DISCLAIMER: There's no reason to really put a disclaimer since we all know what it means and says in the first place.

Chapter 28

Two Lovers Doomed

"He can't be! I won't let him go!"

-Kairi

There was a collective silence around them as the letter was finished being read. No members of the Disney Castle Court? Did the Huntsman not believe he could beat them unless Mickey was gone from the scene? It seemed highly unlikely…not even the king had ever faced him before in battle so not even he would know what to expect. But they had to decide now, or let the Huntsman slip from their fingers.

"I'll go back to the castle." Mickey said with grim determination although it was against all of his better judgment to not go. Sora shook his head, his spiky locks bouncing slightly.

"No. Your Majesty, there has to be some way to get around this." Sora said, slight anger bubbling in his voice. Anger that the Huntsman simply presumed that they would play by his rules. Anger over what had happened to Gentai's home. And anger that this whole business was starting to get far too much out of hand for anybody's comfort. But Mickey was resolute on the issue.

"Sora, we don't have much of a choice…" Mickey said with just a hint of sadness in his voice. But Riku chuckled a bit and both Sora and Kairi flashed him a look that could freeze the sun.

"What is it Sora? Afraid we can't take him on our own?" Riku asked, mockingly, almost goading Sora into the fight. Sora whipped around and shot him a look of rage and loathing that faded as soon as his eyes connected with his best friend.

"No…I just don't feel safe splitting up like this is all." Sora said concernedly, divulging his fears to the group at large. Kairi looked at her fiancée. Sora couldn't abide weakness, she knew, least of all in himself. But Sora was looking scared, and the honest truth was that she was scared too. She was scared that they might not make it out alive from this encounter. Scared of what was to come in the near future. And yet she was also scared of what the future would hold even if everything turned out the way she wanted it to.

Both Kairi and Sora had begun to fear for their lives. To them, Riku and Gentai, even Demora, had become the pillars of strength in their group. Sora had never been one to give up ever…but watching a world truly be destroyed…beyond what even the Heartless could do to it was simply too much to bear even for him. He hated Maleficent more than he had hated Ansem…more than he had hated Xemnas. But he couldn't let hatred become his fuel and if that was all that was left in his heart…then there was much little choice left to him that perhaps he would have to sit the fight out. But he would not.

"The Huntsman wants us to play his game…and we have to play by his rules." Riku said with confidence, as though he was certain that victory would come to them no matter what. "If the Huntsman wants us to play, then let him play." Gentai nodded as stared at all of his companions and all of them saw the conviction in his eyes.

"Riku's right. We'll play by his rules and he'll be the one falling not us." Gentai said calmly, though underneath all manner of rage was bubbling. "If he wants to play we'll give him what he wants and he will die." Sora snapped a look to Gentai and was worried by the rage building there. He had never seen such rage save for one time eight years ago when he fought Riku in the entrance hall of the castle at Radiant Garden. And it worried him. He looked to the king who was also staring at Gentai for but a moment. Then he nodded his head solemnly.

"Gentai and Riku are right, Sora." Mickey said with a touch of sorrow. "As much as I don't wanna leave you guys…it'd be best if I inform Donald and Goofy and in the meantime we don't endanger our chances of defeating the Huntsman here and now." And with that argument, Sora knew that there was no way that he could win. He therefore allowed Mickey to run off to Snow White's castle at a rapid pace before he faced Gentai and Riku, both of whom had been here before. Demora gave Gentai a pointed look.

"So where's this wood anyway?" Gentai cocked his head up the hill and the group set off that way. When they reached the crest of the hill, they could see the forest only a small distance away. Riku now took charge of the group again and the five companions pushed themselves into the darkening thicket. Riku let his sense of smell take over as they began to search for the cabin and the Huntsman in the woods. Sora and Kairi fell behind, but not too far behind the group. Kairi could sense that something was wrong with Sora and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Sora…what's wrong? You're unusually quiet." Kairi said in a slightly hushed tone and Sora looked at her with fear on his face.

"I'm scared Kairi." Sora confessed to her. She would have stopped moving at this proclamation if where they were going was not so important at this crucial juncture. Sora immediately knew that some kind of explanation was necessary. "I can't help but feeling like death has settled on this forest…I fear for our lives…" Kairi felt her hand slip off Sora's shoulder and into his hand. She clenched it tightly.

"I'm scared too Sora…but we'll get through this." Kairi said in a whisper to her fiancée and it seemed to reassure him for a moment, for a grin appeared on his face. He thanked Kairi with a kiss on the cheek and the two continued walking on.

Demora could sense the anger that was inside of Gentai at the current time. He had lost so much already…she didn't want him to lose anymore if she could help it. But she knew that if he let his rage blind him, then it could all be over, very quickly. She sidled up to him and smiled at him comfortingly. He returned the smile and allowed their hands to knit together. In front of the two couples Riku could sense this and the knot in his stomach tightened considerably. This was just one of those moments that he hated…when everyone else seemed to get together and he was left alone.

It was, of course, true that he had been quite the ladies' man during his last two years of high school when he at last returned from the adventure. But wasn't that just to fill the gaping hole in his heart? He had always been alone, and he was convinced he always would be. He would have chuckled as he cycled through the enormous list of girlfriends he had had in the past. Even Kairi was on that list when he and Sora had started some strange world-saving business that resulted in them stumbling onto various conspiracies and cat saving. Kairi had gotten suspicious of Sora and broke up with him right before their junior prom. The funny part was that she had hooked up with him and that was when the dream and the chase had come to an end. In all reality, the saying "the chase is better than the goal" truly applied here, for he realized he no longer wanted Kairi anymore. And she realized that she wanted Sora.

The darkness deepened and Riku could sense the source of it all just up ahead. He quickened his pace and the others followed after until they saw it. The cottage was sitting there, lone and desolate, and the man standing outside offering no more comfort than his home. All the Keyblade wielders at last summoned their Keyblades and Demora brought out her katana. The Huntsman held his crossbow in a relaxed position with a slight smirk on his face.

"You came without the king…I'm impressed, you actually complied with my rules." the Huntsman said with a sneer and Riku held his Keyblade out, pointing it straight out at the Huntsman's heart.

"You know why we're here…now let's finish this!" Riku said and with a feral roar, he bolted out a shot of Dark Aura at the Huntsman. The Huntsman responded by holding his crossbow in front of him like a shield. The darkness surged around it, and Riku could almost sense it seething into his own brain before the Dark Aura hit and was dispersed.

"Your feeble magic attempts work not on me…I know more about the darkness than you do." the Huntsman said and he began to pace around. "You forsook the darkness, and look what you've become Riku. A being who stands in the twilight, knowing not light or dark but a sense of nothingness…a sense of being empty." Riku had a sharp intake of breath at the statements and the Huntsman chuckled even louder.

"You know nothing!!" Riku yelled loudly, trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.

"Do I now?" The Huntsman said as he set about circling the enclosed group like a tiger about to devour his prey. "Were you not jealous of your friend, Sora? That he held and received all you held dear while he did nothing and you were constantly striving for it. You turned to the darkness in an effort to save that. You gave your heart and your being to that single moment and now look at you!" Riku grimaced as pain blossomed in the scar across his back, but he held it in. There was a stirring of restlessness and darkness in his heart. Was he in pain from the darkness that remained there? Or was it because everything the Huntsman was saying was true? "You're a hypocrite! Despising the darkness and debasing we who advocate it while you are nothing but a part of it. You belong to the darkness Riku!"

"You're wrong!" Sora snapped, in defense of his friend and the Huntsman looked at him. "You're wrong…Riku may have done all that in the past but that isn't who he is now."

"Is it? What is he then Sora, but the man who tried to take everything from you? Would not swear vengeance and retribution for these actions he's taken against you?" the Huntsman said, almost tasting a victory on his tongue. Sora just held his Keyblade aloft, pointing it at the Huntsman.

"Shut up! Your words are twisted!" Sora said with a look of such pure venom, the Huntsman was almost surprised he did not die from the look there.

"Don't you understand? You've all taken things from each other, so why fight me? Fight each other!" the Huntsman turned towards Riku with a smile on his face. "Maleficent will still welcome you back as if you were her child." Riku looked down at his shoes for a moment and it would seem to a passerby that he was actually considering her offer.

"You can tell Maleficent to…" Riku jerked his head up. "Stuff it!" He leapt in the air at the Huntsman, who had stopped circling and he leapt backwards. He fired off a crossbow bolt at Riku but Riku deflected it with the Keyblade. He wasn't so lucky on the second one that he didn't notice being fired. Luckily, it didn't hit him as Sora jumped in front of it. For the most part, Sora directed it away from his chest but it split off and drove into the calf of his leg. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

"He's even a nuisance to you in battle!" the Huntsman cried. "Why not be rid of him?" His words were beginning to escape from his mouth in a hiss, as though trying to be the snake from the Garden of Eden. "He has taken so much from you, so why not fight him instead of me?" Gentai stood in front of the two Keyblade wielders, one of whom was on the ground and held his Keyblade to bear.

"Because you've taken so much more from us…" Gentai seethed in anger and he changed his Keyblade into an offensive stance. "And now you're going to pay!!!"

"I think not!" And without warning he fired three crossbow bolts at Gentai's heart with extraordinary speed. However, Gentai swung at them too early in a fit of rage and had no time to bring his Keyblade back up. He knew he was doomed and he closed his eyes and waited for an impact that never came. The only sound he heard was the faint squeak of someone in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw yet another terrible scene in front of him.

Demora was lying on the ground, three crossbow bolts that were oozing darkness, embedded in her heart. The Huntsman a small distance away, staggered backward. He had not wanted to kill the girl…she had nothing to do with this. But his shame caused him to open a dark portal from behind him and disappear. Demora was breathing heavily and her breaths turned to wheezes. Gentai hurriedly extracted the crossbow bolts from her.

"No…Demora, hold on. I'll save you." Gentai pointed his Keyblade at her chest. "Heal!" A green light shone at the tip of the Keyblade and shone around Demora's wounds…but the wounds wouldn't close. The darkness had already delved to deep. "Heal!!!" He tried again but only with the same result. "HEAL!!!" Once more nothing happened as the life began to fade from Demora's eyes. With the last ounce of her strength she reached her hand up and stroked Gentai's chin.

"Make these worlds…better than they are…" she said in her last breath, before the warmth left her skin and her hand dropped uselessly from Gentai's face to the ground. Sora, Riku and Kairi were forced to watch as Gentai leaned over her body and hugged it…having now lost the last, most important things in the world to him. They wanted to comfort him…but perhaps leaving him alone was the best choice.

But Gentai wanted to scream in anger to the skies. He wanted to cry a river that could never dry in his lifetime. But most of all…

Gentai wanted revenge.

Author's Note: Yes, I will leave with that very sad moment for the weekend. Don't worry, we'll take care of the Huntsman next chapter. As you can see, the Huntsman actually does feel remorse and that is very important. Still, watch Treasure Planet because we'll be getting there very, very soon (2 chapters about). I hope you, for lack of a better word, enjoyed this chapter and please tell me if you're pissed with me, happy with me, or waiting on tenterhooks to see what will happen next, in a review. Dare to Be Silly.