I probably shouldn't jinx myself cuz I've yet to actually hit my end-of-year goals, but I'm trying to make it to Chapter 45 by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Just one step on to the land and nothing but the endless throughs of running water roared thunderously into their ears. The sky was entrapped in an eternal shade of sickly auburn, not too dissimilar to the perpetual starlit sky of Traverse Town. A single pathway was laid out by the carefully paved walls of waterfalls and the dreamlike crusts of floating stone. And at the very end of it, under this dim and eerie sky, was an enormous castle adorned with intricate carvings and structures.

All it took was one look.

He'd never seen what laid outside those halls, yet somehow he knew.

Cody spoke softly enough to himself that none of his friends could make out a word as they too attempted to take in this new realm. "That place looks…"

"...familiar."

Both she and him were on the same page.

oOo

HOLLOW BASTION

oOo

"For a Heartless nest, this place is way too quiet," Al murmured as the group carried along the way. They had walked and hopped upon platforms for quite some time now and not a single sign of those monsters feigning life were about.

"Maybe they just don't know that we're here yet?" Cody suggested obliviously.

"Maybe it's a trap," Mokona added atop Loudred's head.

"Boy, I hope not," Cody shivered in response.

"Hey," Loudred called out to Al. He was at the front of the pack while his pal lagged at the very back. "I was thinking…"

"Wh-what?" The Pokemon replied timidly as the group jumped across to another platform. After everything he went through back at Nightopia, he was doing a surprisingly good enough job at keeping it together as they climbed the aerial steps.

"This is the place, right? Think there's a chance the King's already here?"

"I hope so," Al responded nervously. "It'd be reassuring knowing we've got help around."

"Oh, yeah," Cody said thoughtfully. "Almost forgot you two were looking for someone." He laughed. "Al loosened up forever ago, so it almost felt like you eased up on the search."

"Shut up," Al groaned with slight exhaustion. "You're the reason our to-do list kept piling up. The more we traveled, the more stuff we had to balance alongside it."

"You're slaaaacking," Mokona teased.

"Ah, it's fine," Loudred chuckled. "The King wanted us to follow the Keybearer anyway. As long as we stick with you, we'll get to him in no time."

"Must be nice having a bigger goal," Cody smiled.

"You had one too," Al responded. "Didn't you agree to go with us in the first place because you were looking for…"

If he were up front alongside Loudred instead of tailing along at the back, maybe the normal type Pokemon would've caught his tongue in time before his uncharacteristic slipup. He was normally the tactful one around here, but maybe all the stress buildup had finally halted his better judgment. By the time he realized the landmine he'd stepped in, his eyes shrunk in horror, and he cursed himself silently for the fragile mood he'd unleashed. Yeah, Cody did have a bigger goal too. He wanted to go out looking for his friends. And, well, he found them.

One had ended up pretty messed up in the head.

The other one…

What was even going on with her back in Nightopia?

"Aaaaaanyway," Mokona loudly mewed in an attempt to regain the atmosphere. "How about the weather, huh?"

"It's fine," Cody let out a soft and tender smile. "I appreciate you guys trying to be nice about it, but you don't have to dance around it for my sake."

"You sure?" Loudred eyed him like a concerned parent.

"Yeah." He didn't sound sure. "At least I found them, you know? That's something you guys are still working on. So how about we just…"

…hurry up?

Cody sprinted up to the front of the pack. He wanted to look like he was getting amped up for everything ahead, but it was obvious he just wanted to escape from that awkward conversation as quickly as possible. Because at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think about…how wasted this whole journey was for him.

He went through all this to begin with for those two, and the closer they got to the finish line, the bleaker the ending looked.

No, he shouldn't think like that. He helped so many people along the way. That enough should've been worth it.

But.

All he wanted was…validation.

"...You're doing it again."

That they were the first real friends he ever had.

"Stop it."

No, they weren't. That's what he himself wanted to think.

"I know I said falling back is normal, but you need to focus."

So selfish.

"Oh God, I am so not good with this. Snap out of it!"

What kind of sorry excuse for a Keybearer was…

…

"He's here."

Cody stopped in his tracks. They had reached the topmost platform. Before them was the path to the gates, and beyond that was the castle.

And right in front of them was Trent.

He really did not want to deal with this right now.

"You," Cody muttered, emotional exhaustion already set in. He summoned out his Keyblade and readied himself into a fighting stance despite how heavy his body felt in its motions.

"Yeah, me," Trent sighed. He seemed as exasperated over this meeting as Cody was. In contrast to him, he was slouched awkwardly to the side with his hands in his pockets. There was no weapon in sight, and it was a wonder how exactly he planned to confront him.

"That explains it," Alakazam drooped over in the boy's presence. "They knew we were here to begin with."

"Yeah, well not soon enough for those other two to get here on time," Trent sighed once more.

"'Other two'?" Lourdred pondered. "You mean those two girls?"

"Who else?" He rolled his eyes. "We were supposed to ambush you upfront." He muttered some derogatory remarks under his breath before looking back at his would-be opponents. "If you want a handicap, just start hitting me now or something."

This was…weird.

"Can we really?" Mokona gasped excitedly. "Let's go—"

"Look, I really don't want to fight you," Cody abruptly cut in with a downcast tone.

"That makes the two of us," Trent shrugged.

"Then can you just…let us through?"

"Can't."

"Why not?" He slapped his forehead over the response. The mood had begun to tense just like it always did between the two. Loudred, Al, and Mokona knew better than to butt in, but they couldn't help but look over it all with concern. Something felt especially strange about this one confrontation. Trent felt off. Cody felt off. Loudred in particular was debating with himself whether to let things play out or to butt in. It was easy not to notice even up front, but…

Just a little bit…Cody's arms were shaking.

"Got orders, man," Trent responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, come on," Cody leaned his head back in aggravation. "You said it yourself. You don't want to do this. Why did you even join Maleficent to begin with? All that stuff you did: the engine, the crystal… You didn't want to do any of that. You could've avoided all of it."

"This again? I told you already," Trent's voice began to heighten once more. "It's—"

"For Gwen. I get it."

"You saw her, didn't you?"

"..."

"You saw what she was like."

"..."

"What would you have done if you were in my shoes?"

…What would he have done?

What he was doing now of course!

But…what was he doing now? What was he doing now that would actually help her? What was Trent doing? What was he doing that he was so sure it would work?

"You would've been right here, right? If she wakes up, it'd be worth it."

Trent was willing to put himself through all this just for her. Would Cody have done that? Would he have thought it was worth it? Would he have sunk so low just to save one person? No, he wouldn't! He would've done the right thing! He would've chosen to save everyone else. Everyone else except…

Would he have chosen…not to save her?

No, he…he wanted to save her? Under those circumstances? No, but, but, he…

She didn't even like him.

"Hey, that's not—"

Why the hell is he trying so damn hard to convince himself she did?

"I'm not trying to convince you any—"

What the hell was he even doing? This was so…

"Cody."

Pathetic.

"Cody!"

He was so goddamn pathetic.

So fucking desperate for validation.

So.

Fucking.

Lonely.

Just like he always was and always would be.

…

…

…It was a near blinding flash. It came from right in his hands and consumed everything. That familiar warm feeling he felt whenever he turned a Keyhole. When he first was given the Keyblade in the first place.

Except this time…he felt cold.

That warmth faded.

His hands felt empty.

The Keyblade was in Trent's hands.

…

Everyone stood in shock. Cody was absolutely petrified.

"What…" Trent gently lifted up the weapon in pure confusion, like the laws of the universe had just bent over themselves. "What the…?"

Cody opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, anything! But all that came out were small squeaks and gasps.

"What does this mean?" Al said with stilted caution.

"The Key…" This was the quietest anyone had ever heard Loudred. Even Al, for all the years he knew the big oaf, had no clue he even had the ability to go that soft. It was like Al and Mokona were purposely avoiding acknowledging what was really going on at that moment. But not Loudred. He looked across from them and confirmed the hard truth himself that it was no longer in Cody's hands. "What do we do?"

"What?" Al blinked.

The King told them to follow the Keybearer. And Cody wasn't…

"Wait," Al stammered in realization. "What do you…? Don't tell me we—"

"Are you two kidding me?!" Mokona hopped off Loudred's head to sternly float between his two Pokemon companions instead. Just like how this was the quietest anyone had ever heard Loudred, this was the angriest anyone had ever seen Mokona. "Are you leaving?!"

L-leaving? Cody gulped.

"Wh-no we just," Al left an incomplete reply in a panic.

"We're just trying to figure things out," Loudred poorly elaborated.

"That means you're considering it!" Mokona shrieked in irritation at their cowardice.

"No, I swear—"

Loudred's ears perked. Something was coming.

Neo Shadows had crawled on to the platform. A lot of them.

While trouble began to brew before their very eyes, Trent continued to silently stare at his new weapon like he was staring a corpse in the face. His confusion over the sight was so immense, he could barely even bring himself to try to figure out why it was now in his possession to begin with. It was only when the Neo Shadows had fully invaded the area that he managed to snap out of it. The gargantuan and gangly fiends rose up like glowering towers. Mokona and the two Pokemon struggled to jump into fighting positions. And what about…?

Trent glanced over at Cody.

He was shaking.

His hands were shaking. His entire body was shaking. His pupils shrunk and nearly faded into the whites of his eyes. His body kept moving up and down as he hyperventilated on the spot. He stayed in place and didn't even seem to realize the Neo Shadows were there. How could he? His vision had gotten so blurry, he couldn't make out anything. He couldn't even breath, and he could feel an indiscernible pain stab into both his guts and chest each time he attempted to.

At some point, someone's hand grabbed him from behind. He couldn't even tell what was happening. Because he couldn't even feel the fabric of his shirt squeeze in as he was pulled back. He couldn't feel the wind hit his cheeks as he was forcibly dragged off. He couldn't feel Mokona's soft fur latch onto his head as his tiny ally tried to pull him back. He couldn't hear the desperate shouts of Loudred and Alakazam who were too surrounded to reach him. He couldn't see the black patches of the portal he entered take over his surroundings because his eyes had already beaten it to the punch by blacking out themselves.

He couldn't hear her call out to him.

He couldn't hear Trent call out to him.

oOo

Everything hurt.

Everything ached.

He was cold.

He was so, so cold.

Nothing had changed. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel, he couldn't hear…

…He could hear something.

The giggling…of a little girl…

Eyes wide as a doe and blue as a river, hair as blonde as the sun, and a green sweater twice her size.

…

…

…

"Wake up."

The little girl spoke.

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Cody shot up from the ground like a zombie rising from the grave. It still hurt to breathe and his entire body was drenched in sweat. In a twisted way, it was comforting. It didn't feel all that different from how he used to wake up before this all started. Or perhaps right when this first started. Before when things were normal. Right when things stopped being normal. Truth be told, he'd begun to forget what normal even was.

"He's awake! He's awake!"

He continued to breathe hoarsely until it all finally leveled out. He looked to his left. Mokona was by his side, jumping up and down with relief in all his form. Mokona was still there. He hadn't lost everything. Oh God, he hadn't lost everything.

"Man, you had us so worried," a new yet familiar raspy voice chimed in. "You were in shock. We had no clue what to do."

Cody looked to his right. There was Klonoa, crouched on one leg and looking back at him with a face of solace.

"Kl…Kl…" His stuttering gaping mouth…broke into a smile. "You're alright!"

Like he was never knocked out to begin with, he reached out his left arm and pulled Klonoa into a tight headlock hug. Cody himself was never much of a hugger, but boy did he need this win right now.

"Y…yeah, I am," Klonoa smiled awkwardly as he gently pushed himself free of the human boy's grasp. "What about you though?"

"Could be better," Cody let out a half semblance of a weak laugh. He winced ever so slightly at the act as the stabbing pain in his gut was still in the process of subsiding. "Where are we though?"

It wasn't that serious a question. One upward head tilt was all he needed. He was sitting on hard gravel, and that gravel was spread all through the floor and walls. And right across from them were a sturdy row of steel bars.

"That witch! The tall one!" Mokona jumped and attempted to pantomime his recap with his small nubby paws. "She grabbed you and pulled you through this thing. And I was with you. And then we were here!"

"Heather, huh?" Cody grumbled.

"Same girl who caught Lolo," Klonoa sighed in defeat. "I tried to follow her, but she threw me in way before you guys got here."

"Man, what is her deal?" The teen shook his head, practically puzzled at the whole predicament.

"Was she from your world? Was she always like this?" Klonoa asked.

"I mean," Cody bit his lip. "I only knew her on the island. She was a bully the entire time, but I didn't think she'd ever go this far."

"That's what happens when you're pushed to the brink I guess."

The boys looked forward. On the other side of the bars was Ashley. She looked a lot more put together than the last time Cody and Mokona had seen her, but that was all surface level. She knew they could tell she was faking it.

"Witch!" Mokona hissed and zipped right to her face. He aimed a gem laser beam through the slits barely inches away, but a mysterious force field bounced the blast right back at him. He tumbled, rolled, and plopped back to the ground where he pouted childishly.

Figures they'd run into her again. "What are you doing here?" Cody rolled his eyes.

Ashley snapped her fingers and a small plate of food appeared before them: A messy mix of haphazardly picked greens, it was a pretty sad looking salad platter.

"Lunch," she replied monotonously.

"Don't mind if I do," Klonoa chuckled as he started to chow down, an act met with incredulousness from everyone including Ashley herself. "Wait, wait, wait," the cabbit started to point feverishly at the witch with a fistful of leaves stuffed in his cheeks. "I remember you! You were that girl who was getting yelled at—-oh…" He caught himself a second too late, but lucky for him, Ashley had been beaten down far too much by her failures to truly care at that point. She might as well have been going through the motions following orders rather than the dastardly ambition she'd once shown.

With her one task done, she turned around to leave. Cody could sense it just by looking at her. She was like a husk. She herself probably felt there was no real point to her being there acting all villainy anymore, but…where exactly would she go at that point?

"Hey," he called out to her. The young witch stopped in her tracks. "Red's doing fine just so you know."

"…"

She walked away.

"I don't like veggies," Mokona pouted at the plate. With her gone, there was nothing left for them all to do but to eat. Or at the very least consider it.

"How're you just going to town on these?" Cody gawked at Klonoa who had nearly taken half the rations at that point.

"It's surprisingly good quality!" The cabbit answered. "There's this garden they've got in the middle of the—-"

"'Sup, dweebs!"

Just hearing her voice alone was enough to prompt a round of groans. Witch Number One was long gone, but leaned against the bars with a snide smirk was Witch Number Two. Just looking at her her lounging around with her smug face pissed Cody off almost as much as his confrontations with Trent did. With her stance, she was clearly overcompensating her dignity just for the sake of gloating over their own predicament. Even her bob that had looked all uneven and gnatty back at MidiCity had been tidied up into a sharp and confident do. She was enjoying this all too much.

"Hi, Heather," Cody greeted in aggravation.

"Well aren't you a ball of sunshine."

"You literally threw us in a cell."

"Hey, those Heartless things would've eaten you up if you stayed back there. I…" She pointed to herself tauntingly. "Did you two a favor."

Mokona attempted to do the laser maneuver once more and was met with the same result.

"You straight up tried to make me fall down a 100 foot building back at MidiCity!" Cody was not having it.

"The bossy bitch said 'dead or alive'," she answered matter of factly. "The dead part was just more convenient then."

"You know," Cody slouched against the back wall, already seemingly fed up with this exchange. "You're probably the part of this that makes the least sense to me. Why the heck are you going full on supervillain? You're just a mean girl. I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Oh, zip it," she spat. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Be a normal ass person and don't be a bad guy?"

"And then do what?"

"I don't know. Be a good guy?"

She shook her head arrogantly. "You're so naive." She tapped her perfectly manicured nails onto a bar and leaned forward as far as she could go with the barrier between them. "Let me give you some advice. The whole 'good guy' thing? Being nice, making friends, helping others? That gets you absolutely nowhere. Though…" She nudged her head a bit to the side, emphasizing the large obtrusive bars that trapped them. "You probably already figured that out."

"And being 'bad' is better?" Klonoa leered.

"Ugh, yeah? Are you braindead, furball?" She leaned in even closer. "When you look behind the scenes at who's in charge, there's not a 'good guy' in sight. The real ones on top? Some of the most vile people alive."

"And you're fine with standing right beside those people?" Cody's eyes narrowed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing out of her.

"Well, duh," she scoffed. "Do you think I'm dumb? I want to live." She suddenly punched the bar she had been tapping against and startled everyone within. Her words grew louder and more disdainful with each utterance, like she was looking to torture them verbally. There were so many things the three wanted to say to her, but in their situation, they were taken aback and just simply didn't. "Be in my shoes. Some mega witch whisks you away and asks you to join her. What would you have done?"

What would you have done?

This again…

"Think long and hard. It's not just anyone who whisked you away. It's one of those vile people. One of the worst of them all. And they can either end you right then and there or give you everything you want later.

"What would you have done?"

What would he have done?

End up like Trent?

End up like her?

"It's dog-eat-dog not just in our world; in every single world. You're not getting anywhere being nice. That's how you get trampled and thrown to the curb with all the rest. Me though? I don't know about the rest of you losers, but I'm not here to die. I am here to survive! And if they keep moving the goalpost to the top, then so freaking be it, I'm not jumping off. I am going up as far as I can!"

A streak of red shot from the side beyond the trio's fields of vision. There was absolutely no way Heather could've seen it coming. She let out a shrill yelp and went crashing towards the stone wall on the opposite end of the room.

The three stared at where she once stood with wide eyes and mouths. They ran forward towards the bars, grabbed them, and leaned as far as they could to see their jailer's fate. All the way to the right, Heather was knocked out cold. For all her big talk, she laid limp and pitifully posed on the ground alongside a stock pile of various miscellaneous supplies that had been knocked over and thrown around upon her impact. The three leaned over even more just to double check that she was indeed down for the count, but once they did, they could feel a strange tingle under their palms. A red glow, not unlike what had just screwed over Heather, had embedded the bars. Their hands shot off the steel, and the bars cascaded evenly towards both ends of the walls, leaving a gaping hole that was more than enough room for the three to waltz right through. And for the finishing touches, a final flash of red shimmered through the entire opening plane and shattered like glass, signaling the death of the barrier.

Ashley walked over from the left and roughly gestured the boys forward. "Hurry up before she wakes up."