Ryteb was falling. He had felt like this before when the dark copies of himself defeated him in the room of awakening, but now it was like a dam inside him had burst, releasing all the pain, grief, and anger he had locked away in the depths of his heart. It was not a straight fall, as he kept bashing into invisible barriers that sent pain shooting through his entire body with every crash. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally landed... though it was not a happy site for the young mage.

There are many views on what hell looks like. For some it is a fiery inferno, for some a dark pit. Many veterens regard the battlefields of whatever war they had served in as hell. For Ryteb, hell was an idyllic looking Irish village called Llychbaen. It had been ten years since he was last there, but it couldn't be here. Not just because his world was gone, but because he himself had razed the village to the ground.

A robed figure walked over to the boy. It was the green of an apprentice, but had the symbols of an Archmage embroidered onto it. He looked to be as old as Odin, with hair the colour of ash, though some streaks of red gave it a look of a dying flame.

"It's funny how the universe- hffph- works." The old man wheeled, coughing up a bit of blood, "The tale ends where it all began..."

His words confused Ryteb, putting him in a state of fear. The threat of imminent death gave him a chill, like icicles running down his spine.

Coughing up a bit more blood, the old man gave a chuckle. "Relax, youngster, your time is not up just yet, though your life is in peril. The darkness you have been cultivating inside you had burst out, and you are in danger of becoming a Heartless. That's why your Ninetailed Flame brought you here."

"Ninetailed what now?" Ryteb asked, more confused than ever, "And where is here?"

The old man sighed, and gazed over at the idyllic village before him. "Of course, you haven't attained your true blade yet... this is the centre of my greatest failure, though I suppose it's proper name is the Dream World. Worlds consumed by darkness come here, as they sleep. Your keyblade brought you here so that you may expel your darkness, and turn it into a Dream Eater. This is your trial, for you to unlock your blade's real power."

Ryteb turned to the man and looked at him. "If that's the case, why are you here?" He asked.

"Pride, mostly..." the old man coughed, the blood staining the bottom of his face, "I thought that I could finally fix it... but when I saw you I knew the truth. You'll understand in time..." As he was saying this, he slumped down against the rock. A raspy breath showed he was still alive, but barely. Ryteb looked to the village again and ran into the woods behind him. He wasn't going to put himself through that again, test or no.