Well, guys, its Sulhadahne here. Man, I thought things would go back to normal after the wedding. But NOOOO, of course not. You see my great aunt and great uncle (they are like, so great. LOL!) stayed after the wedding to help my father remodel our upstairs bathroom. My sister and her boyfriend, and a family friend, were also here to help. Things are Nucking Futs over here. I have had to stay downstairs ALL DAY because as soon as I get near those steps, my lungs clog up.

Asthma sucks BAD.

Anyway, I've been so bored stuck downstairs today that I wrote THREE CHAPTERS! Chapters 16, 17, and 18 were all written on one day, the day known as 08/12/06. I'm even beginning chapter 19 at 9:30 p.m. on 08/12/06. You guys know you love me. Man, am I bored.

But I got a lot of chapter ideas down and started to formulate a lot of story plot ideas. You guys are in for a GREAT RIDE! I always knew how the story would end, but I'm finally planning it out in my mind. It'll still be a while, but I'd say were halfway through story one. I'll have some sort of sequel, I promise. I mean this is the only successful story I've had, why would I quit?

So, the story begins.

(First, here's an odd conversation my sister and I just had.)

"Hey, mom said there's a green Kenmore vacuum cleaner in the closet."

"Yeah, it's in the white closet over there."

sister opens closet door

"You mean this bulky thing?"

laughs "Yeah, it's a dragon. Then extendable part is the neck and snout, and the bulky end is the body."

sister moves the "neck" and it comes out of the vacuum head.

"Whoops! You either just cut the neck off of the dragon, or you have problems."

laughs "Both."

"That makes you a dragon slayer."

"I couldn't be one. I like dragons."

"Me, too. And Vampires."

"Vampires? I don't."

"You don't?"

"Don't go sucking on my neck."

laughs

"Well, hey, Sulhadahne, will you help me carry the dragon upstairs?"

"Sure."

takes the long "neck". Sister holds the bulky side.

"You get the head, I get the butt."

laughs "Let's just hope it doesn't breath fire out of that side!"

"Yeah! Then I'd really be in trouble!"

both walk into Mom's room laughing, holding the dragon

"Here's the dragon!"

"Just don't let it fart!" both sisters crack up

Ok, now to the story.

"Well", Sora muttered. "Let's go." And with that, the four went inside.

Castle Hallow Bastion looked almost the same as it had the last time Sora had gone through its gates. It was in as much disarray as it had been before. The silence was eerie as the four warriors examined the once great castle.

"Well, this place is a hunk a junk." Demyx stated. Saix rolled his eyes.

"Yes we can see that." He retorted. Demyx glared at him.

Sora walked away from the group and towards the fountain between the two stairs. It didn't work anymore, but it was still beautiful.

Sora noticed that there was a crack in the statue in the fountain, and a small shining piece of it could be pulled out. Curious, Sora did just that; once it was out, he paused for a moment to see if anything happened, but when nothing did, he placed the stone in his pocket.

"What is that?" Marluxia asked who had been standing beside Sora. Looking back down, Sora saw that a letter was poking out of the statue were the stone had been. The boy slipped it out and unrolled it, and then began reading aloud.

Welcome to Castle Hallow Bastion!

The stone you just removed from this statue is proof you arrived just like the game demanded. But, it also locked the door behind you and activated what I call the "Fun house" effects I have added in the castle. Have "fun" getting out!

DC

"Great." Sora muttered. Demyx looked at him oddly.

"What's a Fun house?" Sora sighed and put the letter in his pocket.

"It's an amusement park ride that has different challenges in each room for you to get past. They are relatively easy, but I don't know about a fun castle. This could be tricky." Demyx sighed sadly.

"BUT I WANNA GO HOME!" He complained. Saix shook his head.

"Then let's get this over with!" He demanded. Sora grinned and agreed.

The four now stood before the doorway, the door that was decorated with a multicolored heart symbol. Unsure of what lie ahead, Sora looked back at his companions. Demyx smiled sadly.

"For Tifa." He murmured. Sora nodded.

"For Tifa."

And they went inside.

"Yuna!" Yuffie shouted, running towards the girl with panic. Leon had rushed outside when he heard the girl, and was shocked to see Yuna struggling up the city steps with an unconscious Tifa. Yuffie was on the verge of tears when she arrived at the brunette's side and put Tifa's free arm over her shoulder, trying to help climb the stairs.

"Where are Sora and the others?" Leon demanded when he arrived down there, and both girls placed Tifa on his back as they raced up the stairs.

"They're still trying to solve the game. Tifa was hurt last night in the storm when lightning struck near her! Demyx says she could be deaf or blind or both when she wakes up!" Yuna sobbed, trying to keep up. She was immeasurably sore.

"Shit." Leon cursed, worried for his teammate. The three rushed up the stairs towards the castle.

"Tifa is one smart girl." Leon stated, coming out of the hospital room. Yuffie leapt up to talk to him, but Yuna found she could barely move.

"What happened? Will she be ok?" Yuffie begged, still wiping away tears that threatened to come. Leon held up his right hand, and in it were two earplugs.

"These were found in her ears. Aerith says they probably saved her eardrums, even though they were still injured." There was a pause.

"What about… her eyes?" Yuna broke the silence. Leon sighed.

"I don't know." Everyone turned to see that Aerith had exited the room. "I'll do the best I can. She may need time to heal, perhaps even months in bed." It was then Yuffie couldn't stop herself anymore and broke down, crying onto Yuna's shoulder. Aerith looked like she was ready to cry as well, since it was her best friend in the hospital bed.

"I'll save her." She whispered to herself. "I have too."

"AHHHHHH!" Demyx screamed, scared out of his mind.

"What… is that?" Saix muttered apprehension in his eyes.

"It's a monster." Marluxia whispered. Sora laughed.

"It's a piece of cardboard." He joked.

Standing before the trio was a tall cardboard stand, with a height ruler on it. A little, bubbly girl stood next to it, asking "Are you tall enough for the Fun House?" It was freaking Marluxia, Demyx, and Saix out of their minds, seeing as they'd never seen one before. To the left of the sign was the door they had to go through.

Demyx walked towards it, watching the sign with care. At the last second, he whizzed through. Sora tried to keep from cracking up.

Saix walked up, cold and calm, not rushing at all, but his calculating mind was focused on that weird little cardboard girl.

'Walk past it… walk past it… it has devil eyes… don't rush, act cool… its staring at me…' And with that, Saix was through.

Marluxia went last, glowering at the girl as he went through.

Sora noticed that every time a person went through that was taller than the very tall ruler, the eyes of the girl flashed saying that they could pass.

Sora also noticed he was shorter than the ruler. But he ran past anyway, without a second look behind him at the cardboard that now had red, pupil-less, Heartless eyes…

The first room looked normal, other than the fact that the door swung shut behind them. Stepping out into the room, Saix looked around. But, as soon as he stood in the center, something happened.

The ceiling dropped something.

It was a ball, a red one, like those from the lake of balls in a Fun house. It dropped down and hit Saix right on the head and he looked dead in the eyes for a moment. Then his eyes practically went red.

"Who the hell dared to hit me?" Saix growled. Sora cocked his brow, confused. Saix wasn't usually that easy to make angry.

Another ball fell from the ceiling, and this one hit Marluxia's shoulder. It was yellow. Marluxia watched it roll away before looking back up to Saix, a big grin on his face.

"HAHA! You got hit in the head with a ball!" He laughed even harder. Now this was weird. Marluxia didn't usually act like that, either.

"What was that, punk?" Saix threatened, turning to Marluxia. The flower boy just stuck his tongue out and winked.

"Nothin, Saix." He spoke in a sing song voice. Sora and Demyx looked at each other. They were still standing in the small hallway that lead to the door and back out. If they stepped out, would more balls fall?

"Sora, I think those spheres change your emotions!" Demyx concluded. "The red one made Saix angry, and the yellow one made Marluxia happy. If we get hit, we'll lose our sense! We can't get hit by those!" Sora nodded.

"Alright, get under my shield when I put it up, and we'll run across the floor."

"What about those two?" Demyx pointed to the two in the center of the room, who were bickering.

"We'll have to drag them along." Sora decided, and then he summoned the keyblade and prepared for a reflect spell.

"Ready…?" Sora began. Demyx nodded.

"REFLETGA!"

As soon as Sora cast the spell, the two boys dashed across the floor. As soon as they were in the room, it started raining multicolored spheres, pelting Saix and Marluxia. Sora grabbed Marluxia's wrist while Demyx pulled Saix along by his hair. With that, the two rushed out of the room with their friends in tow.

"Man… that was close." Demyx said, collapsing to the floor. He had let go of Saix, who was now screaming at him.

"HOW DARE YOU GRAB MY HAIR, YOU…" At this point, Sora hit him over the head with the keyblade. He collapsed to the ground. Marluxia giggled, cracking up, until Sora hit him, too.

"I hope they wake up as normal people." Sora said. Demyx laughed.

"They were never normal people!"

The two boys cracked up, laughing at their friend's predicament. Sadly, they wouldn't be laughing for long; their predicament was about to worsen.

For behind them, in the shadows, a large Heartless was forming.

(Now, Sulhadahne will give you a sneak peak into… Dream Catcher's realm! This sneak peak will be of two people, neither of whom are DC, and both of whom will be named. It is DIALOGUE ONLY. Enjoy!)

"Are you leaving again?"

"…"

"The rumors might not be true; if you just wait…"

"You know my reasons for leaving."

"Yes, but…"

"No. I can't. I have to…"

"See her, and let her see you…"

"For perhaps the last time."

"Do you really think she'll go blind?"

"…"

"I guess I can't stop you, can I?"

"…"

sigh "I'll cover for you. Just… be careful, Vincent. Take care."

nods "I shall."

"Tell Tifa I said hi."

chuckles "I will, Rinoa. I will."

END! Any FF10 or FF8 or Advent Children fans will know who those characters are. If you don't that's ok; you can just pretend they're OC's or look them up or something. I'll describe them well and good so everyone knows what they look like and what they act like. Vinny will show up next time!

(PS. Since I didn't play number 8, but I read about it, the character Rinoa will be an OC who's personality I will create. I hope she'll be a little like she was in the game! FF8 fans can correct me. Or review with what she's like.)