The Ruined World

by Yue Twili

After crash landing on a world, destroyed as a result of a premature apocalypse, Sora has to find a way off of the world and back to his friends. Unfortunately, he got caught up with a certain vengeful Horseman. With no other clues to get off, the boy teams up with him. (Took place before Twilight Town's Final Visit)

22. Chapter 21

This is essentially a filler chapter before the actual thing, but it's something I planned on putting in. I tried to make this as entertaining as possible but…well, we'll see.

Here's some trivia: in the Japanese script, Sora is merely known as the 'Keyblade Hero'. Yet in English, it was translated instead to 'Master', leading to a massive confusion when Birth By Sleep and such came out, having people think it's a retcon. In actuality, the word for 'hero' in Japanese is translated to 'master'. So to be frank… 'hero' fits Sora better than 'master', wouldn't you say?

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!

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A few days had passed since the two were on the road. There was a bit of a situation regarding nightfall. While they are in a bit of a hurry to get to the Ashlands to locate the Stygian, the Red Rider does not have night vision, and there's barely any light that shines from the sky. Another problem is the young human's stamina. Because he doesn't have an enchanted sword that grants unlimited stamina (in return for making them kill people without tiring out), it was a bit of a dilemma. And humans need sleep in order to survive and function properly.

It did, however, resulted in an argument between the human and the Watcher, the former saying he could keep going while the latter insisted that he's dead weight to them. It isn't as if the two didn't talk about how they would make the journey work. Even if one of them IS a powerful Enforcer, the only times he had to stay put for the night was when there is little to no visibility, especially in the forest. War only lucked out the first time was because the Twilight Cathedral happened to be nearby, and it only took a few hours to get there. On the way to the Griever it proved that there's so little the Nephilim were given. Ergo, not having night vision. It took him days to traverse through the area to where the Hollows are located, being forced to stop for the night in order to wait until it's brighter to continue (to his own frustration and the Watcher's complaints).

Fortunately, the two had managed to find a compromise, with the Keyblade wielder figuring he could use a very…unorthodox method that could benefit the two of them. It took getting some materials, like a platform, a bunch of leaves, a blanket, and using a rope tied around his waist, the boy had managed to make a makeshift 'camp' of sorts within the backpack, using the platform as a stationary flat surface he could use to sleep on it.

The expression the Horseman had on his face as he watched it, bizarrely, work after the boy – as the boy described the experience – 'cartoonishly' pulled himself out of the backpack thanks to the rope the Horseman has, was a mix of subtle dismay and incredulity. It isn't every day that you see something like that after all.

War had to turn away to prevent himself from laughing at a similar expression the Watcher had as the boy, after a while of arguing, declared they had a work around and showed the sprite. One of the good points of traveling together is watching the arrogant sprite being flummoxed by the boy's eccentric behavior. But he could do without the arguments between the two.

And so, days had passed, with the Horseman yanking the boy out of the bag as his 'alarm clock', getting something in his stomach before they carried on.

Though, during the trip, he felt the boy's eyes looking over at him. "What?" The Horseman didn't mean to sound irritated but that's how he usually is.

"Uh, nothing, never mind," the boy responded hastily.

A moment had passed in silence. Then the boy spoke up again.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

War considered it. "What is it?" he inquired, not sounding irritated.

In his peripheral vision, he saw the boy regarding him. "I've been meaning to ask, but…that form you used to fight the Griever. What is it?"

Ah, that. The Horseman was surprised the boy didn't ask him about it while they were staying with Ulthane. Then again, the boy seems to have held himself back most of the time, WANTING to ask him questions but he didn't want to be overbearing. Respecting his privacy and everything.

Doing him the curtesy of answering him whatever questions he felt comfortable in answering, the Horseman replied, "The form I took is known as 'Chaos Form'. It's a form where we used the energies within us to temporarily transform into unique forms befitting us."

"Huh. Do the Nephilim have the forms?" The boy asked, curiosity in his voice.

"No. Just the four of us. Strife and I were…" he paused a moment to consider the next bit, before deciding with, "'taught' by Samael to use our forms. Death and Fury learned to do the same afterwards."

"So Samael taught you how to use the form?" The Horseman nodded, grunting. He noticed the boy having a bit of a pensive look.

The Horseman had noticed a while back that the boy was bothered after Samael taught him how to replicate the thorns. The demon certainly has…ways, to bring out your emotions. Perhaps the boy is bothered that the Horseman himself learned how to use the form thanks to Samael. Of how easy it was for his emotions to be manipulated like that. It wasn't his fault, though. Humans are still young, and they can end up having their own emotions betray them at times, much like most of the beings in creation. And demons just know how to play with emotions.

He noticed the teal and black mist manifesting before the Watcher appeared. "So you saw the form? I'm surprised you didn't piss your pants at the sight of it," it sneered.

The human frowned at it and War internally groaned. Couldn't they go one day without arguing? "Well, I was scared but not THAT scared," the boy retorted.

"Sure," the Watcher responded, not impressed. "Just as I'm sure you faced something worse!"

"Kinda," the boy answered without heat. "I faced an ice titan."

"…I was being sarcastic," the Watcher muttered after a moment.

"Anyway, back to what I WANTED to ask," the boy began, looking at the Horseman. "…Uh…do you…ever get better with the form?"

"I had trained to control it better," the Horseman answered.

The boy blinked. "So…you can't…grow like…twenty feet tall?" he held up a hand to be taller than himself. "Or, taller?"

The Horseman had to pause, turning to the human as he raised an eyebrow. "…No, I could not," he said slowly. "Why?"

"Oh really?" The boy seemed surprised. "Huh." The boy seemed oddly disappointed. "That would have been neat. Be that tall, use fire, and fire a fire beam from your mouth." The boy beamed. "Kind of like icon Ifrit!"

There was silence for a few moments. The Horseman's eyebrow rose so far that it could have reached his hairline. 'Icon'? Such as…an image of a being?

"Icon?"

The boy seemed to have noticed it. "Oh, by 'icon' I mean Eikon. E – I – K – O – N. Eikon," the boy elaborated.

"…The hell is an Eikon?" The Watcher asked slowly after a moment.

"It's a fictional being from a story book my friend's mom read to us when we were kids," the boy answered. "It's called 'Final Fantasy'. It tells the story of there being 'gods' that can control the elements, and there was a war involved with them." He soon frowned. "The ending's kind of ambiguous, though, like," he crossed his arms, "did the main character die or not? That's been the debate we had for a while back then."

"…You humans have…quite the extensive imagination," War said slowly, bemused.

Here he thought Strife has a rather exhausting imagination.

The boy shrugged. "Maybe. But other than that gripe, it's a story that I liked. It would be neat to be able to do the things the hero did." But then his face fell. "…Then again, I'm not sure if I want to fight something as big as Titan Lost's form. It was described to be…supper massive. As tall as a mountain. And I've seen a couple of mountains, so that's believable."

Truly, very exhausting imagination.

"You humans come up with anything to alleviate your boredom, hm?" the Watcher quipped.

"Well, don't you guys have stories to share? Or made up?" The boy responded with his own question, curiosity on his face.

At that, the Horseman's face scrunched up in confusion at the question. "Why would I tell stories that exaggerates the details?" The Horseman responded honestly.

The boy looked at him with an expression on his face like he was puzzled or in shock of something. "Uh…for fun?"

"I have no reason to lie in a story I would tell."

The human slouched, sighing. "I knew you were serious but…you're really no fun, are you?"

The Horseman lightly thumped the human. "We do not have time for 'fun', unfortunately," he points out.

"I know…" The boy straightened up, bouncing on his feet to make the backpack jump. "Let's keep going."

And that was that for a while.

The two continued on their way towards the Ashlands. It was mostly uneventful, other than the few times there was a scuffle or two with roaming demons. Which are quickly taken care of due to swift teamwork.

They don't talk much, but sometimes the boy asks him a couple of questions, like the compass one time.

"It's a tracing magic that the four of us learned and then utilize when we need to reach our destination at times," War had explained. "For some missions, we are given angelic compasses to hunt down demons to quell them, or other items to find our objectives. The type of magic I am using is the most basic in getting to our destination, but we will have to find our actual target once we arrive."

"Oh," the boy let out. "That would be useful to have on our end. We just head to places or are led there by others. We don't really have a set destination at times."

"As you had noticed, this world is larger than the smaller ones you had visited," the Horseman pointed out. "It is not just Earth, but Heaven, Hell and any other world connected to them."

The boy hummed at that and soon nodded. "Got it."

It was until days later he noticed the clouds darkening overhead. His narrowed his eyes at them for a moment. The boy beside him sniffed the air a couple of times. "Uh oh," he says. "I think it's gonna rain soon."

War looked towards the boy in intrigue. "You are able to tell?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Uh…my pop was a fisherman, who helps gather fish. He taught me how to read the weather through the scents in the air. There are other ways but…" The boy looked up. "The wind's kind of picking up. I don't know how heavy the rain would be, but…"

The Horseman frowned. The boy has a point. If it's heavy rainfall, there will be terrible visibility. Yes, he had fought in rain, but rain makes you unaware of what's around you. Useful to sneak up on enemies at times, but not when it can be used against you.

"We will have to keep moving," the Horseman decided. "But if it is going to be a downpour, we will have to find shelter until it lets up."

The boy grunted. "If you say so," he says.

The two continued onwards. However, it was only about thirty minutes later that the first droplet landed on his face. It started off as a light sprinkle. But minutes in, the rain is starting to come down. The boy let out an annoyed grunt, while the Horseman raised his head a little to look at the clouds for a moment. They're getting darker by the minute. It looks like it'll be a raging storm.

He felt the boy pat his arm to get his attention, who then points in a direction. "We can use that place for shelter for a while," he says.

The direction the boy is pointing towards seems to be a large building. Rather, there were several large buildings that appeared to be connected to each other. The young human rushed off ahead of him, leaving the Horseman to trail behind him. The sky rumbled overhead in the distance.

Once he caught up to the young human, he saw the boy looking over at a pair of doors. That look…decidedly odd. There are several with bars on the outside yet there are a few that doesn't have the bars or a knob. The boy grabbed a handle and pulled, which didn't budge. He hummed, looking at the Horseman for a moment and back to the door. He looked at the doors with no bars, heading over to them. The Horseman watched the human in slight curiosity as the human put his fingers between the doors to push them apart, but they also didn't budge. He hummed before he pulled out the Keyblade. He used it to lightly tap the small keyhole on the door, with a small 'click' heard. The boy placed the blunt weapon back on his back before he managed to push the doors open. The boy made a happy grunt before he entered, gesturing the Horseman to follow.

Eyeing the entrance, the Horseman had to duck a little to go through the opening, looking around a little as he heard the human move to close the doors behind them.

The area is dimly lit, with some light filtering from the window ceiling above. The rain drumming on the ceiling far above them. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed that there are other areas within the building. His eyes wandered a little, trying to analyze what lies before him from a distance.

An unexpected yet obnoxious squeak made him wince, and his head immediately went to the source. A similar wince was on the boy's face before he looked down to his feet, lifting a foot. Carefully, the boy lowered his foot and looked to the mat behind them. The boy quickly hopped to it and began to stamp his feet onto it, wiping them in quick strokes to remove the moisture from the soles.

The Horseman watched the human do this for a few moments until the boy took a tentative step on the other side of the mat. The human lightly pressed the heel of his shoe before firmly placing it down. He took a careful step. The squeak isn't as bad, but it's still there. The Keyblade user held up a thumb. The humans' universal sign that it's 'good' or 'okay'.

The boy turned his head to the rest of the building. "Okay, let's see what we got here," he said out loud as he headed in.

The Horseman took a glance at the doors, seeing beyond. The rain is falling harder now, and thunder rumbled overhead. They will not be heading back outside any time soon.

Turning, the Horseman followed the human to the center part of the building.

~o~

Sora looked around in the spacious building as he approached the middle. There are different paths, openings that leads to other rooms and there are some stairs as well. Some that goes to the second level or below. There are also signs over the openings. Some of them had words that had faded out and a few others have curved wires.

For some reason the entire place looks familiar. He knows he had never been here before, but the building itself felt familiar. He lightly scratched his chin with his right hand, humming.

The boy heard the heavy footsteps coming up behind him, but he had been around War enough to know it's just him. "What is this building?" The Horseman inquired. Sora watched the man as he gazed around carefully, which the boy does not blame. There are a lot of openings and demons could be in them.

So far, though, the only sound that can be heard is the rain pelting the roof. No tall tell sounds of demons. Not that the boy could blame the Horseman with being wary, however.

At the question, Sora looked around the area they were in a lot more carefully. As he did, the feeling he had earlier filtered back. Why is it familiar…?

He walked around what appears to be a fountain until he noticed something at the corner of his eye. Sora turned his head to it, seeing a stand of sorts. It has the diagram of the building with words to the side behind a plastic cover, but the plastic is turning yellow with the words a bit faded…

Sora stared at the map for a little while, wondering where he had seen it. But he hadn't been in this building before, has he? Yet it DOES remind him of the map of the mall back at the islands. No sooner did the thought form, did it finally click for him. "Oh!" He let out, his eyes widening. "I know what this place is!" He turned to the Horseman. "Yeah, this is a mall!"

The Horseman tilted his head. "Mall…?" He repeated the unfamiliar word.

"It's a huge building with small shops around," Sora explained to him. "Like clothes, appliances and…oodles of other places that hope to sell their stuff here from other stores. Mainly for profit. Some people come to these places instead of the usual stores, to just walk around to places that are closer. There's also a food court here for some food as well."

The black and teal mist manifested to present the arrival of the Watcher. "So humans made this place to go about and buy useless things," it scoffed. "You humans always come up with anything to deal with your boredom."

Sora just shrugged. "Well, I don't really get it myself. I only come to a mall because I got dragged along by my friends. The food's good at least." As good as some of them could get anyway. Authentic Chinese IS somewhat better.

The boy soon looks up to the ceiling, at the rain hitting the roof. "In any case, it doesn't look like the rain's gonna let out any time soon." As he said that, a flash is seen outside before the thunder boomed overhead. "I guess we'll stay here until then."

The Horseman looked around the building. "I suppose…that is for the best."

Sora looked around a little. "I think I'll try to find some supplies." He felt the Horseman giving him a look, so he responded with, "I know, I know. The whole place is probably already cleaned out. But it couldn't hurt to look."

The Horseman sighed after a moment. "Very well."

The next hour was spent wandering around the mall. It didn't seem to be a big one, nor is it fancy. They ignored the shops that are more built for teens or people more into fashion (Sora was never into that stuff anyway), and mostly checked around places that might have sufficient supplies for the young human.

In one of the shops, they took note of things that were messed with, one of them being a portable gas stove. "Huh. These look out of order," Sora silently mused to himself, staring at them. Demons wouldn't exactly mess with these, would they? Do they even know what some of these things are for? There were a lot of cans around this particular stove. And a lot of miscellaneous things around it as well, from packages that appeared to contain meat, some old, yellowed plastic. There's a large space cleared out around the stove to make sure the fire didn't catch onto anything flammable.

Exploring a little more in the shop, the two found evidence that people had camped in this particular shop due to the supplies. Those being sleeping bags, tents, and other necessities for survival.

Sora hummed at the sleeping bags for a moment after examining one closely. 'What other places did they camp in…?' He asked himself before he stood up. Considering his own experience, they would mostly be in places where they couldn't easily be seen. And would have a guard up to keep watch. This area wouldn't be the only places they had camped out at. There are too few sleeping bags around and the rest are just…off the racks. Leaving them bare.

Spurred on by their findings, the boy's curiosity is peaked. If there WERE humans that had camped here, how many and how long did they remain? It would be a while until the rain would let up, so he has plenty of time to try to check around the mall. It isn't THAT big thankfully. So it wouldn't be a bother.

And who knows? Perhaps there are survivors still? He knew it would seem unlikely but…he can't help but be optimistic.

"Hey, do you think there may be survivors?" Sora then asked the Horseman after finding another makeshift 'camp'.

The Horseman regarded him. "Are you referring to those that used these," the Horseman glanced down at the sleeping bags, and after a moment said, "items?"

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "They're sleeping bags. Made to fit most people if they want to sleep outdoors. Got insulation and such to keep them warm and dry for the most part. Though not many people would find them comfortable." After that explanation, the boy looked to the bags in question, "In any case, do you think there were other humans that survived?"

"Not likely," War answered honestly. "It has been one hundred years. Whoever had lived here had most likely passed on at this point."

Sora looked away, scratching his head. He knows the Horseman is being honest, and it HAS been one hundred years since the premature End War…but seeing what humans originally used themselves, the limited resources. He just wanted to know if there are indeed survivors. The Horseman nor the Watcher wouldn't know why he was fixated on this but…

(Sora had seen Mulan place the small doll before the sword Captain Shang had plunged into the ground, an ornate helmet resting on top of the pommel to serve as a grave marker. Upon seeing it, he knew what it meant. But he had to ask her anyway. She wished to remember those who had passed in the war. From defenseless bystanders to the soldiers that fought in the war. Those that had lost their lives in this tragedy deserve to at least be remembered by someone. Even if it is a stranger.)

"Well, I still want to see if there are," Sora says. "But if there aren't, I could do something for them at least."

He kept his gaze leveled on the Horseman, even if the darkness covered the latter's face. Even if most of creation feared the Horsemen (and rightfully so), Sora himself can be rather stubborn. Maybe it had something to do with his youthful stubbornness, or because he had been around the Horseman for a good while, he learned not to fear the Nephilim. (At least, know enough to NOT anger him. Yet old habits die hard.)

After a few moments, the Horseman let out a soft sigh. "All right. But return to the fountain afterwards."

The Horseman's words didn't register at first in the boy's mind. A moment after, he blinked. And let it sink in fully. Once it fully sunk in, the boy smiled up at him and nodded. "Okay! I'll be back!"

The boy soon turned away from the Horseman and rushed off to explore more of the mall. To see who else had once lived here.

~o~

As the Horseman watched the boy hurry out of the 'store', at the corner of his eye he noticed the Watcher materialize from his gauntlet. "You are just being lenient with the human, you know," the sprite hissed. He ignored the Watcher for a moment as he gave a careful glance around the store. Ever since they started exploring the mall, he couldn't help but feel that there's…something off. He knows he shouldn't just rely on gut feeling/instinct alone. And yet, he could not calm his senses – something does not…seem right in the mall.

He still listened to the Watcher as it adds, "Whatever. Let the brat be naïve about all of this. He won't find anything in this 'mall' anyway. Perhaps other than corpses."

A part of him agrees that finding corpses of humans IS possible. If they had taken refuge here, for how long did they remain alive until they were found by demons?

…Not to mention, what KIND of demon found them…

Unable to shake the feeling anymore, the Red Rider soon states, "There is something wrong here."

At first, the Watcher scoffed. "Course there's a lot of things wrong. I mean, really-"

The Horseman didn't shift his expression, nor did he lower his voice and growl, even IF he felt annoyed by the sprite. It's important that it realizes something is off. "No," he cut it off in a firm tone. "The atmosphere of this building. It feels…abnormal. Do you not sense it?"

The Watcher narrowed its six eyes at him, annoyed at being cut off. After a moment, however, it started to look around. At first in annoyance before it soon shifted to surprised. "Huh. Now that you mentioned it…there's something covering this building."

At least it noticed. His senses aren't as good as most, and yet he felt something was off. It may be as a result of the thousands of years of fighting – before and after he became a Horseman – and battle experience. Old habits die hard, that he always kept his guard up. It's a warrior thing.

The Horseman flicked his left hand outwards. "Shall we investigate?" The Horseman inquired. "It will be a while until the sky clears up."

He gazed at the Watcher, while keeping his ears out. To hear for the tall-tale signs of thick nails scraping against tiles or any other sound out of the ordinary.

The Watcher contemplated this for a while, its six eyes narrowing in thought. It's shoulders soon slumps. "Fine, we'll have a look around," it decided. "The human is off looking himself, so he won't slow us down."

The Horseman nodded curtly before he turned. What started off as a means to take shelter suddenly became an excursion. It'll pass the time until the rainfall ends.

Privately, the Red Rider wished that the boy would be around to keep an eye on him. Even if the mall appears to be empty (so far), the boy showed the knack of getting himself into trouble at times. Just as much as the boy is able to handle himself thus far. He assigned himself the duty to watch over the boy and to keep a close eye on him because of that. As for as the Horseman knows, the ability to sense unique bloodlines – especially one as unique as the boy's – is extremely rare.

And yet…

The Horseman stopped his train of thought and mentally shook his head. He should not go into a downward spiral. Not only that, he…he shouldn't try to get attached to the human at all. He could rationalize a lot of reasons why to convince himself to not do so.

(The boy will return home, and they will not see each other again.)

(If anything happened to the boy, it'd hurt less.)

(These are NOT excuses to distance himself. They are NOT.)

It's dangerous to do so. For both him and for the human. No one gets hurt. The human won't get killed for just being associated with him. Especially if the human is a Mystic.

This is enough of a reason to try to keep his distance with the human.

"Let us move then," the Horseman stated. It's time to investigate.

~o~

Sora stared up at something for a good while. It's on the wall, in a red box with a white lever to it. He knew what exactly it is and felt glad that he isn't around War to explain it to him. Certain buildings have a fire alarm that they can pull to alert the fire department. It's drilled to exit out of the building if there is a case of a fire. Using the stairs, not the elevators, all that stuff. And pulling the fire alarm if there is no fire IS, while not a bad crime, is still a misdemeanor and still punishable by law.

…And yet, he couldn't help but have an urge to just pull it. There's no police, so…

The boy looked around for a moment to see if anyone is looking. Chuckling mischievously to himself, he rubbed his hands together before he reached up and pulled. There is no sound, however, which the boy figured is due to there being no power to the building. While fire detectors required batteries. And he isn't going to waste time seeing how they looked after a hundred years.

Sora turned away. "Well, got that out of my system," he said out loud as he walked away from it. Scratch that off my list, he thought.

Since he got permission from the Horseman to explore the mall for a little while, he checked out a few things to fulfill his curiosity.

Like a sort of toy store that has a good amount of toys, and a lot of plushies. Sora found one of them that is a yellow, weird looking mouse with a thunderbolt shaped tail, red cheeks, and pointed ears with black at the tips. The plush looked a little faded in color, as if it was meant to be brighter. There were some other plushies or have a plush-like feel to them, like an orange round pillow with a red star in the middle, a girl with blonde hair in long pigtails and wearing a sailor outfit with chibi wings, to name a few. None of them were interesting so he just left them behind.

There was also what looks like a CD store, with a lot of music CDs, posters, DVDs, and some merch (the clothing were annihilated by bugs because they don't look like clothing anymore). Sora picked up a case that has a futuristic helmet with a gold visor in space. Both halves are red and blue, while the visor has a depiction of someone in that armor holding another person in a similar armor in a headlock. Sora pursed his lips, humming…before he placed it back where he found it and strolled off.

He also found an old arcade building with a slew of games you'd find in the Arcade. Two racing games, a few fighting games (they even have Street Fighter!), a couple of DDR stands, air hockey, a billiard table…oodles of games that are in the arcade, including the claw machines! As much as Sora wanted to check and see if they worked, he thought better than to do that since the noises may attract unwanted attention. Plus, there isn't any electricity, and he isn't smart enough to figure out how to hot wire most of them without breaking them permanently. So, reluctantly, he left the arcade behind to resume searching.

After finding the fire alarm, he soon left it behind him, mentally storing it away as a little something he will take to his grave if he ever leaves the world. Later, he soon came upon the door that leads to the back of the mall. Where employees often go into. From the workers in the shops, mall cops, and the cleaners. It's the last place he hadn't looked at yet after scouring the entire building complex for anything human related. It's the last place that's not so likely to look.

The young human approached the door, about to push it open- a small chill went up his spine. He shifted his head a little to try to look over his shoulder, before he turned fully.

There was no one there.

Wanting to ignore that, the boy turned to the door. He pushed the lever of the door, before shoving it open. It opened with a squeak. The hall it leads into is pitch black. With no lights, with only an eerie, faint howl of the air.

After staring into a figurative abyss for a moment, Sora's answer was clear. "Nope." Sora closed the door, turned around and walked off.

He knew better than to walk down a dark, eerie hallway. There can be something nasty in that hall. Those horror movies he was made to watch ensured he would be extra careful about them. So that's what he's doing. Being smart and keeping away from places like that. Even if he has a Keyblade.

It didn't look like he found anything so he would have to head to the place War told him to go. Knowing the Horseman, he might be there already- the thought didn't even finish as he stopped. He turned his head to when he had glanced at something as he looked around mindlessly.

Frozen like a deer in the headlights, there is a girl with bleach blonde hair, almond shaped eyes and wearing a black tank top with a jacket not fully over her shoulders, a layered skirt and platform boots. Bits of her hair has some bright colors on some strands framing her face (bright pink and bright blue), her ears having some piercings, with regular earrings and hoop earrings. Her nails are coated black. The girl's eyes are onyx colored, with black eyebrows over them.

The girl and the boy stared at each other for a while. A good, long while. Sora stared at the girl, his brain trying to process what he is seeing before him. Before long, it finally sank in that what he is seeing is NOT an illusion at all. This is, in fact, a human before him. A live, human girl. And she seems to be around the same age as him. He couldn't believe that he had found a human!

Sora started to take a step, opening his mouth and holding his hand out to her. "Hey-"

The girl turned on her heel and bolts.

Sora let out a startled bleat. "H-Hey! Wait!" he cried out before he took off after her.

He isn't out of shape nor is he slow, but the girl is fast! How could she run so fast in platform boots? But he isn't going to give up just because she's faster. Plus, he's got parkour. With that in mind, he started to acrobatically go around obstacles, chasing after the mystery girl throughout the mall. He did admittedly lose sight of her because she has a smaller frame where she could crawl through places, so Sora had to use other means to try to catch up to her. He had to keep going for a while, looking around for the girl until he caught sight of her and hurried after her.

Soon enough, he slowed to a jog, catching his breath as he ended up at what appears to be a food court. He had checked the place a while back. Everything is completely barren. The food had long ago been devoured or was just left to rot (leaving Sora to dispose of them someplace when he couldn't stand the smell). The boy looked around a little, his breathing evening out. He was sure the girl had ran to here.

"Hello?" He called out to the girl. He looked around, pacing a little. "Are you around here? It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you." He looked under a table, before approaching an Asian cuisine fusion part of the court. He looked to the flappy door before he opens it to peer into the kitchen area. He didn't see her there. He looked around a little better, peering into cabinets and other places he could think of that could hide a person. Or at least, hide a teenager.

When he couldn't find her in there, he moved on to the other restaurants around the food court. He looked around carefully, peering into places he figured she would be hiding in. Yet no luck so far. But as he was standing in the area with the chairs and tables, scratching his head and pondering where else she could be, he heard a noise near him. Carefully, he turned his head to the source…a lone, plastic trash can.

Sora slapped himself on the forehead for not even thinking of looking in the most obvious place. Slowly and softly exhaling, he tip-toes over to the plastic trash bin. Once he got close enough, he looked over at it before he silently walked behind it, reached out to the lid…and quickly pulls it up. Revealing the girl.

The two stared at each other again for a while, the boy staring in shock at actually finding her, and the girl once more staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

The girl suddenly let out a startled bleat, making Sora jump in surprise before she made the container topple over to the ground. Sora regained himself and quickly got to the girl as she scrambled to try to get out. "W-Wait! Hold up!" Sora called out to her. He got to the front of her, but that seemed to be the wrong thing to do, as the girl yelped again and curled over herself.

"W-Watashi o kizutsukenaide kudasai!" The girl pleaded.

Sora blinked once. Twice. What did she…? Wait. Wait.

'Watashi… kizutsukenaide…' He mentally parroted. This language…it sounds familiar. Where did he…?

Soon it dawned on him. Oh. OH! This is-! This is the language that's often the first language at the islands! Everyone learned to speak English for tourists, so it was no problem for him to talk with mostly English speakers. (And for the most part, apparently English is the universal language. But Donald and Goofy could also apparently understand and speak this language too.)

From what she said…

He nodded. "It's okay," he assured her (and it feels weird speaking in his first language again. It feels…nice. Doing that again). When he noticed that the girl stopped shaking, he adds, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Slowly, the girl uncurled herself, turning her head to look at him. With the soles of her feet on the floor, her knees to her chest, she uncurled herself a little more. "You…you speak Japanese?"

Japanese? Is that the language she speaks? Funny how it sounds similar to the language spoken on the islands.

Sora gave a bit of a thoughtful hum before he gave a shrug. "Sort of?" he soon held out his hand to her. "Anyway, sorry about the scare. Need a hand?"

The girl looked at him with a wary expression, which Sora supposes is fair. He is a stranger to her after all. But after a moment, she slowly extends her hand to be placed into his, allowing him to pull her up to his feet. Once she's stable, Sora lets go and backs up a couple of paces to allow her room as she composes herself.

"So what's your name?" The boy then asked her. He places a hand on his chest. "My name is Sora."

The girl looked over at him, as if with newfound awe. "…Naomi-desu."

"Naomi, eh?" Sora mused, thinking. Pretty name. "So, is it just you?" He soon asked her, slipping into his native language. "Are there other people around?"

Naomi shook her head. "No, there isn't," she responded.

"Oh," the boy let out. "I'm sorry."

Naomi pursed her lips into a grimace. She raised her head to him. "Listen…you should leave the mall and never come back," she stated to him suddenly.

Sora blinked in surprise at the demand. "Huh? Uh…why? Is something wrong?"

"Yes, VERY wrong," Naomi insisted strongly. "You have to leave. Now!"

"But…" He couldn't say more as Naomi soon turned to the side and storms off. Yet, being as stubborn as he is, Sora isn't going to let her just walk off without explaining herself. So he got into a jog, easily catching up with her. "Why do you not want me to be here? Is there something dangerous?" He inquired. Why else would she say that he shouldn't be in the mall, if there's something IN the mall? Something potentially dangerous?

(And Sora didn't even think that the mall is dangerous. That was stupid of him to not think it.)

The girl looked to him before shaking her head. "I…can't really say. You aren't safe here. You should leave soon." She quickens her pace to leave.

Sora didn't match her pace, but stared at her back for a few moments, frowning. He rubbed his chin in thought. "…You CAN'T say anything? Do you mean you don't want to…or that you are unable to?" Sora implored.

A near stumble from the girl. But Naomi kept going. If that isn't answer out of itself, the boy isn't sure what is. Yet she isn't saying much. And if Sora is right, due to his experiences thus far (though they are VERY limited, mind you)…

There is something afoot in this mall. "Is it human related?" Sora inquired. He got his answer in the form of her shaking her head. He hummed. "Then…is it demon related?" He carefully watched her body language as soon as he finished answering that question. And he managed to spot it: a near, imperceptible jerk in her posture before she kept walking. So there are demons in the mall. He hadn't seen any of them but…he has to remember that not all demons are brute force. They can use magic themselves.

(-his right-hand tingled in his palm at the reminder of the Demonic Thorns he had conjured thanks to Samael-)

From what he could remember about demons, at least from media and such, it's always a bad idea to try to make a contract with them. Some demons could also have the power to take control of people. Yet for all he knew, real life demons are different from the ones from TV shows and movies, and comics. (As he's been finding out…)

So he needed to get as much information as he could. To at least figure out the situation a little better before he just runs off toward certain death. As much as he wanted to help Naomi, he wouldn't be of much help if he ends up getting killed himself. He has plenty of time anyway, before he has to get back to War.

However, Sora thought as he looked to Naomi, it didn't seem likely he could get anything else from her regarding said demon. She kept insisting that he leaves the mall. She more than likely thought he was just an ordinary human. He isn't going to correct her, because he had a feeling that she deemed whatever was within the mall as 'dangerous'. If it's demon related, it probably isn't your run of the mill kind of demon that he could just rush over and bash its head in.

No. Whatever this demon is, it must be pretty powerful.

Though…there is one question that popped into his head.

"Okay. So…are there any other humans around?" asked Sora. "I mean, is it just you?"

He didn't get a response from her. But surely she couldn't be the only person that lived in the mall. There were evidence that suggested otherwise that there were others. What happened to the other humans? Why is she the only one?

The boy noticed she slowed down a little. Her arms are drawn in as if to hug herself. Concerned, Sora walked up right to her. "Are you okay?"

Naomi turned her head, not looking at him. She said something so quietly and softly that Sora thought he didn't hear it right but strained his ears to hear better "…been enslaved." Is what he caught.

Enslaved…who are enslaved? The thought hadn't finished before he chided himself for being a moron. It would mean other people. Perhaps Naomi's group. The enslaved part though…would that mean there are humans alive and are being enslaved by demons? So many questions he wanted to ask, but…

The boy regarded her. She seemed tense. Not to mention scared.

Naomi shook her head before she looked to Sora. "You should forget about me and get out of here," she said to him. "Just…go, okay?"

And before he could say anything else, she took off running, and he couldn't stop her in time. But he didn't bother going after her this time. Because something told him that he couldn't convince her otherwise. He just stopped and watched her go until she turned a corner. Once he was sure she was gone, he crossed his arms, lowering his head and pursed his lips as he delved into his thoughts.

Naomi is the only human he saw thus far in the mall. It was by chance that he had spotted her, and she ran away from him. From what he had managed to catch, she was probably with a group of other humans, and they ended up enslaved to a demon. Again, to normal humans, demons are a terrifying force, so it's natural for people like Naomi to run and hide. She doesn't look like a fighter at all. Yet she kept telling him to leave the mall. Why is that? Is this demon that enslaved the others dangerous? If it were a regular demon, that could be easily taken care of. But he learned that there are stronger, more dangerous demons around.

With all he had experienced though, a part of him just couldn't ignore people in need of help. He just…couldn't.

Sora sighed softly to himself. "Maybe I am too much of a bleeding heart…" he muttered softly to himself.

He wouldn't feel better about himself until he at least help these people. So it's better if we tries to look into this himself. And if there is a dangerous demon around, he can find War and… He frowned. No. Even if he asked, this is probably not his business. He could already picture what the two are going to say regarding it.

"It is not our role to liberate any humans enslaved by demons," is what War would say. Cold. Factual. All business.

"You really think we have time to rescue some puny humans?" Is what the Watcher would say. Mocking. Gleefully sadistic. Laughing at him.

The last one sounds more like what the Watcher would say, but War is more focused on getting to the Black Throne. They're still on their way to the Ashlands, and they can't afford to stop and do every errand they come across. Yet still…it doesn't feel right to abandon someone.

Sora's frown turned into a determined look. It looks like he'll have to do this himself. If no one else is going to help them, may as well be him. (Sorry War.)

Before he even thinks about looking around, he has to think of the most likely place to find them. He had already checked around the mall, even into the other stores. And no sign of any demons nor any humans.

…Except for…

The boy made a soft groan to himself. "Why there…?" he softly questioned himself. Reluctantly, he turned to the direction he knows where the door to the back of the mall is.

~o~

It took him little time to get to the door, but he just stared at it for a while. Pensively. Sora looked up at the ceiling, still hearing the rain hitting the roof. Thunder rumbled overhead. Funny how rain can become ambience once you feel you are safe. A calming sound in calm days. Where you just want to laze about.

He liked rain, how it sounds. How the world looked refreshed after the rain.

Right now though, it's a futile attempt at the Earth trying to recover from the carnage and hostile takeover of the Second Kingdom. Though parts of it are lush, especially around a large city, the rest of the land is ash. How many trees had fallen and burned down? How many humans had met the same fate? One hundred years. Yet the corrosion ensured the Earth couldn't recover or heal that easily.

A part of him knows that defeating the Destroyer can make it easier to handle the demons when the time comes, and a part of him also knew that this is just a short-term thing in comparison yet doing this meant something to him. Ignoring the people in need of help is like ignoring a part of him that just wants to help. Dis warned him, yet he just can't ignore his own nature.

Looking back up at the door, the boy sighed softly. He steels himself before he pushes the door open. Like a few minutes earlier, the hall is pitch black, with no light shining in. Sora conjured a small fire ball with his Keyblade, lighting up everything around him. He fully enters and lets the door close behind him.

Focusing his other magic around the fire ball, he lets it hover over his head and adjusted the magic around it to be reflective, making his own brighter light over his head. Sora smiled to himself, pleased with himself. The two weeks of training his Mystic powers was worth it, if he could pull something like this off. Since the Watcher isn't around, he can freely use more of his power.

(Both he and War had tried to figure out how to sneak in the training without the Watcher's notice, but it didn't seem plausible. And they can't really talk about their 'plans' in case it was listening in. They just couldn't make it work for the most part.)

With his own portable light, Sora cautiously looked around before he walked down the hall. It was rather unsettling. The main part of the building looked fine, yet the hall…there are obvious signs of damage and wear and tear. A startling contrast compared to what the boy had seen not a minute earlier. Other than the rain hitting the roof, it was deathly silent as well. Slowly inhaling through his nose, his right hand tightened its grip on his weapon. A sense of unease settled over him. He dared not call out for anyone or anything.

The light cast eerie shadows as he walked through the hall. The shadows took on odd shapes, to resemble demons or other monsters. (Light makes things scarier sometimes…)

Sora shook his head and pressed onward.

(He's not scared.)

His eye caught something and stopped, peering down. There's a large hole in the middle of the hall, that leads down into the abyss. Curious, Sora made another small fire ball before he let it drop into the hole. It went down, down, down…and he could barely see a flicker in the distance.

'Wow, that's a…that's a deep hole,' he thought after seeing that. Warily, he glanced around a little. He already came this far, but he felt he shouldn't be up here for longer. Peering down the hole again, he gave a sigh before he stepped over the edge, taking the plunge.

Using his wind magic, he slowed his descent. The only means to be able to 'see' the bottom is the small flicker far below him. Soon he noticed that the light is slowly growing a little brighter and a little bigger. After a couple of minutes of floating down, the tip of his shoe touched the ground before he planted the sole onto the surface, followed by another. With his feet firmly planted on the ground, he dismissed the wind magic and glanced around. It's craggy, like a naturally made tunnel. Or rather…not naturally made, when Sora got a closer look at the wall. He ran his hand over it, his fingers feeling the subtle marks not naturally made by a natural force. There isn't any water below, and the walls themselves aren't falling apart nor is it soft.

Meaning, it's carved out, like the passages back at the Hollows. The boy looked to the path ahead. Silently, he dims the magic above his head until he extinguishes it. He knows he'll be blind in the tunnel, but his eyes will adjust soon enough. The glow of the fire will just give him away anyway, especially to whoever made the tunnel. Having his hand out to the wall to guide him, he followed it down, but at a rather slow pace. After a while, his eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness that he lowered his hand and continued on.

He walked for a good while until he noticed an opening. Cautiously, he approached it before he peered out. He shouldn't be surprised at this point, but he still feel surprised that there are demons around. Most of them are low level grunts that he had seen thus far.

As he watched them for a while, he soon frowned a little. He noticed that they were moving rather strangely. Staggering around as if not in full control of their bodies. They each have something on their bodies that glow, like glow-in-the-dark tattoos Sora had gotten when he was little that you 'print' onto your skin with paper and water, and not the ink.

His instinct told him that something is wrong. Very wrong, if even demons are acting this way.

(Why are the demons underground and not on the surface, patrolling the mall? This is the question he should be asking himself.)

He watched them for a little while longer. They seem to follow a pattern as they patrol around. Walking around the same path, never ending. While it would be easy to sneak past, demons are more likely able to see in the dark. It is a possibility that COULD happen, and it's a risk to try to sneak by.

The boy grimaced at the predicament he is in. If demons are around, there has to be a head honcho commanding them that had enslaved the humans in the mall. Yet he couldn't tell who the 'head' is. He isn't a religious person, and though he heard of angels and demons, he didn't look into them much. Again, not a religious person, and the islands has their own customs AND beliefs. So he wouldn't know much about who the leaders of heaven and hell are. He really should have planned this a little better…

Even so, he thought as a determined look appeared on his face, he has to try to free the humans under their control.

He'll have to take the risk. First, he has to see what the deal with the demons are first, before he can move on.

He can't attack in the dark. They have sharp hearing and a sharp sense of smell better than humans after all. But…they should have sensitive eyes after being in the dark for however long they were here. Holding up his hands, he sticks his tongue out to form a small ball of light he can manage to manifest before covering it in a thin shell. He could hold it in his hand pretty well. Turning, he aimed…and tossed it. After seeing it land on the ground with the demons noticing, he waited until they all looked to it before he commanded the shell to cause a reaction. He looked away quickly and heard glass shattering and roars of pain from the demons. Turning back, he somewhat squinted through the brief light that lingered before he unfurls his weapon and charged in. He has to be quick and efficient.

Landing in the area, he swiftly attacked a demon in a quick combo before swatting it away and quickly worked on the others. Without a thought, he flipped his Keyblade to his left and materialized a sword in the other to try to make fast work with the demons. Let your instincts guide you and think when you have room. Quickly analyze the battle and fight accordingly.

Slash. Stab. Duck. Roll over the back. Catch a weapon to direct it away. Forward handspring after a roll to dodge and then kick away the enemy. Fast, efficient.

Soon enough, he's the only one standing, with the other demons downed. He didn't feel as exhausted as he was several weeks ago. Either he is getting stronger, or the demons are just weaker. He dismissed the latter thought entirely, feeling a smidge proud that he had indeed gotten stronger. Regarding the demons around him, he dismissed the weapon from his gauntlet and approached one of the demons. Bending down, he got a closer look at the glowing mark that was on the demon. It is a strange mark he hadn't seen before. It appears to be a mark of a bird of sorts with piercing eyes staring up at him…

(He felt like he's seen the mark before. But…where?)

He suddenly noticed something else that was off. Standing up and backing up, he looked around a bit better, using some fire magic to get a look. There is no blood on the ground. Nothing coming out from the gaping wounds of a couple of demons.

A sinking feeling settled in Sora's stomach. Something is seriously wrong here.

He noticed movement near him and when he looked, the boy jumped as he saw the demon he had downed twitching and moaning. It started to move unnaturally, as it made itself stand up. He heard other moans and saw the other demons slowly getting up.

"Uh oh…" He let out softly to himself, startled. He hits one over the head to make it go back down, and he quickly got out of there. When he looked down, they all soon got back onto their feet, and he was mortified AND horrified when the demon he hit on the head is still getting up. And he was sure he struck it hard enough. 'What is going on?' he himself mentally.

Something tells him that he shouldn't waste his energy on these demons. If they can get up like it's nothing, not bleeding at all and…move like they are puppets on strings, then he can't stick around trying to beat them. He turned and quickly got out of there-

A clammy hand grabbed him by the leg. He felt it, and the nails, through the leather covering his leg. His body turned to what grabbed him and a yelp escaped from his mouth when he saw that one of the zombie(?) demons managed to climb up and grab his leg. He used his magic to magically punch it in the face to get it to let go. When it didn't, he thrusts his hand out with a sword to run it through its face. That was enough to get it to let go and he quickly staggered back. Yet the time he had wasted to get it to let go allowed the others to climb up over the wall.

Nearly losing himself, he stumbled back and held out his Keyblade, shooting out Firagas at the demons. Though they landed a hit, and though they burn, they were still approaching him. His heart started to race. He tried to calm his breathing.

What…what is with these demons? Why won't they die?!

(He can't let them get him! He can't- he can't!)

(Bind! Bind!)

On sheer instinct, he thrusts his right hand at them, and several Demonic Thorns erupted from the ground, binding them. It completely stopped them in their tracks, having their feet dangle a couple of feet in the air.

The boy was startled for a brief moment, but he quickly took that opportunity to quickly take off before the thorns wear off.

Once he was certain he was far enough, he leaned against the wall, panting heavily, trying not to hyperventilate. It's dangerous to even do that. After panting for a few minutes, he exhaled heavily.

That…that was close, he thought. He let down his guard, and it nearly costed him. If War ever found out, he would be scolded – rightly so, honestly. Best to take this to the grave.

Sora wanted to sit down, but he has to be on the alert. Can't let his guard down. Shouldn't let his guard down.

Once his head was cleared, he thought back to the demons he just ran away from. They should have been dead. Yet they still got up. They moved as if they were puppets. That's…completely abnormal, even to him. He hadn't seen anything like this before…has he? Sure, there are the other zombies he had encountered prior to meeting War, and the undead pirates of the Black Pearl but…this is different. He just knew it's different. It was almost as if they had no will of their own, and they had no blood in their bodies…

The boy furrowed his brows. Come to think of it, when their bodies caught on fire, he didn't smell burning flesh. And he was pretty sure that his fire magic CAN'T catch a thing on fire. Unless it's really…really dry.

…He didn't want to think too much on this.

All of this feels wrong. The whole mall feels wrong. Something is wrong and he doesn't know what that is.

A part of him debated finding War, but it would mean having to go back and confront the unkillable demons and he didn't' want to go through that again. And he isn't sure if there's an alternate exit out around here. He could make one but…could he do that? A part of him wants to find out but he may not have much time. It may be better for him to try to find one. Though…

He glanced at his right hand, staring down at it for a while. His lips thinned into a line, thinking back to what he had to do earlier. Without thinking about it, he used the thorns to keep them bound in place. As much as he didn't want to use it – especially considering the means he had learned to do so – he hated how useful it was to save his life. It was the feeling of…wrongness that he felt when he used it. To be honest, he wishes he didn't have to use it at all. And yet… and yet.

Sora shook his head. He can't bust his head over this. He'll think more about this when he has enough time and is safe. For now though, he has to get out of here.

Sighing, and with reluctance, the boy pushed himself off the wall. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness once more and he continued on. He has his Keyblade in a death grip.

(A comforting presence filled his heart, easing it a little. Like an old friend trying to assure him. It helped a little.)

After walking for a while, he noticed a faint light up ahead. Frowning slightly, he cautiously approached the light. He had noticed for a little while that he felt like he was walking up a hill, and the incline was a little steep. Once he got to the opening, he noticed that it was from a beam of light from a rather sizable hole above him. Large enough to allow something…massive to climb out and peer out. Lowering his head, he noticed that he's in a room that's under the hole. Looking around, he noticed that it looked to be…fortified. Turning his head back, the opening he went through seemed to have busted into the room, with there being large rocks and debris scattered carelessly around the room. Left alone and abandoned. No one bothered to come down to clean up.

Speaking of not cleaning up, he felt a tickle in his nose, and he couldn't stop a sneeze that came out of him. Sniffling, he rubbed his nose. That's a lot of dust down here. No one's been down here for a long, LONG time, apparently.

Not bothering to look around the room, he turned his attention to the hole above him once more. He felt thankful that he hadn't entirely lost his jumping capability, and that he's slowly growing stronger to the point that he could act as if he has High Jump once more. With a quick tensing of his legs, he jumped to the edge, managing to grab a firm hold of the edge of the hole and pull himself up easily.

He found himself in a new room that seems to be the employee's lounge. An overturned (and rotting) table, the cabinets torn open with the latches rusted a little. Sitting at a countertop is a microwave that hadn't been touched for a good while.

After surveying the room for a moment, he began to pull himself over the edge. Clicking noises were heard and Sora bit back a gasp, lowering himself below the edge again. Slowly, he peered out, eyes shifting around to find the source of the clicking sounds before his eyes focused on the only door in the room. The knob is jiggling and shaking. As if someone is trying to open the door but couldn't quite get it. It's a rounded knob, not the lever handle. Sora lowered himself almost impossibly low to where his eyes peer out. He had the thought of pulling his hood over his head to conceal his spikes (just in case).

Soon enough, the doorknob turned, and the door was clumsily flung open. Sora winced as the knob bangs on the wall beside it, focusing on who is entering…the room…

The boy's eyes went wide, as the ones entering the room are a pair of humans. One has a skin complexion he knows isn't from being in a sun for so long, a dark brown color while the other is rather white. The two stumbled in, almost stumbling but not, going over to a part of the room Sora couldn't see. He wanted to watch them go to see what they were doing but…something told him that he shouldn't be in the room for long. As silent as he could be, but also keeping his ears out to the humans chattering (one spoke English and the other spoke a language he sometimes hear from the Caribbean but not fully) he pulled himself out and laid himself flat on the floor for a moment before he army crawled his way to the door as quickly and quietly as he could. He so badly wanted to keep his eye on the humans, but he can't let himself get distracted too much.

Once he was close enough, he chanced a look over at the two. They seem to be near a spot, just…talking with each other. He has no idea what exactly they were talking about, mostly because their words…aren't really words at all. Other than the few times the brown skinned man spoke in a different language, they aren't really speaking coherently.

Keeping his eyes on them, Sora slowly pushed himself up. His eyes shifted to the exit, and to the two humans before he turned his head to the exit. Silently as he could, he tip-toed to the door. Slowly…slowly…

The boy reached the door, reaching for the doorknob-

He jumped when his hip accidentally bumped into something. On reflex, he turned to the thing and tried to steady it – it being a wooden chair – but he missed entirely as it slips from his fingers, and he watched helplessly as it fell over with a clatter. He winced at the noise before he felt a pair of eyes on him. After a moment, the boy turned his head.

The humans stared at him. Yet their eyes seem…unnatural. He could faintly see something under the shirt of the brown skinned man, whose arm jerked unnaturally as he tried to point at the boy.

"Dejar," the man rasps out. (For some reason, the boy could tell it's spelled with a 'j' and not an 'h'.)

Then the two started to run at him!

The boy yelped out, running to the door and quickly slammed it behind him. Sora panted a little, before he noticed the doorknob jiggle. On instinct, he pressed his back against the door. He heard the men say 'Dejar' or 'Get out' as the two banged on the door. It was a struggle to keep the two back…before he noticed the keyhole of the door. Trying to keep himself calm, he remembered the weapon still in his hand and after missing a couple of times, he hits the tip onto it with a small spark of light. A 'click' is heard when the door is locked. Sora soon backed away from the door, as there were poundings on the door. The boy looked both ways, finding himself in a hallway.

The pounding the men are doing is sure to attract attention. He has to get out of here!

With that in mind, the boy picked a random direction and took off, flipping his Keyblade to hold it in a reverse style to run better. He kept running, running, running…

After a while, he noticed something to the side and skids to a stop, staring in disbelief. "What…?"

It's the door he had just locked, with the two men still banging on the door. Sora looked in the direction he just came from, into the seemingly endless hall. He looked between the two in disbelief. He decided to go the way he came to get away. He ducked under something that flew over him, but he paid no mind to it. Putting his focus on escaping.

He noticed that the hall is a little lighter and kept running. Going by the opening, he spotted more humans…but he lingered at them for a split second before he turned his head back and kept running.

After running for a while, he looked around. 'When did this become a maze?' He questioned. He didn't think the mall is THIS big! Was it supposed to be this big?

(Something is not right.)

The boy soon slowed to a stop, using his left arm to lean against the wall, panting. "What is going on?" He whispered to himself.

He heard a loud sound, making him jump and cover his mouth. Yet his head nearly snapped to look back as he heard many shouts. The boy slowly backed up, one of his hands clutching his shirt. He could feel his heartbeat thrum in his chest like a terrified rabbit about to face it's impending death.

The boy has no idea where else to go. Where CAN he go? What can he even do? ?

Something big suddenly grabbed him by the back of his jacket, and a yelp was cut off as he was jerked quickly. He registered his back pressing against something massive and warm and something metal covering his mouth before he heard a small hiss of 'shh' from someone. The boy muffled out in surprise but kept himself still when he noticed he was in a hallway he didn't notice. He heard the shouts and cries of the people before they staggered or ran past the hallway he's in. He just watched them run down the hall, his eyes shifting to take them all in, their feet clomping and stomping down the hall like a stampede of bulls, until the last of them got past the hallway. Sora waited for several beats for the sounds of the humans to fade…but he couldn't ease himself yet, as he remembered he is pressed against someone. Yet the firm muscle and warm body felt familiar. Not to mention the armor…

Soon enough, the metal hand was removed from Sora's mouth before he was placed promptly on the ground, allowing the human to swiftly turn to his capture. His eyes took in the familiar red hood, black leather shirt and metal gauntlet before his brain soon caught up to him. The boy stood up straight, eyes wide in surprise. "War? ?" His voice was again muffled when the Red Rider covered his mouth again.

"Quiet," the Horseman harshly whispered to the young human. Lowering his hand, the man soon peered out, checking to make sure they weren't heard before he stepped back in. "They're gone for now. But we should not linger here."

Sora, overwhelmed with relief to see a familiar face after who knows how long in this crazy place, surged forward and have his arms around the Horseman (who stiffened in response). Well, as much as he could anyway. "War! I'm so glad to see you!"

It was only for a short moment before he felt the back of his jacket picked up and he let himself be pulled away to just be placed lightly onto the ground. "Don't," the Horseman ordered.

Sora still smiled though. It's most certainly War all right. He's glad to see him again.

…Wait a second.

Sora's smile fell as he stared up at him in confusion. "Wait, what are you even doing here?" Sora asked him. "I thought you would be waiting at the fountain."

War leveled the human with his own stare. "I should be asking you the same. Why are you even here in the first place?"

The boy sucked his lips in. "Uh…I…can explain?" He started with a sheepish smile. He got an unimpressed expression on the Horseman's face at that. "Hey, I can explain!" The boy waved his hands frantically, putting away his Keyblade after nearly whacking himself with it on accident. "I was just exploring around, like I said I would. But…well, I was going to head back when I ran into someone. Not a demon but… a person. A human!" He quickly added.

The Horseman's left arm had wisps of black and teal before the Watcher emerged. "A human?" the creature parroted with an incredulous look. "There's no way you saw a human, twerp."

"I'm serious," The boy says, "But…she said to me that she and other humans were enslaved by something. I couldn't get much out of her, but from what I could watch from her body language, it looked to be that way."

Sora was truly expecting the Watcher to call him out on the boy's perceived lunacy for running into a human or being naïve about the boy falling for an obvious trap. He didn't expect the Watcher and the Horseman giving each other a look of sort. The boy looked between the two, blinking a little.

As one, the two beings looked to Sora. "This…human," War began, "what did she say to you, exactly? What did she do when you first met her?"

Sora titled his head, confused. What's…up with that? Did War believe him…?

Feeling weirded out, the boy shifted a little. "Well…she actually ran away from me before I caught up to her. She also told me to leave the mall and never come back before she left."

The Horseman gave an inquisitive hum at this. "Anything else you had encountered?"

"Uh…" The boy drones out. He felt like he's being interrogated. "Well…I saw some demons in an underground tunnel under the mall." He grimaced a little, before adding, "Something…seems weird about them, though." He felt this was important to add.

"How?" Asked War.

"Well…they lumber around, like they aren't in control of their bodies. They also have…weird marks on them," Sora used his finger to indicate a placement he last recalled seeing the mark. "It…looks like a bird that's just staring into your soul."

Once he was finished, a moment went by before War's face shifted, eyes narrowing, teeth barred and his right hand clenched. "Malphas…" the Horseman lowly growled.

Sora blinked. "Who?"

"One of the Commanders of Hell under the Demon Sovereign himself," War answered in a brusque tone. "He has a habit of making bargains with anyone, in exchange for their souls. I hate to say this, but I trust Vulgrim as an ally more than I could trust him."

Sora jerked in surprise. "Wait, seriously? ?" War only nodded to the question.

"As much as I want to disagree, that's one of the few things we can agree with. And yet, what the hell is Malphas even doing on Earth?" The Watcher questioned. "I thought some demons, especially the lords, wouldn't risk leaving their realms to claim a piece of the Earth."

"Demons are vipers," War reminded the Watcher. "They will always do whatever means to attain power, whether it would be to go to war with one another for a piece of territory they wanted or ally themselves with powerful allies to attain what they need. Malphas is likely here to gather an army of 'invincible' warriors for the Destroyer to curry favor with him."

Sora just stood there, startled. He knew that War often sounds angry at times but…the type of anger he's hearing sounds genuine for some reason. Especially when the Horseman put a bit of venom into the word 'vipers'. It isn't as venomous when he heard him talk with Uriel. This sounds…so much more personal.

He heard the Watcher grunt, considering the new facts that was learned. The boy could barely hear the Watcher mutter to itself, "…can't be having that…" After a moment, the Watcher gave a slight groan before it turned to War. "All right, fine. As you are still a Horseman, ergo, the Council's enforcer," it stressed the word as it leans its face to the Horseman's face, "you have a duty to deal with Demons that will threaten the balance." It narrows its six eyes. "That includes Malphas. Are we clear, Horseman?"

Silence fell between the three of them. The young human thought better to be silent as he watched the exchange going on. He felt that something had happened prior to the three meeting up again for the two to reach this conclusion, especially regarding the new demon. And a demon lord at that!

Right now though, Sora just watched the two. The way the Watcher got up into the Horseman's face and making the order…it was as if it was daring the Horseman to defy it or refuse the order. War just stared straight at its face, with no movement – not a twitch from the eye or the lips – seen at all. Looking straight into its eyes.

Finally, after an uncomfortable amount of time, the young human saw the Horseman give a single nod to the Watcher.

The Watcher soon turned to the opening. "All right, then we better find Malphas and put him to the blade," it decided. "If we let him roam free, he will just be a problem down the road."

Sora just…blinked in surprise. What just happened? "Uh…hey, what's going on?" He asked the two. "You guys found something?"

The Horseman glanced back at him, before the man turned to him. "Since we came here, something has been…off about this building. We investigated and came across evidence of Malphas being here."

"Right, you mentioned him earlier," Sora nodded. "And Malphas is a demon lord?"

"One of the few that rose up after the pact was made," War responded. His eyes, visible thanks to the adjustment to the darkness, narrowed as the man looked to the presumed direction the demon is. "One of the more cowardly sorts that often uses glamour magic. Whoever he makes a bargain with ends up having their souls be used as his puppets. May they be demon, angel…or even humans."

The boy felt his blood running cold upon hearing it, feeling his heart skip a beat. This feels…

(There is something you noticed, wasn't there?)

The boy gulped. "A-Ah. I see…" he shook himself a little, steeling his nerves once more before asking, "but why would people make bargains with him? I mean…it feels like common sense to NOT make a bargain with a demon." Pausing a moment, he adds hesitantly, "Isn't there?"

War huffed through his nose, but it isn't out of annoyance. "Not many can understand nor recognize the danger most demons possess." He gave a pointed look, that reads As I'm sure you've experienced.

And…he isn't wrong, sadly enough, wincing at the expression. His mind flashed to days before when Samael 'taught' him to use his version of the Demonic Thorns. In fact, when he asked if there were anyone who were smart enough to not fall for a demon's tricks, he realized he isn't one to talk and felt like putting his foot into his mouth.

Sora just sighed. "I guess that's true." He stood up straight. "Anything else about Malphas?"

"He is capable of transforming between two forms," the Horseman answered. "Humanoid and bird." War paced a little to peer out a little before turning back to the young human. "We will talk more later. Malphas is most certainly aware we know he's here and will impede us."

Noting it, the boy nodded. "All right. Let's go."

"Then let's get this over with and leave this place!" The Watcher declared. "The sooner we find Malphas, the better."

Sora rolled his eyes. 'I certainly don't miss you,' he thought before he quickly followed the Horseman down a direction.

Sora opened his mouth to ask the Horseman where they could find Malphas but suddenly thought better and shook his head. It's likely the Horseman doesn't either, but they still need to find the demon. Besides, it's better to go together with another than to go at it alone.

(Above, the rain had become a light drizzle. Not that the two would notice.)

~o~

The two hurried through the mall, their pace quick but not fast. Neither of them knew where Malphas would be, yet both had scoured every inch of the place already before they met back up. If the demon is not underground, it's very likely he would be somewhere on the surface. Sora was still startled that the majority of the mall was covered in an illusion, making it look 'normal'. But as he followed the Horseman, War revealed he had found a raven's feather earlier – something that shouldn't even be in the mall if there's no holes or such to allow birds to even take roost. He used that feather to draw in some energy from it to utilize the tracking magic. The 'manual' way to utilize it as previously, he was given directions thanks to Samael. The feather is what's guiding them to where Malphas is currently.

Soon, they reached a part of the mall that looked to be a dead end. War held up his left hand, summoning the tracing magic. The compass arrow spun around after it was summoned before it points directly ahead. The two raised their heads at once to stare up at the wall. "…Huh. In plain sight," Sora remarked. "Clever but…also a little cliché."

War lowered his hand. "Clever indeed," he grumbled. "Though this likely leads into a trap."

"You think so?" Sora inquired, gazing up at him.

War gave him a look in response.

"…Right. Shouldn't be questioning it at this point," Sora conceded. Considering his own experiences, he should be expecting a trap or two. Especially with his time on this world.

They turned back to the wall, and after a moment the two raised their hands and tried to press them against the wall- with their hands going through easily. "Well, here goes," Sora muttered before he slipped in first, followed by War.

On the other side, however, Sora stared in surprise at the surreal area around them. "Whoa…what the…?" The boy breathed out.

War shifted his eyes about before he held up his left hand. The tracing magic…proved to be useless, as the arrow spun around uselessly within the space. The Horseman sighed, dismissing the magic. "Should have known it wouldn't be easy," he lowly griped.

Sora tried to look around, to see where they need to go, yet the bizarre nature of the area they entered is VERY disorientating. Almost enough to make him dizzy. He gritted his teeth, trying to power through it. He can't complain. Will NOT complain.

However, he had forgotten that the Horseman is observant, seeing the young human's struggle: the scrunched up facial expression, beads of sweat, and unfocused eyes. But he does not blame the young human. This illusion is made to disorient anyone who wonders in here. He had his ear talked off from Strife a long time ago as he talked about the differences with all glamour magic, and their intent with said magic (and never would he ever see the day that he was glad Strife did and he listened and remembered it all). Most use it to hide themselves from others, to blend in. And there are those who are capable of crafting an entire illusion over an area, tricking everyone. This level of ability is what very strong users of glamour magic are capable of doing. Not many can do that, but a select few with such a talent can utilize such abilities. And can use these abilities for nefarious purposes, such as disorienting their target to wonder aimlessly until they keel over from exhaustion or from a trap they couldn't see. From how the young human is acting, these illusions are more inclined to humans…and demons, as he noted a slight discomfort in his head.

Malphas knows they're here and are looking for him. So traversing this illusioned area will prove…difficult.

Resigning himself to demon shenanigans (again), the Horseman placed his hand on the human's shoulder, getting his attention. "Stay close," he suggested lowly.

The physical contact on his shoulder helped the boy regain his focus a little, and glancing up, he heard the Horseman lowly speak. It took a moment for his mind to comprehend what he just heard, and the boy answered, "Okay," just as lowly.

Not wanting to get separated at all within this strange 'place', the young human hooked his hand into the crook of the Horseman's elbow after the Horseman removed his hand. Cautiously, the two head down a path, led by the Horseman. Sora wanted to look around, but he couldn't afford to be distracted this time. As said surroundings hurt his eyes, for being too much for his eyes to take.

The Red Rider squints his eyes, trying to focus on the path ahead. Yet the illusion over the area makes it nearly impossible to tell which way they must go. Tracing magic's rendered useless here, so they're forced to go through blindly.

The Watcher manifested from his left hand, looking around with an annoyed groan. "I can't make heads or tails of this place," it reported. "This is fucking annoying."

So even the Watcher can't do much here. Then again, they are meant to be wardens and spies – the eyes and ears for the Charred Council. It pointed out a few things here and there and generated a portal but not much else. They are not equipped for battle, nor able to see through glamour magic. Not many could, really. Yet the Horseman will agree with it. This IS annoying.

It felt like an eternity for the two as they traversed through the unusual scape. All they could do is keep going straight. Yet it feels as if they are being directed someplace else. And so far, it didn't seem as if they were lead directly into a trap. Which…is worrisome.

Feeling worried, Sora asked, "…Hey, you don't think we're being lead someplace else to where there's a trap, right? I mean, you'd think we would have stumbled across it by now-"

No sooner did he say that that Sora nearly fell into a 'hole' hidden by the illusion, yelping and clutching tightly to the Horseman's arm. Left dangling there for a moment, the human quickly scrambled up the Horseman's arm to cling to it.

The Horseman, though, after watching the young human scramble up and clutch to his arm, had his face shift into blank boredom. "Get off," he ordered.

"But there's a hole where I was standing!" Sora exclaimed, pointing down at the ground. He turned his gaze downward. "I mean, there should be," he added, seeing that it didn't look off. With a bit of strength, Sora used the Horseman's arm to jump a little forward. Cautiously, the boy returned to where he nearly fell through. Slowly going onto his knees, making sure he doesn't accidentally go through the 'hole', he stared down at the spot with squinted eyes. Tentatively, he extends his hand towards the ground, pressing the palm as flat as he could before sliding it up. And yet…nothing. The boy had a perplexed look, before he swipes his hand over the spot he was sure he nearly fell through.

"Wait." Sora stood up. "But! There was a hole there!" He gestured at it. "I swear there was!" He stood on top of it. "How does that make sense? ?"

The Horseman and the Watcher merely watched the human try to check if there was a hole and seeing the surprised expression on the boy's face. The Horseman sighed. "He's messing with us. Typical."

"What?" The boy exclaimed in surprise. He had a frustrated look. "Oh come ON!" He complained.

The Horseman shifted his shoulders into not a sigh but close to it. "We should not waste our energy here, worrying about a demon's trickery. We should move."

The boy stared down at the floor, uncertain, before he slowly nodded. "Yeah…" he muttered slowly. He was about to move towards the Horseman once more- until, this time, he actually DID fall! A scream peeled out from his throat as he actually lost his footing and fell through something. The remaining two had their eyes wide in surprise before the two comically try to peer over where the human was. They can't hear him, yet they knew the boy just…'fell' through.

After a moment, the Watcher joked, "Well, I suppose he isn't lying after all."

Not moving his head, the Horseman gave the Watcher an unimpressed look, before returning his focus back to the floor. He moved his hand to press it against the ground. The top of his middle finger felt the 'curve' of a hole that was…moving? Feeling that it was heading upwards, the Horseman was quick to follow it, grabbing the edges of the hole. With a grunt, he practically yanks out a part of the floor before he threw it aside before hopping down. It turned into a bit of a long fall, the Horseman automatically bracing himself for impact. After what felt like a short while, he lands. But he heard a loud 'bam', almost like a gun being used, the ground under him suddenly started to rapidly sink, all the while he heard the young human screaming once more. When the Horseman got his bearings, he noticed he had landed on something elastic that was filled with air, and it was deflating quickly. It was faded out from what appears to be something originally colorful. Once the object had fully deflated, the Horseman raised his head. He spotted a shimmer of light before a familiar barrier 'clinks' on the ground a couple of times before it landed into a faded-out castle with several, colorful balls flying out.

After watching that for a while (and hearing the Watcher cackle behind him as it joined him), the Red Rider gave a curious look around. It's a rather strange area with bridges and other nick-nacks. Gazing downward, he noticed that the area around where he landed seems a little odd, with the surface wrinkled and cracked showing a strange material underneath. There were some odd blocks dotted here and there in pits as well.

Ignoring them for now, the Horseman stood up to head towards the 'castle' he saw the light land into. He eyed the pits dubiously before he jumped over one of them that's near the castle. Up close, it looked to be of a similar texture and material as the other object he had landed on. Around the 'walls' are frayed nets either worn by time or by other matters. Within the 'castle' are more colorful balls. A section of the 'pit' moved a little before Sora pulled himself out of there with a gasp.

The boy had landed on something plastic and filled with air earlier. Surprised that he has a soft landing for the first time since landing on the world, the boy had started to crawl his way to the edge to get off, until something else landed on it, catapulting him into the air. He could have hit the ceiling if not for his Keyblade erecting a barrier in time to cushion the blow, before he soon bounced on the floor and landed into a ball pit within an inflatable castle.

Sora gave a weary sigh, pulling out one of the plastic balls. "What is this…a ball pit?" He hadn't seen these since he was five. He made a disgusted noise, sticking out his tongue as he dropped it. "Ugh, I have no idea how long these have been here…!"

War rolled his eyes a little. If the boy is complaining, that means he's fine. The Horseman soon reached in and grabbed the human by the back of his jacket, pulling him out. Sora let out a yelp as he was pulled out of the pit. The boy was turned to face the Horseman, the latter having a stoic expression on his face.

"It appears you weren't lying about the hole," War said finally.

Sora blinked at that. "Uh…well, yeah. But…why did…?"

War placed the human down. "The hole moves, in a pattern. I did not get to study it as I need to make sure you are all right."

Sora processed what the Horseman had said, before he says, "Oh." He then placed his hands on his hips. "Well that figures."

War lifts his head to the room they are in now. "What room is this now?"

"Oh, this? I think it's a playroom for kids," Sora answered as he looked around a little. "To let the kids spend their energy as the parents do their shopping."

"Huh. So they made something for the little brats, did they?" The Watcher quipped (after it recovered from its laughing fit).

"Well, I guess," Sora huffed. "Then again, when I got older, they removed most of the stuff from the mall at my home." The boy then shook his head. "Wait. Hold on. Why are we even down here?"

The two beings noticed it. They shared a look with the human before the two hurried over to where the opening of the playroom section is. The boy pushed the doors open, pacing out a little as he looked around. Once the Horseman and the Watcher joined him in surveying the area, the three of them noted that the area they arrived in seem rather…familiar. Too familiar.

After Sora went off in a direction he was sure was recognizable, he slowed to a stop upon seeing the opening he was sure they had been through. "No way…" Sora muttered in shock.

The Watcher had followed the human, and upon noticing the same opening, its arms went limp, eyes narrowed. "You've GOT to be kidding me…"

Sora's frame quivered before he threw his head back, hands spread out, shouting, "OH COME ON! !"

The Horseman watched the two before he sighed in annoyance. It seems they had been turned around by the damned demon. He has a mutual feeling of frustration as the two of them. Yet to be honest, War half expected the 'trap' to be a death trap. Why bother 'turn' them away at all? …Unless…

The Red Rider regarded the human for a moment. Malphas did not know he is a Mystic yet, a favorable boon thus far. Yet, he is still a human. One not seen since one hundred years. It's likely Malphas will add him to his 'collection'. And add in the fact that the majority of the demons are somewhat aware of the barrier, and the young human as an Outsider…a most favorable prize indeed. More of a reason to not let the boy out of his sight at all times. He won't let them get their hands on the young human.

"I know that you two are frustrated," War spoke up, getting their attention, "but we still need to find Malphas."

Sora huffed. "I'm sorry, but easy for you to say!" he jogged over regardless. "I just hope we don't fall into any more traps. Though, that's just wishful thinking."

"For once you are speaking some sense, boy," the Watcher flew back to them. "As soon as we find Malphas, cave his head in, War."

Sora had a perturbed look. "That's…not literal, right?"

War didn't say anything, just turned and returned to where they first found te entrance. He ignored the human's squawk of 'H-Hey!' before the boy hurried after him. After a few minutes, they returned to the spot they entered the first time. War double checked to make sure, with the arrow indicating it is the way.

The young human slouched as he sighed. "Well, fingers crossed."

The Horseman regarded the human. "Is that a human saying?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," the boy nodded. "it means 'wish for good luck', but only at the front. If they cross it behind their backs, it means they're not keeping their promise."

War let out an intrigued hum. 'So that remained the same, even beyond the world and among the second set,' he privately mused. He soon mentally shook himself from his thoughts. They still have a job to do. "Let's go."

The two soon passed through the false wall once more, with the Watcher following them…however, when they emerged to the other side, the layout is all different!

"What!" Sora squawked in surprise. "It's different now!"

"Don't tell me…he's going to toy with us for a while with a changing area with his glamour magic," the Watcher narrowed its eyes at this.

Sora, upon realizing the implications, held his head with his hands. "Oh come on…! Does this mean we'll just be back to where we started again and again?"

The Watcher groaned loudly. "Who was it that taught demons glamour magic?! Who!?"

"Now you know why I dislike illusory magic," War spoke up.

As the two had chattered, Sora let his arms go limp, slouching over with a sigh. Straightening himself up, he flattened his lips in distaste of what's to come. …Until he felt something…off. Blinking, he turned his head to where he perceived the feeling came from. In the distance, he could barely make out what it was, but it was of an odd light with a rather appealing color to his eyes. It glowed before it turned into something small.

The young human tilted his head at this. A part of him wants to follow, and yet…well, it's dangerous to go alone. Sora turned to the Horseman and tugged at his arm to get the Horseman's attention, cutting off the conversation the two were having (he was barely paying attention, but it was mostly talking about who originally taught the demons glamour magic, even hearing the Deceiver's name being mentioned).

"What is it?" The Horseman asked him.

"…I think I saw something," Sora says, having his eyes on the odd light and points at it.

The two looked to where the boy is pointing, seeing the light. The Horseman narrowed his eyes to try to see it better. The light looked a little out of place within the area. The color somehow rather soothing to the eyes. A frown crossed his face at this. They don't know the nature of the flame nor its origin. Something seems a little unnatural about the light.

"Oh, a pretty light," the Watcher spoke up in a dry tone. "What about it?"

"Just…" Sora lowered his arm a little. "I dunno. I think it wants us to follow it?"

"You can't be serious," the Watcher muttered, giving the human a dubious look.

"I…" Sora hesitated a little, looking to the Horseman. "I can't really explain it. Really, I can't. But…something tells me that we need to follow it."

The Red Rider's face shifted, one eyebrow raised so high it nearly reached his hairline, and his mouth into a questioning frown, during it to the boy. "Why do you think that?"

Sora scratched his head a little. "I… sometimes I get a weird instinct on some things. They turn out okay at times but…" The boy gazed up at the Horseman. "At least trust me on this. This one time?" He held up a finger. Then adds, "Please?"

The Watcher gave a stare. "You honestly think adding 'please' would convince us?" It asked, incredulously.

"Well…maybe?" Sora shrugged.

During the short moment of the two conversing, the Horseman considered the request. In all his years, he knew better than to blindly trust certain instincts without becoming certain of it. He, of all people, knew the consequences of rushing into something blindly and recklessly. (One that he lived with to this day, after all.) The human is young and had been relying on instinct alone for the most part. Not yet a hardened warrior – which, somehow, War did not want the boy to become – but had been able to survive for as long as he did. Not alone, as he once said a while back.

…Yet the Horseman thought back to when he first requested the boy to place his trust into him when they were caught in the jugular of the Griever's offspring. Begrudgingly, it doesn't feel…right, to not honor the same thing as the boy is asking. Not to mention, this partnership of the two is built on trust. A type of trust they both need right now.

Not really giving a sigh, just an imperceptible movement of his shoulders, War gazed at the human. "Very well," he decided.

At once, both heads turned to him in surprise.

"However, we will keep at a distance," War added in. "We do not know if the flame is yet another trick from Malphas. So we will keep our distance. Understood?"

Silence filled the area, before Sora beams, while the Watcher blanched. "You're going to listen to a child of all things?" It questioned.

War glanced over at it. "What ideas do you have?" He inquired.

The Watcher floated there before its eyes narrowed, making an annoyed grunt. It turned to the human, pointing at him. "If your 'instinct' gets us into a death trap, I will disembowel you. Understood?"

Sora isn't sure if it could do that, but…he nodded. "Okay."

The two humanoids looked to the light before they cautiously approached. As they got closer to a reasonable distance, they were able to see what it was up close…and it gave them pause. It was a small, light green flame. Just floating there. The area seems to warp around it for some reason.

The three glanced at each other with their eyes and back to the flame, uncertain of what to do next…before the Watcher floats behind the human and 'causally' pushed the human forward. Sora yelped, flailing his arms a little before he regained his footing. He turned his head to give a glare to the Watcher, who had glanced away to portray it's innocence (while ignoring a look War is giving it).

The boy returned his gaze to the fire. Using his Keyblade, he lightly pokes it. It didn't do anything, and the Keyblade goes through it. There is no burn marks or anything else of a sort on the weapon. Still wary, the boy began to back up. He didn't take a step when the flame did move, but away from the two. But the speed it was going didn't indicate it was 'fleeing'. No, it was moving at a pace that is moderate.

After watching that, Sora turned his head to the two. "…I guess…it wants to us to follow it?" He says, uncertain.

War grunts. "…We had come this far. We will see it to the end," he decided.

The Watcher groans. "All right," it says, slouching before going into his gauntlet for safety.

With that, the two humanoids followed the light green flame through the area. It moved at a pace to allow them to be able to catch up. As it passed by certain areas, the Horseman noted that, for some reason, it seems to 'reveal' the actual surroundings affected by the illusion. Showing actual places to walk on, to traverse. A part of the Horseman is curious as to why it is. The flame is unusual by itself, but for it to guide them through it…

Someone or something is guiding the two through the area. He did not know 'who' or 'what'. For now though, he would have to place his trust into the boy. They need to reach Malphas after all.

It was not long until they arrived at what seems to be a dead end. "Oh. A dead end," Sora states.

The flame flickered before it went to the wall and phased through it. "Oh great, now what," Sora slouched. He turned to lean against the wall…but yelped as he fell through it. The Horseman approached and phased his upper body through it to gaze down at the boy, who is groaning as he laid on the ground. War gave a glance around before he fully stepped out. Sora managed to regain himself, pushing himself up to glance around himself.

The area they are in seems…different. There are openings to other shops they hadn't seen, yet they are in more of a disarray than the other shops. Near them, a wall had caved in, showing a room with several screens against the wall, several of them cracked in some places. Sora got back onto his feet, gazing around.

"…It appears we have arrived," War states, shifting his gaze about to look for any threat.

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "We're at the other end of the mall, it looks like."

The Watcher emerged, commenting, "How big IS this building?"

"Pretty big, I guess," Sora shrugged. "I think it's a major mall or something."

The area is fairly large, with the ceiling relatively high above them. As noticed earlier, this part of the mall looked more run down.

"But…how come the part of the mall we were in looked better compared to here?" Sora inquired, looking around a little.

"It's likely a part of a trap crafted by Malphas," War speculated. "…Or…those he had enslaved had kept it in better condition compared to this half."

The boy noted it before he nodded. "Yeah, I guess that made sense." What Naomi had said earlier came to mind. That there may be humans being enslaved.

As he glanced around, he noticed something at the corner of his eye, turning his head to it. Right there, near the center of the room is the girl herself. Her back to them. The boy blinked at this in confusion. "Naomi?" he called out.

The Horseman heard the human call out a name, turning his head to the boy and towards what he was looking at. And the Nephilim's eyes went wide at the sight of her.

Sora starts to approach her. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked the girl, forgetting to use Japanese for a moment. Surely she can speak English, right? "It's kind of dangerous here."

Behind him, the Horseman stared at the girl for a moment before his eyes shifted down to the ground. The boy is distracted by the girl that he didn't notice a circular glyph forming just behind the girl. Acting swiftly, the Horseman lunges forward, grabbed the human male, who is just about to step into the glyph, by the back of his jacket and yanks him back.

The boy yelped in surprise- and his eyes went wide when a 'cage' formed just in front of him, between him and Naomi, a sound of shock escaping from his throat. The boy dangled in the air in the Horseman's grasp. And after a moment of silence, War spoke:

"That girl…she isn't alive."

Sora, after the shock had faded, jerked in surprise before he looked to the Horseman in shock. "What?"

Said Horseman looked to him. "She and the other humans…they have been dead for a long period of time. All that's left, are souls."

The boy, with a shocked expression, turned his head back to Naomi, after the cage had been lowered. Instead of a solid body he had seen earlier, her body has a green, ethereal glow about her. She turned her body to him…but the eyes are glowing green, her skin hardly seem healthy…and on her right temple is the tattoo he had seen on the demon a while back.

(His mind flashed to the times he had subconsciously felt and noticed something was 'off'. The way the girl told him repeatedly to leave; being the only 'human' he had seen that just appeared suddenly. The odd behaviors he had noticed thus far. The mark he barely managed to see under the brown skinned man's shirt on his chest. The odd ways the humans had moved, like the demons, as if they were puppets, repeating human behaviors subconsciously for a long, long time.)

The girl soon vanished like smoke. As if she was never there. The only ones in the room are the visitors to the mall…and a lone raven.

War glared at the raven, setting the human down. The avian twitched it's head like a normal raven would before focusing on the Horseman himself. "I must say…you are rather perceptive, Horseman," it spoke with a deep, guttural voice.

"Malphas," War growled lowly.

Sora gazed at the bird that had just spoken. 'That bird…was it…?'

(Running for his life, he ducked under the raven that flew over him, but kept running, not paying any mind to it.)

"I expect nothing less, from the Red Rider," the raven mused. "I must humbly welcome you to my…abode."

The raven flew up into the air before it spreads its limbs. Sora watched in horrified mortification as the raven…started to transform before their eyes. The wings grew bigger and larger as arms 'grew' alongside them. The legs grew longer, but still shaped like an avian's legs. The skin is darker, in a grey color, before the being fully finished his transformation. A feathered cowl is on him, and talons for feet indicates his connection to his raven form, while the rest of him is in darker colors and wicked looking armor, tailored to be fancy. Not for protection of any kind.

The demon floats in the air, his wings keeping him afloat. "Though I must say, Horseman. I did not take you to be protecting a small human. Especially a little visitor. You must have grown fond of him."

The Horseman did not take the jab, a scowl in place. "Enough talk. Why are you on Earth and not in your realm? Did you not have your own realm in Hell to tend to?"

Malphas clicked his tongue at him with a 'tsk'. "I know you don't visit Hell often, unless on," he paused a bit, "'business'. Hell is always changing. Even if it is massive, it is ever changing to accommodate the new lords and denizens that are born and reborn in Hell. I merely took advantage of the fact that the Dark Prince had vanished somewhere, leading to the majority of demonkind to scurry around. Some even decided to try to curry favor with the Destroyer to get a piece of the Earth."

"So, they'll willingly work with him to get a piece of the world to rule?" Sora questioned.

"Earth is the most beautiful of all the realms," Malphas said to the human. "It was a waste to give it to humans. How easy it is to follow along with those older than they are. I had heard that Belial himself had attempted to do so after his disgraceful fall before the pact was forged. Something you saw to, Horseman." War only grunts at that. "But, sadly, the gluttonous fool met his end some time ago. Rumors say that it was the Pale Rider himself who did the deed."

That one, however, caught War and the Watcher's attention. "What?" War let out.

"The Pale Rider…? Why was he here?" the Watcher questioned.

Sora glanced at the two, blinking. But he shook his head. "So, you're here like that Beliel guy. Wanting a piece of the Earth."

"On the contrary," Malphas began, "I merely wanted to help the Ruler of Earth continue with his reign over the world. There are still some angels foolish enough to think they could reclaim this world. Unknown to them, there are thousands of souls stranded on the Earth. It would be easy for me to amass an army for the Destroyer to utilize."

Catching that, War narrowed his eyes. "How? They should have all gone to the Well of Souls during the one hundred years after what happened."

"I don't know of the details regarding it, but I will not look a gift horse in the face for THIS opportunity," Malphas responded, waving it away carelessly. "With the stranded souls of humanity, I can make a massive army for the Destroyer. An army that could not be killed by anyone. Not even the Four Horseman could do so." The demon had declared it with such arrogance in his voice, spreading his arm out in a dramatic fashion.

Both Keyblade wielder and Horseman narrowed their eyes, with the former getting out his Keyblade. "We won't let that happen!" The boy declared, determined. "Release those souls, now!"

Malphas gave a small huff, nearly a laugh. "Youthful humans are often the first to die, due to their rebellion."

War pulled out Chaoseater, holding it aloft in a battle ready stance. "Then would you contend with one of the Four Horsemen?"

The demon gazed down at the Horseman, not fazed at the challenge. Soon, Malphas scoffed. "Are you even a horseman at the end of the day? Right now, you are merely a fallen warrior with no horse, and not a lot of power!"

With a wave of his arm, a 'wave' is felt by the two, before Malphas 'twisted' in the air, disappearing from sight in a flurry of feathers. The two suddenly heard roars of demons until a large swarm of demons emerging from the 'shops' around them.

"Wha-oh!" Sora yelped out as the two pressed their backs to each other, their weapons in both their hands.

"What are you two waiting for! Get rid of him!" The Watcher ordered before it retreated into War's left hand.

War bit back a scoff, rolling his eyes a little before he gets into his stance proper. Sora braced himself as well. After a beat, the two quickly shot off. The Horseman lowered his body before swinging his sword in an arc, slashing at several of the demons. Chaoseater easily sliced through them, arms, legs, even slicing a couple in half and beheading a couple. Yet there was no blood to be spilled. Something that made Chaoseater growl lowly in displeasure in his mind. He pushed that aside to focus on fighting.

On the other side, Sora swiftly batted several of them back with his weapon, grabbing a fallen pipe to use as a makeshift pole arm to fight. He managed to redirect some attacks to the ground, twirling the pipe a little to use the butt of the other end to knock it back. He's trying to conserve magic, so he couldn't afford to constantly launch some, especially during these time. (If only he hadn't lost his stash of hi-potions, ethers and elixirs when the attack happened.) However, his 'weapon' didn't last forever, as after using it as a balance to do a jumping kick, he heard a nasty creak from it. Improvising on the spot, he quickly turned and used the other end to hit a demon on the head as hard as he could. It broke the part of the pipe as a result. Sora, after a moment, quickly throws the rest of his makeshift weapon at a demon coming up to him to stun it for a moment before he quickly slipped through under it. Although his instinct to attack is high, logic reminded him of how his previous bout with the demons having Malphas' mark had gone. Though easy to take down, they can still get back up.

Sora suddenly sensed something and leaned his body away, just barely dodging a magic attack as it zips by him. He quickly turned to the source yet there was nothing there. "What?" he let out in surprise. He soon figured out what happened, and he couldn't help but childishly stamp his foot. "Oh come on! That's cheap!"

He was reminded that he is still in battle, nearly getting socked in the face by one of the demons' clumsy attempt to punch him. He ducked under the attempt and quickly rolled away. For once, he's thankful that he's shorter than most of the things on this world. But it won't save him forever. And with there being a 'hidden' danger literally around them…he has to get back to War. With that, the boy used one of the demons to vault into the air to find a flash of red, managing to catch it after using a second demon to get an aerial view. He used a third demon as a springboard to give him a head start to make his way to the Horseman.

Meanwhile, War used both hands to grip his sword to sweep his sword into arcs over him as a defensive maneuver, parrying away strikes, readjusting his grip in one hand as he used the flat part of his sword to block a heavy strike, turning his body to do a vertical strike upwards to send the demon flying up with a gash on the body. The Horseman was quick to note that there were still plenty of demons around. At the corner of his eye, he noticed that the demons he had cut down not too long ago started to get up. A type of magic was used to reattach their limbs and bodies back to each other. It was all but for a moment he took the time to analyze the battle around him. But he has to get clear to think properly. He wasted precious seconds he had to make his analysis. He will need to get to higher ground in order to assess the situation better. Turning swiftly, he threw his left fist out at a demon about to attack him at his flank before he used his legs to jump out of the crowd about to surround him. The Horseman quickly noticed the young human heading towards where he was. Using a small burst of magic, he propelled himself forward a little to gain momentum before he utilized Shadow Wings to glide to the general location to meet up with the human halfway.

Sora was quick to notice, slowing to a stop as the Horseman soon reached him. "We got a problem," Sora started. "I think Malphas is also trying to pick us off with magic, but it's like a hit and run!"

"Meaning?"

"He attacked but disappears quick!" Sora answered.

The Horseman frowned. That is a problem. Not to mention…he gazed back to the demons below them, most of them having mostly reassembled themselves now and are trying to make their way to where they are. "Malphas' magic is keeping them alive and intact. We will need a new strategy if we are to survive this."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Sora asked.

Yet before the Horseman could say anything, the area began to warp around them with the two noticing. "Do not think it will be easy, Horseman," Malphas' voice is heard before Sora nearly lost his footing as the ground they are on split up and drifted apart.

"Hey!" Sora yelped out, trying to keep his balance. Feeling a killing intent, however, the boy looked back to see that some demons he hadn't seen before had started to emerge. The boy's eyes went wide in surprise at them. "Holy cow! How many did he get? ?"

War could only grunt in annoyance, his upper lip curling back into a slight snarl of displeasure. His ears picked up on roars of the demons and turned to them. Among them are some of the stronger demons. Narrowing his eyes, he readies himself.

He supposes they will have to find Malphas the hard way.

A thought Sora had himself as he brandishes his Keyblade, the corners of his lips curled inward to steel himself. Out of the two of them, one of them is small enough and fast enough to try to locate the cheating demon. And he will take full advantage of that.

He tuned out the fighting over at War's side of the 'arena', the boy making a mad dash through the crowd. Roll. Duck. Slide. Jump kick. Once he was out of the crowd, he turned quickly to throw a quick Blizzaga spell to their feet, binding them to the ground to keep them from moving. With that done, the Keyblade wielder soon took off, holstering his weapon onto his back to start his solo mission to find Malphas. He jumped and looked around for the demon. There were times when Malphas attacked via magic, and he tried to use it to trace it back and fire a shot, only to hit nothing. The boy felt frustration building up the longer he couldn't even find the annoying demon. Whoever invented glamour magic deserves far worse after teaching demons this trick! He mentally stewed before he returned to running for his life.

Again, he is grateful that he is smaller than the demons, because using his small size is saving his life in this fight. But he can't keep fighting forever. He has plenty of stamina to fight a thousand Heartless, yes, and he has experience fighting demons, but…this is not your regular situation where Heartless just 'burst' into Darkness and disappear for good. These are Malphas' demons. And he doesn't know if he could last long enough to find the annoying demon. He doesn't have a lot of time until that happens.

Right as he thought that he noticed the area around him warping once more. 'Crap! Here we go again!' Sora mentally complained.

The shift in reality is noticed by the Horseman as well, who noted it before he had to keep his footing as reality shifted around him once more. At the corner of his eye, he noticed a Minion trying to jump at it. He caught it with his left hand and smashed it into the ground, using it to pivot away in order to get to the part of the 'island' to give him some breathing room for a few moments. His ears heard the boy crying out before his eyes spotted the boy's mostly black outfit as he fell some ways but quickly used his Keyblade to save himself. The Horseman was about to turn his head away – the boy will be fine – until a flash of red caught his eye. Turning fully, he spotted something before he took off after it.

Sora had lost his footing and let out a cry as he started to fall through the open air. He managed to pull back his panic enough to notice land coming up near him. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his Keyblade to thrust it into the part of the earth, just barely saving himself from falling forever and going 'splat' when the ground appears under him. Though, now he's left dangling and the ledge he thrusts his Keyblade into didn't seem climbable. He should still try, however. Grunting, the boy started to try to reach for the rocky parts, using the blunt part of his weapon to try to shimmy to the ledge. He got as close as he could so he could try to reach out. After a couple of tries, he managed to latch on. Having an idea, he manifested the energy to forge a short sword to plant it into the wall before he pulled his Keyblade out. Putting it back on his back, he soon starts his slow climb back up. His hand felt the flat surface above him and pulled himself over. Panting, he crawled away from the ledge, his nerves frayed from just barely saving himself in time.

He heard heavy footsteps and looked up in alarm, scrambling to pull his Keyblade off. Only to relax a little when he saw it was War who bent down to check on him. "Are you all right?" He asked the boy.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I am," he responded.

The Horseman nodded. "I think I had spotted Malphas. We will need to wait for the right moment to ambush him."

Sora blinked at this.

(Ambushing a demon? While the 'core' of the Jailer was different, Sora didn't think the Red Rider is capable of something of this caliber.)

(Something feels wrong though.)

Instead of voicing his suspicions, Sora just asked, with a bit of doubt, "You saw him? Where?"

War did not get to answer before there was a familiar roar before something large jumped at them. Sora smartly rolled out of the way as the other pivots away to dodge the attack, before pivoting to draw his sword to block the attack. Sora looked to what attacked them before he did a double take. It was another War that had attacked!

"You've gotta be kidding me…!" Sora breathed out as he clambered to his feet and drawing his Keyblade. He didn't attack immediately, only because the Horseman and his double immediately went at each other. Evenly matched and practically mirroring each other in the fight with each other. Neither backing down nor losing their footing.

Unbeknownst to the young Keyblade user, the Watcher had appeared from one of them, managing to find the 'real' War and points at him. "That's the real one! Hit the other one you fool! !" The boy was unable to see the Watcher, an illusion set up that the young human can't tell who the real thing is or not.

Before Sora could fall into panic, however, an idea popped into his head. "Hey! Remember what we talked about before?" He called out.

The two Wars were locked into a stalemate until they heard him and tuned their heads to him, mirroring a raised brow at him. "Remember what?" One of them asked.

Sora inhaled. "Before we got here, I was talking to you about a story I read back then. About the Eikons."

The Watcher had an incredulous look. "What in nine hells is he doing…?" It questioned.

"Is this relevant?" A War to the right asked.

"Yeah, it kind of is," Sora nodded. "Like Titan Lost. You remember right, about how massive he is to tower over a castle?"

While the War to the left raised an eyebrow, the other rolled his eyes. "As if I would remember something as trivial as that."

Sora noted it. And had a serious look. He blasted the War on the right with a Firaga straight to the chest. As soon as he did, that War faded away like smoke. Leaving the real War and the Watcher to stare down in surprise. Then at the human (with the Watcher 'appearing' to the boy like smoke). "Huh. That actually worked," the boy remarked, eyes wide in amazement.

"Are you telling me you didn't plan that?!" The Watcher exclaimed at the human, its voice in a near screech.

"Well, only the real one would remember how massive Titan Lost is, AND call me out on it," Sora admitted. "I'm glad that you didn't speak up, or I would have hit you instead."

The Horseman was mildly impressed with the boy's keen observation skills. As the young human is right, he would have called out the boy on the apparent lie. A first that a human managed to bamboozle a demon's illusions in his experience.

The reprieve is short lived as the three remembered the controlled demons after hearing their roars, the boy pivoting to the Horseman and Keyblade out. "I tried to find Malphas, but he's making it difficult to find him," Sora reported to the Horseman. "I dunno how much longer we could last here."

"While the Horseman could last longer, you are right," the Watcher admitted. "Malphas has to be around somewhere, the coward."

The Horseman said nothing, shifting his eyes for any trace of the elusive demon, as well as the horde that would reach the top first. Both are correct in their statements. The longer this goes on, the mental exhaustion will catch up, if not physical exhaustion.

As Sora looked around, he looked up for a moment and nearly lowered his head before nearly did a double take and looked back up. It was the similar light he saw that had guided them to this part of the mall. It was near the 'top' of the area, high above them.

Seeing the light again, something told him that it has something to show him. Following his instincts had worked for him before regarding it. He may as well follow it again.

Narrowing his eyes, Sora said to War, "Keep their attention on you for a while. I'll be back soon!" He soon shot off, flipping his Keyblade onto his back as he did so.

"Hey! The hell are you going?!" The Watcher squawked in shock at the human dashing off.

War was as surprised but sighed a little before he narrowed his eyes as the demons soon finally climbed up and over. "Very well," he muttered to himself before he braced himself for combat.

Meanwhile, Sora kept his eye on the light, making note of where it is at before he returned his attention to the path before him. He need to make his way to the very top of the area. That's his current objective. Giving himself a burst of speed, he made himself push his body to its near limits. He spotted the demons climbing up to their level finally, but he won't let them stop him. Once more, he used his smaller body to not only dodge them, but to use them as a stepping pad to get higher. And higher. There were moments where he felt he nearly didn't make the jump, leading him to try to swim in the air to keep himself afloat before he managed to latch on and pull himself up. He felt exhausted, the fight taking its toll on his body, but he kept himself going.

Finally, after what felt like a while, the boy managed to reach the 'top', using the moment to regain his breath. Regaining just enough of his stamina, he raised his body, seeing the familiar flame. "…Okay," he panted out. "You lead us here. What do you have to show me?"

The flame did nothing. But it soon moved to the 'top' and seems to phase through something. He stared long and hard at it, making out a somewhat small, disc-like shape…

It took him a few moments, but he recognized what it was. "…A smoke detector…?" The boy muttered. Why did it just show him that? Was it just a waste?

But suddenly, an idea popped into his head. 'Wait. The smoke detectors make a VERY loud sound. And demons have sensitive hearing!' Feeling like an idiot for not seeing it sooner, he nodded to himself. He's sure the batteries are long since dead or had corroded within them. But, if he feeds it with a potent enough lightning spell…he knows it's different from last time, but this is sure to work!

Sora held up a hand. "Please let this be enough…" He softly begged before he called upon the reserves of his magic within his body. He knows he's exhausted, but please. Please. Let him do this…!

He felt that warmth in his chest and felt the power of electricity flowing through him. Concentrating, he built up the power, bit by bit, until he felt he got enough. 'Okay. This should do,' he thought. He readies himself to launch it. However, he suddenly felt something under him shift and he found himself falling once more. Letting out a bleat of shock, he quickly held onto his logic and shifted his body to where the smoke detector is. Holding out his hand with the other behind it, he soon fired the lightning spell.

BOOM!

The sound was loud enough to have everyone stop what they were doing and look to the source.

Sora managed to right himself and used almost the last of his magic reserves to conjure up Aero to slow his descent before he rolled on the ground. Laying there for a bit, he pushed himself up from the ground and looked up, seeing sparks above. He panted, watching with bated breath.

Yet nothing happened.

Disappointment filled his chest. "Crap. I was hoping that would work-"

Reee-reee! Reee-reee!

A rather loud, and shrilly sound started to blare. The sound was loud and nearly piercing enough to make War wince under his hood, yet put all of his will power to stop himself from covering his ears. The Watcher held no reservations, putting its hands over where the ears would be.

"Gah! What IS that horrible sound?!" It questioned.

Above, Sora was also covering his ears. "Ugh! I forgot how loud those are!" He complained, his voice barely heard over the shrilly sound. Cracking an eye open , they soon flew open when he noticed that reality around him started to blur. He manage to get to his feet and peered over.

The blur was not lost on the Horseman as well, glancing around as some spots start to blur. It wasn't long until the Horseman noticed, at a ways, Malphas is spotted, the haze of his glamour magic over him. The demon had his hands over his ears, as if not expecting the sound at all.

He can't let this chance slip away. Adjusting his hand, he held up Chaoseater up and over his head…and after taking aim, hurls it like a throwing spear.

It landed it's mark, Malphas roaring as Chaoseater ran it's blade through his body before collapsing onto the ground. The Horseman did not let down his guard just yet, muscles tensing as if expecting a surprise…yet all that happened were the controlled demons falling over suddenly. Like puppets cut loose from their strings. The area around them slowly fading away back to reality.

Above them, Sora had watched the Horseman managing to deal a fatal blow to Malphas. Seeing the demons falling over, the haze clearing up…it's a clear sign that they did it. They won the battle. Exhaling in relief, Sora looked up to the smoke detector.

…It's probably best to turn that off before the sound drives him crazy. So he did just that, taking off in a jog to get back up.

Back below, War stomps his way to Malphas, who tried to get up even with Chaoseater through him. The avian-like demon didn't get far, the Horseman placing his foot onto the demon's back. Grabbing the hilt of his sword, he glared down at the demon. "Your illusions won't save you now," he informed the demon. "Your reign over this part of the city is over."

Malphas coughed under the Horseman. "Over?" He croaked out. "Ignorant Nephilim…you…truly had no idea, do you?"

War raised an eyebrow. (Behind him, the Watcher warily looked on.)

The avian-like demon let out a laugh. "You and your…'siblings' have played 'enforcers' for the Council. Worked for them faithfully. You…you could not be more wrong, 'Horseman'."

"What are you talking about?" The Horseman questioned.

"You may have done much for the Council, but the Council does not trust you. As such, they have," a pause, "plans for you and your 'siblings'." The demon chuckled darkly. "For those who enforce the balance, it is ironic that they-" The Horseman suddenly felt his arm jerk on its own, yanking the blade out and then runs his sword through Malphas' neck, cutting off the smug words with a wet gargle.

Shocked at what happened, he looked to his arm to see the teal and black energy around it, and immediately knew what had happened. He rounded on the Watcher, who lowered its hands. "He talked too much," the Watcher huffed. "Should have shut him up sooner."

The Horseman narrowed his eyes…but all he could do is stare down at the smoldering demon's body, burning away as the illusion over the area of the mall faded entirely. The demons that were around had also burnt up as well, their souls finally freed from their rotting bodies.

War noticed that the rain above them had gone into a light pitter-patter. It is finally starting to let up. Then he realized he could hear the rain, but not the earlier sound.

"Uh…hey guys?" the Horseman and Watcher heard Sora's voice above them and turned their heads to where he is. Above, the human is dangling from the ceiling, hanging onto a cord of sort. "Can you catch me? I'm kind of out of magic."

The horseman let his shoulder slump a little. "Very well," he said out loud to the human.

~o~

Everything was silent after the two trudged out of the mall. Sora just laid on the ground, panting. The Horseman sat down heavily near him.

After a while of catching his breath, Sora turned onto his back. "I don't think I'll be in malls for a while…" he announced. War could only raise an eyebrow at the boy for the declaration. The boy sighed heavily, letting his body destress…

Sensing something, the young human pushed himself up. He saw Naomi but her entire body is green and flickering. The boy got himself up, with the Horseman merely watching. The Horseman must have noticed her earlier but didn't deem her a threat, it seems. The boy rubbed his arm. "Uh…"

The girl frowned, having her hands on her hips, giving him a glare. Sora had a sheepish smile, before he slumped a little. "I'm sorry," he apologized, not noticing the Horseman sitting up straight. "You warned me to stay away, but I went after Malphas anyway."

Naomi puffed out her cheeks. "Yeah, I warned you, didn't I?" She scolds. Her expression than shifted, having a frown. "…I just didn't want to see anyone else die in that godforsaken mall," she admitted. "Human or demon."

"Yeah, I can see that now," Sora responded, nodding. "But…at least all of you are free. Your souls won't be slaves anymore."

The girl hums a little. "I suppose that is true. I can't believe time had flew by. I didn't notice due to the illusion, but I did feel as if time had gone by…" She had a sad smile. "To think that, in a single day, your world was put upside down and you die a few days later because of paranoia."

Sora's eyebrows shot up in surprise, his jaw dropping so hard it nearly became unhinged. "That's how you died? That's awful!"

"Well, no use crying over it. It won't change the past at all."

The boy stood there before he eased himself. "I guess that's true…" he conceded.

Naomi gave a soft smile. "Even if what you did is stupid, you're a nice boy…" She giggled when she saw Sora blushing. She noticed something and looked to the side. Sora turned to look to see the other humans in the same glow as her. "…Well, it's time for me to go." Sora looked back to her to see her body turning into spores of light. "If reincarnation is a thing…maybe I could have a more 'normal' family I often see…"

Sora didn't know what she meant but…he nodded. "I hope so too." As her body flicked more and fading, he soon adds, "See you."

Soon enough, all of the souls turned into light and drifted away with the blowing wind. The young human watched them go for a while. Hoping that they will have better lives one day in this chaotic world. Once he was certain the lights are gone, he lowered his head. "Hey War? Did…did you know that they were dead the whole time?" He asked softly.

The Horseman, watching the exchange for a while (while also a little puzzled at the language the two had spoken in), sat there in silence for a moment. He closed his eyes. "Yes," he responded. His mind went back to when he explored parts of the mall they hadn't checked out. "It was their corpses that informed me that there was more to what was going on within the mall." In the memory, the two came across a skeleton stretched out from the doorway. In its hand is a pendant, which the Horseman took before they peered into the room. The two froze at the sight of several skeletons in the single room. Some of them have sharp objects that lay useless near their hand, and a few has signs of damage, visible through the clothes that clung to them. The first skeleton they discovered had a shallow hole at the back. After taking in the sight, feeling that there is more, the Horseman had set fire to the room before he left, deciding to search for the culprit.

The Horseman pulled himself out of his memories before digging into a small pouch he has on him. He pulled out the pendant, letting it rest in his hand. "I believe, this was hers…"

Sora turned his head to look at it, before he reached out and takes it. He stared down at it with a morose expression.

The charm on the necklace seems to be in the shape of a fox, carved out from either wood or stone. The small chain that it hung from had rusted a little after being exposed to the air of the mall, being left unattended for so long.

After staring down at it, he sighed. "I…I guess, deep down, I knew. Had a feeling something was off about her. But I guess I should have followed my own instinct. Not that it mattered."

"You wanted to believe there were other humans who survived," said War, having an idea of why the boy chose to ignore his instinct. The boy solemnly nodded, looking upset. Whether at the fact there aren't any humans, or he had made a beginner's mistake, War was not certain. Though, he supposes, not many would be in tune to their intuition. Or as most people call it, a 'sixth sense'.

After a moment, the boy looked to the Horseman. "Hey…can I…have a moment?" He requested. "I swear. I'll get back to you soon."

The Horseman regarded him for a moment, before he gave a nod.

Sora just nodded back, before he walked off.

The Horseman watched him go for a moment, before he lowered his head. His mind went back to what Malphas had tried to say earlier before the Watcher made him kill the demon.

"You may have done much for the Council, but the Council does not trust you. As such, they have," a pause, "plans for you and your 'siblings'." The demon chuckled darkly. "For those who enforce the balance, it is ironic that they-" The Horseman suddenly felt his arm jerk on its own, yanking the blade out and then runs his sword through Malphas' neck, cutting off the smug words with a wet gargle.

The Horseman narrowed his eyes at that. 'What was he about to say…?' He asked himself. Why did the Watcher take control of his arm to kill Malphas?

He felt an uncomfortable shift in his chest. This felt too eerily like the early days of them being a Horseman. And the off-putting feeling he had the moment he was retrieved after his defeat to Straga. That something was off, very off. Yet he knew that he was innocent. He felt that something was wrong, and yet he couldn't describe 'why'. Or even ascertain 'how'. A feeling he had tried to ignore over the thousands of years since becoming a Horseman. A feeling that never truly faded.

War is not a fool. He knew that the Council can be vindictive with their punishments if their orders aren't to the letter. And he knew that some of them had their own fair share of doing things behind the Council's back and got reprimanded for it (mostly Death). But not once did they disobey the orders they were given, and for the most part, did not breach their own pact with the Council. The reason why they became the Four Horsemen in the first place. Though War would admit that out of the four, he took the role seriously. (He has to. To atone.)

There are times where he questioned the will of the Council, and the time when he did defy them to defend his brother back then. After all, Death is the reason WHY he accepted being their fourth horseman. (They were the same, as he finally understood. They both want to atone.) Other than that, what exactly do the Council intend for the Four?

The Horseman gave an annoyed grunt. He should stop over-thinking this. For all he knew, Malphas could be lying. Most demons lie. Especially demon lords, they're no exception. Yet the thought wouldn't leave his head.

Not wanting to dwell on his thoughts anymore, the Nephilim stood up from his 'seat'. After a moment, he turned his head to the direction the boy went off to. Once he did, he frowned. Why did the boy return to the mall, despite his declaration earlier?

Not wanting to leave the boy alone where he could be ambushed, the Horseman followed the path the boy took to find him. He didn't have to walk long, nor take long to find him, as he saw the boy kneeling on the ground. When the Horseman got closer, he stopped just a couple of feet upon noticing what the boy is doing.

Sora had spent some time finding some things he could use as a marker, before deciding to use a metal pole. He made a construct of a sharp edge at the bottom to pierce it through the ground. Afterwards, he made a small mound of dirt under it, making sure it's at least sizable. Once that was done, the boy regarded his work before he gazes down to the pendant in his hand. After a moment, he gently places it down over the mound of dirt, before he pushed himself up, backing up a little to get a better view of his handy work.

To be honest, he isn't sure if this would suffice but…it's better than nothing, really.

Behind him, War had observed his actions, quickly realizing what the boy was doing. After a moment of silence, the Horseman spoke. "You made a grave marker for the humans that had passed."

Sora had heard the footsteps but didn't acknowledge the source as he worked. Once the Horseman spoke up, Sora nodded. "Yeah. I think…it feels right to have this here."

War regarded the young human. "There are thousands, if not more. You did not have to do that."

"I know," Sora acknowledged, nodding. "But…these people were victims of a war. Like so many others. At the very least, they deserve to have someone at least remember them."

The Horseman tilted his head a little. As he had observed, he had noted that the boy is taking this…rather well. He had thought the boy would be more affected, before he reminded himself that the boy must have seen things on other worlds before arriving here. War gazed to the mound. "Have you…seen something like this before?"

The young human nodded. "Yeah. I…was sort of drafted into a war on a different world. That world is the first time I saw the effects of war. We were all singing, having a good time to meet up with the Captain's father, the General. But when we got there….the whole village was decimated. The people who died were placed at a field away from the burnt down village. Among them were the soldiers stationed there. Including the General. They fought as hard as they could but…the Huns were too much. Even for the Chinese Imperial Army."

The Horseman rose his eyebrow. Is the boy referring to the Mongol invasion during the Jin Dynasty? There was a world based from around that era?

"I made a friend who entered the army in place of her dad. Seeing that village is…a reminder to us on what war's really about." Sora's eyes gaze lingered on the pendant. "She said, 'that the best we could do is try to remember them. So they wouldn't be forgotten'." The boy lowered his head a little. "…It's the least I could do for them. Outsider or not."

The Horseman regarded the young human for a moment. Then at the dirt mound. Humans mourn the dead differently from the other races. It's usually with family and friends, while other races treat their dead differently. He had heard that the Makers, despite being long living and age slower, honor their dead by setting a pyre to their corpse, and spread their ashes onto the lands where they can grow new life. He had heard the angels give a service to the fallen, for the most part, yet the Hellguard could only leave behind their dead before returning to the battle to retrieve their belongings to immortalize them. Demons…they don't particularly give a damn about their own. Many were foot soldiers, or fodder for the higher demons. Not quite lords but they hold a position in Hell's hierarchy. Demons have always been opportunistic vipers and would take the death of a high-powered demon to their advantage to get an edge in Hell.

Thinking about it now, it's likely a new demon would take Malphas' place and try to be the new 'commander' of Hell's armies. Angels don't get particularly attached themselves to others, especially the Hellguard – their work is dangerous, with them either being killed or be turned to becoming a Fallen Angel, or 'Dark' Angels. And those that 'fell' don't get a proper service, nor given honor for their sacrifice.

War knows for certain that the Nephilim don't really honor the fallen, even if there were not a lot. They mostly stuck together for survival and didn't forge bonds with each other. It's a survival of the fittest back then. Those days are long over with just the four of them, and yet…

No. He will not think deeply about it.

"You did not have to," War said to the boy. "Nor should you bear it on your shoulders."

A small moment went by, before Sora nodded meekly. "I…I know. I know there are more humans on this world that had died. So many that it'll be hard to remember them. I don't know the others that died in the mall but…they deserve better, you know?"

The Horseman turned his gaze to the makeshift marker. "That they do," he agreed softly.

Sora gave the Horseman a curious look at the soft agreement. The boy hummed. "…Back then, a hundred years ago," he began, "you really did thought the End War was starting, did you?"

"Yes," War answered honestly.

Sora nodded. "I believe you. You probably didn't think anything was wrong at first. What tipped you off?"

The Horseman glanced to him. "All four of us were supposed to arrive. Do damage control. I did not see the others. But only have my powers drained as I went through the city."

"I see," said Sora. He gazed back down to the makeshift grave. "So long as the Destroyer is around, this world can't be reclaimed. A part of me want to go home but…"

War knew where the conversation is going before he swiftly cut him off with, "You do not have to. You have your own duties. Your own world to return to." Sora stared to protest until the Horseman held up his hand. "I know you wish to help. But. This is something only I could do. You still have people to return to, do you not?"

The boy frowned, a little upset. "I know, but still…"

The Horseman sighed. But didn't get angry. "It isn't that I did not think you are incapable of helping," he explained. "We have our roles. I am a Horseman. You are the user of a Keyblade. You may have good intentions, but we have to ensure the balance has not tipped nor disrupted. Do you understand?"

Silence went by. But War patiently waited.

Sora thought over what the Horseman said a little carefully. In a way, the Red Rider is right. The reason he's with War right now is to help get to the tower faster. The Tower that has the key to a way back home. Even if he wanted to help out, he can't forget the original reason why he's traveling this dangerous world. And what he needed to do. It didn't feel right, to be honest, to just leave the people alone like this. Then again. The humans on this world are dead. And he is an Outsider. The best he could do is get to the Tower and leave.

The Horseman watched the human for a moment. He lifts his right hand, yet he leaves it hovering – as if having second thoughts about something – before he lowers it.

Sora didn't see what the Red Rider was about to do, and after a moment, Sora says, "Yeah. You're right." He adjusts his backpack. "We need to keep going."

War regarded the boy for a moment. He gave a small nod. "If you are certain."

"…Yeah," responded Sora after a moment. He turned to the mount, clasped his hands and bent over a little. After a moment, Sora turned. "Let's go."

Silently, the two soon left the area. After walking a couple of paces, Sora turned his head back. And nearly stalled.

An elegant, nine tailed foxlike creature stood over the mound. The fur is silver colored and has intricate marks on its head. It gave a bow of its head to him before it vanished as if it were made of smoke.

Keeping a flat expression on his face, Sora swiftly turned and started to walk faster with the Horseman noticing. After watching the human speed walk, the Horseman glanced back, seeing nothing. Rolling his eyes, the Horseman turned and took long steps to keep up with the human. He spotted the human sneak a peek over his shoulder for a moment before he slowed his pace.

The two resumed their journey to the Ashlands, both reminded of what they must do.

The Destroyer must go down.

---

Malphas is a bird demon that I had to look up that can be a raven but can resemble a man with a hoarse voice if requested. He appears in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a mighty Great President of Hell, with 40 legions of demons under his command and is second in command under Satan. There are many versions of him, but this version is one of the commanders of Hell that is capable of controlling souls via a special mark under the guise of 'helping' them – as while he's known to willingly and kindly accept any sacrifice offered to him, he is also allegedly deceiving the conjurer. In this case, he can deceive just about anyone from humans, demons and angels. He can cast illusions so that he could fool others into fighting against otherwise 'invincible' soldiers he could utilize.

He won't be the last 'Demon Lord' that will be encountered, however… (but not in this fic.)

On another note, due to the fact that Absalom/Avatar of Chaos took over the main Tree of Life, he would try to get select souls to empower himself (being half-Demon, you know) and would not have any lingering souls stuck on Earth to head to the tree after the initial End War. Leaving these souls after the End War to be vulnerable to other demons like Malphas. If there were any other humans still alive, those poor souls will be lead to their doom, with Malphas smartly using the blind trust some humans could have, especially for their survival. Humans think of themselves as cunning creatures, but they are n00bs compared to the true gaslighters. Demons are true narcissists – as in 'those that knows how to manipulate you' kind. Actually, I should scrap them being narcissists. They're just good dark empaths. There we go.

As for the languages used in this chapter…considering that there are nearly over a billion humans on Earth, and about or over 50 countries, each with their own language and cultures, I was always interested in how it all works in different countries. Everyone has their own benevolent beings and malevolent creatures. While Darksiders is heavily based on Hebrew and Christian religion, there could have been others connected in some ways. So I was curious of how most of the beings from that series would interact with humans after finding out that there is so many languages. On the other hand, there may have been many factions of said beings that had influenced humans in different places. Some that are genuinely benevolent or entirely malevolent. At this point, it would make sense that these factions had a hand in accidentally creating a language that the humans in those prefectures (or country) knew since birth. English is a common language in most media, but they all have a place they came from written into their language.

However…because all of the worlds are based in certain countries in Kingdom Hearts, they would have their primary language. Hence the magic to be able to automatically translate languages after 'knowing' of it for a short while. Thankfully, the majority of the worlds are English based, so there isn't much to translate really. Though, since Sora never heard of Enochian, it isn't automatically translated, and he only heard two people use that language twice. It had been a while since he was zapped with that magic, so…yeah. There you go.

Also, I find it hilarious that Final Fantasy is a fictional story while there are some Final Fantasy characters in the game.

As for the mall in question, I saw a mention of how there was a mall that had a 'basement' of sorts in preparation for when things go down in the Cold War. I could be wrong about that to be honest, but I did figure there were basements in some malls. In this universe, I figured that these are one of the malls that has a bunker for the Cold War or anything like that. Some places have to have rations and such to wait out the time. Though in this case…yeah.

I could have done more with this chapter, admittedly. Put in some new things to make it…well, more unsettling but I don't want to remove the progress I made so far. Plus, I already had an idea later down the line that would delve into…wait. No. I'm not spoiling it. Nope. Nuh-uh. Sorry. But yeah, I would have made things a bit unsettling with this chapter. Then again, I got too far before I could consider redoing it. So…yeah. I did the aftermath of the entire event first to get it out of the way, so that I could later focus on the lead up to finding Malphas and the fight. I put in a summary to give me the general idea before I can dive into it.

Regarding Naomi…yeah, she's Japanese. I legit didn't know that it could also be a Hebrew name, because it always sounds like a Japanese name to me. But I'm going with it to give more variety. If the game took place somewhere in America (most likely where the coast will be, either east or west), I'm taking advantage of it by putting in some other nationalities here. I don't mean to stereotype but…Asians are more likely to be tiger parents than anything. So you probably noticed that Naomi is a rebellious teen at around the time it happened. She's only 15. Her family worships a benevolent fox-spirit – some are benevolent, and some are malevolent, like anywhere else. So her family is very lucky that this spirit is benevolent. …Wait. What do you mean it has nine-tails?

The next chapter, we can finally get into the Ashlands proper. See you then.

(References seen here: Pokémon (Pikachu), the Dragon Ball series (one star Dragon Ball ), Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon), Street Fighter of Capcom, and Red vs Blue of Rooster Teeth. To name a few.)

[P.S… a new Darksiders game is coming out! WOOOOOO! (Even though we don't know what it'll be about, when it'll come out, or what the mechanics are like yet but I'm excited that they hadn't abandoned the story about the Four Horsemen and the story of this universe.)]

---

-Of other Languages-

"I have a question."

Sora blinked up at the Horseman, surprised that he's the first to initiate the conversation after a while of silence. "Uh…sure, what?"

"You spoke an entirely different language back there," the Horseman states. "You can speak other than English?"

Sora blinked once. Twice. When it settled in, he noted it. "Oh. Right! Where I'm from, we learn to speak two languages. The other language sounds entirely similar to 'Japanese' that Naomi speaks in. I'm fluent in that, so I could understand and speak it no problem."

The Horseman gave an intrigued grunt. "So you are…bilingual, as they call it?"

"I guess so," Sora shrugged. "Actually, some of the worlds have their own language too. A friend actually has magic that auto translates for us after we listen to the language for a while, identifying them after a bit." He held out a hand to list them off with his fingers, "there's…Greek, Chinese, French…a bit of the language I heard from the Caribbean. Don't know what that's called yet. For the majority of the time, most worlds spoke English." A thought crossed the humans' mind. "Hey, is English a universal language everyone speaks?"

War hummed, actually thinking about it, rubbing his chin somewhat. "In a way. The other realms has their own languages themselves. Even we Nephilim had a language that is derived from Enochian, the language both angel and demons speak."

"Enochian?" Sora tilted his head.

"I'm sure you had heard it before. Uriel and I spoke to each other in that language."

"Oh really?" The boy's eyes were wide in amazement. After a moment, he asked, "Do you think I could learn it?"

The Horseman hummed, thinking about it. "…When we have the time, I will see if I can teach you. But none of that magic you mentioned. Understood?"

While Sora is bummed about the last part, he smiled at that. "Yes sir!" He said. "For now, back to the road!"

-End-