Maiden of Darkness

*Your Point Of View*

You were slowly being drawn by the castle, yet you didn't move. It was pulling you in like a magnet, but you nevered moved. It felt strange.
You suddendly hear footsteps behind you, you turn around to see who it was.
"So, you the feel the darkness too?", said the voice from behind you . He started to walk towards you, only for you to realize who it was.

"Cloud, what are you doing here?", you said to him calmly. Cloud walked towards you and started to lean on the wall that was besides you.
"This castle is were Maleficent once used her powers of darkness to unleash a swarm of heartless", he said staring at the castle, he was staring at the castle with no emotion.

You could feel something swrling around Cloud's body, but, you didn't ask. You quickly opened your mouth to ask Cloud something.
"Who's Maleficent?", you said looking at Cloud. He slowly turned his head towards you.

"She was a witch who summoned heartless to destroy every world and in gulf it with darkness. She tried to gather seven princesses and unlock the keyhole of Hallow Bastion, but Sora and his friends destroyed her, and her plan. We don't really know where she is.

Last time Sora encountered her, she was in another world trying to destroy the Nobodies", he stopped talking for a moment.
There was a silent for a moment, until he stared at the castle again and continued to talk.

"Still, even though Maleficent isn't here, I can still feel that same darkness roaming around the castle", he said with his eyes glaring at the castle.
You quickly sat on the ledge and asked Cloud something, but Cloud beat you to it.

"Aniko, you're able to feel the darkness around the castle, meaning you contain a heavy darkness in your heart. Who is your darkness?",he asked looking at you seriously.

You turned your head away. You hated the fact that the person who brought you darkness was your own blood. Your hair was covering your face, as you gripped your hand. You looked at the ground answering him back.
"My father", you said icily. You felt a little ashamed of mentioning his name. YOu started to feel darkness rising you, when you suddendly felt Cloud's hand on your shoulder.

"Don't worry, Aniko. You're not alone. I too, have to fight against my darkness, and I won't rest until he's completely gone", he said so determined. His eyes were shining brightly when those words came out.

You felt completely comfortable when Cloud talked to you. He was someone fighting from his darkness, just like you. You felt understood. You quickly hugged Cloud and smiled at him. His eyes shot open, as you released him.
"Thank you, Cloud. You may have darkness within you, but you're still good inside, that's something your darkness doesn't have", you said smiling at him.

He slightly smiled, still unsured of himself. He looked at the sky and notice it was completely dark out, he faced back to you.
"You should be getting back, it's getting late. I'm staying here for a while", he said to you. You nodded your head and waved goodbye to him.

You ran back to Merlin's house and went inside. You opened the door and closed it behind you. You start giggling to the sight of Sora sleeping on the couch.
Kairi was sleeping next to him, she was wrapped around one arm of Sora. They were both sharing a blanket, but Kairi looked as if she had taken most of it to herself, leaving Sora with hardly any. You couldn't help but giggle.
"They always complain with one another, but they're always together", you whispered softly to yourself.

You turned to the other side to see Donald sleeping in a small couch, while Goofy was on the floor sleeping on a couple of blankets with his shield to his side. Donald had a nose bubble on his nose, while Goofy was snoaring. You found it a little funny. You smiled at them.

You continued tip toeing your way to the table, when you notice someone sitting down on the floor, while laying his head against the wall. You walked towards the person to realize it was Riku, sleeping peacefully.

You went back to the table and reached your hand to grab a blanket, and went back to Riku.
You sat on the floor next to him and put the blanket on both of you two. You leaned next to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. You laid your head on his shoulder, as you watched Riku sleeping peacefully. You slowly started to close your eyes until, you were fast asleep.

You saw yourself laying on the beach with the waves coming in, you felt the wind in your face. You got up seeing that Riku, Sora and Kairi were calling you.
"Hey Aniko, come on we're waiting for you", shouted Kairi as Sora was waving his hands around. You ran towards them and stopped in front of Kairi. You scratch your neck and sighed.

"Sorry guys, I have to go back home early. My mom and dad want to tell me something important. I'll probably be back in two hours, okay", you smiled.
"Alright, but promise to come back. We're having a race. Us against Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka", said Riku as he crossed his arms.

You nodded and went straight to your boat. You paddled all the way back to the other island, you started wandering what could your parents say that's so important.
You reached your house, and opened the door, you saw your mom watching dishes. She smiled at you and walk over to hug you.

"Hi, sweetie. How was it with your friends", she said as she released you. You pushed her away and said ,"Fine".
"Alright then. Your father is waiting for you in the living room. Go, ahead", she said pointing to the living room.
You walked towards it and saw that your father was sitting in the couch, reading the newspaper.

"Hello, father" you said with no emotion. He looked at you and signaled you to sit in the chair across him. You walked towards it and sat down. Your mother came in and sat next to your father.
"So, what's going on?", you asked looking at your mother. You tried to avoid your father as much as you can.
"Aniko,listen carefully. We're are only saying this once. I don't want to hear a single comment after this. Got it", said your dad in a serious tone. He put the newspaper down.

You nodded at him, he began to talk. "We're all moving from this island. We think that you're not fit for this place", he said crossing his arms. Your eyes shocked opened.
"What, what do you mean moving. I'm not going anywhere! I fit here just fine. I like it here", you said as you got up and felt like hitting the wall.
"Sweetie, all you've been doing is going to the beach, and you haven't focused on anything else. We think it's time for you to go somewhere...where you won't be distracted", said your mom, smiling all the way. You found it disgusting.
"NO, I like it here. This is where I belong. You can't tell me what to do", you said with tears about to fall down your face.

Your dad quickly got up and grabbed you by the wrist. He threw your body to the floor. You hit the floor hard, making your body really weak.
"You will do as I say, and that's FINAL" he said yelling at you. Your mother stood in the back looking at you, helplessly.

Suddendly, your eyes started glowing purple again, and the room was turning black. You were releasing darkness once again. The darkness started to engulf your parents. You saw hearts coming out of their chests, as they flew away. Your parents then turned into heartless.
The whole room suddendly turned black again. Namine came out of a portal and started to walk towards you. Your eyes retuned to normal, and the darkness around your body disappeared.

"So, you're having a dream, about one of your memories" said Namine as she she put her arms behind her.
"Namine, why am I having this dream. I didn't do that to my parents when they told me I was...going to move", you said as you gulped. Namine just shook her head.
"Yes, I know. Part of this memory was just mixed with your troubled thoughts" she said to you.
"Aniko, as long as you continue to trouble your mind with this, you'll end in darkness...just like him" she said to you. There was a moment of silence between you two.
"Like who, Namine? Who else was in the world of darkness?", you asked to Namine. You were trying to see if Namine would answer but, she completely changed the subject.
"Aniko, they're after you. As long as you continue to control heartless with your anger, they'll come after you. Please, try to forget about your darkness. I can't erase memories, only you can forget them. I don't want you to hurt anyone or yourself", she grabbed your hand and looked worried.

You nodded to her, "I can't promise that I'll forget my darkness...that I can forget him. But I can promise you that I'll try to control my power, and I know that I won't hurt anyone that keeps my light", you said to her confidently.

She nodded to you and released your hand. "Alright, I leave you on your own now. I can't help you anymore", she said as she walked away and slowly disappeared in darkness.
You turned away and looked at the black sky, "As long as my friends are with me, I won't fall into darkness. As long as my happiness is with me, I can't fall".
The room suddendly fills with light, and you open your eyes to realize it was all a dream. You rubbed your eyes and see Riku in front of you offering his hand to help you get up.

"Good morning, Aniko", he said to you as you reached his hand and got up.
"Morning, Riku", you said noticing everyone except Aerith was gone.
"The others are at Ansem's study. I told them that we would go after them, once you eat breakfast. Okay?" said Riku as he showed you the table with food on it. You nodded at him.
"You ready to help out Leon and the others today", he asked as you sat down in the table and Aerith giving you a glass of juice.
"Yeah, I can't wait! I'm finally gonna feel needed", you said as you filled your mouth with a pancake.

Minutes later, you finished your meal and headed outside with Riku. Aerith waved at you two.
"I'll be meeting with you guys shortly, okay?" she said smiling as she waved. You waved back and continued walking towards the bailey.
As you were walking, Riku grabbed your hand and stopped you.

"What's Up, Riku?", you said looking at him. He looked around to see if no one was around.
"Aniko, did you have a bad dream last night?" he asked you as you opened your eyes widely.
"I heard you talking in your sleep, last night. You sounded trouble, are you okay?" he asked you, but before you could answer, you heard a voice from behind.
"Well, Well...we meet again, Maiden!", said the voice behind. You turned behind, already knowing who it was. You recognized that voice.
"Axel, what do you want?" you yelled!