As Helios and the figure ventured deeper into the ominous realm of darkness, the atmosphere grew heavier, and more suffog. The twisted trees of the dark forest loomed above them, their gnarled branches reag out like skeletal fingers. Shadows twisted and writhed, whisperis only the darkness could uand.

  Helios walked in silence for a while, his mind repying the battle he’d just fought. Finally, uo tain his frustration, he broke the quiet. “If that orb allows me to use the darkness safely, why didn’t you give it to me sooner?”

  The figure moved ahead of him, gliding effortlessly through the oppressive air. “The orb may allow you to access the darkness safely, but it also limits you. It acts like a crutch, preventing you from mastering the full extent of your dark power. If I’d given it to you at the start, you’d have grown depe on it and assumed you had trol when iy you wouldn’t. The moment you stopped using it, the darkness would have ed you. And then, I would have lost my possible vessel.”

  Helios mulled over the figure’s words, realizing the dahe orb posed if misused. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but it made sense. "So, this was all just a test? I’m now strong enough to use it?" he asked, trying to mask the bitterness in his voice.

  “No," the figure replied with its usual indifference. "I had no reason to give it to you before. Likewise, I have no reason to give it to you her. However, you wanted a sign of trust, so I gave it to you. But make no mistake—the orb is more detrimental than helpful. Its only real purpose is to allow me to track you wherever you are.”

  Helios’s eyes widened. “What? So it's just a trag device?” He stopped, gring at the figure. “Take it back!”

  The figure glided a little ahead, unmoved by Helios's anger. “No. I told you, I’ll take it bace we leave this realm. Until then, it stays with you. It’s true that we are always together, but separation in the Realm of Darkness happen easily. Should we get separated, you'll be thankful for the trag fun.”

  Helios’s frustration bubbled over. “You tricked me! I thought you didn’t lie. What happeo that?”

  The figure’s voice remained cold aached. “I didn’t lie. You insisted on a symbol of trust, and I obliged. The fact that it has other funs is irrelevant.”

  Helios ched his fists, feeling a surge of anger rise within him. “You maniputed me,” he retorted. "You kly what you were doing."

  The figure remained indifferent, not even b to face Helios. "I simply acted as I always do. The orb keeps us ected, and when the darkness iably tries to separate us, you'll see the be."

  Helios took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. There was no use arguing further. But before he could move on, a thought crossed his mind. "What’s your name?" he asked suddenly, hoping to catch the figure off-guard.

  “I don’t have ohe figure replied, not missing a beat. “I cast aside everything—name, form, heart—to bee what you see. I am darkness, nothing more.”

  Helios frowned. “That’s sad. You should have a name. If you want, I give you one.”

  The figure didn’t respond to his liding ahead with its usual apathy. Before Helios could push the subject, the figure’s voice cut through the silence. “Enough. They’re here. Prepare yourself.”

  Ahead of them, the ground trembled. The air grew thick with malice as a Darkside—an immense, humanoid Heartless—emerged from the shadows. It towered over Helios, its body massive and posed of swirling darkness. Its glowing yellow eyes gred down at him, and with a low, guttural growl, it began its assault.

  Helios’s heart raced, but anger and grief from his parent’s death filled him. He summoned his dark shield, the energy crag around him as the Darkside swung its massive cws, sending shockwaves of darkhrough the air. The force of the attack rattled Helios to his core, but he stood his ground, ready to fight.

  Dodging the Darkside’s massive strikes, Helios retaliated with Dark Firaga, ung searing orbs of dark fire at the Heartless. The fmes licked at the Darkside’s shadowy form, but it didn’t falter. Instead, it grew mgressive, its attacks more relentless.

  Helios could feel his energy waning, but he couldn’t afford to stop. With each move, he drew deeper into the well of darkness within him, his anger and grief fueling his attacks. He struck with renewed ferocity, shadows swirling around him as he unched bolt after bolt of dark fire.

  The figure watched from the sidelines, its expression unreadable. It observed Helios’s growing strength with mild curiosity but also a hint of caution. The darkness was responding to him more powerfully than before, but there was a dangerous edge to it—a lihat Helios might cross without realizing.

  Just as the battle reached a fever pitch, the figure decided to interve melded with the shadows, being oh the dark forest, and struck the Darkside with a single, devastating blow. The Heartless colpsed, its massive form disiing into nothingness.

  Before Helios could prehend what had happehe figure on him, knog him off his feet with a swift motion. Darkness swirled around him, and for a brief moment, everythi bck.

  When Helios awoke, the battle was over. His head throbbed, aruggled to make sense of what had happened. He gnced up and saw the figure h over him, its gaze cold and calg.

  "Why did you stop me?" Helios demanded, anger fring in his voice. “I had it under trol!”

  The figure’s voice was as emotionless as ever. “You were losing trol. Your darkness was growing too potent, and it was attrag more Heartless. If I hadn’t intervened, you would have been overwhelmed.”

  Helios ched his fists, frustration bubblih his skin. “I didn’t know—” He stopped himself, realizing the truth of the figure’s words. The darkness he’d been wielding had felt different, more intense. He hadn’t noticed how much it was ing him.

  "The more you draw on the darkness, the more you ihers to feed on it," the figure tinued. "You ot afford to be careless."

  Helios took a deep breath, his anger giving way to a sense of uanding. “I get it,” he admitted relutly. “I didn’t realize how dangerous it was. I o be more careful.”

  The figure’s cold eyes flickered. “Good. Learn from this. ime, I won’t save you. If you tio be a liability, you’ll no longer be worth keeping alive.”

  Helios shot the figure a gre but said nothing. He uood the warning, but he wasn’t about to let it break him. He would prove that he could trol the darkness—and he would survive, no matter the cost.

  The two tiheir jourhe dark forest closing in around them once more. As they walked, Helios couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watg them—something more dangerous than the Heartless they had faced.