>=|

Max had been swearing under her breath for the past hour. It was the only way she was sure that time was passing.

Why did she listen to him!?

Clutching her hand in a fist, she slammed it against the rough cement wall, drawing her breath in sharply as the raw skin finally broke. Cradling her bloodying hand, she stop cursing and simply stared.

Was it because she believed him...?

No, she was certain she had the same goal as everyone else! Was certain...

Of course, she never did know what she was thinking, or planning. Such things had gone beyond her capacity to control. She had precious little control over anything now.

Control Kingdom Hearts? She had expected herself to be appalled by such an accusation. Why hadn't she?

Precious little was in her control... just how much of that was an illusion?

She knew sanity was an illusion. It was so easily broken, her mind so easily taken from her control. She didn't even feel real anymore. Reality and fantasy mingled in her eyes. It was impossible to distinguish the two.

Max listened to her boot scrap quietly over the floor as she released her knees from a huddled position. Stretching, her felt her entire body ache in protest. But she stretched more. Pain was a real thing, that much she knew.

I'm where I belong, Max thought to herself. In the deep, dark dungeons.

If she heard the door into the dungeon creek open, or if it was just another ploy of her twisted mind frame, it didn't matter to Max. She had passed the point of no return long ago. She was now facing the consequences.