#light writes

From the depths of Radiant Garden, a blight remained, sprawling with cavernous pathways and crumbling cliffsides teeming with Heartless. Even the Restoration Committee’s valiant efforts were not enough to repair the scars left by the Dark Seeker’s reign. One of these blights, the Cavern of Remembrance, beckoned a new visitor: a Princess of Heart.

Kairi didn’t think she would return to her home world so soon. The past year she spent asleep had been long enough. Now was the time for action—Sora was still missing. The plan was to train hard until she could join Riku on his search. However, a message from Leon changed the tide.

Kairi, it’s been a while. Cid found something: a file addressed to you. It’s attached to a code we can’t crack, not without your help. Ansem says you’ll need to visit this place called the Cavern of Remembrance. It’s still swarming with Heartless, but I know you’ll be fine. 

You up for an adventure?

Excitement flooded her veins. It was the perfect vacation from training. Maybe there was more information locked within the garden’s depths that could help Sora!

Bits and pieces remained of the legend of the Cavern of Remembrance. As a child, someone had told Kairi that it was a place that twisted and formed to suit the purpose of the visitor. Memories, hearts, and wishes worked their magic to weave together a place of reminiscence for the denizens of times past. A part of Kairi felt this place housed more memories and fading emotions than met the eye. There was something there she had to find.

Two companions joined Kairi on this unexpected quest. Aqua had long been itching for some adventure, and Naminé was roped in due to her unique abilities and connection to Kairi’s memories. Breathless and hearts racing, the trio made short work of the darkness that clung to every pipe, cliffside, and waterway. Naminé acted as an excellent guide while Aqua and Kairi cleared the pathway ridden with Heartless in every nook and cranny.

The trio soon found themselves within the depths of the abyss. In between indigo crags of rock and pipes of searing hot steam was a long hallway, reminiscent of The World That Never Was. Kairi stood in the middle of the pure white hall, scattered with the remains of fading Nobodies and the glistening hearts of felled Heartless. A large set of white doors barred their path forward. Her Keyblade shimmered into the air, leaving bright stars in its wake as she walked through them. 

Thirteen doors teetered on the edge of nothing—floating above a circular pathway backed by rushing water. In the middle of the circle was a platform, glistening with the light of electrical wires that led up to a series of computer screens. A technological garden of memory and wonder. Its hollow nature, bereft of heart, sent a chill down Kairi’s spine just as the awe set in.

Kairi placed her hand on the terminal.

“It’s strange how similar it looks to The World That Never Was.” Naminé came to her side with an air of curiosity. A ghost of a memory tugged on Kairi’s heart. Once, she had been trapped in a room just like this one.

“Thanks, Naminé—for breaking me out back then.”

“You broke free all on your own. I just provided the door.” Naminé smiled, then set to work scouring the database. Kairi was delighted to see her thriving in her element.

“You’ve both been through a lot, and have come so far. I’m impressed how quickly you both took out all those Heartless!” Aqua said, bounding up behind Kairi and settling beside her. Her eyes shone as she looked expectantly at the computer screens. “What do we do next?”

Naminé drew in her shoulders. “It needs a connection—a memory from your past in Radiant Garden, Kairi. Then, I can use it to connect you to whatever data is inside that locked message.”

Kairi bit her lip. “I’m sorry. Those days are hazy for me.”

She recalled her connections, wishes, and dreams from childhood as snapshots. Glimpses of moments with her grandmother, a moment in a garden of flowers, and a whisper of a story late at night—that was all.  

“Maybe you could use my memories of when we met to bring them to the surface.” Aqua put a hand on her chest and looked to Naminé for confirmation.

“That could work! Then please, think back on that time!” Naminé gleefully touched the tips of her fingers together. She turned to Kairi. “Kairi, all you need to do is listen to the melody of Aqua’s heart. Find that resonating connection and focus on it. After that, just step through that door over there. I’ll use it to connect you.” Naminé pointed towards the door with a shimmering Kingdom Key on the front.

Kairi furrowed her brow. “Aqua, what about that memory tugs at you the most?”

“The flowers you gave me. One was a pansy, I think? I thought it was really cute.” Aqua stifled a chuckle. A familiar light shone in her eyes—it drew Kairi straight to the connection she sought. With the melody tugging on her heart, the princess stepped through the door and into the unknown.

****

The space rippled and filled with light, numbing her senses until the scent of dew and freshly cut flowers filled the air. Kairi’s eyes fluttered open to the memory of herself as a young girl, no older than four, with a small bouquet of flowers in her hands. Kneeling before her was Aqua, who hadn’t seemed to age a day since then. Her mentor smiled gently at little Kairi, and gingerly took the flowers with a word of thanks.

“Kairi!” A soft, melodious voice tugged at the edges of her heart. Who was it?

Little Kairi turned from Aqua to call out to the faded figure in the distance until Aqua gently coaxed the girl’s attention back to her. Gingerly, she tapped little Kairi’s necklace, leaving a burst of light in her wake.

“One day, when you’re in trouble—the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe.”

What a kind and warm memory, one that shone like sea glass on the shore. The chains in her memory relinked, twisting and twirling in joy as they nestled in her heart.

“The light has always found a way to guide me and keep me safe.” Kairi breathlessly clutched her necklace, sensing the lingering whisper of the wish. The world shifted in a veil of light, transporting her to another time, another place—one all too familiar.

****

A labyrinthic library formed. The musty scent of old and dusty tomes overwhelmed Kairi with a rush of nostalgia. It was the place from her memories, one that shone vividly in the depths of her heart.

A book will guide you to what you seek. A voice slipped into her mind like a beloved lullaby. Kairi glanced around, sensing no other presence. Curious, she continued to explore the space from her memories.

A soft glow flickered within a nook nearby, guiding her to a book embossed with a pansy flower. Delicate fingers cracked open the tome to see a lone pressed purple and yellow flower peeking out from its pages.

“A pansy, it means ‘thinking of you…’” Kairi mused.

The space shifted, transporting her again to another memory. This time, Sora and Riku’s young sun-kissed grins greeted her, their arms filled with pansy flowers.

“Back then I was homesick for a place I didn’t remember.”

“And we cheered you up.”

With a sharp intake of breath, she turned. Riku stood before her, looking the same as he did when he’d left. “Are you…real?”

“Just his leftover worries and thoughts. You’ve been worried, haven’t you? About being away from us. But you shouldn’t be. Your memories of us are so important that they keep you going when you’re lost, right? You know you’re never too far away. Our hearts are always connected.”

Kairi held back tears. “You always know what to say. Thank you, Riku.”

Riku’s smile faded into the abyss of the library. In her hands was a new book. Where gold once embossed the front, now only the outline of small flowers remained. Gingerly, Kairi cracked open its pages.

A single flower was neatly nestled between water-stained pages, pure white and so delicate she feared it would break. A diphylleia. Kairi couldn’t remember who taught her the name.

The meaning echoed across the chambers of her heart.

“Happiness.”

Kairi!

A soundless voice gripped her heart as a vast expanse of sea and sky spilled out before her. At her feet, lotus floated to the surface, their petals unfurling as if they were reaching for the sunlight. The visage of the final world shimmered into being, as did the fading form of a boy she dearly missed.

“Sora!”

The vibration of his heart resonated deep within her own. Neither data nor sleep was a barrier to an unbreakable connection. Sora placed something in her hands, smiling as he faded into the never-ending sky. In his wake, he left a reminder, an oath—her charm.

“I’m always with you. Right, Sora?” Kairi held the charm close, sensing her heart’s resonance with those she loved most.

So, you found your light.

Kairi turned, stumbling against the lotus dancing at her feet. Each white blossom radiated the warmth of pure light.

****

Standing in the midst of sea, flowers, and sky was an old woman, her cheeks round with a smile and dusted pink. She wore the same shawl Kairi remembered from days spent listening to her stories in the library. Kairi sought out a vibration, a melody resounding from the woman’s heart—but it was barely a whisper.

Data. A memory recorded long ago and leftover from a strong heart. Kairi stepped forward. “Grandma?”

“In a sense, but you know that.” Grandma beamed.

Kairi ran to envelop the woman in a warm embrace. Tears streamed down her face as memories rose to the surface against the darkness. Memories of loss, guilt, and the distinct fear of never returning “home.”

 “I miss you. I’m sorry that I forgot.” Kairi sniffled.

“But you didn’t forget, dear. Your heart remembers everything your mind forgot. Good memories are hard to find, and pain sometimes covers up what we want to treasure most. Try not to hold so dearly onto the past that it halts your future. Any memories you might have lost have allowed you to continue forward with renewed strength.” Grandma gently rubbed a tear from Kairi’s eye. Stars danced in the woman’s eyes as she admired how far the girl had come. 

“I want to find you! I want to bring you all home .”

“All in due time, my dear. I programmed the data to respond to what your heart needs most. To help you move forward. Now, what has been troubling you?”

A breath shakily escaped Kairi’s chest. “My memories—if I just remembered, then maybe we’d all be able to be together again.”

“Your memories are deep inside you, waiting for the right moment.” Kairi’s grandmother brushed a strand of hair away from the girl’s tear-stained face. The woman pressed her forehead to Kairi’s and closed her eyes to whisper a familiar oath. “Wherever you go, we’re always with you. Never forget, take heart, and move forward.”

Light swallowed the princess whole once again as the warmth of her grandmother faded. When Kairi awoke, two concerned faces greeted her.

“Kairi! I’m so glad you’re awake! You just came back in a daze and nothing I did would get through to you.” Naminé grasped Kairi’s hands and held back tears.

“Thank goodness.” Aqua breathed a sigh of relief as she bent down to help Kairi to her feet. She wore a bewildered expression as she gently plucked a purple flower from behind Kairi’s ear.

“An azalea?” Naminé said.

Kairi took the flower and rubbed its stem between her fingers. “‘Please take care of yourself.’ That’s what the message was. Though my heart may be estranged from those I love, they’re never too far. They’re all right here inside me—urging me to keep moving forward.”

You’ve faced your fate well.

A heart song echoed in her chest. The remnant of a memory tugged on her lingering connection. Kairi reached for it.

Like a lotus, stretch towards the light. Let your heart bloom even in the deepest darkness, beautiful and strong like I know you are.

Notes:

That night, we tried calling the county sheriff’s office, Sanderson being too small for their own police force. However, when they tried to look up the missing people in the DMV database and came back with nothing, all we ended up with was a thoroughly irritated deputy who thought we were on drugs, and a dial tone.

Months passed, and it happened six more times.  Sometimes it was an entire family, sometimes it was just one person. The worst was the Jacobson family: Issac was still there, but Sara and the kids didn’t exist anymore, and Issac didn’t remember them.  Like all the rest, for some reason Joanie and I were the only ones who recalled anything different from the current version of Sanderson, and we were quickly left feeling like the walking wounded from all the mourning we had to hide from everyone else.

The first major break - if you could call it that - was the seventh disappearance.  As I had become accustomed to, I woke up that morning and braced myself to find out who didn’t exist anymore.  There was no way I could have prepared myself for what would greet me when I left for work.

The house next door was no longer a typical, cookie-cutter mirror of my own.  Instead, it was covered entirely in what looked like leather.

I didn’t even realize I was staring until I heard my coffee cup smash on the concrete of my driveway.  Nonetheless, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.  I carefully stepped over the shards at my feet and made my way, slowly, to the porch.  The sight in front of me turned my stomach… all that skin, everywhere.  Even the windows seemed to be made of flesh, stretched to its most translucent limits but still crossed with veins.  The urge to revisit my breakfast became stronger the closer I got to the structure.  It was when my foot touched the bottom step of the… home… that I realized it wasn’t the normal fear and disgust I would experience at the sight before me.  In that moment, the revulsion I felt became so powerful and so clear that I realized it wasn’t coming from within my own mind.

The house was pouring those feelings into me.

I gritted my teeth and forced my way up to the door, each step doubling the urges being forced into my body.  Finally, I stood in front of the threshold, hand raised to knock.  However, before my hand could come into contact with that disgusting structure, I was overcome.  I don’t recall anything after raising my hand to knock, up until I was standing on the sidewalk, vomiting.

After the dry heaves subsided, I staggered inside to rinse my mouth and call my boss to explain that I wouldn’t be in today.  As soon as I got off the phone with work, I immediately shot a text to Joanie.

Me: Shit just got weirder.

JoanieBug: What happened now?

I shot a photo of the house next door and tried to send it to her.  However, it was blurry and just looked like a skin-tone smear.

JoanieBug: Very funny, sending me a picture of your thumb. We have real shit going on, Mike.

Me: That’s not my thumb, J.  That’s the house next door.

I waited for her reply, refusing to look out the window again.  Instead of a text message, five minutes passed before I heard a car pulling into my driveway.  Peeking around the curtains, I saw that it was her and rushed out before she could start screaming.  By the time I got to her car, she was already out and staring at what had seemingly replaced my neighbors’ house.

She didn’t scream like I expected.  Instead, she gaped for a few moments before whispering. “Does anyone remember your neighbors?”

Fuck. I hadn’t even thought about that.  Having learned from previous vanishings, I pulled out my phone to check property records instead of trying to call anyone else.  Sure enough, there was no record of anyone having owned that house, despite the fact that I knew a family with three little girls had lived there yesterday.  Without realizing it, I stepped away from the horrible building as I did further searching.  Josh and Tammy Scott no longer existed online, either.  I even tried tracking down photos I remembered seeing in the paper when the girls were born - in a small town, triplets were big news - and found nothing.  Photos from neighborhood cookouts were the same, except no trace of the Scott family.

“They’re gone.” I bit back a sob. “How long is this going to go on for?” I begged.

“I don’t know,” she whispered as she ushered me into my house and yanked all the curtains to cover any window facing the leather house.  “Do you think that happened to the other houses?”

“Maybe?  I haven’t exactly checked.  I didn’t know where any of the others lived, except the Jacobsons.”

“But Issac is still here,” she pointed out.

I tapped my chin with my phone, still fighting back tears. “But does he still live in the same place? I just assumed he did. I never actually thought to check.”

It was Joanie’s turn to whip out her phone and start searching.  A few minutes later, her head snapped up and she looked at me. “Issac and Sarah had that house built a couple years ago, right?  After Davey was born?”

“Yeah.  Bigger house, big yard so the boys could play.”

“This says Issac lives in his parents’ old place, over on Riverside.”

I shook my head. “Fuck. We have to see if this is related.”

“Mike!” she shouted. “People are being erased from reality, and everything is patched all nice and neat so it’s like they never existed.  Now, it happened to your neighbors with a creepy-ass side of the house is now covered in skin, and you really think it might not be related!?” Her voice hit new octaves of hysteria before she pulled herself together. “You are being deliberately obtuse.”

I held up my hands defensively. “No, Joanie, I’m not. I am being overly cautious and want to confirm, with absolute certainty, that there is not some, second insanely nightmarish thing happening in Sanderson.”

“The universe can’t be that cruel.”

“The universe can certainly be that indifferent,” I grumbled. With a sigh, I stood up and grabbed my keys.  As I shoved them in my pocket, I reached under the sink for a grocery bag before filling it with several sodas and half a bag of chips.  “Let’s just drive around and see what we find.  We have to take your car… I told Greta I was sick.”

With minimal complaints, Joanie stuffed some more snacks into another bag and we headed out.  We cruised through every residential area, down every road.  By the end of the day, we had found four more houses like the one beside mine, one of which was a huge, imposing mass sitting where the Jacobsons’ home formerly stood.  Other than the Scotts and the Jacobsons, it was impossible to be sure that those houses belonged to the ones who were erased, but since those were the only two families of which we were completely sure where they lived when they still existed, it was enough to support the idea.

__________________________________

After the Scotts went missing, Joanie and I traded off crashing at each other’s house.  Neither of us wanted to be alone, and there was a comfort in being close to the only other person who could recognize what was going on in Sanderson.  In time, we established a routine - whoever woke up first each morning checked the town website for any changes in population.  In theory, that number should only change once a year, when property taxes were updated, along with a more precise figure being updated every ten years when the official census was done.

We were seeing the population drop every couple of weeks at first, and soon it was weekly.  While trying to see who was missing in a town of even 500 was a daunting task, we at least knew to brace ourselves for more changes that resulted from having our friends and neighbors seemingly erased from history entirely. Both of us considered leaving, but things progressed too quickly - and too weirdly - for us to make much of a plan.

Each day, we saw more and more houses in Sanderson turn into leather.  We learned that, as long as we came no closer than the sidewalks, the revulsion did not touch us, and at no point did anyone else in town seem to notice.  It was infuriating at times: by this point, dozens of houses were crafted from flesh and garnering about as much notice as an ant crossing the road.

The morning that I woke to find not just one, but four more houses around mine changed, the next alarming piece of information struck.  I was about to call sick to work, too scared to leave my house, when my phone rang just as I was unlocking it.

It was Joanie.

“Hey, Joanie bug,” I answered, only to be cut off.

“All of my neighbors are gone,” she stated, by way of greeting me.  By this point, she was in full crisis mode, and cooler than an ice cube.

“Mine too….” I trailed off, glancing out of my windows again as something nagged at the back of my mind.

“Fuck,” she swore. “That’s more than we’ve seen vanish at once, so far.  By a couple of orders of magnitude.”

I did some counting. “That’s nine houses, yeah.”   There was something significant about this.  Not just the escalation, but it had to do with the people missing around Joanie’s house.  “I’m going to call out from work - “ Click. “Oh, fucking hell. I may not have a job.  Greta lived across from you and one down, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, Mike.  That’s why I was calling…” Joanie sighed, resigned to what was going on, even if we still didn’t understand it. “I’m so sorry.  She sounded like a good boss.”

I swallowed as hard as I could. “Let me call you back.  I need to find out what this changes.” I disconnected and quickly called work. At least the company still existed.

“Holhouser Medical Technology, Sarah speaking,” a receptionist I didn’t recognize answered.

“Hey, this is Michael Andrews.  I… I’ll be honest, I don’t feel well and I need to go see a doctor,” I lied. “I think I work there, and if I do, I need to speak to my boss to let them know I won’t be in today.”

“Oh, Mr. Andrews,” Sarah sounded surprised. “Um.. Well.  Yes, I think you need to go see a doctor.  Thank you for calling, it was very conscientious of you, but… Sir, you haven’t worked here in five years.”

What? “I - I haven’t?” I didn’t have to pretend to be confused. Greta had originally recruited me, so to find out I still ended up working there, but hadn’t in several years, was curious.  “I work in IT, don’t I? I mean, didn’t I?”

“Yes sir, but… I think you need to speak to Dr. Collins.  He asked us to direct you to him whenever this happens.”

“And this has happened before,” I slowly ventured, trying to understand what had changed.

“This is the fourth time, Mr. Andrews,” she confirmed gently.  “Dr. Collins can explain why.”

“I…” I needed answers, is what I needed. “I don’t remember a Dr. Collins… Can you give me the number?”

“Of course.” Sarah sounded relieved.  She gave me the number for a Greg Collins and wished me a good day.

Greg Collins.  I didn’t recognize the name.  To my knowledge, there was no one with the name Collins in Sanderson.  Along with several disappearances so far, we had something else. Someone new had been added to our town.  Even before people started disappearing and those grotesque… things… replaced the houses in town, it was rare for anyone to move to Sanderson.  Cautiously, I texted Joanie.

Me: Do you know of any Dr. Collins?

JoanieBug: Who the fuck is that?

Okay, I wasn’t the only one who had never heard of this person.  I sent the details of my conversation with Sarah and set my phone down to grab a drink while she read and digested the information.  I was halfway through my glass of milk when my phone started buzzing furiously.

JoanieBug: There has never been a Greg Collins in Sanderson, I would remember. But I looked him up, and sure enough, he has a practice here in town.  According to everything I can find, he’s had that practice for years.

JoanieBug: I even called.  They have my file, apparently Doc Collins has been my doctor most of my life.  Probably yours, too.

I dropped my phone again, struggling to draw a full breath. Something was casually re-writing reality, one piece at a time.  Was this only happening in Sanderson?  What if the entire world was like this? A whooshing, screaming noise pounded into my ears. Part of my mind registered the distant buzzing of my phone, but I was too busy sliding to the floor. My chest ached with fear, my head spun while I tried to force oxygen into my lungs.

There is no telling how long I sat there, but the next thing I was aware of outside of my fear was a stinging pain across the left side of my cheek. My head snapped up to see Joanie, her hands holding me by the temples.

"Did you just slap me?" I asked stupidly. When she rolled her eyes, I gaped. "Joanie! What the hell!?"

"Excuse me for being more focused on the fact that you were purple,” she groaned. “At least you aren’t hyperventilating anymore.”

I rubbed the spot on my chest and throat that still ached, realizing she was right. “Did you hear that noise when you came in?”

“All I heard was you.”

“No, it sounded like… a train, or a tornado.”

To my horror, she started laughing. “Mike, that was you, trying to breathe. You had a panic attack.”

“And you slapped me!?”

“I tried to talk you down, but you couldn’t hear me.”

“You slapped me.” 

“Michael Joshua Andrews. Yes, I slapped you. Now, focus. Please. Doctor Collins, who appeared out of literal nowhere. An accident that didn’t happen, but apparently put you out of work with full pay five years ago.”

"I don't even know what the accident was," I tried.

"Well, no," she accepted. Abruptly, she stopped and stared at me, eyes wide. "Because there was no accident."

"That's what I'm trying to say - "

She shook her head furiously and grabbed my shoulders. "Mike. There was no accident. Even if something changed that tells everyone else that you're on disability or workman's comp, or whatever, you aren't suddenly crippled. And for you to be on full pay, it should have been awful."

Joanie was right. Whatever cover story was created when Greta vanished, it involved a horrible accident that was fully the fault of the company. I should be completely unable to work, but nothing was wrong. "That means they - it - the thing or person behind this… can't actually affect us." I trailed off. "Is that why we aren't forgetting everyone?"

"Could be, but focus." She handed me a beer that I didn't notice her grabbing. "We need to talk to Collins, and you actually have a plausible reason."

After a brief flurry of phone calls, I had an appointment that afternoon to speak with my theoretical doctor. “Joanie, I should be back by five. If I’m not, come looking for me. Raise hell, go full on ‘grieving widow’, I don’t care - “

“Ew!” she muttered. “Wrong equipment.”

“Like anyone is going to remember that,” I argued half-heartedly. “Fine. Grieving sister. Just make a loud, over the top ruckus if they try to prevent you from seeing me or passing me a message, okay?”

“Can do.” She saluted me. “Just make sure you get as much information as you can, okay?”

“I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise,” I agreed under my breath. “Hopefully, I’ll get some banal explanation and be back at the Tangerine Nightmare by five, five thirty at the latest.”

After getting off the line, I punched the address into my GPS. Ignoring the fact that the address showed as saved under ‘Dr. Greg’, I made my way there with time to spare for my appointment. From the outside, it looked like what I expected from a doctor’s office: nondescript building, discreet but visible signage, “no smoking” signs everywhere.  I walked in, only to behold a pretty nondescript waiting room, complete with the news and weather channel on a TV in the corner and magazines from roughly a month ago spread neatly on a table.

Making my way to the reception window, I signed in.  Glancing around, I saw a bleach-blonde woman I didn’t recognize.  She took the clipboard and smiled at me. “Thank you, Mr. Andrews. Dr. Collins is expecting you, so go on back.” When I hesitated, she tipped her head. “Left hand door, second exam room on the left.”

Thanking her, I made my way back.  At first, it seemed pretty routine: a woman I had never seen in my life took my vital signs, asked a few questions, then left me with a cheerful explanation that the doctor would be in to see me shortly. So far, so good.

After about ten minutes, a man in a white coat entered the exam room.  He had solid gray hair, brown eyes, and a vaguely middle aged face - somewhere between a stressed out forty and a youthful sixty. “Hey, Mike. I don’t know if you remember, but I’m Dr. Gregory Collins. Does that ring any bells?”

I was honest. “Not really, but I think that’s why I’m here.” I didn’t mention that Dr. Collins not existing when I woke up this morning was part of that. Let him believe what he wanted.  I just wanted answers.

He seemed somewhat satisfied with this, nodding his head. “Have you had any conversations or seen anything out of the ordinary? Any odd hallucinations?”

“I wouldn’t say they were hallucinations,” I admitted. “I mean, someone else has seen them as well, despite how weird they seem to be. So, I know it’s real.” I paused, and he nodded for me to continue. “Houses, made out of skin, I think?” I played dumb, no mentioning the related disappearances. “They pulse and breathe like they’re alive, but they can’t be, right?”

“Of course not,” he responded, tone soothing and even. He walked behind me, out of my line of sight.  Shortly, I could feel him pressing a stethoscope against my back, and took deep breaths automatically.

“One of them is right next to my house,” I admitted, although I wasn’t sure why I told him that.

“That has to be distressing,” he acknowledged.  When he crossed back into my field of vision, he had a bottle of something yellow and a syringe.

“Doc…” I started hesitantly. “What is that?”

“Just the usual, Mike. Nothing to worry about.”

“And what, exactly, is the ‘usual’?”

The bastard actually chuckled. “It doesn’t matter, Mike. You never remember, anyway.”

“Never remember WHAT?” I started panicking, and moved to stand up.

He pushed me back on the exam table with one hand. “Shhhh. It’s okay.” He glanced at the door and jerked his head to whoever was standing outside.  I felt cool, iron grips holding my wrists down.

“What do you mean, I ‘never remember’, you son of a bitch!?” I shouted, struggling futilely against the hands holding me down. Jesus fuck, how many people did he have come in here?

A stinging pain erupted near my armpit. I looked down just in time to see a needle being pulled out.  To my horror, it looked several inches long - long enough to pierce a lung, or even my heart.  I struggled sluggishly against whatever he just injected me with, trying in vain to stay awake.  My vision blackened around the edges.  My hands and feet started to feel warm and numb.  I couldn’t even scream, since every noise I tried to make came out as a slurred moan.

I could barely see out of the dim centers of my vision as I heard Dr. Collins one last time. “This one keeps resetting, and we don’t know why.  Make sure he doesn’t disrupt the program.”

“I’ll just throw myself back into your body!”

Zexal gasped at the forming condensed darkness of Number 96 in front of them. It morphed into something resembling a spear and they could feel time slow down as they realized there was no avoiding the coming hit.

In those crucial milliseconds, Yuma felt Astral pulling away from him and knew immediately what his partner was planning. He couldn’t allow it. He had to protect Astral. Yuma separated his arm from Zexal and used it to shove at Astral’s appearing form with all his force. He watched his partner spin away from him with a sense of relief.

Regaining balance, it took only a moment for Astral to realize what Yuma had done. They locked eyes and Yuma heard him call out in panic. A resigned and relieved smile adorned Yuma’s lips as Number 96 struck him directly through his heart.

A small gasp escaped Yuma from the impact. The spear impaled straight through his chest and punched the air out of him. He could feel it piercing through his very soul, tearing it apart. The pain was like nothing he’d ever felt before, reaching all of his being, his existence itself.

“God damn you, you insignificant speck of life!” 96’s voice boomed through his head, bringing Yuma back to himself. “You’re just in my way!”

The darkness shifted inside him and Yuma grimaced as it ripped through his soul from the movement. Yuma could see the end of the spear wriggling in front of him, stretching towards Astral, and he grasped the darkness where it met his chest with both hands. You’re not going anywhere, bastard.

“Yuma!” Astral started to step forward but Yuma stopped him with a shout.

“Don’t!” Yuma panted harshly as he focused all his willpower on keeping Number 96 trapped within him. “Stay there, Astral!” He thanked the stars that Astral listened to Yuma’s words, trusting that Yuma would find a way through like always.

He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, pulling at the writhing darkness. He pretended it was an Xyz change into Zexal, dragging all of Number 96 into his body and sealing him inside. It felt like lava coursing through his veins. He bit his lip to avoid screaming.

I will never allow you to hurt Astral.

With all of Number 96 inside his body, Yuma sealed his soul with all his strength, imagining his body was a steel gate that he locked shut by every means possible. Finally the tension released and the gate shook one last time as the last lock was set in place. Yuma’s hands fell away from his chest.

There was a brief moment where Yuma felt nothing. He was floating. He had expended almost every bit of his energy to forcibly merge with Chaos Number 96, but he’d done it. The relief weighed down on his muscles like a ton of bricks and his body fell to the rocky ground in a limp heap. Sound was completely muffled and all he could see was a blue blur slowly getting closer. The sight let his heart relax a bit and Yuma struggled to remember why he couldn’t just go to sleep.

“..uma!” His hearing came back slowly. “Yuma!” Astral’s voice shocked through Yuma’s head and immediately his eyes focused on his partner kneeling beside him.

Astral let out a breath and reached for Yuma’s closest hand.

In that moment the lava bubbling and boiling beneath Yuma’s skin rose to the surface and raced up Yuma’s arm. Of course 96 would try to get to Astral through him! Yuma used the energy from his protective rage to send his own soul grabbing after Number 96 and dragged him back to the center of his chest, away from Astral. The nails on Yuma’s free hand dug into his palm to hide the pain. He wouldn’t let 96 get anywhere near his partner.

“Yuma,” Astral looked like he was moments from tears. “Why would you do that?”

The gate rattled dangerously. Yuma was afraid to respond, worried any single lapse in his attention toward keeping this chaotic soul inside him would allow 96 to escape.

“Yuma, please. Are you hurt? Talk to me.” On the very outskirts of his own soul, Yuma felt Astral’s prodding meekly, longing to get through.

As Astral grasped Yuma’s hand tightly, he heard deep laughter ringing through his head. “You truly think you can keep me from hurting him, don’t you?”

Yuma met Astral’s eyes, keeping a wall between his and his partner’s souls, and tried to ignore the voice. He could feel 96’s irritation and had to bite the inside of his lip as the darkness shifted once again, this time tearing at the points of his soul that had shattered at the surface of his chest.

“Please say something, Yuma.” Astral’s other hand caressed Yuma’s cheek and he leaned down to touch their foreheads together. “Let me in. If you’re hurt, let me see.”

Astral was reaching out through their connection desperately, but Yuma relentlessly kept him at arm’s length as the burning in his chest grew worse. It almost felt like a hot metal brand on his sternum… Actually, it really felt like hot metal. Then Yuma remembered: the Emperor’s Key!

He could feel Number 96 in his chest burning through the seal of Yuma’s body. Black tendrils began to wrap around the necklace piece. Yuma bit down harder and willed his free hand to grab the key’s familiar weight.

“Yuma?” Astral moved back, gently touching Yuma’s arm. “What are you-”

SNAP.

The thin rope fell away from Yuma’s neck and Astral’s eyes widened. He supposed that to his partner it must look like he’d lost his mind. Especially as he mustered up all of his strength to smack Astral’s hand out of the way and fling the necklace off to the side. It clattered dully across the rock and Yuma felt a small thrill of satisfaction that he couldn’t help but smirk at. You will not hurt him, he repeated to 96.

The joy was short-lived as the fire in his chest spread rapidly throughout his body, 96’s rage culminating in an agony so pure that Yuma couldn’t help the short gasp that left him before he bit back down on his surely bleeding cheek.

“Yuma!”

“Won’t I?” Number 96 taunted. Yuma fought back the tears and screams that begged to be released as 96 wreaked havoc on his soul. “You don’t seem to realize that I can crush your beloved Astral in my hands from right here…”

Yuma felt something dark caress his heart, the core of his very essence, and a cold shiver shuddered down his spine as if someone walked across his grave. No.

“You.” The tendrils wrapped tighter around his core and Yuma stopped breathing. “You are the key to Astral’s suffering.”