The heartless were becoming thicker and more powerful ones were rising up all around us. We had to be nearing the center. As we moved deeper into the castle we heard yelling and the slam of doors but then all we could see and hear were the heartless.

Our progress was halted by a wall of large bodies. Donald and I called on our ice and sent it flying to them. They shook, a few were disposed of and I thought I saw a body behind them before more came to take their places.

"What is this?" Sora asked.

"A blockade," Goofy said. "I think they don't want us to go any further."

"That's quite obvious," I muttered.

"Meg, be nice!" Nessa said. Now the large bodies were surrounding us. There were a few dog looking guards that were huge, their armor was ridiculously large and blue. They had shields with dog faces that blew out magic. I shuddered as I dodged a blast of fire and rolled under the shield.

I laughed as I whacked its knee caps with my staff and it fell backwards. I then sent up a lightening cloud and it thundered down on several of them. The room was lit up with bright white lights and I caught of glimpse of a girl standing in front of the doorway. She looked at me, and I stared into her eyes.

A new wall of heartless blocked my view. One reached forward and knocked me back with its giant fist. I hit the opposite wall with an "oomph" and fell to the ground. I rubbed the back of my head and watched the rest of them fight while I regained my sense of stability.

Sora was fighting alongside Goofy on the right wall. They smashed the heartless right and left. Donald was off facing the main lines in the front. Nessa was all by her lonesome self on the left. Suddenly she turned around and looked at me.

"MEG GET OVER HERE!" I jumped up and ran to her. My head swimming as I did so. "Stand still please." "Why?" I asked, but she wasn't listening to me. She raised her shield and a blinding light glowed brightly from it. I had to cover my eyes. A loud scream filled the room. It sounded like it was terrified and in pain at the same time. Then with a great shake her shield slammed into the ground and it rumbled slightly.

When I looked out again all the heartless where gone. The shadow that had been coming from the doorway was even gone. The entire room was glowing with her eerie light.

"What is that?" Sora asked, coming up to us.

"It's my shield," Nessa answered.

"No. I mean that," he pointed "over there on the ground."

We all turned to see where his hand was pointing. There was a crumpled black lump in front of the door. It was laying very still.

"A heartless?" Donald suggested.

"A heartless would have died from that attack, Donald," Nessa explained.

"Well then what is it?"

I had already started walking forward. Having a sneaky suspicion of what and who it was. I was right.

She was lying on her back. Her eyes open and staring at the ceiling. She wasn't moving, save for the breath moving in and out of her chest.

"What is it?" Sora asked, coming up to examine her burnt face with me.

"It's Rachel."

"What is she doing here?" Suddenly his Keyblade was out.

"Put that away. She's not going anywhere," Nessa bonked him on the head. The Keyblade disappeared. She knelt down next to Rachel's head and placed her hand on her forehead. Rachel flinched violently, Nessa didn't move her hand.

"STOP!" Rachel screamed. "STOP!" her voice echoed loudly in the hall. "I only wanted to stop you!" She gasped out. "You can't continue on."

"Oh and I suppose that's exactly what they want isn't it?" Sora asked.

"You've only come to stop us so we can't open the door!" Donald accused. Rachel shook her head, her eyes squinted shut as if she was in pain.

"Come on guys. We're almost there." Sora jumped up and started to run for the door. Donald and Goofy followed closely behind.

"NO!" Rachel croaked, but they were gone.

"Oh that's very well Rachel," Meg muttered next to me, "I knew you weren't completely healed."

"I am." she mumbled "I am.

"No you're not. You don't want us to go through so they continue their plans of opening the door!" I exclaimed, "and now we're going to miss out on the big fight all because you decided to block our way and we're responsible for you." "If you go through then they will open the door. Sora is the key, he's always the key!" Rachel muttered. "The key." A spark of light came from Nessa's hand and she started shaking violently.

"Well this is just fantastic!" Nessa shouted. "I don't know who to trust anymore!"

"We obviously can't trust Rachel. She's got darkness eating away at her insides," I answered.

"But what if she is fighting. Why else would she try to prevent us from going in there? If what she says is true if Sora doesn't go in there they can't open the do-"

"It is I, Ansem, seeker of the darkness."

Rachel's eyes shot open.

"It's too late."