[Kingdom Hearts AU] Someone to Watch Out for You

Darkness Unleashed

Ven almost laughed at the idea of coming back to Hollow Bastion. Of course it had to be here. Of course this was the place where the Beast would find Belle- and where they would find the other Princesses of Heart.

"Are you alright?"

With a confused noise, Ven turned to Sabrina. Neither of them had dispelled their Keyblade armor yet. It was hard to tell what the other's expression was unless they brought their helmets super close.

"I could almost ask you the same thing." Ven replied, giving a light smile. "I guess we're just going to stay in our armors here, then?"

"Darkness is abundant here." came the sharp answer. "I'd like a barrier or two if you don't mind. Besides, this world's keyhole is open, but incomplete. Can you feel it too?"

"Yeah... We're in the right place for sure."

The knight of Disney Castle looked to the castle of Hollow Bastion. Despite the churning in his gut, he took the first step forward. This time he wouldn't be blinded by visions of the past. He was going to move forward and help make the worlds right again. How he was going to do that was a little beyond him at the moment. But at least he had...

"Ven, I want to explore this world alone."

The words immediately made him stop mid-step. He spun around to face her. Now he wondered if her keeping her armor on was just a way of making sure he couldn't read her expression.

"Why?" he asked her. "After Beast's Castle, you want to go alone? With the keyhole almost complete, what if this world falls to darkness too? What if I can't find you?"

Sabrina was still as she considered his fears. Sighing, she took off her helmet. She locked her dark brown eyes directly onto his as she stepped closer to him.

"I think because of Beast's Castle I should go alone." she started. As Ven opened his mouth to refute, she stopped him by saying, "There's a heart here. A heart that is struggling against the darkness. I want to meet with it. I want to intervene. But I can't do that with you there. Pure light is only going to drive that heart away more. At the moment, anyway."

"But what if you get hurt?"

"Oh, I definitely will." Sabrina callously agreed. She then stepped a little closer. "But you said it yourself, didn't you? 'I'll find you, as long as you're there.' I'm betting on that. There's precious few people who are able to save me from myself, and I'd like to keep you."

Ven looked Sabrina over. Both fear and pride came over him as he noted how intent she was with this. Another reason to still love her, perhaps. He certainly did hold himself back as he pulled her into a tight hug. Sabrina let them stay in that embrace for a rather long amount of time. Ven was the one to finally let them pull away.

"Wish me luck." Sabrina nodded to him as she put her helmet back on.

"Always." Ven agreed. The worry in his heart still tugging at him, but he knew he had to move on as well. If not to find Sora, then the one leading this whole mess to begin with.

. . .

Sabrina knew darkness. Her world sat close to it, the light in her heart refused to truly shine because of it. She told herself it was an act of protection. That it was to keep their world from falling completely when all the others were dropping like flies. However, the more Heartless she encountered (and there were plenty here), she wondered what her own Heartless would look like. It was with a shutter that she decided it would look a lot like her.

Working her way down a long hallway, Sabrina could hear someone run up from behind her. She quickly hid behind a pillar before they could notice she was there.