I don't even have a comment except thank you for everyone that's keeping on with this story. Every review and favorite tugged at my heartstrings! This story is a mess to me, and I've been wrestling with how to continue it! It's hard since I can't even reread it without being embarrassed! So...nothing's thought out ahead of time (obviously!), whatever happens happens! Thanks again, guys. -love- Sorry it's so short.

"To get to the light, you must first trek through the darkness. To wield the darkness, you must become the darkness. These are things that you must embrace if you want to save him."

Time was stagnant in this void. Riku couldn't even guess how long he'd been here, with this strange man, in the shadows. Lurking. The darkness wove its way into every time, every place. The shadows held so many secrets, and the deeper he dug...the deeper he found himself intertwined.

But he would become darkness if it would save Sora.

"Did you know that darkness burns angels?"

Riku looked up from his silent meditation (something he'd taken to doing in this void), raising an eyebrow. He was blindfolded (by choice, to help submerge himself into darkness), but even without sight he could imagine the man: reading over some kind of large book, paying Riku no mind aside from speaking to him.

"Well, most angels. Not all."

That made Riku curious. "Not Sora?"

"Not Sora." Riku could hear the smirk. "Nor Roxas. They're cut from the same cloth, after all."

Riku stood; talk of Sora always made him so nervous. He wanted to go save him, not sit here in the dark like a child. But he knew better...he knew that he couldn't go running in blindly. "When can we go get him back? Who knows what they're doing to him?"

Riku heard the man's book close. "Call me DiZ. I've never told you my name, have I? Anyway...I think the time is about right. But only you can decide that. If you can't command the darkness, then you won't be able to help Sora at all."

Riku heard footsteps approach. "I have his location." It was Namine. She was polite enough, if not a bit detached. DiZ described her as a cherub, though whether he meant literally or apparently, Riku wasn't sure.

"Just in time...well, Riku?"

"I'm ready." There was no hesitation in his voice. He'd waited so long for this...he rarely stopped and asked himself why. Why was he so willing to risk himself for this boy? This angel? It wasn't worth it.

Only it was.

Riku heard the familiar sound of a portal opening shortly before the dark energy flooded the room. "Come, then."

Riku stepped through without a second thought.

Another day, another tally. Sora was so weak, he didn't know where he kept finding the strength to scratch another mark into the wall of his cell. He counted eleven marks. Kairi was probably so worried...Roxas, too. And Riku...

Sora shook his head. He wouldn't go wishing for a rescue mission, as badly as he wanted one. He didn't want anyone risking their lives so carelessly.

A hooded figure came into the room, which was empty save for the cell that Sora was sitting in. It didn't appear to be Xemnas, so he glared with only slightly less intensity. He heard a feminine chuckle as the figure leaned against the wall. "It took long enough to get you, you know. You're the reason why nothing's right...that's why I can't wait to kill you if these experiments don't do the job." The figure stood again, leaving abruptly.

'How rude. What did I even do?' Sora thought, glaring at spot where the figure had been leaning. He hadn't expected another cloaked and hooded figure to appear in the same spot, and it startled him from his glaring. But he held his tongue, refusing to speak. The figure moved closer-closer than anyone besides Xemnas had come, making Sora inch back subtly. How could he defend himself in such a helpless situation? He couldn't; Sora had been relying on the Organization's fear Xemnas' wrath to keep them from hurting him. He hadn't taken into account that one of them just might not care.

"Don't speak."

It was such a familiar voice, Sora's head snapped up. The figure was at the bars of Sora's cage, and after touching the lock (engraved with odd symbols), he seemed to think for a moment. "Don't look."

Sora gasped as he heard the lock open, rising to his knees, questions on the tip of his tongue.

The last thing he remembered was a whisper, then darkness.

(How many of you are left? xD)