The Chasers: Darkness' Fold

[Rikugurl]

OOC: I'll tell you when you get on~

Gunnar sighed, glancing at his sister.
So much for the swear jar. Shit, she could of BOUGHT them a new ship will all the munny she had in it.
He leaned back on the rock that Roxas and Namine were sitting on. He knew they'd get a new ship.... and he couldn't help but wonder what it would look like.

He also couldn't help but wonder... what the future laid for them. What would happen to Terra... their leader... and Ven, their Second in Command. Sure Aqua was a fine leader... but he feared for them...
He slowly looked over, seeing a huge chunk of Silgurd not far away. It was the keyblade room. Roxas was able to seal the crack...seeing that he was the new keyblader of Light.

He then slowly looked up at Roxas as Tensai was thinking about a name. "Roxas.... do you think we'll make it for Christmas....?"

Namine frowned at the question. That was right... Christmas. The gifts she bought for her mom and dad were gone... and... she just wanted to hug them both so bad. All her pictures were gone and...
Tears slowly fell down her face as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

Axel smiled as Roxas brought up the naming. They had decided that the little pup was Tensai's Christmas present. Among other things they talked about...
"So.... if something happens... I guess we can always raise Ten."
"Nothing is going to happen to them!"
"How about Xerxes? It means Lion King... or 'ruler over heroes'." He smiled as he looked at the black haired boy.
Seeing that he was the leader of all Nobodies at some point, he grew to learn all names that had an 'x' in them.

Roxel pouted as he heard his dad. "No! No! Let Tensai do it~"


Ven frowned as he looked around in silence. His vision was still blurred... and he couldn't seem to check on his inner world...
His eyes suddenly widened and his body ran all over with panic. "THE KEYBLADES!"
Aerith jumped but touched Ven's hand. "It's ok... they're safe."
Ven panted and shook his head.
"They're all accounted for... except for two."
Ven looked up at her, questioning in his eyes. "Two?"
Aerith nodded and sighed. "Quicksand and Aero Maxim..."

The blonde sat there in silence before he turned, trying to get out a bed. "Ah! Don't go anywhere! You still need to heal!"
"I need to see Terra."
"He doesn't want anyone to go into the room."
"I don't care! I need to see my mate!"
Aerith bit her lip and didn't argue anymore.
Ven pushed from the bed and stumbled, his blue eyes determined even if the room spun around him.

If she healed him with that water... than why was he still feeling this way.
He shook his head and heavily walked to the wooden door. The moment he touched the handle, it sizzled, and opened quickly, making him fall into the hallway.
"VEN!" Aerith cried as she rushed over but blinked as she saw the other woman in the hallway.

Blue eyes looked out, seeing very odd looking shoes. They looked like they had claws on them... and were definitely high heels.
He slowly looked up, seeing a dark skinned woman with rabbit ears.
"Where's Terra?"
The Viera sighed and shook her head, leaning down and easily pulling Ven up, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder. She looked at him, her amber eyes reminding him of his son. "I'll bring you to him..."

Slowly they walked down the wooden hallway, only to leave Aerith to watch.

When they came to a door that was close to letting out from impact, she stopped.
"I'm not going to warn you. I think someone must stop it before I see what I've seen before. The young Atterian... I don't want him to become his elder father. Let me come with you for good measure. I know how to deal with such creatures."
Ven looked at her slowly. "He's not a creature..."
She only smiled and nodded as reached down, one of her long nails going into the lock and moved it around a bit before she opened the knob.

How did she...
Oh right...

She was a pirate.

The door opened slowly, letting the two in to see the horrible sight.
Ven's eyes widened as he leaned onto the supporting Viera. "Terra...?"


Fuu sighed as she walked next to her wife around the large chunk of Silgurd that was left. She no longer walked with the limp.
"Looks ok from up here, Aqua!" Olette called down as she walked on the top.

What the plan was... was to find a ship where they could mold this part of Silgurd to.
Fuu nodded and looked at the bluette.
"Do you think... Terra and Ven will be ok?"


As for Seifer, he and Balthier were off to Old Archadia to find not one... but two ships.

[Reno]

Roxas looked at Gunnar then towards the ground. Christmas was really close by - and it was going to take a week of flying just to get back home...
and with Terra's unstable health...
It was very unlikely. "Even if we don't, we can celebrate here." Roxas said simply. "And if we do miss it... when we do get transport back we can have a second one." He chuckled. "We will get back though, one way or another. Don't worry."

Lucina sighed a bit, then looked towards Namine. She shook her head. "Stop crying Nam. You're a Chaser act like one." It wasn't like crying made anything better. Besides the loss of possessions was a lot better then what they lost two years ago...

Tensai stuck out his tongue at Axel's suggestions. "He's only half a lion! And it's too many of the same letters. He's... a little of this and a little of that..." He pet the moombacle on the head. ".... Motley..." His eyes danced towards the ceiling, knowing he needed an X. "Moxley. His name will be Moxley."


Yellow eyes snapped open as he heard the doorknob rattling and he snarled, curling up on the bed like an injured viper getting ready to strike. Light from the hall filtered inside illuminating him and the bed. The cloth was torn and stained with the blackness of the darkness inside of him and the blood from the stitches he had torn in a depeserate attempt to escape into unconciosness and hide from the pain.
He himself was a mess. His clothes ripped and bloodied and the bandages Aerith had tied around his side nothing but shreds that clung to him only barely. His hair was frazzled and seperated, dangling in front of his eyes limply. His skin had, despite it's long heritage of being burned by a desert sun, turned almost ashen.
Terra's eyes darted from the bunny-woman to his mate, and slowly growled. "Get out..." He rasped softly, his voice loud in the silence of their horror.
Yet neither moved. "GET OUT!" He snapped loudly.


Aqua looked up at Olette and nodded. "Good!" They weren't going to lose the keyblades... not after all they had gone through to protect them...
Luckily it was still intact and other then that crack Roxas fixed not very damaged. Hopfully they could find a good ship...
She blinked glancing at her lover when she asked the question. She sighed her eyes darting the the floor. "Knowing those stubborn idiots yeah." At least... I hope so...

[Rikugurl]

The Mako eyed boy blinked, hearing what Roxas had to say. He nodded softly. "Yea... I guess you're right. I can't wait to see the ocean again! And visit... Sora and Riku."'s grave...
He hated that silent add on... Christmas still felt empty without them... but his mom said he would slowly get use to it.

His eyes widened as he heard his sister and looked back up at Namine. The strawberry blonde girl blinked, her face pretty hurt. She got up, giving Lucina a nasty look before jumping off the rock and walking towards the wooden building.
Gunnar frowned, looking back at his sister. "Ci! You don't have to be so mean to her! You know she wasn't born as a Chaser and she doesn't travel with her family like everyone else! She's lonely and scared. How would you feel if you were in her shoes???"

Axel pouted and crossed his arms. Pfft, now even his SON wasn't on his side. Goooooooo figure. He rolled his eyes but smiled, nodding softly. "Moxley is a pretty neat name."
"I think it is too!" Roxel giggled as he clapped but blinked, looking behind him to see Gunnar with an angry face at his sister.
"Ut oh..."


Ven swallowed as he took in the picture of Terra. The man that was so brave and stood like a fucking stone. It hurt just seeing him like this...
His own eyes started to cross over to yellow as their connection started to grow again. He could feel Fran twitch a bit at the yell as it echoed through the whole cavern but Ven was unmoved.
"Let me go." He whispered and the Viera slowly pulled herself away so Ven could stand on his own.
"I'm not leaving until I know you're ok."

Olette blinked and yelped, ducking from instincts as she heard the yell. It was a half yell, half roar.

Fuu looked at Aqua in shock, then back at the wooden building. "Terra..."

[Reno]

Tensai smiled proudly, hugging Moxley to him. He couldn't wait to tell his dads!" He looked over though when he heard the small fight brewing and his eyes grew sad. Didn;t they already have enough problems?

Roxas smiled sadly at the reminder. He still missed his brother and brother-in-law a lot... and he still sometimes woke up thinking of visiting him or sometimes flipped open his phone hovering over the 2 button seconds away from calling...

The blonde grew alert as Lucina snapped up. He wasn't too surprised, she had the sharp tongue and the thoughtlessness of her father. He could remember taunts like that as if he had grown up with them all his life... He had a feeling though that Luci's attitude was a sign of adosescence. She was going to be an early bloomer...

"Hmph," Lucina growled at her brother's words. "Then she's a coward and a baby who should just go crying back to her useless parents." She stood and stomped off in a fury.

Roxas' watched silently, then sighed, shaking his head, seeing Gunnar about ready to chase after. He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You never try to reason with a person who is enraged. She's just shooting her mouth off and not thinking. Just leave her be for now Gun." He pat the boy comfortingly. "I'm going to go talk to Namine."

He glanced at Axel, shrugging helplessly and glad to pieces that Roxel was a boy. He wouldn't have such a dramatic outlook on things at least. He stepped away from the rocks and hurried after the path of the blonde-haired pre-teen.


Terra bared his teeth at his mate shaking his head. He struggled across the bed until he was perched on the edge, body crouched like a cat getting ready to pounce. "You're a fucking idiot. You know that?" His yellow eyes flashed. "Listen to god damn orders like a good fucking bitch."

Aqua looked up and back towards the house as well. "See hes up and yelling already..." She half-joked. She knew however with an apprehensive twist in her gut that that had not been a good sign.

[Rikugurl]

Gun frowned, about to run after her and continue bit he felt a strong hand on him. He looked up and blinked, seeing Roxas looking down at him. He frowned, looking out at his sister before sighing. He sat back down, but kept a watchful eye on his sister.

Axel looked back and nodded, looking down at the two. Man... was it time for sex yet?

Roxel's eyes widened as the two girls went their own way in a huff but looked back at Tensai, getting bored of the drama. He has as much attention span as Axel... unless it has something to do with Tensai. He grinned happily as he watched the pup snuggle onto his friend. He looked around, making sure his voice was low enough for Xio to not hear.
"Hey Ten... do you think we could share Moxley?"

Xio's ears perked and he whimpered, a sad look running over his face.

Namine kicked some rocks as she walked down the cavern to no where in general. She sniffed as an angry face was full on her features, tears crowning the bottoms of her eyes.
She heard some foot steps behind her and glanced back, seeing Roxas following her.
"Leave me alone..."


Rabbit ears lowered and twitched at the voice. Since she had rabbit in her, it was only instincts to want to run from a wolf... but as a part of a proud race, it was only instincts to stay. She did take a few steps back to give the two room. She was only here to stop the situation if it got bad...

Ven's eyes flashed yellow as his own teeth clenched.
He usually didn't mind being called a bitch by Terra... but only in bed. "Who the fuck are you calling a bitch, asshole!?" He gripped his fist as his yellow eyes sharpened. "I don't take fucking orders from anyone. The name's Ventus remember? Wind. I follow no rules!"
Darkness was slowly leaking into him from the close connection...

Fran could feel it. This wasn't the same man she had helped in here. Something was definitely changing...


Olette jumped down and landed next to the two. She frowned, looking at the two women looking at the building. "I don't know... that doesn't sound like a normal Terra yell..."
Fuu nodded in agreement and looked at her lover. "Do you think we should go and make sure everything is alright?"

[Reno]

Lucina huffed, crossing her arms and sitting down further away, crossing her legs. She didn't really understand why she was so angry at Namine... since they were both girls and around the same age they were usually like best friends...

Vi's ears twitched as well and she glanced over at her mate. She stood, wandering next to him and licked his muzzle.

Tensai blinked. Share a pet? How wwere they gonna do that. "Okay."

"And with that face you expect me to listen?" Roxas joked, before wandering over next to her. He reached out, brushing away some of the fallen tears. "Namine it's okay to cry."


The Atterian snarled at the other, "Is that so?" A mischesvious look overcame his face, one that spoke of nothing good. "Then if you're so tough get your fucking ass over here."


Aqua frowne3d a little before nodding. "Yeah we should..."

[Rikugurl]

Xio blinked as he was liked but brushed onto Vi, licking her neck.

Roxel giggled and hugged Tensai.
Axel tilted his head a bit and frowned. "Roxel, let's Tensai have his pet. You have Xio don't you?"
"No.... he's yours..."
Axel grinned and rolled his eyes playfully. "I think he likes you better."
Roxel blinked and looked at the boy in his arms. "You think so Tensai?"

Namine frowned as the tears were wiped away. "No... because then I'll be made fun of even more." She choked as she tried hard not to cry and crossed her arms. "Big girls don't cry..."


Dark golden eyes stared at the wolf from across the room. Bare feet started to move forward without any hesitation. He growled as he grew closer, feeling the Darkness wisp around him, pulling him in.


Fuu nodded as she took a quick lead with Aqua, only to look back at Olette. "Stay here and watch the keyblades."
The brunette pouted but nodded, saluting as she turned back to look at the chunk of Silgurd.

[Reno]

Invidia purred.

Tensai tilted his head, then nodded. "Uh huh. Xio likes you like your daddy likes ice cream." That, in laymens terms, was a lot of love.

Roxas chuckled. "Well Namine boys aren't supposed to cry either, yet every once and awhile I do - and I know Axel does." He said playfully. He ruffled her hair softly. "And it hasn't killed either of us yet. Luci was just... well she's learned things different from you."


Terra watched him quietly, then suddenly spoke. "You're kinda stupid aren't you?" He pounced, claws curling around thin shoulders and sending them both to the ground.


Aqua sighed hurrying towards the wooden building with her wife, opening the door and walking inside without any hesitation. The two wandered back towards the house, turning down the hall. she could see Fran outlined by the door - then suddenly she heard a thump of two bodies hitting the ground.

[Rikugurl]

Roxel blinked as she heard his best friend. His eyes grew big with joy and love, just like Axel's does when Roxas does something sweet for him. He suddenly got up and rushed to Xio, moving Vi out of the way and wrapping his arms tightly around the file lion. "AH XIO! I LOVE YOU TOO!"
Xio just yipped as he was pulled back, his body being squeezed WAY TOO TIGHTLY.

Axel blinked and laughed, shaking his head.

Hazel eyes looked up at the blonde and sniffed. "Really?" She looked down and sighed. "I wish she knew how hard it was being away from her parents... and... that dad is disappointed that I didn't stay and sign up for Blitzball..."


Ven knew what was going to happen before it did. Terra just had that look in his eyes.
Fran backed away into the hallway as Terra jumped out, slamming Ven into the ground. Her ears picked up the other's walk into the building before they even got close. Her amber eyes turned quickly, seeing the blue and silver haired women walking towards the room.
All she could do was put her hand out in a stop motion and shake her head. This was going to become dangerous...

Ven growled as he was strike down and landed his knee into the other's stomach. Black liquid came from the other's mouth, dripping down onto his neck and burning at impact. "AAAAAAAAAAH YOU FUCKER!"
The Darkness burned through his skin and seeped into his body like a virus, going to the only place it had to.
The heart.

His knee slammed up again and his legs pushed up, throwing Terra over him and onto the floor. It groaned at the pressure as Ven stumbled back to his feet. He panted, feeling his chest become heavy as the dark poison seeped into his dead organ.
And a heart beat was felt.

The golden eyes flashed as he looked down at Terra.

It was cold.... freezing...chains wrapped around his wrist... making him lay on a cold table. Shadows looked over, notepads in their hands as they started to write things down.
"Inj--t --m ag-in. 100 --lts --is time."

Dark liquid seeped from the corners of his lips as the haunting sounds passed through his head. He shook, almost stumbling over again.

[Reno]

Invidia barked in protest as she was shoved away. Her ears flipped back and she growled softly before turning and trotting off, tail flicking irritably. It was moments like these that made her miss Sora and Riku.

Tensai watched his friend silently, then just shook his head, laying down and placing Moxley onto his stomach.

"Hon, I don't think Tidus is dissappointed at all. He's proud of you no matter what you do. And well..." Roxas started, thinking for a moment. "Maybe she is being unfair, but I think... she's jealous of you in a way." When he got a confused look he scractched the back of his head. "Namine you chose this life, Lucina was born into it. You both adjusted differently and learned things differently. And while you had your mom and dad and Sora and Riku, she had the Chasers - most of them who aren't well..." He tilted his head, trying to find a good way to put this. "Sensitive to other people."


Aqua paused with Fuujin at Fran's hand motion, her eyes furrowing in concern as she heard the yells and the light scuffle from within. What the HELL was happening?

The wolf's tail pattered against the table and his head rose, automatically sensing something amiss. He lifted his head slowly, turning to look down onto the floor where a very speacial crack was. It was the one that let in the only light that truly light up this world.
And slowly the darkness was submerging it, until it completely went out. The wolf's ears perked in alarm and he used what strength he had left to jump from the table, the black liquid that was slowly flooding this world already covering his paws. He walked through it slowly, feeling like he was sloshing through mud, before he came to the crack. He dug at the area with his paws, but the light refused to be revealed. Their mate...
His ears fell against his head and he threw his head back and howled in sorrow.

Terra coughed when he felt the knee slam into his stomach, coughing up the darkness. He was a bit dazed from it, and felt the other push him over. He scrambled to lift his body up off the floor and retched again, more of the ink darkness splashing to the wooden floor and puddling close to his hands.
The man panted hard, staring at his reflection in the black liquid, before slowly looking up at Ven, growling. He stuggled to sit up but never quite made it as another rush of pain swept through his body. He curled up onto the floor, luckily not in his own mess, and howled in agony.

[Rikugurl]

Namine continued to looked down at the rocks that made up the ground. She slowly looked up at Roxas. She smiled... and suddenly hugged him. "I can see... how you were Sora's Nobody... but I'm glad... you became a Somebody..." She sniffled and pulled away. "Thank you."


Fuu frowned as they were stopped. The rustling and the foul language made her red eye dark with worry. This wasn't their usual sexual fighting... and there wasn't a time that she could remember where they didn't fight and NOT have sex.


Ven continued to pant, the black liquid dripping onto the wood and making it sizzle.
However, his eyes widened as he heard the sound of agony. Slowly his yellow eyes shifted to see Terra, curled in a ball. His vision went in and out. To reality to the lab. He shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment.

Riku.
Riku had overcome Darkness.
And he was BORN with it.

He shook his head as the cries came into his head, not knowing if it was real or not... but that was when he felt clawing inside him. Clawing at his heart... and then the sound of a howl.
Between the cries and the howling, he thought he was going to go insane. He gripped to his blonde hair and shook his head. "Aaah!"

His yellow eyes slowly opened and he blinked, seeing something in the his own pool of Darkness.
A red, round circle.
Blood....?
Slowly his hands came from his hair, some stray pieces of blonde falling from between his fingers. He reached up, wiping some liquid from his face. Blood. He was.... crying blood?

Or... was it an allusion too?
He looked back down at the red circle, seeing a small wooden stick coming from it from the boards Terra had uprooted.
A... red balloon.... lollipop....?

He slowly looked at Terra, seeing flashes of the human and wolf as the lights flickered.
He slowly stumbled forward but fell onto the ground. "Terra..."


Fran frowned as she watched, seeing nothing change but Ven was seeing something. Her hand lowered as she watched intensely.
Fuu looked at Aqua as Fran's hand lowered and nodded, slowly walking to the door and looking in slowly.

The blonde slowly crawled towards the brunette, minding where he was stepping.

A golden wolf slowly trotted to a large, black and brown wolf who was laying in the grass. Its muzzle came close, sniffing the fur and whimpering.

"Terra...." The blonde came closer and slowly he laid next to Terra. His hands reached out, gently taking Terras arms and pulling them away to reveal his naked torso.

The light wolf laid down on its stomach next to the seemingly injured one, leaning close and licking his fur.

Yellow eyes dimmed to blue as he saw it. The mark.
His mark.
He slowly leaned in and licked the scar where he had bit Terra that night. The symbol that made Terra's his. He closed his eyes as he continued to lick it softly.

[Reno]

Roxas chuckled a little shyly, hugging her back. "You're welcome... And here I thought I always sucked at acting like my brother." He joked.


Terra laid there, his whole body shaking. He heard faint, muffled noise of his name being called and someone falling to the ground but his mind didn't process it any farther then that. He didn't realize the scuffling noises was of someone coming closer...

He felt hot - the darkness seemed to be searing his whole body.

The wolf whimpered, laying down in the darkness - feeling the darkness burn away at his underside. His nose nudged the crack, whimpering weakly. The golden eyes fell shut - missing the small spark of light that shimmered.

'Terra...'

Terra's eyes opened as he felt arms grabbing him pulling away and he stared at Ven, his eyes unnervingly blank of emotion or even life.

The wolf's ears perked at the whimper, a wet tongue soothing his fur. His eyes slid open slowly, seeing the field spreading out before him - a colorful and bright world.
The wolf breathed hard, turning his head some, and saw the golden wolf beside him. His tail wagged some in happiness.

Terra watched the other quietly, his eyes widened when the other started to lick over the scarred skin on his chest. He tilted his head in confusion, looking at the jagged mark as if he'd never seen it before in his life...

"Haaaa! Fuck baby...."
"Nnnaaah V-Veeen..."
Nails dug into his skin as the body moved above him, blue eyes looking over him, before leaning down. The hot tongue wet his chest, the heart that beat for two speeding up - and suddenly Ven bit down.

Rough fingers moved through corase blonde hair, making the smaller look up - and blue eyes met yellowish-blue. "Ven..." The male murmured softly.

[Rikugurl]

Namine smiled and put her hands behind her back, swinging a bit as she looked up at Roxas. "You don't need to act like Sora. The voice is from your own heart." She said softly before turning and walking back to the others.


Ven continued to lick the scar, the black liquid slowly running out.
His heart beat started to fade away.... and soon, all the Darkness leaked from him and onto the floor.
His heart stopped once more and his breath caught, feeling a pull.
The paopu fruit's string.

He smiled softly as he continued to lick and nuzzle the scar, not even knowing what he was doing... but this felt right...
He felt familiar fingers through his hair and he slowly looked up, seeing yellow-blue eyes looking down at him.

The golden wolf pulled away, looking right into the larger's eyes. Bright blue eyes shined down at the black and brown one, its shine bright and true.

Blue eyes glazed with a shine as a small smile appeared as his hand reached up, cupping Terra's cheek. "Pull out of it..." he whispered softly.

[Reno]

Roxas blinked at the girl's parting words and laughed. No one could mistake her for Kairi's daughter when she spoke like that.
'No, You won't disappear!'
Roxas watched the girl walk away and smiled softly. "I guess you never disappeared either, huh Namine?"


The other wolf looked at the other, happy to see him. His mate wasn't gone yet. The alpha male lifted his head up slowly, touching their noses together.
Above them, there was a faint crack in the sky - the place where their worlds met. Hissing and sizzling could be heard, the darkness still slowly corrupted the inner world of the lab.
The wolf glanced up towards it, seeing blackness still brewing beyond - but none was slipping through any longer. Terra laid his head back down, shutting his eyes tiredly.

Terra looked back at the other but his eyes shut as the hand brushed along his skin. Pull out of it... "It hurts..." He whispered softly.


Terra's eyes slowly opened, and he looked around the lab - surprisingly absent of one wolf. He looked around from his perch atop one of the tables. The ground was slowly being filled with the blackness that was sliming down from the ceilings like thick mud, burning anything it touched.
He looked down at the blackness, seeing yellow eyes and red hair reflecting back at him. He looked away from the picture. This was mostly Rave's energy...
He looked at the walls then further beyond towards the cells, seeing the bars had been bitten through as if acid had been thrown. The place was falling apart.
He watched some more of the muck ooze down from the ceiling and it trailing down the sides of the wall, turning the gray walls dark as if fire had raged in that spot. He grunted hunching over, feeling another smaller surge of pain brushing against his rib cage, lungs constricting some. He coughed shaking his head.
He wondered if his inner world burned away - would it reveal something more beautiful before he died?

The brunette tested the bonds, growling furiously. He looked around wildly at the men in white surronding him. "What's going on?! Where's Ven? And Aqua?!"
Instead of getting any answers he got a picture shoved in his face of a little boy laying in the middle of a street, blood surronding in. It made him draw back, eyes wide with horror.

The brunette grimanced as the needle full of something dark and black - definitely not a vaccine - was injected in his body. He twitched as it flowed into him, eyes flashing.

"Aqua...?" Terra whispered, looking across the hall towards the blue-haired woman who was laying in her cell, unmoved since her return. "What... happened to you?" He whispered.

"...Ven..." The brunette whispered, looking at the other table where his best friend lay, frozen. He shut his eyes, bracing himself for the fourth test.

The wolf snarled in fury, charging across the field even though nothing was left to attack. He slammed into the strange hexagonal barriers that surronding his prison.
"What's happened?" The man with an eyepatch and a long black coat asked.
"He's out of control Professor Xigbar."
"Lock him up then. We'll continue when he's calmed down."

Terra's eyes opened and he shook his head. Everything after that was fuzzy. How... had he pulled out of it back then?

Plip plip.

The Atterian hissed again, looking at the darkness dripping from the ceiling like rain right over the crack in the floor, straining the connection with Ven.

How would he ever be able to purify all this darkness? Without the keyblade...

[Rikugurl]

"It hurts..."
The blonde frowned and slowly looked back, seeing the three women watching. "Get out of here. Please."

Fran frowned as she got the request and looked down at the other two. Fuu didn't like it either... but she felt like he knew what he was doing. "Come on." She pulled away, grabbing Aqua's hand and Fran closed the door.
They looked down the hallway to see Aerith walking towards them. "What's going on?"


Ven looked back at Terra, his pain easy to see. He closed his own eyes, reaching deep into his world.

As the Darkness leaked from his body, his inner world grew back its color. The grass becoming more rich, the blue sky more vast and the phantom pup could be seen frolicking in the far distance. There was an odd shadow that came over the land, making the smaller wolf look up. It was an air balloon, softly drifting in the breeze. A smile ran over the canine, its tongue happily panting as it looked down at it's mate and yipped... but... the brown and black wolf didn't acknowledges it.

The balloon slowly flew over the spot of the sky that was leaking... and was melted instantly. Blue eyes widened as his ears perked, seeing what use to be an air balloon becoming nothing but Darkness as it fell onto the grass, opening an even larger darkness.
The Tibetan wolf left its mate, slowly trotting towards the drips of Darkness.
Blue eyes looked up, only seeing a few glimpse of the lab above. Terra's world was rotting... burning in Darkness.
The only beauty Terra would be seeing when the room wasted away was Ven's world... and then that would be gone too.

The wolf looked down into the Darkness and whimpered.
It laid on its belly and pressed its ears back, helpless. What could he do? He didn't have a heart....

Ventus...

The ears perked as the wolf stood, looking around to figure out where the voice was coming from. But then he realized, it was coming from the hole the Darkness was making in the ground.

That was right...
Ven had another world.... didn't he?
He was dead... therefore he could reach the connection of the dead. Just so happened... he knew a few dead people... that were bound to know what to do.

Suddenly, the golden wolf jumped into the darkness... and fell deep inside.

On the real world, the blonde started to fade away... until he completely disappeared, leaving his clothes and jewelry behind.


Darkness burned his skin. Down and down he fell into the Darkness. The blackness leaked into his pours, consuming him indefinitely. The pain was so umberable... that he couldn't even cry out. His blue eyes turned from blue, to yellow, to amber as his pale skin darkened to a horrible black. His hair turned black as red lines circled around him, looking as if it wanted to make a design... but something wasn't working.

A sudden hymn hit his ears... and he knew... everything was going to be ok.
The amber eyes slowly went back to yellow... and then to blue. His body fell from the darkness, and if it was a wet paper towel, he broke from it's grip completely and fell into nothing but whiteness.

The hymn was stronger here... and for the first time... he could see faded figures of people all around him. Millions.... billions.

Blue eyes looked around, not recognizing any of the faded figures. "Soran...?"
The moment he spoke his dead brother's name, the figures disappeared... and he was alone.

"Is that who you're really looking for?"
A familiar voice called from above. The blonde looked up, not seeing what he had saw last time. He wasn't under water... but still under the Darkness. In between the two levels stood a familiar man... with silver hair.
"Riku...?"
"You're looking for a keyblade, aren't you? Well... Sora's was transfered to Roxas."
Ven frowned, his blue eyes looking down. Shit... that was right... now what was he suppose to d--
"But I have one."
The blonde looked back up as Riku pulled out his hand in front of him. Twilight Requiem appeared in his hands, the glow it had before was gone.
"My dad destroyed it before Rant or Rave could take its power... but keyblades can't be destroyed... their powers are only transfered. So here... I think you need it more than I do.... just remember to give it back, huh?"
"But my platform..."
"The Awaking is between Light and Dark. It only breaks when there is too much of Darkness. When Light it restored, it will come back."

Ven nodded softly before reaching out and taking the keyblade's handle. He was suddenly shot up to stand where Riku stood. Between Light and Dark. The feeling of his soul being sucked at came over him again, like long ago when he touched the Way to Dawn.

"Lemme give you a boost."
The silverette gripped onto Ven's shoulders, and flung him up. He waved and smiled. "I'll tell Sora you stopped by but don't think about coming back here for a long time!"

Ven flew up quickly, back through the Darkness but too fast for it to latch on again. The hymn started to fade as he saw a different light.
He suddenly emerged from the hole and landed onto bright green grass again. He blinked, looking around, seeing the wolf still on the ground. He looked down, seeing Twilight Requiem start to react. The world slowly started to pull through it... and he realized why.

Twilight Requiem was a Soul Eater. His inner world... was his soul. Shit... he had to act fast!
He turned and stepped away, pointing the blade at the crack in the wall. He closed his eyes and a suddenly light came from under him. A symbol of wind shown under him as a twilight ray shot out towards the crack. The light came through the lab, brightening the black walls.

The light started to burn some of the Darkness away from the walls and the liquid on the ground. It cleared the area away from the crack and as it slowly started to fade, a corrosion started, making the hole bigger. However, the corroding cement of the lab floor around the hole started to rebuild around it, making a wall around the crack so no more Darkness could spill from it.

The twilight finally dimmed and disappeared, only for Ven's natural light from his world bringing in the light to the lab once more. Now... more than ever.

Ven threw the keyblade back into the black hole below him before it sealed and disappeared.

Blue eyes looked up at the large opening in the sky, seeing the lab in it. "TERRA!?"