Leon's Gunblade clattered to the floor and he staggered back, clutching his shoulder where the Heartless had struck him. He managed to let off one last fireball, blasting the monster away before it could land another blow, before falling to his knees. As the others finished despatching the remaining Heartless in the corridor Ven called out to Kairi, Xion, and Roxas before they could keep going.

"Hold up! Leon's hurt!"

"It's not serious," Leon said as the three of them screeched to a halt.

"Can you still fight?" Roxas asked urgently, as they jogged back.

"I doubt it," Ven answered as he dropped down beside him. "Unless you guys can heal that," he pointed to the very obvious broken bone pushing out against the skin of Leon's upper arm.

The others cringed and Leon gave a grunt of pain as he put his hand back over the break and started getting to his feet. "You guys keep going, I'll just slow you down."

"We can't leave you here!" Xion insisted, "If the Heartless come back-"

"You've got to get to Sora! GO!"

Ventus turned to the others. "You guys go, I'll get Leon out and catch up."

Not wanting to waste more time arguing, Leon quickly barked directions at them. They'd taken a platform from the lift stop as far down into the bowels of the castle as they could, and now they just had to continue working their way through the labyrinth of dark stone passageways to the final sets of staircases that should lead them to the dungeons, where surely they would find him. "This place has changed so I don't know how much help that will be though... good luck." They gave him and Ventus a nod, and charged on.

The Heartless they had encountered so far weren't exceptionally powerful, but the castle was crawling with them, their sheer numbers making them far more of a challenge. They tore through them though, frantic to reach the lowest floors as soon as they could. Ienzo kept in contact with them as much as possible and his voice blared from Roxas's phone as they ran. "We think we've freed him, but we still haven't figured out exactly where he is."

Roxas was yelling back at him but Kairi wasn't listening anymore. The stone walls were a blur as she swung her blade through each of the monsters that appeared in her path, ignoring whether or not she had finished them off, thinking of nothing more than getting through this cursed place as fast as possible. Riku's words were echoing in her mind. "What if we don't find him in time?" The others were calling out for her to slow down and wait for them, but she didn't hear them.

She burst through yet another door and found herself in a large, white, circular room with a high ceiling and dozens of pipes leading down the walls, along the ground, and then down into the floor at the room's centre. The floor was almost entirely obscured by a writhing mass of Neoshadows. She gave a roar and sent off a Firaza spell, engulfing the swarm of Heartless in a second.

She took a step back, panting hard, and watched as the tornado of fire spun, and then gradually died down. Not a single Heartless was left. "Woah..." She glanced over her shoulder and saw Roxas and Xion had caught up to her. They were both staring past her, at the scorch marks that stretched all the way from the centre of the room, out to the walls and up them towards the high roof.

There was no time for them to stop though and Kairi quickly scanned the room. There were three doors leading from it, each one identical. Each one a way that might lead to Sora.

"Dammit..." she muttered, as the three of them walked in and turned from one door to the next.

"Should we split up?" Xion asked, looking questioningly at Roxas. None of them liked the idea of that.

There had to be some way they could find him, Kairi thought to herself. Where are you Sora... he reached into her pocket, fingers closing around smooth shells, and took out her Wayfinder. The charm she had made so they would never be separated again. The tiny golden star at its centre shone in the bright, sterile light of the room. She closed her eyes, holding the hand clasping her charm to her chest. Sora...

A whisper.

A light in the dark.

Her eyes snapped open. "This way!" She broke into a run again. The others shared a confused look, then tore after her.

"How do you know Kairi?" Xion called out, as she led them through the door to their left, into yet another dark, stone hall. The further into the castle depths they headed the colder the air around them seemed to become.

"I just know!" She yelled back. She could feel his heart, feel his light and warmth, she would know the feeling of that heart anywhere. It had to be him. "Down here!" She turned sharply, hurtling through another door, another room. Around turn after turn, through door after door, and then flying down a winding staircase. He was close. He was so close.

We're almost there Sora, just hold on...

Something was dragging him from unconsciousness. Something piercing. A loud beeping in his ears. He groaned as the sound made his head throb. He really didn't want to be awake right now.

A sudden sensation of movement across his chest caused him to wince, expecting more pain was about to follow. But none came.

He opened his eyes, confused, and found the room empty. His tormenter was gone. Another loud beep made him wince again, but then he stared in amazement as the cold metal restraints around his ankles and wrists slid away, releasing him as they retracted back into the table. The bar around his chest was gone as well. He was free.

Maybe Ienzo had managed to release him somehow? Or maybe they'd found him, could Riku really have heard him? He wasn't entirely sure if he was really awake, but if he was, if this was really happening...

He had to go, right now. Right now.

He willed his worn-down body to move, and with a groan forced himself to sit up, swing his legs off the table, and get to his feet. The room around him swayed. Clinging to the frigid metal, he took a few moments to steady himself. Gradually the ground beneath him became still. Maybe this really was happening.

He staggered for the doorway, with limbs so cold they felt made of stone, and that moved so slowly he wondered if maybe they really were. Every inch of him ached, every muscle was begging for rest, but he had to get out. Had to keep moving. Had to get away before they realised he was free.

Somehow he made it, and the door slid open as he approached. He'd expected it to be locked, and the corridor it led to was deserted, with no Heartless or people in sight. Did all this mean someone was trying to help him get out? No time to think about that. No energy to spare for that. Have to keep moving. Just have to keep moving.

He kept to the side of the passageway, one hand against the wall for support. His shirt was drenched in sweat and the longer he walked the colder it felt against his skin. As he stumbled along his vision seemed to be fading in and out. One moment he was walking down a long, corridor with stone walls and floors. The next he was leaning against the frame of a tall metal doorway, looking into a dimly lit room lined with more pipes, pressure gauges dispersed along the walls, a way out on the other side.

Now he was halfway to the door. He closed his eyes for a moment and he was closer, but tripping over his own feet, tumbling to the floor. Pushing himself to his feet again.

Have to keep going. Just keep moving.

But he was swimming through a fog, the world around him slipping by.

Through another door, into another dark room. A hallway. Lined with... cells? Cages? He wasn't sure, but he could see locks and chains around doors.

Something was creeping through the dark. Shadows, flitting around the walls. He tried to run, but his legs were moving so slowly.

They emerged from the ground before him. Summoning what he was sure must be the last of his strength he swung his Keyblade through them and they scattered. Gone so fast, had they really been there? More flickering in the dark, more coming for him? He had to keep moving. Rage was prickling in his fingertips again.

No, I don't need you!

He could push through fatigue, push through exhaustion, and this cold that had sunk so deep below his skin. But his eyes were growing hazy.

A sudden tugging at his chest. His heart. A warmth. A familiar light. Was it her?

"Kairi?"

The warmth was enough to keep him walking.

His murmur had drawn attention though. The shadows were advancing, dogging his footsteps. He spun and let off a blast of fire, briefly illuminating the long hall and the Heartless that had been about to leap. They vanished in the flames.

He staggered back around. Have to keep moving.

There was a light in the distance, light shining down a wide staircase, twisting up towards the floor above, and something calling to him, calling to his heart. The shadows were still stalking him but he was almost there. Almost there. Just keep moving. You don't need Rage to keep moving.

He saw, rather than felt, his numb hand grasp the balustrade but as he raised his head he saw them. More Shadows, skittering along the walls, and Soldiers, armoured feet clattering down the stairs towards him. He staggered back, summoning his Keyblade once again.

They advanced and he fought. He slashed through as many as he could. But he was at the end of his strength. He had nothing left.

He stumbled and fell, back hitting the floor. He pushed himself to a seat with a shaking arm, but he would never reach his feet in time. They were bearing down on him, red eyes flashing in the dark. He closed his eyes and held his Keyblade up, no strength left to summon a barrier or attack, and waited for his enemy to strike.

"NO!"

A yell echoed through the hall and Sora opened his eyes just in time to watch as a streak of pink, black, and a golden Keyblade flew past him. With a clang of metal on metal, the blur tore through the Soldiers before him, and the glowing eyes vanished into the black.

"I am afraid we cannot do that Riku."

"Let him go."

"You do not understand the-"

"Oh, we understand more than you think!" Aqua snapped back at Yen Sid

"More than you do," Terra growled.

Ansem raised a hand slowly, a movement that caused Terra's blade to move an inch closer to his throat. "Let us all take a moment to calm ourselves. I am sure we all wish to resolve this peacefully, for everyone's sake."

Everyone except Sora, Riku thought bitterly. "Fine, talk."

"And no funny moves!" Donald squawked from the back of the room, brandishing his staff.

The two men nodded. So clearly outnumbered, they were both hoping to win this fight with words. It seemed unlikely they would convince them all, but if just a few of Sora's friends could listen to reason, then maybe that would be enough. "You recall the book that was discovered in Scala-"

"We know what the book says," Riku interrupted.

Ansem's eyes widened with surprise. "So you have read the prophecy then? Ah," he sighed and hung his head, "Ienzo..." Betrayed again. How cruel the influence of darkness could be.

"Then surely you understand the gravity of the situation," Yen Sid said slowly. "Sora harbours a great darkness within him. It must be destroyed before it becomes a threat."

"No matter the cost, right?" Terra spat. He had seen that look on someone's face before, heard words like this from the mouth of the man who raised him. He was no less sickened this time.

Yen Sid didn't answer, Ansem instead raising his head, with the same look of bitter conviction on his face. "Yes."

Riku gave him a cold, crooked smile. "You haven't changed at all DiZ. Xion, Roxas, Naminé, they were disposable to you, weren't they? And now Sora. He's not some pawn in your damn war! What have you done to him!?" Neither man responded as Riku's yell echoed through the room.

"How could you do this Master Yen Sid?" a much quieter voice said. Mickey stood between, and slightly behind Riku and Terra, staring up at his former teacher with deep disappointment and sadness in his eyes. This was his mentor. His friend. He had drawn his Keyblade as well, but couldn't yet bring himself to raise it. He didn't want this to be real, didn't want to think that Yen Sid could truly be doing what he was. That he could have done any of this... But there was no doubt in his mind anymore.

"Surely, of all people you can understand Mickey?" Ansem implored, turning his gaze to the mouse. "You, a King with so many subjects to care for and be responsible for, surely you understand that we must do this for their sake."

Mickey's grip tightened on his Keyblade and glared. He took a step forward, eyes boring into Ansem's. "No. I don't."

"You would go against your own master?" Yen Sid asked, glaring back and face inscrutable.

"You are not the only master here!"

"Your fear of the darkness has blinded you," Aqua retorted, eyes narrow with fury. "There are five masters in this room, and four of them are telling you that what you are doing is wrong."

For the first time, a hint of doubt flashed through Yen Sid's mind. He quickly dismissed it, but Riku had seen it in his eyes. "Even if you had been right about this darkness, you never should have done this. Tell me where he is!" This was taking too long. Sora was still in the castle somewhere, possibly hurt and still in danger. If the Heartless got to him before Kairi and the others...

"There is no questioning whether the true darkness exists in him!" Ansem bellowed. "Whatever the reason, that man in Quadratum was clearly determined to make him take in a true darkness, Sora himself told us as much. That, and the book-"

"That's not what the Book of Prophecy is talking about though!" Seeing that they had no choice but to reveal their own knowledge, Chirithy materialised beside Mickey, startling both Yen Sid and Ansem. "Sora already made his sacrifice, that battle is over!"

"What do you know of the book?" Yen Sid demanded. He was already aware of the mysterious little spirit's existence, but nothing of their origin or powers. To both his and Ansem's knowledge no one knew more about the book than they already did.

"I've read the book before, long before you found it! I saw the events play out." Chirithy tried to keep its voice steady, but the memories of Daybreak Town's demise still stung. But they stamped their foot and continued. "And I was there when Sora made that sacrifice!" Ansem and Yen Sid were obviously shocked and both opened their mouths to speak, but Riku cut them off.

"Just listen to what Chirithy has to say!"

They each held their tongues.

Chirithy took a deep breath. "The battle the book is talking about was the one in the Keyblade Graveyard..."

As Chirithy recited the events of that first battle; the near death of the guardians of light, Riku's sacrifice, Kairi's will to hold on to Sora, and the ordeal Sora choose to endure so that they would all have a second chance, Yen Sid's eyes became more and more fearful. If what he was hearing was true... could he have made a mistake?

Ansem kept one hand behind his back. His fingers were hovering close to the barrier between him and the keyboard, and he watching for any hint that it might come down. This creature claimed to have much knowledge of the book, but who knew if they could trust them. He had seen that darkness take hold of Sora.

"Sora!"

There were arms around him. Warm arms. He knew that voice. She was here. She was really here.

"Kairi," he murmured as he hugged her. "Thanks..."

"Are you hurt?" she demanded, still holding on to him tightly.

"No, I'm OK... are you?"

"I'm fine!" His cold skin and weak voice worried her though. She released him and leaned back, hands on his shoulders as she studied his face. He looked chalk white in the dim light, but he was beaming at her.

"I knew you'd find me..."

She smiled back, eyes shining with relief.

"Sora!"

Another voice he recognised. "Roxas?" Kairi disappeared as another pair of arms was thrown around him, and his vision was suddenly full of blonde hair. "What are you doing here?"

"Busting you out of course!"

Sora grinned again as they broke apart, "thanks."

Roxas's face was serious though. "Thank us once we're out of here, do you think you can walk?"

That was a good question, considering he couldn't feel his legs anymore. "Not sure..." Taking this as a clear no, Roxas pulled both his arms over his shoulders and Kairi helped hoist Sora onto his back.

Kairi turned and called out, "We found him!"

Sora could make out the sound of running feet and a voice answering. "Xion?"

"Yeah it is, we're going to get you out of here, just hold on tight OK? There are still Heartless around." Roxas felt him nod, and jogged after Kairi as she dashed back up the stairs.

She led them back through a door, another staircase up, but as they reached the top of those stairs they realised they had a problem. Kairi had led them down there by following Sora's heart, and they'd been in such a rush it hadn't occurred to any of them that they would need to find their way out again. This place was a maze, and Kairi had no idea what twists and turns would lead them back.

"Shit, shit, shit..." She stared beseechingly at Xion, but she was just as unsure.

"Did you find him?" Ienzo's voice came from the phone in Roxas' pocket. He jerked his head at Xion and she retrieved it, Roxas unable to as he held Sora's legs in his hands.

"We did! But we don't know the way back and we need to get him out of here fast, he's..." Xion trailed off, realising she had no idea what was actually wrong with Sora.

"Ienzo!" Roxas called out, and the scientist gasped as Xion held the phone up to give him a good look at both Roxas, and Sora slumped over his shoulders. "We could really use some help here! Please tell us there's a fast way out?" He was trying to suppress his panic but it was difficult when Sora was mumbling something in his ear with a voice far too slurred for his liking. He caught Riku's name, but the rest was indecipherable.

Shaken by Sora's half-dead appearance, Ienzo quickly gathered himself. "I'll get Cid on it right now, we've tracked your phone and, if I'm correct, there's an old lift stop nearby, he might be able to get it activated."

"Which way?"

Ienzo glanced away from the camera for a few moments, presumably studying a screen they couldn't see. "Head back the way you came, one floor down, there should be two doors at the very end of the hall, take the one on the right."

Cid barked "Got it going!" through the phone and they thanked their lucky stars as sparks appeared at the top of the spindly cage-like structure before them. "That lift should take ya right back to the entrance hall."

Once on the circular platform, Roxas knelt down, lowered Sora to sit on the floor, and the girls dropped down beside them. Sora seemed to be fighting hard to keep his eyes open as Roxas supported him.

"Sora?" Kairi reached out and rubbed his arm. "We're almost there, how are you doing?"

He lifted his head and tried to smile at her when he saw how scared she looked. "It's alright Kairi..." He reached up to put his hand on hers and squeezed it. "I'm just tired." The faintness of his voice did nothing to reassure them. His skin was ice against Kairi's palm and now that they were out of the dim light of the passageways she could see clearly how unnaturally pale his skin was, and that his lips had turned faintly purple. Yet he was still. Rather than shivering, his limbs seemed stiff and clumsy. His smile faded into confusion. "Where's Riku?"

"He's with Mickey and the others," she told him. No need to worry him by telling him about the altercation that could be happening above. "We'll see them soon!"

"It's still crawling with Heartless up there," Cid's voice interrupted from Xion's pocket. "Ya'll will have to fight your way out."

The lift was swift and it took just a minute for it to reach its destination. They wondered if the others may have managed to speed it up somehow.

As they came to a stop, Roxas pulled Sora's arm around his shoulders. If Cid was right and the hall was full of Heartless he'd need at least one arm free to defend them...

"Ready?" Sora made a faint sound that Roxas took as a yes, and began pulling him up. He groaned and clutched his chest as it ached, but made it to his feet. The door of the entrance hall opened before them, and they were met with a swarm of Shadows.

Kairi and Xion stood before Roxas and Sora, weapons ready. They just had to keep the Heartless far enough away from the boys for Roxas to drag Sora through the hall. Kairi was regretting her reckless spell casting before, feeling her mana reserves were low. They charged forward though, and Roxas followed, urging Sora to walk.

Sora was fading in and out though, unsure where they were anymore. He could vaguely hear Xion yelling something, but couldn't make out her words. Roxas pulled him roughly to the side, trying to keep them out of harm's way as the occasional Shadow made it past the girls and he had to throw his Keyblade up to defend them. The Shadows just seemed to keep coming though, each one they cut down quickly replaced.

Sora's strength was draining away, legs becoming heavier with every step. His chest throbbed again and he stumbled, Roxas's help no longer enough to keep him walking. "Sora come on! Just a little further!"

Kairi and Xion stopped moving forward, backing up to stand on either side of them as they came to a halt. They were surrounded.

"That was the darkness he absorbed. When he disappeared, that was his sacrifice," Chirithy finished their explanation. There was a long silence in the room. Yen Sid closed his eyes and felt another, painful, flicker of doubt.

"Let him go."

Ansem turned back to Riku. He had known there was no chance of convincing Riku. The boy was intelligent, and in any other situation, he was sure he would have been reasonable, and seen that this was the only solution. But he had spent a year observing Riku's unwavering devotion to Sora, a devotion that seemed only to have grown over time, if that were even possible. There had never been a chance that he would stand by and let them do what they must.

Ansem would not relent though, because he was sure he was right. He was sure. He had to be.

After what they had done to Sora... surely they had to have been right. Surely the suffering they had inflicted... that couldn't have been for nothing. It couldn't have been the wrong decision. Could it?

"Even if what you say is true, we have witnessed the darkness in him, that thing-"

"Rage isn't that!" Riku bellowed.

"Yeah!" Goofy called out. "Rage has been around for ages, Donald and I have seen it, and it's not some other person, it's still Sora!"

"And Sora can control it!" Donald said, a note of pride in his voice. "He learned how to use it! Just like Riku with the power of darkness."

"It certainly did not look like he knew how to use it," Ansem retorted, and Riku's stomach clenched.

"What do you mean?"

Even, who had retreated to the far corner of the room when the altercation began, now found he couldn't stand by in silence any longer now. "He was still in control!" Ansem jerked his head around. In the furore, he had forgotten Even was present. Was he about to be betrayed yet again? Even was turning from Ansem to Riku and back again looking desperate. "When he changed, it was like it was hurt, he couldn't use it to fight, but he was still in control!"

Ansem bristled, "Even, he-"

"Even may be right." Yen Sid had finally reopened his eyes and cut Ansem off. "It is possible... I believe it is possible we were mistaken."

"What?"

Ansem was floored. Was Yen Sid really beginning to doubt? His shock rapidly turned to anger. Shock, and fear.

"You all may be willing to take that risk, but I am not." He spoke with far more confidence than he felt, trying to ignore the creeping nausea. "This darkness must be destroyed if we are ever to win against the Heartless, and the darkness in our world."

Riku snorted. For all this research of his, all his platitudes and monologues about the nature of the heart, this was still really what he thought? "You really are a fool DiZ."

"Darkness isn't meant to be destroyed," Mickey said, a note of sympathy in his voice. How could these two really believe that after everything they had seen?

Terra nodded. "You can't have light without darkness."

Aqua turned to Yen Sid. "A former Keyblade master should know that."

If he'd had any doubt left, it vanished as Yen Sid met the eyes of Master Eraqus's successor. The first of the four before him to have been made a master. Someone he now recognised was far worthier of the title than he was. Maybe more than he had ever been. He had been right to relinquish his Keyblade all those years ago. Yet he had continued to act as though he were the authority over these young people. As though he knew better than any of them.

Riku had called Ansem a fool.

He deserved that title just as much.

Ansem opened his mouth, closed it for a moment, then tried to find his words again. "You are correct but this type... The book describes something different, the war it speaks of- for light to win this-"

"With their sacrifice the battle of light and dark will be done," Chirithy quoted from the prophecy, speaking over Ansem's stutters. "The war wasn't won, it was never meant to be won. It ended. It is done. If people can live in harmony with both light and darkness then all of this..." Chirithy raised its paws. They weren't gesturing at anything in particular, just the space around them. The world around the people in that room who had been through so much for the sake of a pointless age-old battle that they had been born into. "This suffering can stop."

Ansem had no words left. He wasn't convinced that his deductions had been wrong, but he was no longer convinced they were right either.

He turned to Yen Sid, and they shared a look of dread.

"Now, will you stop this madness?" Aqua asked coldly.

His conviction broken, Yen Sid looked at Riku and then dropped his eyes to the floor. In all his years of knowing him, Mickey had never seen his former master like this. Shattered, and humbled. "I'm sorry..." he breathed. "I... believed we had no choice."

"No... choice?" Riku whispered. "No choice?"

The apology revolted him. How dare he act like this had been noble. How dare he apologise!

"OF COURSE YOU HAD A CHOICE!"

Riku pulled back his arm as he roared, a pure rage burning in his heart. Darkness enveloped Braveheart. He stood there shaking with fury, hatred as he had never felt before consuming him, ready to swing at the bastard's throat. Ready to strike him down.

"Riku, NO!" Mickey cried out in horror, but Yen Sid didn't move a muscle. He stood still as Riku prepared to attack, too ashamed to meet his eyes.

The next moment that passed could have been less than a second, or more than an hour. Riku couldn't tell.

"ARGGGGHHHHH!"

Braveheart flew through the air, unimpeded, as Riku thrust it forward.

It froze a hair from Yen Sid's cheek.

"Even if you had been right, you still had a choice." His voice was as deadly as his attack would have been, should he have chosen to make it. "Where is he."

Yen Sid closed his eyes.

"In a chamber far below this lab."

"Show me!"

"If you take down the barrier I can show you," Ansem said, head now also hung in disgrace. They all exchanged a look before Riku nodded at Aqua. Keeping her Keyblade trained on Ansem, she dispersed the spell. He turned slowly to the console and for a moment he considered it. His finger hovered over the key. With one press the machine would start again. One last attempt to destroy the darkness.

He tapped at the keyboard, and a map appeared on the screen, along with an image of the room where they had left Sora restrained.

He wasn't there.

"What?" He spun around to Even, who was staring at the screen in shock as well.

"They must have released him!" he cried out with relief, but then his face went white. Sora was gone, but the room wasn't empty. Shadows flitted around its edges, presumably let in through the still-open door.

Mickey's phone was already in his hand and Terra yelled at Ansem. "Call the Heartless off!"

"I- I can't. We can stop the emblem Heartless, but not them..." The pureblood Heartless were beyond his control. There were always a few stalking the deepest depths of the castle, too many horrors had occurred here for them to ever truly be gone. With everything that had happened in that dungeon these past twenty-four hours, he should have foreseen that their numbers would multiply. Those, along with all the emblem ones he had released. With shaking hands, he executed the command to recall those, the least he could do.

"Ienzo! Can you give us an update?" Heart racing, Riku turned to Mickey as he spoke quickly into his phone. If Sora really was too weak to fight, and the Heartless had gotten to him...

"They found him!" Ienzo's voice called out. "But they're in trouble!"

"Where?" Riku demanded. His ears were ringing.

"They're almost at the entrance hall! But the Heartless-"

He didn't hear anymore, as he sprinted from the room.

Aqua pointed at Yen Sid and Ansem. "Don't let them out of your sight!" She ordered the others, and tore after Riku.

"SORA!"

"Riku?" Dazed and barely holding on to consciousness, Sora recognised his voice and looked up. His vision was still hazy, but suddenly he could see bursts of dark firaga exploding all around them, the heat of it momentarily searing his skin. Then there were cries of joy, yelling in his ears, but all he cared about was the person sprinting towards him. "Riku!" He took a hurried step forward, wanting to run to meet him, but Roxas kept a firm hold on his waist until Riku reached them. When he did, Sora collapsed into his arms, legs no longer working, and Riku dropped to his knees, gripping him tightly and shaking.

"Sora..." He'd been so afraid he was about to lose him again, so afraid he'd never get to hold him like this again.

"It's OK, I'm alright," Sora murmured, trying to rub his back as Riku clung to him and took sharp, shuddering breaths. Unconvinced he pulled back, hand on Sora's cheek, eyes frantically searching his face and body for injuries. His skin was deathly pale and cold against Riku's palm, but he was smiling. Riku took a sharp breath somewhere between a sob and a gasp of relief and kissed his forehead, brow, lips desperately, satisfied he at least wasn't in immediate danger.

With no energy left to return the kiss, Sora leant forward and let his forehead rest against his. "You heard me..."

"Yeah," Riku breathed. He kissed his forehead again and pulled him into a tight hug. "You're safe now, I've got you."

A wave of warmth washed over Sora. He sighed as the crawling sensation in his skin and chest finally eased, fear melting away. "Yeah..."

The nightmare was over. It was finally over.

His eyelids sagged, and Riku felt his body go limp in his arms.

He scooped the now unconscious Sora up and, with the others close behind, sprinted for the door, out of that wretched castle.