Three million, six thousand, seven hundred and twenty three watch jumps later…

I stared at the Trump before me, it's large puppet like head and big hands made it look almost intimidating, but from seeing so many in the time that I've been down here the way they looked meant nothing to me. I held my arms out in front of me, my eyes closed as I allowed the energy to gather in my hands, and when the time was right I released the giant ball of ice, hitting the Trump in the centre of it's forehead as a warning.

The Trump released a pained cry before it retreated. I stared after the creature until it disappeared into the darkness of Abyss and allowed my form to change back to how it should be. I was aware that whenever I would fight a Chain my appearance would change, all that I knew was that I was larger than my regular form. It's not even as if I could ask the Chains what I looked like.

If I'm being honest, I had the chance to do so some time ago – I'll be accurate; one million, three thousand, six hundred and ninety three watch jumps ago – I was faced with a chain similar to myself, had arms, legs, and could speak. That chain was fairly stubborn and yet, it intrigued me. I had never seen a Chain with that form before, and that's what interested me. I followed it for a while, trying to understand it, but in return we only fought, the Chain being the victor and left me a state, my warm blood surrounding me and stained my skin.

After that I never saw it again, I tried to search for the Chain, but I was not successful, and so I gave up. Since that fight I have had no other intention but to make myself stronger, hoping that if I met up with that Chain again, and if it wanted to fight, I would not be left alone in the darkness and would able to stay with it…that way I would not be alone.

I stared at my watch, it jumped again, and I added the jump to how long ago it was since I'd fought with that Chain. I guess it was just another habit. My feet touched the ground, not that I could tell, they were far too numb for me to even notice, and I stared off into the darkness. A familiar, high pitched laugh rang through my ears, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up right.

Without making a single movement, I listened carefully to the faint laugh; it wasn't too far away, so I guess I could reach it in under three watch jumps. I didn't care too much for it, and turned away from the laughter and began to head on my way through the darkness until I heard something else.

"It's a tasty looking kid! It's a tasty looking kid!" The high pitched scream echoed through the darkness, causing me to look over my shoulder in the direction of the voice.

A tasty looking kid…?

The words were repeated in my ears before I decided to see what the Chain was screaming about, and so, I calmly began to walk over to the sound. About two watch jumps later I began to hear some sort of clashing, like a battle was taking place, it was very rare that Trumps would fight – especially with me, but whenever they would fight me they always got me confused with 'a tasty looking kid'.

The only thing that stood between me and the source of all the commotion was a broken wall sticking out of the ground, I placed my hand onto the wall, but just as I did something hit it. I didn't move away, nor did I flinch, instead I just stood there, looking at the wall ahead of me before I looked up to see how high it was. Not that it really mattered, I could jump as high as I wished in this Abyss. And so, I jumped over the wall, landing slowly on the ground on the other side and looked ahead of me. There was another Trump, only this was a large doll's head with eight legs. My blank expression didn't change as I looked at the Chain, again, I had been faced with so many before they didn't faze me.

"Wha-…Who the hell are you?" A voice said from behind me. I didn't rush to turn around and saw something that fascinated me, although it didn't show on my face. It was a special kind of Chain, one like the one I met long ago, the only difference being that they had yellow hair that was strangely spiky, and their eyes was a beautiful blue, even in the darkness this Chain had a glow around it.

When it's eyes saw my almost hidden face, their expression of fear fell slightly. "Woah…" It said softly. I didn't take much notice of it and turned back to the Trump ahead of me, seeing that it was about to swing at me. I spun around and moved the Chain out of the way, just in time before the Trump's attack hit the spot where we both ere, demolishing the already broken wall.

We both landed on the cold, wet floor softly. I shielded the Chain from the broken bits of wall that flew our way by leaning over him, the pain that I should've felt when the stone hit me being numb by the fact that I was so cold.

I looked down at the Chain to see it in a ball, trying to protect itself, I guess it didn't know that I was taking the blows. When all the broken bits of wall had fallen to the ground, it looked up at me with its bright blue eyes. I paid no attention to its behaviour and stood up, turning to the Trump once more and readied myself to change forms so that I could fight it.

As I did, I heard the Chain behind me cry out. I paid no attention to it again and continued. When I opened my eyes, I knew that I was bigger than what I was and readied myself to blast at the Trump. I released an icy blue orb at it, but that one hit was not enough to kill it.

When the orb hit the Trump, smoke erupted around it, but it simply shook away the smoke and began to charge at me. I dodged the attack with ease, but I had forgotten to warn the Chain that was still behind me.

It cried out in fear as the Trump ran at it with its mouth open, and before I could reach them, the Trump picked up the Chain and threw it into its wide mouth without a second's hesitation. I didn't waste time and fired another orb at the Trump, this time a fiery red one. When it made contact with my enemy its entire being was swallowed up by flames.

I didn't panic, having practised this move plenty of times before, and fired an icy orb at the Trump, and as I had expected, the Trump was frozen, the flames gone and my enemy unable to move. Then, with one simple poke, the Trump shattered.

I watched as the Chain inside it fell to the ground, coughing loudly as it pushed itself to sit upright. As I returned to my normal form, I noticed that it was watching me. "Th-That thing…It was…It was my brother just a second ago!" He said, his eyes flashing with something that I hadn't seen in a while, only heard of; fear.

I walked over to the chain and held my hand out for it, waiting for it to accept my assistance. The Chain looked from my face to my hand a few times before it clasped my small hand in his fairly large one and allowed me to pull it upright.

"Thank you…for saving me." It said, shaking my hand. I couldn't help but stare at the Chain opposite me…

He's not like most…

"Can you talk?" It asked me, looking at my face. "It would be easier if I could see your eyes." I didn't respond to him, only released his hand and dropped my own by my side. I stood there, staring at him for a moment before I heard a winding sound, taking my attention to my watch; I noticed that it jumped again.

I hummed to myself before looking back up to the Chain in front of me, it was still looking at me, and it was starting to annoy me. "My name's Ventus!" He said suddenly, pointing to himself with a small smile on his face. I quickly grabbed his hand and lowered it, causing his face to fall as he looked at me.

"Shh…" I whispered, holding my index finger up to my lips. The Chain nodded and lowered his arm to his side. "So, does that mean you can talk?" It asked again. I nodded, but didn't speak.

Why is he not the same as the others?

"The same as who?" It asked questionably. That caused my eyes to widen slightly as I looked at him through my bangs, he didn't seem to understand that was one of my thoughts and continued to question me. "What are you talking about?"

…Can you…hear me?

The boy nodded. "Loud and clear." He said with another smile. I gaped at him, he surely isn't like most Chains I've encountered; for one, he didn't fight the Trump, and second, he doesn't act like a Chain. What are you?

"I told you; I'm Ventus." He answered, reading my thoughts yet again. "What's your name?"

N-…Name?

The Ventus raised a yellow brow at me, that glow of his still shining in the darkness of Abyss. "Yeah, your name, it's what people call you." The Ventus said.

People…call me? Just what kind of Chain are you?

The Ventus seemed to be more confused than before. "What the hell is a chain? I'm a boy, well, fifteen isn't really a boy, but…" The Ventus' voice trailed off as he looked ahead into the empty darkness before he snapped back. "Well, that doesn't matter. Where am I, anyway?"

I hummed as I looked at him. You're in Abyss. At my words, the Ventus' face became that of a shocked one. "A-Abyss?" He repeated, his body beginning to shake with fear. I meekly nodded at him. You seem surprised, what could merely make you afraid of this place; the fact that it's hell? Or maybe because you're trapped here? I teased, feeling a small kick of satisfaction from the pained expression of his face.

"Trapped?" He repeated in a much quieter voice. It seemed as though I struck a nerve in him, how sweet. Yes, the Abyss is something that should not be meddled with. So you can either spend the rest of eternity - or watch jumps - here, or… That was when a thought crossed my mind.

A contractor! Why, this Ventus seems like he would do anything to escape this place, just the look on his face says it all!

"Um, what's a contractor?"

"Is it possible for you to not read my mind for at least a second?" I questioned bluntly, ignoring the look of shock he sent me. "O-Oh…" He seemed awestruck that I'd said something to him, but it was getting in my nerves; the fact that he wouldn't allow me to think to myself.

"So…you can talk. Are you just too lazy to, or something?" He asked. In return I growled at Ventus, to which he immediately retreated, cowering away from me. I felt a wicked smile form on my lips as I help my hand out for it.

"Tell me, Ventus; would you like to escape from the Abyss? I would." I said, trying to hide my grin by bowing my head. Ventus looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "e-escape?"

"Yes," I said, looking up at him with my usual blank expression, the only ever times that I would show any kind of emotion would be if it was truly necessary, and right now seemed quite necessary for it. "Both you and I can leave this place, all you have to do is sign the contract, and become my contractor."

The boy stared at me with wide eyes. "It's that simple?" He asked, believing that there was nothing else to it. I nodded meekly. "Why, of course. Do you really believe that I'm lying?" I questioned. "I did just save you, after all."

Ventus seemed to hesitate for a moment before he began to reach out for my hand, but as he did I heard something in the distance, absentmindedly dropping my hand, I looked over my shoulder to where I believed the noise was coming from. It was a melody; one that I'd heard over three million, six thousand, seven hundred and twenty three watch jumps ago, I recognised it almost instantly.

That song…

Ventus seemed to say something from behind me, but his words didn't ring in my ears; instead I was far too caught up in listening out to that melody. It was getting louder with every step I took towards the music, but when it sounded like it was playing right next to my ear a sharp pain seemed to cut through my chest, almost as though I was being stabbed in my heart.

Looking down, I caught sight of something sticking out of my right shoulder, it resembled that of a leg from a baby headed Trump. I only hummed as I watched my blood trickle down my pale arm and stained my watch.

The melody still rang loudly in my ears, but the things that snapped me back into reality was when Ventus swung at the Trump with some sort of stick that he'd found. The melody faded from my ears and all I could hear was the Trumps screams and Ventus' yells as he attacked it.

The monster flicked me off its leg and turned to face Ventus, preparing to fight him, but the blonde boy seemed more than prepared for it, his face was firm and his feet were planted on the ground. I could only watch as I lay on the ground, my bangs falling to the floor and gave me a clearer view.

"My name's Ventus."

A name…what's mine? Did I have a name?

"It's something people call you by."

All that other Chain, B-Rabbit, used to call me was 'a nuisance'. Is Nuisance my name? Hm, it doesn't feel right, maybe a name is something that you are, and maybe it identifies you from other Chains.

The melody began to play in my ears again, that sweet melody that I heard a few moments ago, why is it coming back to me? What is this song called, does it have a name like me?

Lacie…

Lacie? Is that the name of the song, or is it my name? It's hard to tell when you can barely hear your own thoughts, so maybe Lacie is my name…

"Lacie!" Ventus called out, causing me to lift me head up from the ground to look at him, I watched as he swung side to side, a stick in the Trumps face as he refused to let go of it. "I'll be your contractor!"

A smirk played on my lips just as his words escaped that little mouth of his, and within seconds, a blinding light surrounded us both, sending the Trump into oblivion as Ventus and I floated in the white. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into me, pressing my lips against his to seal the contract.

He didn't react, not that I expected him to, and when I finished the seal I whispered into his ear, "never sign a contract with somebody you barely know." I said wickedly, causing him to gasp, but before he could do anything I flew into his body, hiding myself from the blinding light and took over his limbs, trying them out for myself.

"A new body…" I hummed to myself, the sweet melody that I heard falling passed my lips in song as the white surrounded me, soon to swallow me as I resided in Ventus' body.

3rd person…

When Ventus finally came to, he found himself laying on something soft, with a thin layer of material covering his body. He slowly allowed his ocean blue orbs to open, and his blurry vision cleared, only to show a head of spiky red hair in front of him.

Ventus absentmindedly reached out to him and gripped his sleeve. "Lea…" He said softly, finding his voice to be rough and his throat dry. The man turned to Ventus, showing his neon green eyes and the upside down teardrop tattoos under his eyes, he appeared to be in his twenties or so.

Ventus quickly dropped his hand when he saw that it wasn't the person he thought it was. The red haired man grabbed the material that was keeping Ventus' body warm, which turned out to be a jacket, and walked to the other side of the room where two other people were sat at a table; the first was a girl with auburn red hair and violet-blue eyes, she was also wearing a very elegant pink dress and was drinking tea. The other person was a man, much older than the girl, he had long, silver hair that reached his mid back and covered his left eye, the other one being sea foam green and he was eating quite a lot of teacakes.

"Ah, young Master Ventus, it seems as though you've awoken." The silver haired man said with a fork sticking out of his mouth from where he'd eaten another slice of cake. Ventus slowly sat up and looked over the trio, only remembering one name. "Lady Kairi!" Ventus exclaimed, looking over at the young auburn haired girl.

Kairi looked at Ventus with a warm smile. "It truly is a pleasure to see you again, Master Ventus." She said in the sweetest tone heard to man. The aforementioned boy grinned at her, but his face soon fell as he looked over at his surroundings.

"Where am I? Did Lacie really get me out of the Abyss?" He asked himself, a hand over his chest. At his words, the silver haired male seemed to take interest. "Lacie?" He questioned with a teasing tone. "Is that another Chain?"

Ignoring the man's words, Ventus looked up at him. "I recognise you…you're that guy that was with Lady Kairi the night of the coming-of-age ceremony…" His voice trailed off as he tried to remember the man's name.

"No haste," the man said, raising a hand to stop Ventus' mind from travelling. "My name is Riku." He said, earning a nod from Ventus. "Now, tell us; just who is this 'Lacie' you mentioned?" Riku asked, a small smirk on his lips. At the name, Ventus froze.

"Never sign a contract with somebody you barely know…"

"Master Ventus?" Lady Kairi looked at the blonde with a strange expression. However, she soon got his attention and stood from her seat, making her way over to him. "Is this 'Lacie' a Chain, by any chance?" She asked.

"A Chain…that's what she kept calling me." He muttered to himself, but Kairi's ears were wide open. "She…she said that we could escape from the Abyss together if I signed a contract with her…"

"And you accepted." The red haired man said bluntly, causing everyone in the room to look at him. "Phoenix, you shouldn't be so rude." Riku scolded sweetly. The red haired man known as Phoenix simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, taking his attention to the window and watched the rain slap against the glass.

Riku stood from his chair and stood beside Lady Kairi. "So, this Chain has a name? I haven't heard of something so manipulative in a while." He said quietly to himself before he looked at Ventus. "So, 'Lacie' tricked you into signed a contract with her so that the two of you could escape from the Abyss?" He questioned.

Ventus nodded, his eyes on his feet. Sure, he shouldn't have trusted somebody he'd just met, but it seemed right to do so; she didn't look bad, in fact she was beautiful and had something about her that Ventus just couldn't shrug away.

"I see…" Riku trailed off as he pulled out a piece of candy from his pocket, unwrapped it and threw it into his mouth. "And…where is this 'Lacie'?" He asked between crunches of the sweet candy.

Ventus had to think on his words for a minute before he stood up. "I'm not sure, but I think she's-" he was simply cut off by Riku poking him rather hard in the head with a walking stick that he'd pulled out from behind his back. Ventus let out a small cry as he landed back on the bed, hearing a loud thud that didn't come from him.

Looking over his shoulder, he was more than surprised to see Lacie leaning against the wall that the bed he slept on was against, she was rubbing her head; so the thud was her head butting the wall…

"Lacie!" Ventus was about to crawl over to her, but Phoenix had grabbed his arm and pulled him away from her, restricting him from going near her. "Let me go!" Ventus yelled, pulling at his arm to try and break free.

1st person

The light was blinding, after being in the darkness of Abyss for so long I wasn't even sure if there was a light, and now that I knew there was I had forgotten how darn bright it was. I rubbed my head, seeming as I had hit it on something hard.

"Let me go!" I heard Ventus say, I looked up, confused as to how I got out of his body. No worries, at least now I'm free to roam around as I wish. At that Ventus stopped struggling against the red headed man and stared at me with wide eyes, to which I glared at him. Did you just read my mind again? I watched as Ventus reluctantly nodded. I growled at his response, causing him to cower away behind the red haired man.

Wait, what am I doing just sitting here? I can just so easily run away from these humans!

A wicked smirk grew on my lips as I glanced over the room, searching for the easiest exit. The window was perfect, I could just jump straight through it! Without a second glance to the people around me, I bolted for the window and jumped into it, but when my body made contact with the cold glass, it felt like I was struck by a lightning bolt; sparks flew through my body and my hair stood on end.

I was thrown away from the window by the shocks and landed in a heap on the ground, my bangs falling from my eyes and showed my pained face. Looking up, I saw the silver haired man standing above me. "Well, well, aren't you a pretty little Chain." He teased before he began to eat a lolly pop that he pulled out of his pocket.

I growled up at him again and, ignoring the sparks that still flew through my body, I prepared to stand up, but it felt like something or someone was pinning me to the ground. "What…is this?" I asked myself as I tried to fight against the pressure above me.

"I'm sorry, Lacie," the auburn haired girl apologised as she also stepped above me. "We just had to take precautions in case you tried to escape, and it looks like you did." She said, smiling down at me sweetly. I glared up at the two, it was like a permanent frown was on my face, but back in the Abyss I barely ever displayed any emotion, but I guess I was used to the Abyss and had no reason to be surprised or scared of anything down there, but up here…

"Should we just kill her on the spot?" The red haired man asked, still keeping a hold of Ventus' arm. At his words my frown fell and my eyes went wide. "K-Kill?" I repeated, causing the silver haired male to look back down at me.

"Aw, Phoenix, I think you scared the little Chain saying that." He mocked, although unintentionally, I could tell. I returned to glaring at him and continued to push against the power keeping me to the ground.

"Don't struggle too much," the girl said worryingly. "It'll drain all of your energy and would be bad for your health." She exclaimed. I stared up at her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth, and soon I relaxed, although not completely.

The silver haired male sighed with relief. "Ah, now that that's settled, maybe we can get down to business." He mused, taking a final bite out of his lollipop and threw the stick away carelessly. "You signed a contract with Master Ventus, did you not?" He asked, kneeling down on one knee and placed his hand on the side of my face. My face twisted in disgust and tilted my head away from his hand. He feigned pain. "Oh, now Lacie; there's no need to be so rude." He said, resting his hand back on my cheek, but this time I didn't bother to move away.

The pink haired girl leaned down and smiled at me. "We only want to help Master Ventus." She said kindly with a small giggle. I found myself glaring at her before I looked back up at the silver haired male. "What is it…that you want?" I asked in a strained voice, it was even difficult to speak, let alone move.

The man above me smiled and clasped his hands together. "Oh, look at that, Lady Kairi, I think there's a chance she might cooperate with us!" He exclaimed cheerfully, closing his eyes for a brief moment. The pink haired girl – Lady Kairi – smiled back at him blissfully. "That's wonderful." She exclaimed before she stood up straight and walked over to Ventus. It pained me to lift my head and watch her as she made her way over to him, once in front of him she placed bother her hands on the collar of his white, ragged shirt. "My apologies, Master Ventus." She said before she quickly spread her arms, ripping the front of his shirt open.

Ventus gasped, staring down at his now torn shirt. "Wha – why did you…?" his voice was filled with surprise, much like his face. Lady Kairi placed her hand on his left shoulder and moved the clothing from his joint, allowing it to fall. Ventus looked down at his shoulder and gasped at the strange marking on the left side of his chest; it was heart shaped, but it was much curvier, it was surrounded by a circle which had little lined marking around it and clock hand facing the top – much to be said it pretty much did look like a clock.

I recognised the marking; it was the contract embedded into his heart. But looked as though the only person who didn't know what the symbol was; was Ventus.