This was a really good chapter to read. So glad to finally see another chapter of one of my favorite stories to read. I’m so glad that I came here as soon as I could cause this chapter was a good way to get back into the story solidly. I’m very glad we were able to see things from two POVs through the chapter as well. The journey with Sora and Riku and Kairi in here is was a good way to show the severity of the situation. Poor Sora though. He seems to always end up sleeping somehow. I was surprised with how calm Riku was able to remain in the face of it all, but it is very characteristic of him though for being the strong one. I do hope they are gonna be able to figure out something though.

And then the parts with Naminé were very good. I liked how she felt bad about what happened despite not being able to actually feel. Showing her and Vanitas being close again is a welcome plot point as well, as I do like the dynamic you’ve set up for them. Seeing her thoughts in depth helps to add to the feels that we are seeing about her situation, but also of the others’ as well. But hmm poor Roxas though. Seems that even outside of canon, he is still a zombie as a “Nobody”. I’m actually surprised that Ventus was able to stay as calm as he was with his son being comatose for the most part. But then again, they can’t feel so I guess that makes sense.

There’s a lot of stuff going on with both sides trying to figure out a way past the curse at least. I hope Roxas is able to wake up and remember what he needs to though. Cause with what he’s found out, it is gonna be key in solving the mastery I think. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

’m going to stop here for my thoughts.
When Roxas is first told about the Mansion “taking people” he doesn’t believe it.
I can understand the idea of him being a skeptic, but why isn’t is next thought along the lines of some crazy head being behind it all?
To elaborate, why isn’t his next thought like: What if someone is killing people in there? Or something deadly in the air? Maybe evil cults regularly sacrifice visitors?
Him making a counter argument to “evil magic” would have make a bit more sense. Even if he couldn’t explain away the 200 years worth of disappearances, trying to justify a different explanation would make more sense for his skeptical attitude.

Also, Roxas’s reaction to his brother basically being torn in two isn’t very detailed. Describing the process of heart ripping was fine. But most people have a problem with staying still and quiet when their loved ones are being hurt.

Vanitas’s case can be excused because of the *Error- heart not found* problem.

But I’m surprised that Roxas doesn’t almost scream in shock, only to quickly cover his mouth before it gets loud or something. Or him taking a step forward and Naminè having to silently remind him of the situation.
Or even after it’s done. After a bit of him going rather mute, he just... takes off right after being tossed outside. You know, right after he saw his big bro being broken.
Wouldn’t there be SOME shock? A moment of, “My brother is now stuck in that place. He was right, the mansion does take people.”
Idk, I felt like there should be a more horrified response from Roxas. Ventus was tortured right in front of him.

Ooh they’re really gonna do it. I’m sitting here thinking “you’re all gonna die!” but I hope none of them are lost!

I'm really impressed. This is GOOD. I love the interaction between Ventus and his mom. I legit feel sad that Vanitas is gone. I love the dynamic you have between Ventus and Roxas - I can totally believe they're brothers here. I love Ventus' trauma and how he reacts to Roxas mentioning taking his friends out to the mansion. And I actually am both excited to see what's in the mansion and afraid for Roxas at the same time. Awesome writing!

What I love most about this opening is that it gets right to the action. This story wastes no time engaging the reader by giving them the good stuff right off the bat. I love that. I love the suspense. I love that I’m already hooked with just one chapter. This is awesome.

So glad to see another chapter for this story so soon though. It was such a good and long read too! Just when I thought that there was so much information and storytelling in the last chapter, then you go and put out this chapter. Which has just as much if not more happening in it. It was exciting to see the journey of Roxas here and focusing more on it of course, and we can see him being built up as a main character in this even more now.

So I thought for one that it was nice to see Roxas being vulnerable in the chapter. You being able to show the struggles taht he is going though, especially after having lost his father to the mansion is real here. And it shows that he has been holding back his feelings and all for a while. It brings a lot of levity to the situation. But it also shows the strength in friends as well as the others are there for him to try to comfort him and make it better. With some angst, there is always some fluff that comes and I liked that you combined it all like that. It was a realistic situation that showed how they all were handling it all.
Also you did nicely with the part about Namine and Roxas meeting. I was totally not expecting to see something like that, especially in a dream state. But it shows just how much power that Namine can really have though and it was a good thing to show. Also the idea of her being able to pretend that she has emotions in a dream is quite nice as well, and we are able to see how she really feels about the situation too.

Now a good show of her power was what happened in the later parts of the story there. Being able to basically remote control someone is quite powerful magic for sure. You were able to write it in such a way where the spell could not be broken either. Poor Roxas though. His friends tried their best to help what they could, but he still ended up being taken away. I was afraid something like that might happen, but I was hoping that they would find a way to get out of it. But it was not to be. I am wondering now what is gonna happen to Roxas. I mean, part of me feels that on the inside he might be able to find out even more on Ansem but I'm not really sure. I know that if you have an encounter with Ven, that would be very angsty. The end of the chapter was already quite angsty by itself but then there was more thoughts added in for it. This is just a rollercoaster of a story and I am so ready to see what happens next. This was great!

Argh... Let Sora, Riku and Kairi save Roxas please

Yes it's back! And it's sooo good. This chapter was a good welcome back party and one that blew the story away. You were able to develop the story so well and able to bring life to all of the characters that were focused on in this chapter. I really enjoyed that the focus was able to go back to Roxas and the others since we knew from before they were trying to figure out how to stage a rescue and all. I thought that all of the first half focusing on them was the best part of the whole chapter because we as the readers were able to see so much info being revealed and talked about. I was amazed to see the information about Ansem that you were able to bring forth, and was shocked to see that Xemnas would be a part of the story too, at least in mention. Also was glad to see that you were able to make Pence matter quite a bit in the story and he was able to shine this chapter with his tech support. That was good to see, but what I was truly surprised about is the history of the monster that Ansem was, and how you were able to talk about it. I thought that your explanation of it really left some good questions in my mind and made me wonder what could truly be happening at the mansion now. There are so many theories swirling in my head about what could be going on and I am ready to see if I am right.

Now also, the second part brought some very interesting revelations too. I see that you were able to follow up on something that happened many chapters ago. I think we all remember when Namine helped Roxas to escape from the mansion when Ven was getting cursed. I had always felt that Ansem would either find out or that he already knew, based on what happened then. And it seems as though you did not disappoint with the reveal of those events and the knowledge of it. But you have made it so very angsty too. Even with Namine being unable to feel, you really made Ansem seem so dark and terrifying that even someone without emotions was knowing they should fear and even trembling at his presence. That is some good compelling storytelling there, and makes Ansem the monster seem like such a devil. (Even if he wasn't always like that apparently). But the choice that you gave to Namine is just sooo unfair and angsty and I have no idea how to feel about it. I mean, I'm just in awe of how much suspense it is putting into me.

This chapter was good and long and really covered so much information that I had been wondering for a while. We were able to get some good answers and reveals, but then were introduced to even more questions later. Like I said before, I am gonna be theorizing on what could happen as I am very curious now to see where you are taking the story next. The story has so much potential to just keep going and evolving and I can't wait to see what you do with it. This was a FANTASTIC chapter! And it reminded me why this is my favorite story of all to follow. I am waiting for the next one!

Oh boy... It back! Oh i can't wait see next chapter! If Roxas brough Kairi with him, Imaging Ansem get burn from Kairi light.

I love VanVen so much. You haven't update this stories so long. I want see Vanitas reaction to meet his younger Brother Sora and Roxas find a way to save them and break curse

I really enjoyed the first chapter! I only read that chapter so far but I enjoyed the read! Keep up the good work!

Yay we got another chapter for this awesome story! And it was a much longer one so I really do like that for sure. There was so many good things that happened in this chapter as well to try and resolve things and set things up. The storytelling for Vanitas in this finale of the flashback arc was very well done and brought everything to a good conclusion for the past. There is a lot to say though.

So, it was good to see it continued on from where we left off before, with Vanitas trying to watch over Namine after first meeting her. The interactions between the two of them in the early goings of the chapter really was able to start their relationship growing, as we saw Vanitas try to not have to fully explain things to her because she was so young. It was similar to what we saw him experience when he first arrived there, and how Lea was trying to help him. So it is nice to see that he is passing that on to Namine. Even though he knows that they don't feel anything, he still tries to protect her. His attempts to do that do not go unnoticed as later when they meet up with Lea and Isa, we see Isa attempt to tell her about how things are. But I like that you had Lea to stop him and Isa be more understanding, as they had both realized that they had messed up a bit with Vani. It was also cool to see Namine wonder and ask so many questions, just as a kid normally would about things, and Vani trying his best to answer without freaking her out too much.

The next part was equally interesting when you had Ansem to appear once again. I didn't actually expect him, but it's not surprising that he did show up since he does what to try to use Namine apparently. Your explanation on why he wanted her was vague and detailed at the same time, so it worked out well to know what he wanted to do without telling what he actually wanted. A sort of show not tell idea there. To see Vani still stand up to Ansem despite everything still was interesting as he was still trying to protect Namine, not because Ansem told him to watch over her, but because he wanted to. But the reveal of what Ansem could do with his powers though was surprising and it really brought to light some things that could have happened but did not yet, which makes me question his motives even more (Ansem's that is). Either way, we do get to hear about how Vani and Namine started to bond more and how her powers were going to increase.
Then later on in another time skip, I liked that Namine decided to just go full curious on Vani and try to find out about why they were all there at the mansion. It makes sense that she would ask of course. Good job on having Vani to semi-explain but not go into detail so that she would not be too scared of everything. Even though, she can't be scared as she stated, as she realized that she cannot feel. But good for Vani to try to comfort her in that though.

But then we see the flashback end and all and get back to the present at hand with Ven trapped and all too, and the way you summarized that nothing else really happened over all that time until Ven came along. It was nice that you had things to be slightly awkward between Ven and Van though there at first because of them being apart for so long, and Ven still feeling sorry. Though it was interesting to see that Vani was kinda happy at being trapped there cause of the things that he experienced, but also sad about it at the same time. I wonder though if we will get to see that Van her about Ven's life later. But the ending there was very fluffy indeed where Ven just of course embraces his brother, and then it was very well done at the last line when Vanitas returns it. This chapter really brought things to a good full circle for the point the story is at currently, and now that we are back in the present day, we can finally see things get rolling now. I can't wait to see what you do next in the story so I will be waiting until the next chapter. Great job!

Ahhhh! Poor little Naminé! Honestly I was wondering if she was gonna show up but now I'm sad that she did because of what Ansem did to her! Poor little girl! That's cool that she has the power of white magic! I wonder what Ansem wasn't with her. And I hope Vani becames the best big brother for her ever!
This was a really good chapter! Can't wait for the next one! Keep up the amazing work!

Glad to see another update to this amazing story. This is still my favorite one so far. I’m just gonna say first that there was SO much that happened in this chapter. This was such a big chapter for characterization, and story development, and some good information. There was a lot of detail that you put into the scenes that were happening that conveyed the emotions of the characters well, even though that’s pretty ironic. But also, those details also set the scene for describing what was exactly going on in the head of some people and in actuality, so that was another nice thing to see Many things were said about the way that things work there in the mansion and how the characters can react or not react to certain events. I will go into some detail but nothing too big.

But of course, one of the big highlights was Vani and the way that he has been developing and I am enjoying seeing this AU version of him. The way that the chapter opens up was very nice and I loved the descriptions of the surroundings and the way that Vanitas was taking in everything. Even the minor details like the POV shifting from outside to him really showed what’s on his mind and how complex things are. And to learn that so much time has passed was a bit surprising but a welcome surprise though. And it seems that he still has thoughts about his friend too so I’m liking that is not being forgotten by him. But it was also another nice thing to see his inner thoughts and how he views being trapped there now, and to see his attitude having been completely changed from before was something I almost expected, but seeing it happen was still a good moment. Through the chapter, we really see different stages of his character as well, especially when the big scene in this chapter happens (I won’t say it specifically). We see that he is still trying to retain some care and all, and his thoughts are somewhat conflicted as well. It’s interesting to be able to see all of his actions without emotions too. Vanitas has turned into a complex character even more towards the end, and to see his journey through this chapter was rewarding. So I am ready to see what he does next.

Also, to go into some other points, we get to meet someone else, and the way that it all happens is just SO angsty. And the feels are definitely there for this chapter as well. It was quite an emotional ride to be able to read those events transpiring and I feel that it makes this chapter a must read no matter what. It really helps to set up more story for later on, and helps to develop some characters as well. (Of course you know what scene I mean. Hehe)

Also the way that that most of the characters there are just kinda obedient to certain things is kinda showing how much the curse just has them there. Since they can’t feel, there’s no fear, but there’s the fact of knowing what to do and not to do. There’s a conflict in this chapter as well that is really well done and well written and you set up the stage to do it nicely. And if maybe gives me a hint that something maybe comes later too. I hope so at least.

Oh I could keep rambling on and on about how much I really loved this chapter, but I don’t want to spoil any of the major things though. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading it and that all the details that you added in and the way you wrote the story for this chapter was perfect imo. I am loving this story every minute and I can’t wait to read more! Great job on this!

Oh nice ;3 I'll be waitting the next chapter. I can't wait seeing Roxas, Sora, Riku and Kairi grown up