Chapter Eleven: Wounded

"Hurry!"

It was all Liah could do to keep up as Aidin barked the order. He never ordered them around. He was never harsh. But now his voice grated with urgency and something else. Something Liah never thought she would see in their almost-leader. It was fear.

She hurried to keep up, supporting Ven's feet as they ran for the safety of their house. It was shielded against the dark powers, so they would be safe there. Aidin, his arms wrapped around Ven's midsection, called on his power to open the door ahead of them. Sprinting into the entrance hall, they slammed the doors behind them and set Ven gently on the floor, panting from exertion.

Something slammed into the door with colossal force, but it held. They could hear howling and wailing all around as the darkness sought entrance, but the protections on their home stood firm, and after a time, the darkness went away. Aidin breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down to finish thawing Ven. He and Liah had only had enough time to unfreeze him just enough to carry before being forced to flee. Now, they had to thaw him the rest of the way, and quickly, or he could die.

Aidin called up a fire spell, making it as cool as he could while still being able to melt the ice. He didn't want to burn Ven by accident. As soon as the ice on his face began to melt away, he shook his head, whimpering slightly.

"Aidin? I'm cold… What happened…?" he asked, confused. Liah squealed with happiness and hugged him, only confusing him more.

"You were frozen by Blizzaga cast by that man." Aidin explained. "Be still." Ven complied, letting Aidin finish, and then sat up.

"I don't… feel… well…" he mumbled thickly, before slumping unconscious. Aidin caught him, lifting him into his arms easily.

"What's wrong with him?" Liah asked, her eyes filling with tears at seeing her 'brother' in such a state.

"Probably too rapid a change in body temperature. He was too cold, too long." Aidin said softly. He carried the currently-comatose Light Chaser up to his room, followed by a concerned Liah. He proceeded to tuck him in bed with plenty of thick blankets. "He'll be okay in a few days. He just needs sleep and some time to readjust." He turned back to Liah. "Let me see your injuries." Liah had almost forgotten that she was hurt too. To remind her, the pain in her ribs that had vanished in the urgency of saving Ven returned doubled. She sank into a chair, wincing as she willed her armor away. Aidin knelt beside her, pressing his palm to her side. She hissed and flinched away, and he grinned. "Cracked rib. Let me bandage it?"

Liah nodded, and Aidin left to find the bandages. She found herself staring at Ven, wondering what they had done that warranted them all being hurt so badly. Why was it they who had to suffer? When Aidin returned, tears had formed, unshed from earlier, and she said in a choked voice, "I don't want to be a Chaser anymore."

Aidin began carefully wrapping her ribs, asking only, "Why?"

"Too many people close to me get hurt! Next time it'll be you! Or… Or one of you could… Could get killed…" Liah said, sobbing quietly. "No more pain, please, Aidin?"

Aidin was silent for a long moment, entirely focused on his task. When he did speak, he murmured, barely audible, "I do not want this for you or Ven, but it is not my choice to make." He tied off the bandage, setting it aside. "The Kingdom commands it. We cannot renounce the Keyblades." Liah slid out of the chair to sit in his lap, crying into his shoulder. She had great strength, but the events of the day had taken it all from her. There was none left to aid in stopping the flow of tears. He held her tightly, whispering, "We'll get through this, just like everything else. Ven will be fine. I promise."

"How could he hate us so much?" Liah couldn't bring herself to say Xehanort's name. Aidin looked thoughtful

"I don't think he does. I think one day he'll look back at this and say 'Damn, what did I do?'" He stood, pushing Liah up as well. "Go take a nap. I think we all need one."

Liah nodded, heading back in the direction of her room. A gloomy air seemed to hang over their home, both from the sickness of their Light, and the crushing despair consuming Twilight and Dawn. But the suffering for these final Knights of the Heart was far from over. The worst, though they did not know it, was yet to come.

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I think we all know how this is gonna end. But in one, or possibly two since they're short, chapters, I will have ended the Chaser's part in all this. Then I will go into the games themselves, the clues and secrets hidden there, AKA "Part Two". This now is "Part 1". But in these final one, or two, Chaser chapters, I will be setting up for a major point I want to make later. All I have to say now is, the blue-eyed will suffer, in more ways than one.

Think on that, ne?
Li