shrugged. "I just find it interesting."

"You're sure that's all?" checked the vampire.

"Positive, Sora—I think I'm having enough problems with you vampires. I don't need any more," Riku reassured, giving a smile.

Sighing, Sora admitted, "Ok, Riku, I believe you on that one."

"Good," was his response.

A few moments of silence passed between the two. Riku stared blankly at the ceiling. His eyes had accustomed themselves to the dim lighting earlier, but he still didn't feel entirely comfortable in the darkness. He was used to at least one bright light shining wherever he was while awake. This sort of darkness he usually didn't experience unless he was outside at night or if he was just going to sleep and the light from up the stairs insisted on sneaking through the cracks, illuminating the floor and the miscellaneous things strewn across it.

Sora, on the other hand, was completely fine. Well, completely fine on the subject that it was dark and maybe a little chilly. But as for what he was about to do . . . That, he wasn't quite as sure about . . .

Swallowing a bit of saliva, Sora began, hesitantly, "Um, Riku?"

"Yeah, Sora?" Riku said, looking vaguely in the direction he knew Sora was in.

"Y-You know how—when we first met—I was really . . . forward?"

"Yeah, I think so," he replied, wondering where this was going.

"Well, I wanna be sort of a gentleman about this and all since I really do like you and I don't wanna do anything you don't want me to—"

"Sora," Riku interrupted. "You can just tell me—you don't need to set it up with a rambly speech or something, ok?"

Exhaling softly, Sora nodded and before Riku could even react or ask what he was doing, the vampire was hovering over him—his face less than a foot from the other's. One of Sora's arms was pressing into the mattress on the other side of Riku for balance.

His breath tickling Riku's face, Sora asked quite simply as his blue eyes bore into the other's green, "Riku, can I kiss you?"

Surprise at the request flashed over the human's face, but it was quickly replaced with slight amusement and a quiet laugh.

"Yes, Sora, yes, you can," he answered, smiling as Sora's lips descended to meet his own.

-

Namine stepped silently through the halls as her standard Organization coat swished around her ankles. She'd gone feeding the other night, so she'd be fine without blood for a few more days.

Marluxia, on the other hand... Even with the fresh blood she and Larxene continued to supply him, she wasn't sure it'd be enough. He seemed to be getting worse every day, and there really wasn't much they could do. He'd been in the infirmary for over two years now, and it was really amazing that he was still as healthy as he was. No one should've been able to live after that much poison he'd been subjected to! The vampire was extremely lucky, but no one could be sure how long it'd be until his luck ran out.

But at least Lulu was examining the reserves. With any luck, it wouldn't take her long to prove that they were poisoned. It'd be almost next to impossible to pin the blame down on who poisoned them in the first place, but they'd be able to stop any further poisoning from going on.

warm distinct smell blood good

Namine stopped in her tracks and took a whiff of the air. Humans? And two of them? Just what were they doing here? And how'd they get here, anyway? Only a vampire would be able to bring them here . . .

Wait, were any vampires with them? She examined the scent again . . . No, no vampires though there was a trace of one on them. Yet whichever vampire had been with them was gone now.

Perking her ears, she picked up a few lines from their conversation. Well, if arguing could be considered a conversation, that is. What really mattered was which direction they were headed which just so happened to be towards her. And, surprisingly, they were moving fairly quickly for humans walking blindly in the dark.

Just as they came into view, the vampire pushed her back against the wall so that they wouldn't run into her. Honestly, she felt kind of stupid. She could see perfectly fine and she was still cowering against the wall, hoping they wouldn't see her. It was dumb. The only way they'd notice her was if they ran into her—she knew this, but still . . .

Namine was able to get a good look at them now—they'd come into view far enough. Both had blond hair and blue eyes, one was about half a foot shorter than the other, and something else . . .

She nearly gasped aloud as she recognized them! They were Cloud and Roxas—those two humans that Sora and the others had been so excited about! But what were they doing here? It was bad enough that Sora had a human in his room right now! (The whole Organization knew about that.) And how did they get here, anyway? Only a vampire could've brought them here, and any other vampire would just drain them. Leon wouldn't have brought them here and left them alone, Sora and Axel were locked up, Marluxia was sick, and Larxene . . .

Realization struck her. Larxene had been hunting, so technically she could have run into them. Saix and Kairi were the only other vampires she knew that had knowledge of the humans Sora and the others were involving themselves with; the only problem with that was that those two wouldn't have left them wandering around like this—that'd be pointless.

But, just to check her hunch, she had to make sure they were who she thought they were.

"Roxas? Cloud?" she inquired softly.

Both humans immediately stiffened at the sound of a voice besides their own.

"Who's there?" the taller one demanded.

"A possible friend," Namine responded cautiously. "Now, what are your names?"

"They're as you said—he's Roxas and I'm Cloud. What do you mean by 'a possible friend'?"

"I mean," Namine began, stepping forward and away from the wall. "I can help you get where you need to go."

"And just where do you think we need to go?" Cloud asked harshly.

Roxas, meanwhile, had stayed silent the whole time, subconsciously getting closer to his brother. He wasn't weak, but if one vampire could sneak up on them like that—actually, he took that back, she probably hadn't even been sneaking, just walking along normally for a vampire—then how did he know if there were more of them surrounding him and his brother? It wasn't a pleasant thought.

"I think you need to leave before you both get killed, but you probably want to see Axel and Leon, right?" she checked.

"Yeah, that's right," Cloud confirmed.

"Good, glad we got that sorted out. I'm Namine," she introduced brightly, holding out her hand.

It was then, as she held her hand up emptily, that they couldn't see her hand and weren't going to shake it.

Dropping her hand back to her side embarrassedly, she spoke. "So what are you doing here, anyway? Did Leon or Axel do something stupid?"

"Well . . ." Cloud trailed off, scratching the back of his head, unsure of how to go about this.

"Not exactly . . ." Roxas commented.

Namine furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Then what are you doing here?

Sighing, Cloud answered, "Do you mind just taking us to them? Leon and Axel? We just need to talk to them . . ."

The vampire replied, "I suppose, but I'm still confused. You'd probably die if anyone else was to find you, anyway."

"Um, thank you?" Roxas tried—was that what she wanted?

Giving a small grin, Namine said, "You're welcome, so c'mon, Axel's room is closest from here."

"Um, Namine, right?"

"Yeah, that's my name, Cloud," she confirmed.

Cloud reminded, "We can't really see you . . . So how do you expect us to follow you?"

"Hmm . . ." she hummed, thinking. "How about we hold hands?" she suggested.

"Alright," he agreed. The boys fumbled around for the other's hand while Namine easily scooped Roxas's palm into her fingers.

"Here we go," Namine said as they headed off, much too cheery for either boys' taste in their situation.

-

Kairi sighed, bored out of her mind. One would think that with her being the queen and all, she'd be surrounded by luxury and some of the finer things in 'life'. However, one tended to forget that, as queen, she had responsibilities that frequently droned on well beyond the meaning of 'dull'. Yawning, she flicked a red hair out of her face as one of her informants rambled on about the human society and how it would affect Organization XIII as well as any other vampire clans in the area.

"Clubs are at an all-time high in attendance records this month. Many vampires have taken advantage of this, but it would be wise to remain under the radar. If we continue to—"

Blah blah blah . . . Kairi thought. Can't he tell me anything of real importance? Honestly . . .

"—show our numbers more prominently, the humans will most definitely suspect something besides the usual random deaths that cities breed. Furthermore, alcohol is—"

But the informant was rudely interrupted when someone burst through the door to the chamber they were occupying, shouting in an alarmed tone, "Heartless! We're under attack!"

Kairi instantly furrowed her eyebrows angrily and glared at the interrupted informant. She yelled at him, "Why do you bother telling me about clubs and their success rates when issues like this are obviously more pressing?" Raising her voice several decibels, she cried, "DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY RECENT KNOWLEDGE ON HEARTLESS?" All of her informants—those who had already spoken and those waiting their turn—kept silent seeing as none of them could give her the answer she wanted. Frustrated at the lack of a response, she decided to ignore that and move on, bellowing, "Fine—get to your emergency stations and make sure everyone is aware of the situation! Saix! Go check on those in the infirmary and dungeons and report back to me once those areas are secure! Move!" Nodding and scurrying, the vampires hurried to their positions.

Kairi leaned back into her throne, sighing tiredly as she mumbled, "It's been a while, Maleficent . . ."

"You've gotten sharper over the years," the opposing ruler complimented, slipping out of the shadows behind the Organization's queen.

"It comes with the job," Kairi replied. "Now what do you want?"

"It shouldn't be hard to figure out," Maleficent chuckled.

Kairi pursed her lips. "The princesses."

Letting out a laugh, Maleficent said, "Very good, child! I'd hoped you would remember—it makes things easier, don't you think?"

"Unfortunately," the younger answered curtly.

The tall woman smirked in a superior fashion. While two horn-like structures curled slightly as they sprouted from her head, sickly green flesh clenched firmly around a lengthy staff with an emerald stone resting at the end. Her long, black gown rustled at her feet, the edges a dark green, and a loyal crow perched itself atop her bony shoulder.

"I see things are still run carelessly around here—Yuffie wasn't very organized, herself," Maleficent commented.

Kairi growled, "Don't bring Yuffie into this! She's been long gone thanks to you!"

"Tsk, child, you know thirty years really isn't that long compared to a vampire like me."

"You're much closer to the demons of Kingdom Hearts than you'll ever be to a vampire! At least vampires still retain some of their humanity!" Kairi hissed.

Maleficent's eyes flashed dangerously. "We'll see about that, Kairi, we'll see about that . . ."

...how's that for a cliffhanger?

oh, and i'll be gone for the rest of this week, so it'll probably take me a while to respond to your fantabulous reviews.

reviewers get ... um ... yummy ice cream cake. 'cause my mom made some and i wanna go get it downstairs. plus, there wasn't much silly stuff in this chapter anyway... sorry -.-; but most of the silly stuff will be minimal from now on. (the plot can be very demanding near the end, you know?)

and i'd say more, but i need to pack...

So go ahead! Make my day--write a review. :)