I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belongs to Square Enix/Disney and Konami respectively.

Chapter 27

Each inch he descended felt like walking up the hangman's stand to the noose. Terra kept one hand on the wall, worried that the dark stairs under his feet would end midair. With his other hand, he held Earthshaker in a sweaty grip that threatened to allow the keyblade to slip out from between his fingers.

It was so dark. The walls and ceiling, though he knew they were there, were too dark to see. The only light was from the step he directly stood on, and a distant opening at what must have been the bottom of the stairs. It was that which guided Terra, and the sight of the light served to calm his frazzled nerves.

Finally, he reached the bottom and walked into the light.

There was glass under his foot, slick glass coloured red and black. The entire floor, circular in shape, was made of it. From here, the light originated, strong enough that he could see across the room, yet somehow weak enough that he still couldn't see the walls. They, like the ones in the staircase, were perfectly black, like the darkness of space without the stars.

He saw Aqua first. She was slumped over, sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. She made no response when Terra shouted her name and ran over; she didn't even look at him. He crouched down to her level, shook her shoulders and when that failed to rouse her, grabbed her chin and lifted it to see her face. Her eyes were open, but they were . . . dead. There was no other word to describe it.

"Aqua, snap out of it!"

Although he hated to hurt her, he slapped her lightly on the cheek, praying that the shock would bring her to her senses. But it didn't; instead, her head rolled with the force in an eerie, boneless fashion. He mumbled a Cura spell, growing frantic as the green glow enveloped her, and then vanished without an effect. What was wrong with her? What was going on?

His trembling arms dropped back to his sides, and Aqua's head flopped down again. She looked no different than she did before.

He backed away. Though he loathed admitting it, Aqua's condition, Aqua, was scaring him. He looked around, found his next target, and rushed over.

"Ven!"

Ven was sprawled out on the ground, lying on his back. Unlike Aqua, his eyes were shut, and fluttered closed again after Terra peeled them open. Despite that, Terra was able to see that they had the same dead quality that Aqua had.

On his knees, Terra stared blankly at Ven. This scene was evoking unpleasant memories of when Ven had first arrived at the castle and had simply laid in his bed, comatose. Looking over the younger boy for some clue as to what had happened, Terra caught sight of a bit of exposed skin. Ven's shirt had pulled up so that it didn't cover his stomach completely, and on the edges of the pale flesh, Terra could see something . . .

He pulled the shirt up, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

What appeared to be black vines crisscrossed Ven's skin. They were small, skinny things, pulsating like veins. Warm to the touch, they clung stubbornly to Ven when Terra pulled at them and when he followed the path, he saw that they were attached to the glass platform.

"What in the worlds . . .?"

The vines were all over him, covering Ven's chest and hiding under his sleeves. Even now, as Terra watched, he could see them creeping up the younger boy's neck towards his face. Growling, Terra grabbed a fistful and pulled. It was like trying to tear apart cobwebs, but he managed it, and threw a clump of the black stuff to the ground. He annihilated it with fire next, just in case it could somehow come back.

Ven stirred. "Terra . . ."

Ven tried to sit up, but the remaining vines held him in place. Before the boy could panic, Terra took a page out of Aqua's book and shushed him, gently pushing his head back down.

"I'm here, Ven. Just hang tight; I'll get this off you."

Ven's eyes opened halfway, and his head rolled a bit to one side. "Am I still dreaming? Are you actually here?" he asked. "Your eyes . . . Terra, is this real?"

"It's real," Terra said, "I'm here, and I'm getting you two out of here."

"No!" Ven tried to sit up again. "Grab Aqua and go. You have to get out of here."

Terra clenched his jaw. "Not without you. I'm not leaving either of you."

"That's because you're not leaving."

Terra leapt to his feet and spun around. However, there was no enemy to be seen. Baffled, he turned in a complete circle, still finding no trace of the voice's origin.

Then he looked up.

In the center of the glass platform, a boy floated in the air far above. He looked similar to Ven, with closed eyes and the same spiky hair that branched off in every direction; however, there were some choice differences. The spikes on the mysterious boy's head seemed to be more sideways, while Ven's were straighter up. Most importantly though, this boy's hair was black.

"Vanitas," he growled. At this point, it was still technically a guess, but Terra couldn't imagine who else it could be.

In mockery of a descending angel, Vanitas slowly floated downwards, touching down in the center. Bright yellow eyes snapped open, fixing on Terra the way a hawk's eyes would lock onto a mouse. Teeth bared in a feral grin, Vanitas snapped his fingers. There was a strangled yelp behind Terra, and he turned just to time to see the black vines claim Ven again, and drag him into a deep sleep.

"What are you doing to them?" Terra demanded.

Vanitas shrugged. "Nothing that wasn't meant to be. Soon, me and Ven will be one again, and our trio will be reborn."

Terra blinked, too surprised to be angry. "Our trio?"

"Me, you, and Aqua. We'll be together again, and he won't stand in our way."

Vanitas was actually smiling, and it was more frightening than the manic grin he had wore before. He approached Terra with the same bouncing gait Ven had, and Terra recoiled. He held Earthshaker defensively in front of him, giving Vanitas pause.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Vanitas claimed. "The three of us, we have an unbreakable connection, remember?"

Terra started forwards as Vanitas held the green Wayfinder up. His fingers twitched, itching to rip it out of Vanitas' grip. Vanitas, misreading the situation, smiled again and hooked it to a chain around his neck. It laid there on Vanitas' chest, as if declaring it belonged there.

"Where did you get that?" Terra asked.

Vanitas looked at him, shocked. "Aqua gave it to us." One hand reached out, palm up, as if beckoning Terra forward. "Don't you remember?"

"I remember her giving it to Ven, not you."

That wiped the smile from Vanitas' face. "She gave it to me," he said in a low voice, "Ventus stole it."

"Funny," Terra said with no trace of amusement in his voice. He walked towards Vanitas, striking at him with his words. "I have the feeling it's the complete opposite. I mean, I'm pretty sure that you took it from Ven . . ."

"Shut up!" The fury in Vanitas' voice caught Terra off-guard. "It's mine, mine!"

Terra spoke his thoughts aloud. "Who are you?"

"You know me: I'm Vanitas, your friend. Stop being stupid!

Terra shook his head. "I can honestly say that I have never seen you before."

Devastation swept across Vanitas' face. The look, so alien compared to Terra's expectations, reminded the eldest apprentice of Ven and for a moment, he was torn. Part of him ached to comfort Vanitas and wipe that look off his face; but the other side of him, both the rational side and the side fuming
over the damage done to his friends, held him back. Quickly, that furious part of him took control again, and Terra's lips curled in a sneer.

"You don't remember me . . ." Vanitas muttered. He shook his head, and it seemed to Terra that he was forcing a smile onto his face. "No matter, I'll make you remember."

Reading the anger in the other's eyes, Terra held up his keyblade and prepared himself.

Why was he here? Where was he?

Ven stood alone in an empty white space. There was no ground under him, but he wasn't falling. He remembered, vaguely, waking up to Terra hovering over him, and begging the older boy to run. Instinctively, Ven reached for his Wayfinder, his spirits plummeting when he found only air. Yes, that was right: Vanitas had taken it.

He walked, but the world didn't change. It was white everywhere, never ending. His feet made no sound as they slapped against whatever was passing as the ground, and the silence made him nervous. Where was Terra and Aqua? How did he get here?

Was it too late?

He bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut to try and keep back the tears that threatened to fall. Was this the end? Had he led his friends to their doom? At that thought, he couldn't stop the tears, and sniffling, he wiped his eyes with his arm. They didn't deserve this; even if he was to be trapped here, he just wanted them to get out.

He opened his eyes, blinking as he saw his shadow. That hadn't been there before. . .

The shadow lengthened. Ven backpedaled, but the shadow did not follow. It continued to expand, grew to an impossible size and at the tip, in the center of the 'head', thick tendrils of darkness rose; they coiled and twisted together like a mass of writhing snakes, travelling upwards. From the mass sprouted two appendages that smoothed and shaped into arms. The rest of the mass bulged, and then Vanitas burst through it like a baby bird breaking through its egg. His mask gone, he grinned viciously at Ven, his yellow eyes crazed and unfocused.

"It's time for you to go away," Vanitas said. "You stole my life, and now you're giving it back."

"You're nuts!" Ven said. He wasn't one to let hatred linger in his heart, but for Vanitas, he could make an exception.

"Doesn't change the fact I'm going to win," Vanitas sneered. "Now why don't you be a good boy and stop resisting?"

Wayward Wind appeared in his hands. "Not a chance," he said. He moved one foot back and sunk into his fighting stance, twisting his keyblade so that it sat in his reversed grip.

To his surprise, Vanitas didn't summon his. "Oh, Ventus." He sighed, as if he were speaking about a particularly nasty storm outside. "Why do you always have to complicate things?"

"I complicate things? You're the one trying to kill me!"

"Not kill you," Vanitas claimed, "complete you. You're only half a heart, Ventus; you can't survive with that. You have to merge with me, there's no other choice."

Vanitas held his hand out. "Join with me. Become one with me."

Ven narrowed his eyes, but otherwise, kept a straight face. "What will happen to Terra and Aqua?"

Vanitas, believing that Ven was on the verge of agreeing, grinned. "Don't worry, they'll still be with us. The three of us will never be apart."

Ven heard the underlying threat in that sentence. He had never intended to accept Vanitas' terms, but even if he had considered them, that would have killed it. No matter what Vanitas and this town threw at him, he would never sacrifice his friends. He would fight for them and keep them safe, even if that meant destroying himself.

"I'm not letting you do this," he said.

Vanitas' hand fell back to his side. For a long moment, they stared at each other. Finally, Vanitas rolled his eyes and said, "I tried to be nice," one hand reached up above his head, "but if you want to do this the hard way . . ."

That same hand closed, curling around the handle of a dark keyblade. Keeping that same height, Vanitas moved it back and twisted so that he held the keyblade next to his head and it curved forwards.

Vanitas sneered. ". . . I'll oblige you."

"So, this is what has become of you all."

Ansem bowed his head, hiding the vicious snarl that had taken over his face. He had spent so long waiting, so long searching for answers, and it turned out he had been betrayed all along. Was this karma? Some delayed punishment for sins he didn't even know he had? Or had they'd simply been rotten all along and he hadn't noticed? There were so many possibilities, but not one changed the reality that he was facing off against five armed men with only a sword. At least Braig was gone.

Dilan and Aeleus . . . he remembered sitting in the office with them, discussing cases over a cup of coffee, and bidding them farewell as they left to investigate the disappearance of two scientists in the town known as Silent Hill. They'd vanished too, and after the chief had spoken with the mayors of the towns neighbouring Silent Hill, Aeleus and Dilan had been declared deceased. More sinister was that the chief absolutely refused to send any person to investigate their disappearance or even retrieve their bodies, threatening to fire anyone who did. There had been uproar, naturally, but the chief had refused to budge.

Ansem had been upset, having known the men personally, yet had not been willing to risk his career for the sake of two corpses. Selfish, perhaps, but judging by current events, it had been for the best.

But then the town had taken his son.

He had thought nothing of it when Ienzo began to sketch bloody churches and deformed monsters. His son had always been intrigued by the darker side of humanity. But then, Ienzo disappeared and desperate, Ansem had taken a closer look at his son's work. A week passed with him asking everyone for information, and then Ansem discovered that the church did exist. It was the Balkan Church from Silent Hill. He had argued with the chief to open an official investigation there, but she had refused.

So, he had hijacked a police car and gone there anyways.

No one had come after him.

Before, when he was still reeling from being refused, he had despised the chief with every fibre of his being. Now, he was supremely grateful to her. Even if she had failed to stop him, at least she had kept others from following. No one deserved to face the horror that was Silent Hill.

Nor did Silent Hill deserve to add more to its army. If he was correct in guessing that the two other men were Xemnas and Even, then he had discovered the fate of the two scientists. It appeared that everyone who had entered had fallen under the town's thrall.

He prayed that he would not be the next.

"Is this justice?" he spat at Aeleus. "Is this how you have become a hero?"

Aeleus said nothing. He and the force had used to joke about how little the giant man had to say. In a way, it had fondly reminded him of Ienzo whenever he was forced to interact with a girl. The 'Silent Hero', they'd nicknamed Aeleus. Back then, the name had suited the man perfectly. Now, it only left a sour taste on Ansem's tongue.

"Accept your loss with grace," Xemnas said. "Stand aside, and we may find a place for you within our ranks."

Ansem smirked. "I'm afraid I can't do that. There's a dear friend of mine dependant on this old body's stamina."

"Is that so?" Xemnas said. "I fear that you are incorrect in that assumption. I have no desire to retrieve Terra. It was his choice to descend into the darkness; it would be inconsiderate to stop him now."

"What!" Ansem exclaimed. Had that all been part of the plan? He cursed; like fools, Terra and he had fallen right into the trap.

He made a move towards the trapdoor, intending to extract Terra from this mess they had gotten themselves into. However, in the corner of his vision, he saw Dilan move . . .

He leapt back just as Dilan's lance impaled the spot where his feet had been.

"I'm afraid you can't do that," Dilan said.

Ansem scowled, head whipping from side to side as he noticed the Order drawing in closer. He swung his sword in a wide arc, warning them to stay away.

"I have spent weeks in this hell!" Ansem shouted. "I will not be stopped by the words of a half-baked cult!"

"Will you be stopped by a lance in your gut?" Dilan asked in an almost friendly way.

"Make all the threats you want," Ansem said, "but either you come and stop me, or I will rescue Terra and his friends."

Aqua watched as Terra and Vanitas faced off, helpless to aid either of her best friends. She didn't understand: why were they fighting? They'd just reunited, finally found each other again . . . why was Terra attacking him?

"Terra, stop!" she shouted. Or at least, that's what she would have done, but her mouth refused to open and when she tried to move to stop Terra from charging, her body refused to obey.

She was frozen on the edge of the glass platform, safely away from the imminent fight, and as it dawned on her that she couldn't move, she began to panic. Fear swelled within her, lacing her blood with fire as she desperately tried to make her limbs obey her will. Less than a minute passed though before a soothing wave swept over her, neatly shoving her fear to the side. It's okay, a silky, smooth voice whispered to her. There's no need to be afraid.

That voice and her emotions may have said one thing, but logic said another: something was taking over her, and she would be a fool to think it was okay. She chose to ignore the voice, reaching instead for the fear – the real emotion – even as it seemed to be pulled farther and farther out of her reach. Meanwhile, the calm, the apathy pressed against her, threatening to devour her whole. This was wrong! Her friends were fighting and she couldn't do anything . . .

Not my friend . . .

Her mental struggle ceased for a heartbeat, and the thought came again.

Not my friend, not Vanitas. It's . . . it's the other boy . . .

A face flashed in front of her eyes, a face with bright blue eyes and spiky blond hair. She couldn't turn her head to look, but she knew that boy was to her left, sleeping.

The smooth voice spoke again. Lies, it said. That boy's not your friend. He's the enemy. He hurt you.

Was that . . . was that true? But why then did it feel so wrong? She wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

Trust us, the voice said. Vanitas is your friend. He needs you. He'll look after you . . .

The clang of clashing keyblades saved her from having to make a decision. Rooted to the spot, only able to blink, she was forced to watch as Vanitas and Terra fought. There was darkness trailing the both of them, mixing so that she couldn't tell which part belonged to whom. Both of them seemed enraged, but Vanitas' was more of a calm rage while Terra's face was that of a frenzied animal. He held nothing back, clearly seeking to severely injure their younger friend. She had to step in . . .

Suddenly, as Terra raised Earthshaker, she caught sight of the orange Wayfinder, which glinted for a fleeting second as it swung through the air. From deep inside her, a ferocious voice roared, No, it's not Vanitas! He's not my friend. HE'S LYING!

Immediately, the smooth voice hissed again, trying to reclaim her trust. But even if she had wanted to listen, she couldn't shake off the doubt. Vanitas wasn't her friend? Then it must have been the other one, the boy next to her with the blond hair. . .

Stars burst behind her eyes. Her head felt like it had been split into two, and she could feel something being torn away from her. She tried to recover, tried to focus on that boy again, and found to her terror that she couldn't remember his face.

That void only lasted a moment though, and then something was shoved into that space. It was a memory of her, Terra and Vanitas, under a starry sky. In her hands, she held the three Wayfinders and handed them to her best friends . . .

No, that never happened . . .

She couldn't stop the memory from playing out in front of her eyes. Even though she was certain that this had never occurred, the clarity and vividness of the memory made her doubt herself. What if it had happened? Was she just fooling herself?

She watched Vanitas and Terra continue to fight, her mind silent for once. Then, something so obvious came to her.

She didn't know whether Vanitas was a friend or an enemy, but she knew Terra was her best friend. She could help him. Of course, there was still the problem of being unable to move . . .

Come on, do this for me. She focused all her strength, all her will into one simple task, the strain of it giving her a headache.

It took an entire minute, but then, her hand twitched.

Next chapter will feature Vanitas vs. Ven. Stay tuned for that!