Sky stared at the being that took the form of himself. "You are not me," Sky spoke with conviction.
"Oh, but I am. I am everything you ever wanted to be. I am power. I am strength. I am invulnerable~." The being stepped closer to Sky, who stood his ground.
"No. You are not me. You are nothing but a coward hiding behind a facade. A fraud."
"I am not a fraud! I am everything you are not! I am what you should be!" The being was getting angrier now.
"No. You are nothing but a monster. A demon."
"You dare call me a demon?! I am your god!" The being was furious now, and it lunged at Sky.
Sky sidestepped the creature and punched it in the face. It staggered back and grinned, exposing its pointed, jagged teeth.
"I see now. You are nothing but a weakling, just like the rest of them." The being turned its back on Sky and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Sky called out.
"Oh, little Sky, I'm not going anywhere~." A whisper spoke over Sky's shoulder. He turned around, but there was nobody there. The only thing he could see was the creature, slowly fading away into the darkness.
"Did you know how time flows in the darkness, specifically the dimension, Darkness?" The black figure spoke again.
Sky remained silent, and the being continued regardless.
"In the dimension of darkness, time flows differently. For every moment that passes in the darkness, years pass in the overworld. Which means I've had a lot of time to prepare for our meeting." The creature chuckled softly.
"What are you talking about?" Sky called out again, but the creature only laughed.
"I've been watching you~, little Sky. Your little soul, trapped in the darkness, lifeless and disembodied. I have been watching... watching and waiting for this moment. I called out to you, I pulled you here, and now we are together~. You. Are. Mine." The creature laughed manically and then smiled widely. "And now, the moment has finally arrived."
The creature lunged at Sky again, but this time Sky was prepared. He dodged to the side, and... it was gone.
"Hello~ sunny." the creature hugged Sky from behind, one arm over Sky's chest and the other stroking his face.
"What the-"
Sky immediately retaliated, but the creature disappeared again. He looked around, but there was nothing. No sign of the creature anywhere.
'Where'd it go?'
"Oh, I'm still here, little boy~." The creature's voice echoed around him. "I'll always be with you~."
"Show yourself!" Sky demanded.
"If you insist~."
The creature appeared in front of him again, but this time it was different. It was... female. And she was nude.
"Do you remember~," the creature talked in a feminine voice and ran her hands over her body. "Do you remember this body~?" The creature's face morphed into a face that caused Sky's heart to throb.
"How about this face~? Do you not remember it~?" The creature purred as she ran her hands over her body.
"No," Sky spoke through gritted teeth. He tried his best to keep his composure, but it was difficult.
"You sure~?" The creature stepped closer and ran her hands over Sky's chest. "I can feel the pain~. The pain in your heart, little Sky~."
The creature vanished again, then reappeared, now as a young girl.
"Wanna play, Sky? We always used to play~. You were my bestest best friend in all the world! But... it was because of you. Because of you, I was cast out of society, but I can still play! I don't mind, Sky~, just play with me, hehe~."
The girl reached out to touch Sky's face, but he smacked her hand away.
"Don't touch me!" He growled.
"Play with my Sky! Play. With. Me~." The girl's voice started to get more and more manic.
"No!" Sky shouted, tears now dripping down his chin.
"I HATE YOU!" The girl screamed and then lunged at Sky.
Before Sky had time to react to the sudden outburst, the creature lunged toward him and disappeared again.
"Wow~," the creature whispered over his shoulder, "look how strong you are~." The monster ran its hands over Sky's chest again. "You've grown so much~."
The creature then started to kiss Sky's neck. Sky wanted to retaliate; he wanted to kill this beast in any way possible. But he was frozen. Frozen in place, fear taking hold of his heart and soul.
"What do you want from me...?" Sky asked, his voice shaking.
"Oh, nothing much~," the creature said innocently, "I just want to play~."
"Play...?" Sky repeated.
"Yes, play~." The creature ran its hands over Sky's body again. "With your heart~."
The creature smiled widely, thrusting his hand through Sky's chest, holding out the beating heart. Sky gasped before falling to his knees.
"Do you see this~, this small speck of black on your teeny tiny heart?" The creature asked before taking a bite out of it like an apple.
"This is the darkness within you~, the part of you that stays connected with the darkness~. And I'm going to consume it~." The creature licked its lips as it stared at Sky with hunger in its eyes.
He could feel the darkness within him, the part of him connected to the darkness calling for him, begging him to concede. He could feel himself being pulled into the darkness, the creature's voice becoming louder and louder in his head.
"Let go~." The creature said as its mouth opened wide, ready to consume Sky's heart.
"No!" Sky yelled as he fought against the darkness. He couldn't let himself be consumed by the darkness. He wouldn't let the creature win. With all his strength, he pulled himself away from the beast.
"You're a resilient little guy, aren't you~." The creature said as it watched Sky crawl away. "But you can't fight the darkness forever~."
Sky ignored the creature's words and continued pulling himself away from the creature. He had to get away; he had to find help. He couldn't let the creature consume him; he wouldn't allow it. Suddenly the creature knocked Sky over and stomped on his leg, snapping it in place. Sky screamed in agony as the creature grabbed his leg and pulled him back.
"Let's try this again~." The creature said as it held out his heart, taking another bite.
"No!" Sky screamed as he tried to fight against the creature. But it was too strong. He couldn't break free. Instead, he could feel himself being pulled into the darkness, the creature's voice becoming louder and louder in his head.
"Let go~." The creature said, preparing to take the last mouthful of Sky's heart.
"Ahem," a man's voice interveined, "am I interrupting something here?"
The creature looked up to see a man standing there, looking at the two of them with an amused expression. The man was tall and muscular with a light shade of purple skin and deep black eyes with red irises. He had long white hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing all black.
"Who are you?" The creature asked with narrowed eyes.
"That's not important." The man said.
The creature hissed at the man before turning its attention back to Sky. "As I was saying~," the creature said as it held out Sky's heart, "you're mine now~.". He took the remains of Sky's heart and swallowed it whole.
"NO!" Sky screamed as he felt his life being pulled from his body. He could feel himself being consumed by the darkness, the creature's voice becoming louder and louder in his head. Black ooze excreted from his eyes and mouth.
"Let go~." The creature said, laughing manically as the black ooze consumed Sky's body.
The man watched as the creature consumed Sky. He shook his head before turning to leave. "Pity," he said, "he seemed like a decent man.".
"And where do you think you're going~?" The creature asked as it turned to face the man.
"I have some sad news to deliver." The man said.
"What are you talking about~?" The creature asked with narrowed eyes.
"You see," the man said, "I come from Elsarro, and my miss was very interested in that man. She made a 'friend' if you can believe that."
"Elsarro?" The creature asked as a black aura engulfed its surroundings.
"Yes," the man said, "a small faction in the middle of nowhere. But that's not important right now."
"And what is important right now?" The creature asked as it stepped closer to the man.
"What's important," the man said, "is that you leave Sky alone. He's ours now."
The creature hissed at the man before turning its attention back to Sky. "It's too late-"
Before the creature could finish, the man thrust his hand through the creature's stomach. Sky could feel himself being pulled from the darkness as the man pulled his hand out of the creature's stomach, taking out Sky's heart. But to Sky's dismay, the heart didn't have just a speck of darkness anymore but was completely black.
"What have you done?" The creature asked as it collapsed to the ground and dispersed into a cloud of darkness.
"I've saved him." The man said, "More or less, that is." He looked down at the black heart in his hand before turning to Sky. "You're going to have to be more careful from now on, Sky." He said as he placed the heart back into Sky's chest.
"W-why?" Sky asked as he felt his body being repaired.
"A human with a heart of a demon from the Darkness dimension," the man said, "is a recipe for disaster."
"B-but," Sky stammered, "why did you save me?"
"I have my reasons." The man said as he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Sky called out, "At least tell me your name!"
The man paused and simply said, "Dominus. My miss, 'Lily', gives her regards." And with that, he vanished into the darkness.