Alison's Point of View

I heard a knock on my door and opened it to find Vanitas on the other side. "Oh, hey, it's you," I greeted.

"Yeah, it's me. I've been tasked with taking you out to practice your keyblade on some Heartless. The name's Vanitas. Remember it because I'll only tell you once," Vanitas huffed.

I plastered a fake smile on my face. "I'm Alison. It's nice to meet you."

"Ugh, what are you, friendly? I can't believe I'm stuck with you," Vanitas grumbled.

"I see. I'm just a chore to you." My smile fell into a glare. "Well, that's too bad because I'm not thrilled to be with you either. Let's just get this over with."

"That's more like it," Vanitas smirked.

"You're so weird," I commented.

"I'm not weird, I'm cool!" Vanitas denied.

"I don't have time for any more quips from Emo Sora. Are we going, or are we just going to stand around and talk," I snapped. Vanitas growled at me but complied by opening a dark corridor. I followed him through. We were in The Realm of Darkness when we got to the other side. "What are we doing here?"

"This place is flooded with Heartless. You'll get your practice in. Don't expect me to bail you out when things get a little hard. I'm not going to run by your side and help when you start crying for your mommy," Vanitas declared.

I fought a Shadow that popped up. It vanished within three hits. "You don't know anything about me," I remarked.

"Cute. You actually think taking on a teeny tiny Shadow would impress me?" Vanitas scoffed.

A swarm of Dark Balls and Neoshadows surrounded us, and I quickly changed my tune. "Okay, you were right. This is not my speed. A little help, please?" I requested.

"Figure it out," Vanitas demanded. The Heartless inched closer and closer to me, but they seemed to be attracted to something else before they attacked. "What?"

We looked at where the Heartless were going. They moved on to a different group of people. I saw Dilan, Even, Aeleus, Ienzo, and someone else. The other person looked like a girl, though her back was turned, so I couldn't see who it was, her long black hair preventing me from seeing much else. Vanitas pulled me behind a rock, but I snuck a peek. The girl was facing my direction, so I could clearly see her. I squinted before I gasped. "It's Brittany. Brittany is with Ansem the Wise's apprentices."

"Huh. Change of plans. We're going to keep an eye on them," Vanitas decided.

I itched to help my sister as she pathetically tried to fight a Neoshadow. I saw it scratched her arm, which was soon trickling with blood. "She's hurt!" I gasped.

"Quiet, someone might hear you. They'll take care of her. There's nothing we can do about it," Vanitas stated. I sunk behind the rock, not being able to bear watching Brittany get hurt any longer. "Where's she going?" I peaked out again and saw Brittany running away from the group. The others chased after her, but Ienzo hesitated and looked directly at me. I froze in fear. He gave a single nod in my direction and a quick wave before taking off in Brittany's direction. "He knows we're here. We have to go."

"I'm not leaving. I have to make sure Brittany is okay," I refused.

Vanitas grabbed my wrist. "Alison, we have to go," He repeated.

I broke away from his grasp and chased after them. I found the apprentices of Ansem the Wise fighting alongside Aqua against a Darkside. I was relieved that Brittany was okay, but once I knew this, common sense flooded back to me, and I knew I needed to hide. I quickly ducked behind a nearby rock and watched. They all left through a dark corridor when the Darkside was defeated, except for Ienzo. Instead, he made his way to me. In the back of my mind, something was telling me that I needed to run, but I couldn't. I remained frozen in place. "Are you alright?" Ienzo asked.

"Please don't take me to Sora. I don't want my memories taken away from me," I begged.

"It's alright. I won't take you back. Are you alone?" Ienzo questioned.

"I am now. I wanted to make sure that Brittany was okay, so I got separated from-" I stopped there. I didn't want to tell Ienzo anything about who I was with.

"You're alone, then?" Ienzo asked. I nodded in response. "Okay, okay, let's see. What can I do about this? I can't take you back with me. First your sister, now you. Alright. Here's what I want you to do. Get as close to the water as you can. The Heartless are less likely to follow you there. If you come into contact with any Heartless while you're there, I want you to run. Don't try to fight. You're not strong enough yet, though I'll admit you're likely more capable than your sister."

"You don't know me," I stated.

"Oh, that's right. I had forgotten you don't know who I am," Ienzo mentioned.

"I know who you are. You're Ienzo. I played the games too, or didn't Sora tell you?" I huffed.

"Ally, it's me," Ienzo said. I was confused until his face morphed into Mr. Ian Zexy's face.

"You! You were him all along?" I questioned. A lump formed at the back of my throat as I tried to hold back my tears of both pain and relief. "That's how you knew I was there. Your name isn't even one that was very creative. It all makes sense. I feel stupid." Despite my struggle to hold back, tears erupted from my eyes. He felt like the only person I could truly trust. "Stay with me."

"I can't, Alison. They're waiting for me. I have to go, and I can't take you with me. Alright, listen, it will be tricky considering we just retrieved Master Ansem, but I will find an excuse to get away and come back for you. Can you handle yourself for a couple hours?" Ienzo checked.

"I don't know. I'm scared," I sobbed.

"Just stay put. If there are any Heartless, run, and I'll come to find you," Ienzo promised before disappearing into the Dark Corridor. The Dark Corridor vanished.

Thank you, Unicron1000, for your review.

v.t.7: I'm glad you like that Aqua and Ansem are saved. I do plan on making the next Brittany chapter sweet and forgiving.

6/2/22: This chapter has been edited. If you read this and get far enough ahead in the story without it being edited, there may be a few small inconsistencies as far as Alison knowing that Ienzo is Ian. As I continue editing this fanfiction, I will be making small changes such as this, but nothing that will make a large impact on the overall plot.