A/N: Postings might slow down for a time. I am getting a second seasonal part-time job to earn some additional money for the holiday season, so I might be drained for a time. I am ahead in chapters, but not by much so at a certain point there might be a slowdown in uploads to pad out what I've written.

Hope you guys enjoy the story so far!

Several dark creatures were emerging from the floor in the training room, the pulsing of the digital computer baked into the walls working overtime to generate the projection of the creatures into the room. As quickly as they were being generated, Ren was dispatching them effortlessly, each swing of his mighty Keyblade true and precise. Alina was watching from the observation desk, both impressed at how skilled and strong Ren had become, yet worried at the same time that his recent actions had been dark in nature, and that he seemed to be ignoring the previous warning given to him by Hercules that he had to keep his Light close to him as well.

Ever since Atlantica, the two had not spoken a single word to one another. Ren checked on Gamma briefly, before the robot began searching the worlds for Lich and where he could've gone, but after that he had kept to himself most of the time. Alina told Gamma what had happened, though the robot seemed less concerned then she was at the present moment, especially since even as the warrior trained he was not using his light to slay the heartless, or even to augment his current powers, and while he was not using his darkness at the current moment either, it still seemed like his recent, constant use of darkness was beginning to affect him emotionally. Ren could not fall to darkness completely, let alone become a heartless, yet the mental and emotional change of being submerged in darkness could still affect him.

"I have located Lich", came Gamma's voice over the ship intercom. "When you two can, please come to the desk of the ship. We must discuss the situation at hand."

"Computer, stop simulation", Ren ordered, and sure enough a single pulse of the walls later dismissed all heartless, the Keyblade Wielder also unsummoning his weapon before turning around and leaving the training room. Alina gave a sigh as she followed after him, both of them arriving at the desk at around the same time.

"Lich is currently on a world that is being devoured by darkness as we speak", Gamma reported to them both, looking at both of them before turning back to the computer screen. "As you can see, darkness shrouds the world, consuming it from the inside out."

"Is there no way to save this world?" Alina asked, frowning and looking on the computer screen at the world which seemed to be covered in blotches of shadow. "We should make that a priority before anything else."

"No", Gamma stated as he shook his head. "Unfortunately, the heartless in the world have already consumed the world heart. It is actually a miracle that the world has survived for as long as it has, as if being held together by something. Perhaps Lich himself is currently keeping the world in tact, or the world is tittering on the brick of destruction after the world heart has recently been consumed. It is up to you guys wither or not to engage Lich here, or wait till he moves on to another world. It could be dangerous if we decide to disembark and attempt fighting him here. I'm not sure how long the world will last."

"Let's wait", Alina suggested as she watched one of the blotches of shadow increase a little. "It would be too dangerous to attempt to fight Lich here. If he really is the strongest of the fiends, then dealing with him while at the same time dealing with the destruction of this world might be too much for us to handle."

"Only for him to vanish again to a place where it might take too long to reach him, and let him get away?" Ren pointed out, crossing his arms and looking at the computer screen. "I say we disembark and take him out now. If things get too dicey, we can just recall back to the ship like we did after fighting the Fiend of Fire. Besides, I survived one world's end, I can do it again."

"One time and that might have been a fluke", Alina shot back, before giving a sigh and shaking her head. "What happens if we don't survive it? We would do no good to the worlds if we fall to darkness here... Ren, I get that you are a special exception with your heart and all, but me and Gamma aren't you. Should this world be consumed with us on it, I don't think we would make it, even if by some miracle you do."

"The same thing applies if Lich escapes here and out runs us for the rest of time", Ren argued back with a glare of annoyance. "If we don't capitalize on this chance, then he could evade us for the rest of eternity and consume other worlds. We need to get him when we have the chance, or else we could lose that chance forever. Besides, if Sora could survive Destiny Islands being consumed by darkness, I think you guys will be fine."

"Sora is a Keyblade Wielder, and I am not! If we agree to do this, we might possibly get us killed in the process!"

"If you have any other ideas that guarantee his capture, I'd love to hear it!"

"We can always track him to another world!"

"And what happens if THAT world is ALSO falling to darkness when we find him?!"

"Ok, enough", Gamma stood between the two, before turning back to the world on the screen and thinking for a moment. "You both have excellent points. This is going to be a very dangerous undertaking, but this might be the best chance we have at capturing Lich. I do think airing on the side of caution might be better, but at the same time Lich might be too powerful to leave unsealed. Taking all factors into consideration, I can prepare an emergency recall ahead of time to get us out before we can fall into darkness if that would make you feel better, Alina."

The spell caster signed, shaking her head before relenting as she slumped her shoulders. "Fine... I don't like this though. It feels like we're digging our own graves just by considering this." Outvoted, Alina could only watch as Gamma prepared the ship for disembark and an emergency recall on standby, while Ren walked over to the transporter and waited for everyone to be ready. In less the a few minutes, they had been beamed down onto a world with piers of broken land and mass destruction, ruins of what looked like a former castle surrounding them. Alina shivered as a chill went down her spine, the dark of night alone seeming way more intense then usual.

"Where is Lich?" Ren demanded from the robot.

"He should be somewhere, but between the world's end and the vast heartless swarms it's hard to pinpoint where he might be... still, I think we will find him if we just-"

"BELLE!", the sudden roar interrupted Gamma mid sentence, the trio turning only for Ren to be tacked to the ground by a furry monster, his purple cape swishing as he turned to snarl at all of them in return. He raised his paws, sharp claws extending out in an attempt to slice them, but Ren had sprung back up and countered with a Noxra spell, a dark aura surrounding him already as he glared at the creature who flew back, but landed on all fours and charged again. Ren blocked the attack, growling back as the two struggled against the other. "Give... me... Belle... back!", the creature hissed in anger.

"Really polite way to ask for something, you asshole", Ren retorted as he blocked the claws from cutting his face. "Maybe if you actually asked instead of demanding, I'd help you out with whoever this 'Belle' is."

"Don't lie to me!" roared the monster, pushing Ren back which caused the boy to leap back. "You took her from me, and I will get her back no matter what it takes!"

He charged again, but this time Ren was ready. "Dark Reflega!", shouted the boy as he held his hand up. The monster slammed into the black magical barrier with enough force to send him flying backwards, snarling in both pain and anger. Ren watched him fly with a glare, keeping his hand raised before shouting, "Drain!" His assaulter howled in pain as his energy began to be sapped up by the darkness and flowed into Ren's hand, healing a few of the injuries he had sustained in the battle while afflicting the monster with the same ones, but even after being fully restored Ren did not stop, even when the howls quieted down from the weakness of his opponent.

"BARRAGA!" shouted Alina, raising her staff up. To Ren's shock, the barrier appeared in front of the monster, blocking his spell and sending it flying back at him, causing him to stop his assault before it hit him. "Ren, he's down, you can stop now!", she demanded from him before turning and rushing over to him, kneeling down and looking him over. The blue eyes of the large creature met her own, and seemed to soften as she held up her staff and began healing him with Curaga, to Ren's utter horror. "Are you ok? You aren't hurt too badly, are you?"

"You... remind me to Belle", growled the beast, slowly regaining his strength. "I... apologize. I had thought you had something to do with her disappearance... it was wrong of me to attack you."

"Yeah, it was!" Ren snapped, but a single glare from Alina made him back down as she returned her gaze back towards the monster.

"Ren took it too far though. Once you were down he should have not continued his attack. You might have started the conflict, but once Ren finished it that should've been the end of that. For continuing his attack, I think he owes you an apology as well."

Surprisingly, when the monster stood up after being healed, he only huffed and shook his head. "No... he wanted to make sure I was down. I can respect him for that. I can sense he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and for that we share similarities. Had he not stopped me, I might have killed him if I had thought, by any chance, that would bring Belle back."

"Who is Belle anyway?" Ren asked with a sharp tone in his voice.

"A precious person to me", the monster replied to him. "She was taken by this darkness, and I will stop at nothing to get her back! But, I do not know where she went, nor do I have the means to leave this place to seek her out. What makes it worse is that this place seems to be tearing itself apart, especially with that thing here."

"What thing?" Gamma asked him. "Also, we did not get your name."

"My name?" replied the creature with a snort. "I do not deserve to go by my name since assuming this form. You can just refer to me as 'Beast', it is what I deserve. The thing I refer to is a creature that appeared from darkness, who told me he was going to help those 'heartless' destroy this world faster, and me along with it. I tried to fight him off, but I was no match. When you guys arrived, I had thought you had something to do with all of this, but I can see now that you do not."

"That must be Lich", Ren declared, still gripping his keyblade tight. "He looks like a skeleton with a flowing, purple cloak. Right?"

The Beast snarled and nodded. "Yes, that is him. He is accelerating this world's collapse, and it seems like he wants me to go down with it. I cannot, and will not, let that happen. Even if I die doing so, I must stop him and get Belle back."

"Then let us help you", Alina pleaded with him, once again earning herself a soft look from the Beast. "We are after Lich, and we have the means to defeat him. Once we do that, we can get you on our ship and take you to where you need to go. Heck, we could even take you somewhere safe and save Belle for you!"

"We don't have time for that", Ren grumbled with a huff. "Once we stop Lich, we need to make sure Garland is defeated once and for all. Remember, he said the four fiends have the means to his revival, and unless they are sealed back in the Temple of Fiends, Garland will resurrect no matter what!"

"Ren, if we have the four fiends sealed away, then Garland cannot come back!" Alina declared, turning back to Beast before Ren could even reply to her. "Beast, do you know where Lich is right now?"

"Yes", snarled the monster as he turned and looked over to a forested area. "He is in the woods, summoning those shadow creatures. Unless we stop him, this world will end... and I'll never be able to save Belle."

"That might happen anyway since the heartless already consumed the core of this world, but at the very least we can slow down the destruction by stopping Lich", Ren declared as he walked forward, before taking off into a run. "Let's move!" HIs companions followed after him, the boy stopping at nothing to make it to where Lich was, even as swarms of heartless sought to prevent him from making it to the Fiend of Earth. After a constant struggle, the four finally made it to a clearing where Lich floated, cackling as they approached.

"The heroes come at last", snickered the fiend. "I am Lich, Fiend of Earth and leader of the Four Elemental Fiends. You did well to defeat and seal Tiamat, Marilith and Kraken; but you will not find me as easy to defeat as them! Beast, Robot, Mage, Son of Darkness... prepare for the end."

"What does that mean?" Ren asked, pointing his keyblade and glaring at the fiend. "You, that snake bitch and the squid all call me 'Son of Darkness', so you must know who my farther is! Tell me!"

"And after you do, get off my world and take me to where Belle is!" Beast roared, his claws out and ready to attack. "You are allied with these dark creatures, so you must know something about the ones that took Belle!"

"Such demands for such weaklings", Lich laughed, raising his hands. "Unfortunately for you, there will be no happy ending for either of you. Come to terms with your fates now, for you will not have time to when you're being swallowed by the darkness! Flare!" A powerful blast of red light shot from his hands, and the group narrowly had time to dodge it before it connected. The blast connected with a sea of trees, causing an explosion that vaporized the plant life. Beast gave a roar, leaping up and attempting to pounce on the undead being, but he blasted Beast back with a Noxaga spell, sending him flying and landing on the ground injured once again.

"Noxaga!" Ren shouted, shooting his own blast of darkness, but Lich merely deflected it before turning to the boy and blasting him with Thundaga, causing him to land next to Beast, injured as well.

"Luxaga!" Alina shouted, and unlike Ren her attack actually caused some injury to the fiend, who let out a yell of pain before turning to her in retaliation, though before he could do anything Gamma's fist made contact with the jaw of the skeleton, cracking it as he got sent stumbling back. Lich rose again, however, as the crack suddenly mended itself before their very eyes.

"Death comes swiftly, little worms", he said with a glimpse of what seemed like a smile on his skull face. "MEGA FLARE!"

"DARK REFLEGA!" Ren shouted, just as Alina shouted "REGLEGA!". The two barriers erected at the same time around the group, as the blast of pure red energy slammed into it. Ren and Alina were both able to hold out for a bit, but their barriers shattered and sent them all flying back. However, both barriers had weakened the damage from the attack significantly, allowing Alina to stand and face Lich as the others struggled to get up.

"Mage, I got to commend you", Lich complemented. "Your clearly a tier above others that I have faced in the realm of magic. Your raw power alone is able to match the dark enhanced spells of The Son of Darkness. However, even you must know that you are no match for me. Your companions will die here, but I will consider taking you on as my new apprentice. With my knowledge and your raw talent, you could become the greatest sorceress in all the worlds! What say you?"

"Keep your offer", Alina denied, glaring at him. "I am not interested!"

"You're a fool to deny my generosity", Lich warned as he floated here. "I wield Flare, one of the Ultimate Spells in all of Magic. Your punny level 3 magic cannot harm me in this pointless struggle you call a will die alongside your companions, but if that is your resolve then so be it. Such a waste of talent."

It's now or never, Alina thought to herself as she gripped her staff tightly. "I am more then just a talented spell caster, Lich! I also have much discipline, experience and practice under my belt. Before I met Ren, I could barely use Level 2 magic... and now that I've been thrown into battle and have real experience, I am more powerful then you think I am!" Her staff began to glow with a golden, holy light, the sure brightness of it causing Lich to cover his eye holes with his arm. The creature suddenly seemed panicked, charging at Alina with his arm outstretched, as if to grab her. "ULTIMATE SPELL OF LIGHT: HOLY!" Alina screamed, pointing her staff at him. Just before Lich could make contact with her, a blast of golden light shot out of Alina's staff, causing the creature to wail out in pain as he was consumed by the spell. When it ended, the fiend was panting and weakly floating, growling a little as he watched Alina fall to her knees, her staff disappearing in light.

"It seems like you don't have much practice with that one", Lich snarled as he floated over to her. "I'm going to guess that was your first time ever really casting that spell, wasn't it, Mage? A futile effort, but I do have to commend you... that really hurt... now, you will be the first to die!"

At that moment, Ren stepped forward and gripped his keyblade tightly, glaring at the floating fiend. "Alina weakened you, now it's my turn."

"As if you can", Lich shot back at the twilight boy. "Your friend there was right for targeting my weakness to Light, but now she is no longer able to cast even a single spell. It took the Ultimate Spell of Light to do this much damage to me, yet I still stand. What can you do?"

"Finish what she started!" Ren roared, charging forward. Despite being cloaked in darkness, Ren surprisingly was able to damage Lich with a few slashes of the keyblade, the blade's properties alone now able to harm Lich after he had been weakened by Alina's magic. Lich attempted to fight back, but he was too weak to do much as Ren continued to wail on him, before Beast recovered and got in plenty of good hits on his own. Finally, the two stood over Lich, who was on the ground in defeat as Ren took out the final of the crystals.

"Now, tell us what we want to know", Ren demanded.

Lich looked up at him, before chuckling. "Fine... as reward for defeating me, I will tell you. Belle and your father are both within Hallow Bastion's halls. Go there, and you shall find them. Head my warning though, Son of Darkness. You will not like what you find. You will find great pain within the truth."

"Hallow Bastion", Ren repeated, holding the crystal out. "Good. Now sleep forever. DRAINAGA!" Lich didn't even cry out as he was sucked into the crystal, the gem shining a earthy yellow before taking on the yellow hue to it's walls.

"Hallow Bastion..." Gamma repeated, accessing his database. "Ren, I highly advise against us going there, it is too dangerous and teemed with darkness."

"What!?" Ren turned to him appalled. "You have got to be joking! I just found out my father's location and you're asking me to just turn away from that!"

"Ren, please listen to him", Alina begged as she leaned against the robot for support. "If Gamma thinks it's too dangerous, then going there is a suicide mission. We barely managed to defeat Lich, and we already knew this mission was dangerous enough. Going there is for sure going to spell our doom."

"You told me that you would help me find Belle!", the Beast roared at her, glaring at the mage. "And now you go back on your word!?"

"I know, I said that", Alina sighed and shook her head. "But, we need more then just us if we want to make it out alive. Please, Ren, just until we can join up with Sora and-"

"Forget Sora!" Ren snapped as he stomped his foot. "That useless weakling can't help us! We're going, and that's that! Gamma, recall us back to the ship before this world ends and set a direct course to Hallow Bastion, immediately!"

The robot only stared back at him for a moment before shaking his head. "Ren, I cannot permit this. This world houses some vile darkness according to the ships computer. We would be walking into a death sentence. Alina is right. We must recruit more allies or bide our time until we are strong enough to handle it. I suggest we stick to the original plan and return the crystals to The Temple of Fiends. After that, we can-"

"I can't believe this!" Ren yelled out, throwing his arms up in frustration after his keyblade was dismissed. "My father is there you bucket of bolts! For all we know he could be in danger!"

"Ren, please, use your light", Alina pleaded with him, at this point tears streaming down her face. "We need to think rationally about this, we-"

"NO!" Ren screamed out at that, causing her to jump. "I don't need my light, I need to find my father! And if you two aren't going to help me, THEN I GUESS I WILL JUST GO ALONE!" Suddenly, a noise caught his attention, and when he turned around he saw a black and dark purple column of energy shifting there, the oval shape swirling and twisting. Ren stared at it baffled for a few moments, before suddenly the portal seemed to be calling for him. Instantly, he knew where the portal was going, and what he had to do.

"What... is that?" Alina asked in confusion.

"That's a dark corridor", Gamma replied to her with a bit of concern in his robotic voice. "Beings of darkness can summon those to go anywhere they want, but they are also known to corrupt those that use it. Ren... you didn't..."

Ren didn't reply at first, only continuing to look at the portal before he turned back to his two companions, a glare on his face. "I'm going to Hallow Bastion. If you two aren't going to come with me, then you can go back to The Crystal Kingdom and finish the mission." With that, he pulled out the four crystals and tossed them at Gamma, who managed to just barely catch the four crystals in his arms, and although he couldn't show emotions, the way he was looking at Ren was almost like he was silently pleading with him to not go. Alina didn't reply either, the tears staining her robes at this point. For a flicker of a second, Ren almost felt pity and wanted to stay, but one look back at the portal and he just had to go through it.

Beast walked up beside him, looking down at the boy. "I'm with you. I must save Belle!"

"Then let's go", Ren replied to him and dashed into the portal, with the monster following shortly behind him. He thought for a moment he heard Alina crying out to him, but upon tightening his fists to continue running the portal had somehow shut behind him, leaving him and Beast to continue running in the darkness to wherever it was taking them.