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

Chapter 30

The force of his entrance nearly tore the poor trapdoor from its hinges. Indeed, there were cracks visible in the wood by the time the trapdoor fell to rest. With Aqua still slung over his shoulder, Terra emerged from the depths of the church, radiating an aura of war.

Ven clambered out next to him, his keyblade held tightly with both hands. His blue eyes flickered towards the exit, and then back to Terra as the older apprentice glowered at the remains of The Order. Xigbar's body hadn't been touched, and it was slumped clumsily against a pew, the ground around him shiny with blood; the green-eyed blond was leaning against a wall, bent over as he held in his insides; Lexaeus and Zexion were nowhere to be found. Xaldin and Xemnas, however, were still standing, calm amidst the carnage. The two cloaked men saw them, and a poisonous smile spread across Xaldin's face. Compared to Xemnas' utter lack of emotion, the contrast was creepy.

And crumpled not far from their feet, was Ansem.

He was a man who clearly was seriously injured, if not dying. A diagonal wound nearly severed his torso from his lower half, and there were several smaller cuts all over his body. Terra could tell exactly which wounds had been delivered by whom; the ones made by Xemnas were burnt at the edges, black on flesh that was too red and pale.

Ven whimpered. With his free hand, Terra shoved the younger boy behind him, standing as tall and wide as he could in order to hide Ven from view. It was too late, of course, but it made Terra feel better. He passed off Aqua to Ven, and then took a deliberate step forwards, like a wolf confronting an intruder on its territory. His message was clear: Stay away from them, Ansem too, or I'll kill you.

Xemnas' ethereal blades crackled in their own message.

"Ven," Terra murmured, "I'm going to grab Ansem, and then I need you to cast the strongest shield you can."

Ven looked up at him, confused.

Terra shrugged. "Normally, I'd ask Aqua, but . . ."

He gazed down at his friend, who even in unconsciousness seemed to be in pain.

"Okay," Ven said, "just tell me when."

"Oh, you'll know when."

Terra grinned. Xaldin and Xemnas had no clue about the lengths he would go to in order to protect his friends.

He reached up towards the hidden sky, summoned the magic deep instead of him, and hollered, "Meteor!"

It seemed like nothing happened, but then Terra felt it – the gnawing of magic as it left his core. He smiled triumphantly, leaping forwards in the lapse offered by Xemnas and Xaldin's confusion, and snagging Ansem by the back of his shirt. Terra didn't drag him back gently, and swore that a soft groan escaped the older man.

"Now!" he hissed.

Ven cast his spell, and Terra added his own strength to it. The barrier shimmered in the air, covering their heads like a roof, but offering no protection against the two men that faced them.

Xaldin laughed. "And just how is this foolish action supposed to –"

He never finished. Or maybe he did, and no one could hear. How could you, when a thousand pounds of red-hot rock was crashing through the ceiling? The meteor was merciless in its decent, smashing through wood, brick and stone as easily as Terra could rip through a wall made of paper. A violent rain battered the barriers as flaming rubble fell from the sky. The meteor itself was impossible to look at, too bright for one's eyes to handle. The world shook, roaring, and a blanket of heat evaporated the sweat off their skin.

A blinding flash of light. A sonic boom.

The magical barrier flexed, groaning as Terra and Ven fought to keep it going.

And then a wave of energy, too powerful to be denied, swept them off their feet and destroyed the spell. Terra grabbed Ven and Aqua, throwing them atop of Ansem, and then hunched over all of them himself, shielding his friends with his body.

And within ten seconds, it was all over.

Terra groaned, his back scarlet from the many shards that had slashed through his back. He spent a few critical moments repairing it, gasping in relief when the cool magic swept over him. When he ran a finger over his back, he could feel the scars left over from the wounds; he wished Aqua was awake, as her spells never left scars.

Meanwhile, Ven was funnelling his magic into saving Ansem's life, and Terra left him to it as he slowly stood and studied the church – or what was left of it.

Only the back wall had been left standing. It was blackened and crumbling at the ends, almost sheared in half by the force radiated by the meteor. Of the stone itself, there was no trace; like all magic, it had disappeared once its time was up. But it had left its mark: the roof was gone, replaced by a gaping hole that revealed the stars which even as he watched, were being hidden by a dense fog. The pews were nothing more than smoking charcoal, creating a bitter scent that coated the inside of his mouth. Piles of rubble laid in various places inside the room, in no describable pattern.

Beyond the shattered remains of the left wall, the blond-haired man lay limp on the road, still bleeding from his earlier wounds. He saw no signs of either Xemnas or Xaldin

The ground rumbled, and not from the aftermath of the meteor. "We have to go, now," Terra said. He scooped up Aqua with one arm. "Ansem, can you walk?"

"I can," the old man said, "but I won't be going with you."

"What?" Ven said. "Why?"

Ansem laughed sadly. "I am old, my friends, and these legs will only slow you down. And there is . . . another matter that I still need to take care of here. You must leave without me."

Ven was protesting, but both Terra and Ansem ignored him. In the older man, Terra saw the same unyielding determination that had led himself this far – and the calm acceptance that laced the other's thoughts. He knew that there would be no changing Ansem's mind, or saving him from the void that beckoned his soul.

"Be careful," Terra said. "I don't want to see you become one of them."

Ansem smirked. "Don't worry about me. I've denied the town this long, I won't let it take me now."

Terra nodded. "Come on, Ven. We have to go."

"But . . ."

"But nothing. We're going, now."

He left no room for argument and hoisted Ven along by the upper arm. He didn't know when Vanitas would come after them, but he was willing to bet it would be soon.

They made good progress, until they hit the first houses beyond the church. Then, Aqua started to convulse, digging her nails into his back as she struggled for breath.

"What's wrong with her?" Ven asked as Terra laid her on the ground.

"I . . . I don't know." Terra tried to wake her, going so far as to slap her again. But although Aqua's eyes were open, she wasn't awake. Instead, her eyes rolled up into her head, as foam built at the corners of her mouth.

"A-aqua?" Terra swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat.

Suddenly, Ven gasped. "Of course!" He rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a small vial filled with red liquid. "Terra, help me make her drink this!"

"What. . .?"

"Just trust me!"

He did. Terra held her down by the arms as she snarled and fought beneath him. When she paused, coughing as she tried to catch her breath, Ven lunged. He held her chin in place, preventing her from turning away, and emptied the vial into her open mouth. As the first drops touched her tongue, she went still, as if she understood what was happening.

She remained still even after it was all gone. A minute passed, then another.

"Ven," he growled, "what did you do?"

"Nothing!" the younger boy said. "It was supposed to cure her."

Terra grabbed Ven by the collar, screaming into his face. "What did you do?!"

He was stopped by a cough.

"Aqua!"

Her blue eyes opened, focusing weakly on Terra's face. "Your eyes . . ." she murmured. Then, quite suddenly, her body underwent a spasm, and she curled up on her side. Terra rubbed her back, helping her sit up with his other hand. Then, just after she had sat up, she lurched forwards.

He wasn't sure what she was spitting up. It looked like oil, and stained the ground underneath her like oil would, but it had a bitter scent.

Is that . . . darkness?! Was all of that inside her?

He held her up, keeping her from falling face-first into the darkness her body had rejected. When it was over, he hugged her to his chest while she shivered violently, her forehead drenched with sweat.

"It's okay," Terra murmured, sweeping her bangs out of her eyes. "I got you."

She sobbed, burying her face into his shirt.

"Terra, look." Ven tugged on Aqua's sleeve. "The bruise is gone."

"Ven," Terra snapped, "I don't think that's important right . . ."

Ven wasn't paying attention anymore, but pointing over Terra's shoulder. Terra followed Ven's prompting, and his eyes widened at what he saw. At the edge of the fog, stood a hound. How long had it been there, watching them? How many others were coming their way?

"Get up," he grunted, as he hauled Aqua to her feet. She leaned entirely on him for support, whimpering as she glanced from side to side. "Everybody, keyblades out."

Earthshaker returned to him, the metal still warm from when he had last fought with it. He grasped it tight in one hand, and used the other to keep Aqua standing. Inching towards him, Ven summoned his own keyblade, which shimmered with a bright light. Terra waited for Rainfell to materialize next to him, clearing his throat when the blue keyblade failed to appear.

"Terra," Ven said, "she doesn't have her keyblade anymore."

He blinked. "What?"

"The Bogeyman destroyed it."

The Bogeyman destroyed her keyblade? It was nearly impossible to wrap his head around and after a few moments of trying, he decided to pretend that he didn't hear anything. With his free arm, he swung Aqua behind him, nearly pressing her into the wall as he backed up.

If it's just one, we can fight it, he thought, but there might be others hiding in the fog. How do I know?

"Ven, that light spell you used before, does it get rid of the fog?"

"Not really," the younger boy said, "maybe a little bit of it, but not much."

Terra swore under his breath, eyeing the hound that continued to stand there. His blood boiled with the urge to kill it, but caution and concern for his friends held him back.

Let me see . . . Terra wasn't sure who he was pleading with, but that didn't stop him. Just let me see . . .

Unbeknownst to him, his golden eyes brightened. And just like that, he could see; not as he normally did, like he would be able to if the fog went away. It was more like a sixth sense, and he could locate the approaching figures just like a dog could tell where someone was just through scent. What he saw, the sheer amount, was enough to dissuade him from any ideas of fighting.

"Terra . . ."

He propelled Ven forwards. "Run!"

He was a ghost in the fog, a small, lost figure that swayed this way and that. The thick hood of his cloak hid his face from view, but if one had been able to see past the darkness, what they would have seen was unimpressive. Once, it was sharp and proud, but now it was a thin, pale face, with one blue eye that was both too cold and too disturbed. The silver hair that passed over the other one felt more like a shield than anything else, sparing the man from seeing the full horrors of the world.

For in this dark world, Zexion had always been little more than a mouse: cowardly, feeding off the scraps of others, a shadow that went unnoticed. He did not possess the lust for power that Xemnas did, nor the hidden psychotic natures of Xigbar and Xaldin, or even the utter apathy of Vexen. All he had was a curiosity that went too far. To Silent Hill's God, he had little to offer and so, was paid that amount of respect. In this world, his only ally was Lexaeus.

But even Lexaeus hadn't said anything when he left. True, he could not blame the man; Zexion had left in the middle of a battle. In fact, Lexaeus had probably been relieved to see him go. Not much fighting could be done with a lexicon. Still, it stung to think that even though he was part of this fabled cult, he was still so insignificant.

So, he walked the streets alone, unloved, unwanted. But wait, his mind reminded him, there had been a time, a time that felt so very long ago, and maybe, just maybe. . .

No, that dream had died, gone to its grave with Ansem's arrival at the church, and Zexion knew that there was no light waiting for him at the end. For not the first time, he stopped in the middle of the road, and stared up at the hidden stars above.

"Why me?" he whispered.

The word echoed. Why . . . Why . . .

A step in the distance. Zexion spun around. His hand rose to his hood by instinct, making sure it was firmly in place. The shadow that emerged, it was a hulking one, and for a moment, Zexion was gripped with the conviction that Pyramid Head had finally come for him.

But it was a person who emerged, Lexaeus to be exact, face cold and guarded. He did not carry his axe-sword, but Zexion felt words – his true weapon – coil inside him anyways.

"Lexaeus." The word was said as a greeting, but in truth, it was a test of the waters he found himself in.

Lexaeus clamped a hand down on Zexion's shoulder. "Come."

The direction Lexaeus pulled him in was not towards the church, so he obeyed. "Where are we going?" he asked quietly.

"Somewhere," Lexaeus said.

Zexion stared at him in surprise, but Lexaeus did not elaborate.

They walked in silence, sticking to the main roads. Although even these parts could change at any time, it was in smaller, enclosed spaces or indoors that the town liked to change most. There, in the darkness, it could become anything. Even though Zexion was familiar with this area, once the town acted, it would become a foreign land. If the town decided it wanted to place a gaping hole in the middle of the street, then it would do so. It didn't matter if it was illogical; if the darkness willed it, so be it.

"How long have we been here?" Lexaeus said suddenly.

Zexion said, "I don't know. Time is frozen here."

"Indeed, and yet I feel so old . . ." Lexaeus' voice faded, his unspoken words becoming nothing more than a sigh.

Zexion nodded thoughtfully, the weariness of his mind echoing that sentiment.

The fog began to close in. Lexaeus wiped his damp hands on his cloak, studying their surroundings with no small amount of fear. There was a screech from above, and they turned their chins skywards to meet the harsh eyes of a raven. The black bird circled over the two wandering figures, shrieking again, before flapping off into the distance.

"I may have to leave you soon," Lexaeus said.

"And where shall you be?"

Lexaeus stared straight ahead. His mouth did not move.

"Lexaeus, where are we going?" he asked again.

Lexaeus sighed. "Away."

Away? The answer nearly floored him. "They will come after us. They will take us back." He said that with certainty, speaking from experience.

"No," Lexaeus said, "the God's eyes are elsewhere today."

Yes, that was true. They were on Ventus, on Terra, on the girl. On Ansem. Again, Zexion saw him in his mind, clashing against the full might of the Order. It was a scene from a fairy-tale, a father having risen to answer his son's prayers. Only, they were not the protagonists of this story; no, that role had been given to the God himself and so, Ansem lay dead at the hands of his foes.

"Did he . . . did he have time to say . . .?"

He could not speak the rest, but there was something so damning about saying 'his final words'.

"Yes," Lexaeus answered. "He said them to me."

Zexion wrung his hands together. "And what did he say?"

Lexaeus raised his eyebrows. "Haven't you figured it out?"

He had the feeling that he should have, the feeling that yes, he did know, but he couldn't describe exactly what that idea was. And it was painful to think that he had been isolated for so long that he could no longer predict Ansem's dying wish.

"Are we bad people?" Zeion asked.

"We did not ask for this," Lexaeus said, "nor did we ever want it, even after it was forced upon us."

"But in the end, we still did what was asked of us, yes?"

Lexaeus did not have an immediate response and they were permanently distracted from that topic when a figure lurched out of the fog. Spinning around and shielding Zexion behind him in one smooth move, Lexaeus summoned his giant axe-sword, holding it above his head with both hands as he prepared to crush his enemy's skull. But Zexion's hiss stopped him, as did the sight before him.

"Stay your weapon," a horribly weakened, but still alive, Ansem ordered.

Obediently, Lexaeus let his axe-sword fall to the ground. "How are you still living?"

Ansem hobbled over, one arm wrapped around his midsection where that terrible wound had been before. "Ventus is more talented at magic than I dared imagine. Mind you, it is not completely healed."

Indeed, Ansem's face was extremely pale, and Zexion harboured the suspicion that he was either fighting the urge to vomit, or the urge to faint. Perhaps even both. In his memory, Ansem had always been a strong, proud man, never one to falter or show weakness no matter the task put out before him. But here, Zexion saw a man whose age had finally caught up to him. The blond hair and goatee seemed white and ragged, and Ansem was hunched as if it hurt him to stand straight. Still, those orange eyes were bright and alert, and Ansem's hand cupped the pommel of his sword.

"We must make haste," Ansem said. "There is no telling how much time we have."

Zexion shook his head in disbelief. "Ansem . . ."

"No. Not now. First, we flee, then we talk."

"This way!"

Terra pulled Ven and Aqua into an alley as the howls of the hounds bounced off the walls around them. He had absolutely no idea where they were going, but they had to get away from the monsters somehow.

"Thundaga!" There was the stench of burning flesh as Ven's spell incinerated a monster that had leapt at them from a rooftop. Terra swore; they had been found already? Without pausing to think, he led the other two to the end of the alley, where he helped them over a stone wall.

Hounds snarled, clawing and leaping at the wall as Terra heaved himself over. On Aqua's suggestion, a quick Blizzard spell made the stone too slick for any of the monsters to climb. Still, they wouldn't be held back for long; the trio had to move before they were trapped in this alleyway.

They ran out into the street, barely managing to duck out of sight when some birds flew overhead. From there, Terra led his sorry group into a dark store, and shut the door hard behind him.

All of them were panting for breath. Terra, worried that if he sat down now, he wouldn't be able to get up again, walked over to the store's wide glass windows and looked outside. So far, so good, but their pursuers could close in at any moment. He looked back at his friends. Aqua looked about ready to pass out and although Ven's limitless energy hadn't failed him, he looked small and wretched, like a bird that had been battered around by a cat.

He turned his eyes back to the outside, to the white sky that called to him. He wished he and his friends could just hop on their gliders and be done with it, but he was certain that he had seen Vanitas up there, waiting. Right now, with the thick fog and the three of them so weak, he couldn't take that risk, not while Vanitas was still a wild card.

"Terra," Ven said. He stared at his intertwined hands as he sat on a chair.

"Yeah?"

"You . . . you don't know the way out, do you?"

Aqua stirred, focusing all her attention on the flabbergasted Terra, who could only stare at Ven with his mouth hanging open. For his part, the younger boy displayed no remorse, only a seriousness that should have been on the face of someone older.

"I don't," Terra admitted.

Ven nodded, leaning back in his chair. They could almost hear the last bit of hope being sucked out of the group.

"I can't believe it's going to end like this," Terra whispered. "I always thought . . ."

That I'd die for you guys, not with you. . .

"Do you think the Master will look for us?" Ven asked.

Terra didn't say anything, as all of them knew the answer. He tried to tell himself that Master Eraqus was different, that he could handle whatever the town threw at him. But in his heart, Terra knew otherwise; If Eraqus came looking for them here – and he would – then he was as good as dead.

"The real question we should be asking is what is Vanitas going to do with us?" Terra said.

"Kill me," Ven said immediately.

Terra closed his eyes, remembering how he had almost borne witness to that truth. He also already knew what would happen to Aqua; what he didn't know was whether his fate would be the same.

She spoke so softly that the first time, Terra wasn't sure if she had actually spoken. But then she repeated that one word, stronger and louder, and her lips hardened into a frown.

"No?" Terra repeated.

Aqua acted as though she hadn't heard him. "Remember that promise we made when we were kids, Terra?"

Terra shrugged. "We made a lot of empty promises."

"This one wasn't empty, it was real. Don't you remember, Terra?" Aqua stood and walked over to him. Even without her keyblade, there was a strength in her that he admired. "We both promised that we would become Masters together; that neither of us would give up until we had earned that title."

Her hand found his.

"I'm not ready to give up on that," she whispered.

He swallowed, finding it hard to breathe. Aqua's gaze was suddenly too intense and he ducked his head, feeling the heat rush to his cheeks.

"There's always a way, Terra."

Hearing her say his name gave him enough courage to look her in the eyes. His hand tightened around hers, as if protecting it.

"Always," he echoed.

A small bell chimed as the door to the store opened and as one, the three of them spun around to face the intruder, the boys with their keyblades drawn. The intruder's face was hidden by her hood, but the height alone told them who it was.

"Xion!" Ven leapt to his feet, eager to greet his friend.

Xion made no move to pull down her hood, and Terra was suddenly hit with a suspicion that this wasn't her after all. However, when she spoke, it was a girl's voice he heard, and he relaxed. A bit.

"You got away," she said.

Terra nodded at her. "It wasn't easy."

"You know the way out, right?" Ven said, nearly begging. "Can you help us out of here?"

"I can tell you the way out, but you won't make it, not without a distraction. There are too many monsters out there."

"I'll do it," Terra said immediately. He ripped his eyes away from Aqua's face as she tried to plead with him. "I've always been the slowest of the three of us, and I can put up enough of a fight to give you guys a good chance."

"No!" Ven cried, running up to the eldest apprentice. "You can't!"

"He's right, Terra," Aqua said. "Ven won't get out of here on his own, and I'm . . . I'm useless. Without Rainfell, the only thing I can do is . . ."

Both he and Ven knew exactly where she was going with this, and they cut her off with an angry growl of, "No."

"It has to be me," Ven said softly. "He wants you and Aqua, but I'm the one he needs. He won't take the bait if it's not me."

"That's enough, Ven!" Terra snapped. "Both of you, get it in your heads: it's not going to be either of you."

Xion said, "Ven's right, Terra. Vanitas will go wherever Ven goes."

Ven sighed. "Then that's that." He stood with his head bowed and eyes closed, like a doomed man waiting for the hangmen to tie the noose around his neck. "Xion, get them out of here. I'll take care of Vanitas."

"Ven, stop it!" she barked, much to all of their surprise. "You're not going to be the distraction either. If he gets hold of you, then everything's over."

"Then what . . . ?"

"I'll be the distraction, but Vanitas won't know it's me."

With that last declaration, Xion pulled her hood down, and all of them gasped. It wasn't a girl they saw, but a male – Ven. Terra looked from Xions face to Ven's, unable to find a difference. If it weren't for their different outfits and Xion's thin figure under that cloak, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. But then Xion shed the dark cloak, and she and Ven were identical.

"I'm not as good as an illusionist as some people are," Xion said, "but I'll be able to keep this one going."

Ven shook his head in vehement denial. "Xion . . ."

She smiled. "I told you Ven, that I would never be able to go with you. Still, you guys set me free, and the least I can do is return the favour. Head down that road, and try to stay hidden. Don't fly – you'll just fly into the fog and lose yourselves. Take a left at the second intersection, and that route will take you out of town. Hopefully, Vanitas won't have any idea that he's chasing the wrong person until it's too late."

"And if he does?" Terra asked.

"Run."

I'm on vacation for a few days so if I don't respond to reviews, that's why. Until then!