Vanitas woke up alone, surrounded by destruction. Scorch marks scarred the walls. Chunks of ice crusted the ceiling and ground, dripping water onto his unmasked forehead. The sand surrounding him had been blown away, leaving a circle of bare greyish stone.

He stood and stretched, feeling strangely refreshed. Maybe that had been one last gift from Ventus. Though he had no evidence that the surreal dream had actually happened, he chose to believe it.

Void, he wanted to believe it.

He glanced around, inspecting the tunnel. Something was missing.

"Aqua?" he called.

His voice echoed ominously, and then, silence.

"Aqua?" He tried again. "If this is about what I said, I didn't mean it."

Mean it, mean it, the echo returned.

He sighed heavily. She'd probably gotten her tender feelings hurt. He hoped her feelings were all that was hurt… She was strong; she could take care of herself. But she had been sick recently. He hoped something hadn't attacked her, but what other explanation was there? She had too much light in her to take off and leave him... didn't she?

He took a deep whiff of the stale air, but other than a normal musty scent, his nose picked up nothing. That could mean a few different things. One, the stupid underground was blocking his sense of smell. Two, Aqua had actually left him and found a way above already. That seemed unlikely. Three, his nose was just plain not working, probably because of his recent influx of light.

He refused to acknowledge possibility four: Aqua was dead. If Vanitas couldn't kill her, no one could.

"Aqua!" he called again, however unlikely she was to answer. Without her, he was lost for sure. No Wayfinder, no sense of smell. He didn't want to calculate his odds of survival if the evil wind returned.

He had to find her. But how?

He paced the diameter of the sand-free circle. He could pick a direction and start walking, but that only gave him a fifty-fifty shot at best. Even if he marked the walls with his keyblade at each intersection so he didn't get lost, there would be too many directions to explore. He could never search them all, especially if she was still moving.

Maybe if she was moving, she'd run into some of his marks and find him. Better than doing nothing.

First he would scan both directions of this branch of the tunnel. She should have heard him within that distance, but he had to check.

Void Gear in hand, he chose the left side of the tunnel at random and took off at a jog.

He didn't expect to find her easily, but his heart still dropped when he reached a branching chamber with no sight of Aqua. He dashed back the other way, scattering sand as he passed through the circle of destruction, and eventually skidded to a stop at another domed room.

He scratched a design on the wall, a simplified version of his Unversed symbol. Aqua would recognize that, if she found her way back here somehow.

Now that he was actually attempting his plan, he felt like an idiot. Aqua wouldn't have simply wandered off and gotten lost; she had either purposely abandoned him, or she was in danger. Both possibilities required that he act fast, faster than he could while playing a random game of chance.

He dismissed Void Gear and leaned against the wall on his palms, elbows locked straight. His head drooped. The burst of energy he'd had upon waking up finally flickered out.

"Aqua… stop scaring me…"

The Fear wanted out. He couldn't do that again. If his Unversed had hurt Aqua, or scared her away, he might never make them again.

"This is all my fault, isn't it? If I had just been stronger…"

If he had just been able to control himself, none of this would have happened. Ventus said he could be whole on his own, but so what? Without Aqua… what was the point?

There had to be a way to find her. He desperately sniffed again, but if anything, the air just smelled dirtier. Pounding his fist against the wall, he shoved himself upright.

The Unversed symbol carved on the wall taunted him. A spectrum of fledgling emotions at his "control," and what good did it do him? None of them could help him find Aqua.

Could they? His light Bruiser had wanted to protect her. Maybe it could track her down.

"Or, they could start trying to kill me again," he growled. But he had to try, didn't he? "Can't believe I'm actually going to do this…"

He took a few deep breaths. In, out, in, out. If he was going to create Unversed, it was going to be on his terms, not because Fear or Panic or Despair overwhelmed him.

When he was calm enough to keep his hands from shaking, he reached down to his emotions. Under that Fear, Panic, and Despair—or maybe entwined with them—was that desire to find and protect Aqua. He wove it free and gently pulled it to the surface.

White mist began to pool in his palms. Swirling, solidifying. He held his breath as the misty tendrils joined together in front of him, drawing out more and more of his emotion, until a white Unversed stood face-to-face with him. A Bruiser, just like before, though he realized the name didn't fit anymore.

Vanitas smirked as a new name for the Unversed came to him.

"Alright, Protector. Take me to Aqua."

XXX

Vanitas clung to the Protector's back. Not only would carrying him in its arms slow its run, he didn't want to be toted like a princess again. Especially not when they found Aqua.

How far could she have gone? The Protector, like regular Bruisers, wasn't incredibly fast. If only his emotions could've spawned a Glidewinder. He had no idea what positive emotions would create a light version of the racing Unversed. That might not be a bad idea to try later, though.

Suddenly the Protector stopped; Vanitas wrapped his arms tighter around its stubby neck. A wave of nausea overwhelmed him before he observed the room. They had arrived in a chamber with sand-dripping stalactites, not much different from the many others that they had traveled through—

Except for the dark fog swirling in the center of the room.

Vanitas dropped from the Protector's back as it charged the dark mist. He would recognize that gutter-gunk smell anywhere. The stench overpowered him, mold and death clogging his lungs. He summoned Void Gear as a support, stabbing it point-down into the sand as he swayed. What else was he supposed to do with the weapon? Run straight at the darkness, like the Protector had?

"Ah, there he isssss. We told you you would sssee usssss."

The voice injected ice into his blood. The wind picked up, circling the room like a funnel cloud. Vanitas threw up his arm to block sand from pelting his eyes.

"Shut… up!" he said through gritted teeth.

The voice was back. He'd known it would be, sooner or later. That knowledge didn't quash the Terror flaring inside him.

"What have you done with Aqua?!"

"Sssuch ssstrong feelingssss. Yesss, your heart will do nisssscely." The black smoke gusted towards him. He barely dispersed it with a hasty Aero. Then, while he still had a chance, he summoned his mask. The stench immediately lessened; he no longer felt that his nose was stuck in a rusty sewer drain.

With the darkness of the mist dimming tunnel, he could barely see. He summoned a Yellow Mustard without thinking.

It streaked directly into the center of the fog. Where his Protector had gone.

He cursed his stupidity, yanking Void Gear from the ground and casting Aeroga. He'd put it in his command deck in case the voice came back.

His wind spell scattered sand and black smoke away from him, and he used the opportunity to chase after the Yellow Mustard. He managed to slash his blade through it before the smoke billowed back, cutting off his route of escape.

"You try to fight. Thisss isss noble, but ussselesss. You have already lossst."

"Not while I'm still alive," he growled. Aeroga was taking too long to reload; he unleashed a Dark Thundaga. It did nothing to the smoke, though it fused the sand in front of him into glass.

"Ussselessss. You will sssssee."

He didn't see anything; darkness stole his sight. Even his mask couldn't keep the stench out now. It burned his lungs like acid. Still, he held his keyblade bared, searching for an escape.

There—a speck of light. He dashed for it, but felt as if he were running through thick water. The smoke condensed around him, holding him in place.

"No—no!" he cried out. The sand began sucking at his boots, like when they had fallen into this nightmare in the first place. When he looked down, he could see that it wasn't sand, but a liquid pool of darkness. He struggled against it, swiped through it with his blade, shot a few Dark Blizzagas. All attempts were vain.

Vanitas decided he was sick of darkness.

As he began to sink, the light burst free of the mist. It was his Protector, and even better—Aqua was slung over its shoulder.

The white Unversed tugged him free of the dark pool, which finally released him with a sucking noise. Then the Unversed tossed him over its other shoulder. The wind fought the Protector in a fierce tug-of-war, trying to gust his body free, but the Unversed held firm. Though it wasn't fast, its bulky frame pushed through the dense fog with determination.

"Yesss, sssuch a sssstrong heart…"

From over the Protector's shoulder, Vanitas gripped Void Gear in both hands and summoned the strongest Aeroga he possibly could. Wind exploded from the tip of his keyblade. He gasped for fresh air as the acrid mist was forced back down an opposite tunnel.

Still, as the Protector carried them to safety, the voice's hiss echoed in Vanitas's ears.

"You have already losssssst…"

XXX

Vanitas and Aqua both awoke gagging and coughing up smoke. He threw off his helmet and wretched on hands and knees, while she barely had the strength to roll onto her side.

The Protector sat watching over them. Vanitas couldn't decide if that was comforting or creepy. He didn't absorb the Unversed, though. They might need its help again soon.

He almost thought the dark wind was returning, but it was just the smoke they'd coughed out. Eventually their lungs cleared, and the moldy smell dissolved into the usual underground mustiness.

"Van!" Aqua finally managed to exclaim between fading coughs. "You—you found me!"

"Barely," he grumbled, resting back on his knees. "You're welcome."

"But I thought…" Darkness flashed over her eyes. "You gave up on me. You forced me away."

He wished he had an excuse for what he'd said and done, but he didn't. Not one that didn't make him look either hateful or pathetic, anyway. So he tried something new. Something Ventus would have approved of.

"I didn't mean to." He turned away before adding in a whisper, "I'm… sorry."

His wind-ruffled spikes of hair fell over his eyes as if to take the place of his mask, but he heard her shift behind him. Still too weak to walk, he guessed.

"What… what did you say?"

He clenched his jaw. Wasn't saying it once enough? Surely she'd heard. She just wanted to drag it out of him again.

"What are you looking at?" he muttered at the Protector, which had turned to stare at him.

The Unversed's blue eyes narrowed, and he sighed heavily.

"Ugh, fine. Next thing I know you'll be talking to me, too. Then we'll have some real problems…"

"Uh, Van? Are you okay?"

"Probably not. Anyway, as I was saying…"

He turned towards her. After all, he wouldn't want to miss the look on her face.

"Aqua… I'm sorry."

Sure enough, her expression was priceless. Her face scrunched in utter confusion, slowly softened to wide-eyed realization, and was finally topped off with a small but genuine smile.

"Van… I didn't realize you knew those words."

"Huh—? Hey!" His face reddened. "I was trying to be sincere for once! Don't throw my sarcasm back at me!"

"Who said I was being sarcastic?" she replied innocently, though her eyes held a mischievous twinkle. "Besides, if you own sarcasm, then I get exclusive rights to sincerity. I believe that's a fair trade."

"Whatever. Don't expect any more apologies from me." He crossed his arms.

Aqua laughed, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position.

"You know I'm only teasing. And I…" She took a deep breath, then met his eyes. "I forgive you."

The words each carried a solid, powerful weight. She forgave him for more than just the hurtful comment before his Unversed went haywire. He could tell her intent even before she added, "For everything."

He had never acknowledged the weight on his shoulders until that moment, when it gently faded away. This must be why people apologized. It was as if he had just escaped a Gravity spell; he could have floated.

"Th-thank you," he stuttered, feeling a foreign Unversed begin to form. A light one. His curiosity tempted him to let it come, and he indulged it.

The white tendrils formed a Mandrake this time. Though Mandrakes always had some cream-colored sections, it was the green part that now shone white, while its formerly white face became a pale pink. A Mandrake made sense; he often formed its negative counterparts from Guilt or Regret. This one was born of a special kind of Relief—the Relief of being forgiven.

Aqua gasped, but didn't move. The glowing Mandrake—hm, that would be harder to rename than the Bruiser had been—made no attempt to attack.

"It's okay," Vanitas said quietly, as if he would somehow startle the new Unversed. "I let this one out on purpose. I can control them now."

Aqua peered closer, and the Mandrake waved its leaf-like appendages happily.

"How did you learn to do this?"

"It's kind of a long story." He didn't want to tell her about his experience inside his heart. No need to make her question his sanity further. "The light ones are made of positive emotions. That's why they fought each other—the positive and negative Unversed don't mix. As long as I don't make both kinds at the same time, they obey me."

"Does this mean no more Unversed attacks?"

"Yeah. I think so." He hoped so, anyway. It would take conscious care not to mix his Unversed of negativity and Unversed of positivity. 'Unversed' seemed a weird name now for the light creatures. Maybe he would give the whole group a new name. That would be easier than renaming each individual species.

"Good." She nodded. "That was why I had to leave in the first place, you know. Your Unversed attacked me, and then that… that mist chased me from there."

She shuddered, wrapping herself in her arms. "I would have been fast enough, but it cut me off from two different directions in that chamber."

Basically it all boiled down to Vanitas's fault. What else was new? But he'd apologized. And also saved her life, again. That counted for something.

"Speaking of that, we really need to get out of here," Aqua said.

Vanitas nodded his agreement and gave her a potion from his inventory. A dying Unversed must have dropped it while he was unconscious.

"Thanks." She downed the green liquid quickly. "Now, I'm not sure I can do much, but maybe I can power the Wayfinder a little…"

She unlooped the star charm from her belt and cupped it in her palms. Her face scrunched with concentration, but only a couple of weak sparks appeared to show for it.

"It's okay," he said, though Stress and Concern wanted to peak through.

They couldn't pretend the voice wouldn't find them again. How much time could they have?

Not enough time for him to waste wondering.

"Can I give it a try?" he asked, though he doubted he could do anything she couldn't.

"Um… I don't see why not," she said, though she seemed reluctant to pass her most prized possession into his hands.

The light Mandrake peered at the charm curiously, and the Protector ambled over to join it. Aqua frowned at the Unversed. It was getting a little crowded in their narrow tunnel. Vanitas stretched out his hand and absorbed the two, feeling warmth reenter his heart. What a strange, wonderful feeling.

He clutched the blue charm, closing his eyes and focusing on that warmth. Pulling on it, creating a white tendril and feeding it into the Wayfinder. But the charm resisted. The tendril tapped on its glass surface, but none of the magic made it through.

Vanitas frowned, pulling back his magic and handing the Wayfinder to Aqua.

"It was worth a shot, I guess."

"It's what I expected. It's powered by my personal connection to Terra and Ven. I don't think anyone else could work it."

"Figures," he muttered, eyeing the charm enviously. "Well, if that option's no good, maybe one of my Inversed could find us a way out."

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "Inversed?"

"It's what I decided to call my light Unversed."

"Since when?"

"Since now." The name had just come out of his mouth and fit, the way all the best names did. "Alright, time for something awesome."

What emotion would be most likely to get them out of here? Fear of the dark mist was a solid option, or it would've been, if his Unversed of Fear weren't known for being stupid and attacking whatever came near. Regular Unversed were pretty chaotic in general. Better to use an Inversed, which meant he needed positivity.

He tried to channel it—the longing for leafy trees, blue skies, good food. Nostalgia could likely lead them out, if anything could. But the emotion wouldn't quite come; it was too tangled in the Fear and Jealousy over the Wayfinder, and the basic desire to one-up Aqua and prove himself useful.

The white mist that had barely begun to form fizzled out.

Aqua stifled a laugh. He shouldn't have set her expectations so high. He flushed in embarrassment, an emotion he certainly didn't want to take form.

"It's okay, Van. This has been tough on both of us. We need time to regain our strength."

He nodded reluctantly. Time wasn't something they had, but neither did they have more options.

"Go to sleep. I'll keep watch first."

She accepted without hesitation, lying back down in the sand. It was a testament to her exhaustion that she began to snore almost immediately.

Vanitas was far too restless. And too terrified. He was sure the dark wind could have followed them in spite of his Aeroga. It seemed too intelligent for them to have simply outrun it. But why would it let them escape? It was like some sadistic game. Vanitas would know; he was an expert on sadistic games.

Why did I let Aqua and Ventus go, when we were in the Realm of Light? Of course, they had beaten him a few times, but there were other times he'd had a choice. Like when he'd chosen to leave Aqua unconscious in Neverland, rather than killing her.

Because I wanted them to get stronger. And because I wanted to see what they would do. Because I had more planned for them than simply killing them…

The thought chilled Vanitas to the bone. However the evil voice intended to use them, he prayed to both the Darkness and Light that he wouldn't find out.