Rebel Without a Flame

[Haku]

Great story so far and once again I'm late to reading it, but I look forward into reading the next chapter.

[Lectori Salutem]

That was really funny!
I really enjoyed it, write more!

[Staulmaster]

You all really like it??? Well, thank you. XD

I just have a question to ask you, what do you think of the fight scenes particularly? Are they too detailed, not detailed enough, too long, too short. I'd like to know what you think so I can polish up my fight scenes in the later chapters, I want them to be my best yet.

[Lectori Salutem]

I like the not fighting parts better.
I don't really like too long fighting scenes, so I skiped a some sentences a few times. Not that they are bad, but a little long for me sometimes...

[Staulmaster]

You think so? Alright then, I'll take that into consideration for my next fight scenes, thanks Lectori. =)

[Lectori Salutem]

Actually the only time I did that was with the fight in Marluxia's garden. The rest was good.

[iloveyou502]

I liked the battle scene with Axel and Larxene the best. By the way, what does Lectori Salutem mean? Crap Im spamming.

[Staulmaster]

All right everyone, a new chapter is up! Tell me if you notice any spelling mistakes or plot holes or if you just don't like certain parts. Also, a treat for you people who prefer the non-fighting scenes, there aren't any in this one! HA!

Anywho, without further ado, his Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Parallel Flames

Soon after Axel and Larxene had entered the dark portals into castle oblivion, Xemnas scheduled yet another meeting with the 5 members remaining. They were all to meet at the top tower of castle oblivion, where Xemnas was waiting for them.

As they walked up the stairs, Saïx in front, and everyone else in back of him, they conversed.

“I hope this meeting won’t take very long,” Demyx said. “I have a very short attention span. Plus, I really have to pee.”

“Must you always speak so obscenely whilst we converse?” Luxord said to him.

“I’m only saying what’s on my mind.”

“Sometimes, it is best not too. Not everyone wants to hear about your daily urinations.”

“Quit acting like such a sophisticated Englishman, Luxord. Everyone knows you’re faking the accent anyway....”

“Faking? I’ll have you know, I was raised with this accent, and at least it gives me some credibility.”

“Right....and what next? You’ll actually enjoy drinking tea, instead of just pretending?”

“I enjoy tea very much, thank you!”

“Will you two shut your traps!” Xaldin said to them, from behind. “It’s bad enough we had to drag you along, could at leas show us you have some sense of decency.”

“Now, now, Xaldin.” Saïx said, as he grinned, in his trademark monotonous voice. We mustn't blame those two, it’s not their fault their minds are equal to that of a prepubescent numskull.”

“Hey! I resent that!” Demyx replied.

“Imagine how I must feel, then.” Luxord told him.

“Will you quiet down and stop complaining, Demyx!” Xaldin said.

“Says you, you withered old bat.” Demyx muttered.

“What was that?” He asked, as he turned around

“Nothing.”

Xaldin sneered at him, then continued walking.

Finally, after a long walk up the stairs, and all the way up to Xemnas’ tower, Saïx, Xaldin, Demyx and Luxord finally made it there.

They all stood at one end of the tower, facing Xemnas’s back, while he himself was at the other end, staring at the ever-growing, circular moon.

“Pardon my French but, where’s Xigbar?” Luxord asked.

“Who cares?” Answered Demyx. “The less people we have here, the better? I really have to pee anywa--”

Xaldin nudged him in the stomach with his elbow.

“Be quiet!” He whispered.

“Hmph...” Demyx uttered.

“What was that?”

“Hmph, I said ‘Hmph’.”

“Xigbar is supposed to arrive soon enough,” Saïx said, monotonously. I’ll see to it, that he does,”

“Well, at least I won’t be the only young person here.”

“You’re not one to talk.” He replied., with his back turned to Demyx.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Saïx then looked up at the moon.

“Hmmm, it seems we’re in quite a predicament here.” Saïx said, ignoring Demyx’s question. “Kingdom Hearts has yet to come to fruition. It’ll take eternity for us to collect enough hearts.”

“Eternity? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Saïx, but it we’re in an in-between world of everlasting night time. I doubt the concept of eternity even exists here.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep quiet!” Xaldin told him yet again.

Demyx rolled his eyes, as Luxord tried keeping his laughter in.

“All laughing aside,” Demyx said, as he scowled at Luxord does anyone know exactly why Xemnas wants us here?”

“Since you insist on making me repeat myself,” Saïx said to him, without turning around. “that is what he has called us here for.” He said, as he pointed to the moon.

“...And he must have some kind of announcement to make about the departure of the other five.” Xaldin finished.

“They left?!” Demyx asked, flabbergasted.

Demyx then immediately felt a bonk on his head. He turned around and saw Luxord, whistling casually.

“Ooooow! Why you...” He said, as he advanced towards him.

The 4 of them then felt a powerful force hit them. Everyone except Saïx lost balance and almost fell to the ground. When they looked in front of them, they saw Xemnas with his hand open towards them.

“I assume that’ll be the last time any of you will act up.” He said, calmly.

Everyone looked up at him in awe as they all lay on the floor.

“Now, onto the meeting.”

Saïx advanced towards him and the others reluctantly got back up and followed. Eventually, they all lined up one next to the other in front of Xemnas, and he started:

“Departure is a strange event. It marks the absence of a person, or a group of people, onto a new adventure of sorts. Sometimes, departure is for the best, while at other times, it is not.
As all of you know, 7 of our members have departed from us. One of them was for reasons unknown, while the other 6 have departed for the better, I can assure you that. Nevertheless, I feel it is my duty to, how shall I put this......do my best to make you all feel as if no one has left at all. For you see, I can tell that you all feel some kind of sorrow for our members.”

“Why even bother wasting your time, Xemnas?” Demyx said to him. “No one here feels anywhere near that kind of emotion. You know how we are.”

Xaldin nudged him in the stomach with his elbow and Demyx cried out softly in pain.

“I thought I told you to keep quiet!” The Whirlwind lancer repeated.

Xemnas chuckled and continued:

“Despite what you might think, we all feel an emotion of sorts, it may not be as strong as other, fully-complete people, but it’s still there nonetheless. You see, although we don’t have a heart, we still have a soul, and with that soul we can feel the faintest of feelings. I’ll have you all know that if we manage to capture the essence of our soul, we will have no need of Kingdom Hearts at all.”

The 6 of them stood in shock, at the thought of Xemnas’ statement. Speechless, they were confused as to what he was trying to tell them.

“Are you trying to tell us that we amassed all of those hearts in vain?” Xaldin asked.

“Please Xaldin, try to bear with me. This goes for all of you too: Kingdom Hearts will be used only as a last resort. As you can see (He said, as he pointed to the moon) the portal is far from completion. The moon has yet to acquire its heart-shaped structure.”

“What do you mean by portal?” Luxord asked.

“I suppose it’s not a ‘portal’ of sorts, but it certainly isn’t the real Kingdom Hearts. It has been created artificially for our benefit. However, I fear that it may take a very long time before it is anywhere near completion. So in the meanwhile, I’ve had Vexen look into his research. You see, if Vexen learns the true meaning of the soul, and can use his knowledge for our benefit, then we will have no need for Kingdom Hearts.”

“I sincerely doubt that Vexen alone can uncover the secrets of the soul by himself, let alone with all of us.” Saïx said monotonously.

“Don’t contradict Xemnas, he knows what he’s doing!” Xaldin said to him.

“However,” Xemnas continued, ignoring Xaldin. “should Vexen fail, then the artificial Kingdom Hearts will have to suffice. Which is why I’ve sent the other 5 members to the castle, to capture Sora.”

“Are you certain that they’d be capable of such a feat?” Said Luxord.

“I am quite certain, if not sure, that they’ll succeed.” Xemnas responded, as he smirked.

“Than why’d you send Axel?” Demyx asked sarcastically, before snorting.

Xaldin knudged him in the stomach with his elbow again.

“Will you cut that out!”

“The fact of the matter is...” Xemnas continued after another interruption. “...that the absence of those six members will lead to a massive, colossal---”

“PAAAAARRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!” Said a familiar voice from afar.

3 of the four members there turned around immediately as soon as they heard the deafening yell. To their awe and annoyance, they saw Xigbar, standing in front of the stairs.

“Sorry I’m late,” He said, looking anything but sorry. “I figured I could miss part of this meeting since I had better things to do.”

“I sincerely doubt that!” Xaldin said to him. “Do not worry, Xemnas” He said, as he turned his head towards him. “I’ll make short work of this renegade.”

He immediately snapped his fingers and suddenly, several Dragoon nobodies surrounded Xigbar. The Freeshooter looked around at the enemies and smirked.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

It was now his turn, as he snapped his fingers he summoned several Sniper nobodies to surround Saldin‘s Dragoons. They swam through the air as hey loaded their ‘guns’, and then stood in their sniping position. They looked as if they were clinging to an invisible wall.

“Do your worst, if you can do anything at all.” Xigbar said, hoping to provoke Xaldin.

Xaldin sneered at him as he placed his fingers, ready to snap them at any moment. Xigbar kept starring at him, smirking. Xaldin looked closely at him and waited to snap his fingers, while everyone else stared in awe. As soon as his fingers slipped in the slightest, he was put off by another snapping sound.
Suddenly, a barrage of pinkish cubes attacked all of the nobodies surrounding Xigbar. Every single one of them. The cubes were either hitting them one cube at a time, or they formed a giant stick to whack them with, or they surrounded them and squeezed them. Whichever technique they used, it was efficient enough to destroy every single nobody surrounding the confused Xigbar, who had trouble figuring out what was going on.
Once the cubes had finished, they amassed themselves above Xigbar, around a single sorcerer nobody, floating in the air, above Xigbar, in a calm and dignified position, with its robe waving in the cold, night air.

Everyone, save Saïx, turned around to Xemnas, knowing he was the one who summoned it. He stood there, emotionless, with his fingers in a snapping position.

“Xigbar,” He started, in a deep voice. “meet me in my room, I shall fill you in on what’s to come. As for the rest of you, I’ll leave you with this: 5 of our members our gone, as such I’ll expect you all to do your best without them. I’ve told you about our current options and I trust you will do what you can to aid either way. That is all. I see now that there’s nothing I need to do for you to feel more comfortable.”

As soon as he finished he snapped his fingers to call back the Sorcerer nobody. Soon after, he disappeared into a dark portal. Xigbar did the same.

The 4 remaining members stood around for awhile, trying to figure out what they should do next.

“Well, I should get going,” Luxord said, breaking the silence. “that tea isn’t going to drink itself.” He said, as he disappeared into a portal.

“I should really get to work on those new combat solos.” Demyx followed, as he too disappeared through a dark gate.

“I’d better get going too,” Said Xaldin. “I those corridors desperately need patrolling, plus I seemed to have misplaced one of my spears.” He said, to the remaining Saïx, before disappearing also.

As soon as Xaldin left, Saïx stood alone on the top of the tower, silently.

“Imbeciles.” He muttered to himself.

He stayed at the top of the tower for a while longer, while staring at the moon. He felt an incredible surge of power as he set his gaze upon it, a power he felt difficult to control.

“Kingdom Hearts........I assure you, our efforts will not be in vain. We shall soon rise again as complete and as emotional as anyone can be. However, if it was never meant to be....then I assure you, this moon can be used for purposes other than storing hearts.”

He finally stopped looking at the moon and turned his head away from it. Soon after, he materialized a dark portal like the others had done and walked through it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demyx was in his room, practicing playing his star. As he plucked each string, the sound waves of each note produced a series of water works in his room. Each song he played produced different variations of water movement. The water would twist and turn, it would contort into all different kinds of shapes and sizes, and at the very end of his song, the water would gather into one place and form a giant replica of Demyx. When he finally finished the song, the water statue burst into thousands of tiny water particles that evaporated as soon as they touched the floor. Satisfied, he dematerialized his sitar and walked out of his room and into the proof of existence chamber.

“Well, I’ve mastered the last of my water techniques for the moment.” He said to himself. “I wonder who I should impress first...”

He looked at Xigbar’s pedestal, and saw that his door was open. A smile grew on his face.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A dark portal materialized outside of the entrance of the Castle That Never Was. Axel came out of it.

“I hope Marluxia isn’t set on me coming to another one of his meetings,” He said to himself. “but if worse comes to worse, I doubt anyone would miss me anyway.”

He looked at the giant castle floating in the sky, a feeling of darkness suddenly came over him.

“......Wh-What is this I’m feeling? No......No, it’s nothing. Okay, let’s get our facts straight, Xemnas said that he had Roxas searching for Sora elsewhere. Now......where could that be.” He said, as he pondered. “Hmmm, Luxord was the one who slithered off with him, I might be able to weasel a thing or two out of him. Wait a minute, what am I saying? Of course I’ll be able to weasel a thing or two out of him. But I’ll have to be discrete, now’s the time to use the professional stealth techniques I learned from myself.”

He advanced carefully toward the light green pathway that led to the castle entrance. He sneaked slyly toward it, turning constantly in all directions to see if anyone was following him. Suddenly, he tripped and fell on the pathway itself. As he was getting back up, he muttered:

“This might be slightly harder than expected.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demyx crept carefully inside Xigbar’s room, planning to surprise him. Xigbar’s room was pretty much like the others’, only it had no furniture and no windows. While Demyx was on the floor, all he could see was Xigbar spinning and jumping around, practicing his shooting techniques.

“All right, " He said, in his mind. “while he’s busy jumping around and shooting, all jump up and surprise him by asking him if he wants to hear my guitar solo."

He carefully waited for the right moment, and eventually, he jumped up and said:

“Hey Xigbar! You wanna hear my---EEEEEEK!!!”

He ducked as a pink bullet barely touched his head and ricochet off the wall behind him. He then jumped as another bullet hit the floor under his feet, and ricochet onto the ceiling. Soon, the bullets were everywhere, and Demyx jumped and ducked all he could before leaving as fast as he could.

Demyx soon found himself back in the proof of existence chamber, panting nervously, and holding his knees.

“(Pant) I’m lucky to be alive.(Gasp)”

After recuperating from that traumatic experience, he turned his head toward Saïx’s pedestal, and yet another smile grew on his face.

--------------------------------

Yet again, he found himself on the ground, creeping into Saïx’s room, waiting to surprise him.

“All right, this time I’ll get it right." He said to himself. “I’ll sneak up on him, surprise him, and show him my guitar solo. It’ll be easier this time, no pink bullets around to make me scream like a girl. Plus, Saïx is always in the moon, he’ll be easier to surprise. (Snorts) ‘In the moon’, I should write that down. W-Wait, this is about me surprising Saïx. So what am I waiting for? Nothing. So then let’s go already. Alright then, let’s do this. I’m ready. I have to pee. Wait a min--"

“Enjoying yourself?” Said Saïx monotonously, while staring down at Demyx.

Demyx looked up at him and stared.

“Uh....“ He started. “I was just......well, you see......your floor was....um......I-I’ll go now.” He said, as he got up and left, with his head hunched down.

Back in the proof of existence chamber, Demyx walked around and saw that the only pedestals remaining were Luxord’s and Xaldin’s.

“Well, he’s the lesser of two evils.” He said to himself, after sighing. “But which one, exactly?”

--------------------------
Xaldin was sitting on a chair and reading a book on his desk, his back turned to Demyx. His room was the cleanest of all the members, even his spears were aligned in an orderly fashion on the wall. (Except the one he couldn’t find)

“Hey Xaldin! You wanna hear my new guitar solo!” Demyx cried out, as he popped inside Xaldin’s doorway, with his sitar in his hands.

Without moving, let alone even acknowledging Demyx, Xaldin blew the door shut using his wind powers.

“A simple ‘No thank you’ would have sufficed, you know!” Demyx cried out, through the closed door.

Suddenly, he felt a strong gust of wind hit him directly in the face. The force of the wind blew him right out of the pedestal and into the proof of existence chamber, in which he fell on his posterior.

“Now, how did he do that?” He said, as he rubbed his head. “Hmph! Well, no matter, I don’t need him to listen to my solos.”

As he got back up, Demyx muttered to himself:

“Some job he’s doing, patrolling the corridors.”

Once he got up, he stared at Luxord’s pedestal and sighed, figuring he had no other choice.

As Demyx entered the pedestal, Axel peeked from behind Zexion’s pedestal. Once he saw Demyx enter Havoc’s Divide, he carefully tiptoed toward it and waited behind the pedestal for Demyx to come out.

-----------------------------------

Luxord had set up a nice little table in his room. At the moment, he was using it for his tea drinking. He took a small cup and brought toward his mouth before hesitating, once he sipped a little bit of it, he cringed.

“Goodness, this is dreadful!” He said, as he grimaced. Why can’t I at least find this moderately delicious? (Sigh) I mustn't let anyone find out about this.” He said, as he sipped a little bit more and cringed, yet again.

“Hey Luxord!” Demyx said, popping in for the fourth time.

Luxord spit out his tea upon hearing Demyx’s voice. He tried to conceal the tea but he stumbled and spilled it on his table. Upon turning around, he tipped over his table and it fell. His floor lay in a mess of porcelain and tea.

“(Clears throat) Yes? What is it? What? What is it that you want exactly? Why are you here?” He said, as he fumbled, trying to hide his mess.

“(Pause) You wanna hear my combat solo?”

“Haven’t I told you that this tea wouldn’t drink itself? I do have a life, you know!”

“I don’t think that spending time shoving bad tea down your throat can be considered as having a life.”

“What would you know about having a life anyway? The last time I peeked into you’re room, I saw you dancing with a water clone!”

“What I do in my spare time is nobody’s business!”

“Well, it certainly seems you’d want to make it my business! Since you’re so intent on showing me how well you can skip with a damp floozy!”

“That doesn’t sound like the vocabulary of an Englishman at all!”

“It’s more than what you know! Get out! Now!”

“That’s it! I don’t need any of this, I’m going!” He said, as he stormed out the door.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Axel was waiting behind Luxord’s pedestal, he heard footsteps from the inside. Quickly he went to the side and waited. He saw Demyx storm out of the portal, muttering to himself, without noticing Axel. Soon, he left the proof of existence chamber entirely. Axel took the chance to enter Luxord’s portal. Upon entering, he stood in front of his closed door, listening to Luxord’s footsteps. He was pacing.

------------------------------

Upon hearing footsteps outside his door, Luxord stopped pacing and walked towards it. He set his ear on the door and listened....Silence.

Suddenly, the door swung open and hit him in the face, making him fall down on his posterior. Upon looking up, he saw Axel.

“What are you doing here, you redheaded scoundrel?” He asked, surprised to see him there.

“Oh, cut the innocent act already,” Axel replied. “are you actually that surprised to see me here?”

“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be.” He said, as he got up. “What brings you here anyway? Like I care.”

“You know what I want, Luxy, don’t you?”

“No, I really don’t, and I could care less. Now, if you’ll please leave....I do believe that disobeying Xemnas’s orders is a punishable offence.”

“Oh, you’re really one to talk, going around and kidnapping other organisation members. You’d stoop to the lowest level to appease Xemnas, wouldn’t you?”

“Axel, if you had even the smallest speck of intelligence, you’d have figured out by now what was going on. If you can’t keep up with today’s news, that is your problem, my lad.”

As soon as Luxord had said this, Axel grabbed him by the collar and brought him inches away from his face.

“Listen to me, you obsessive, compulsive gambler! I could care even less what kind of lame alibi you have in stock for me! I have questions! Questions that I want answered, now!!!”

“Like?” Luxord asked, as Axel still grabbed his collar tightly.

“WHERE’S ROXAS?!!?”

Axel and Luxord stared at each other for a moment, and they both seemed puzzled.

“Goodness, you need a mint.” He said, before Axel pushed him away.

Luxord cleaned off the dust on his robe and crossed his arms. Axel stood across him, his fists clenched.

“(Pause) All right, I’ll make you a deal.” Luxord said, as he materialized a pair of dice in his hands. “I’ll roll the dice, and if I get the higher number, I get to tell Xemnas that you snuck out of Castle Oblivion to get here, and I tell you nothing. However, if you get the higher number, I’ll tell you where I took Roxas. and I won’t tell Xemnas about this.”

“No deal.” Responded Axel. “Do you really think that I’ll gamble with you? ‘The Gambler of Fate’? I mean, your power itself consists of gambling. It’s like if I asked you to participate in a candle-lighting contest with me.”

“Well, it seems to me, that you think Roxas isn’t good enough to bet on.”

“....Do you realize the absurdity in what you just said?”

“...Look, I gave you your options. Now, it’s up to you to decide. Decide, darn it!”

“(Groans) All right, but we’ll use my dice! Just so you don’t pull any of you’re weird tricks. I just have one, but it should be plenty.”

“Die.” Luxord said with a smirk on his face.

“What?” Axel asked, feeling provoked.

“The singular of dice, is die.” He said, as he dematerialized his dice. “You can’t say: ‘one dice’.”

“Oh......w-well, I thought you meant--N-Never mind.”

Axel then proceeded to look for a pair of dice on his coat, feeling everywhere for them. As he searched for them, a grin grew on his face. He had a plan that would knock Luxord’s socks off.

“Found them!” He said, as he took a pair of dice out of his coat. “All right, you start.” He said, as he handed him the die.

Luxord grabbed it and shook his fist. He threw it on the floor, and the two looked down to see.

“Four. Now, it’s your turn.” He said, as he picked up the die and handed it to Axel.

Axel took the die and started shaking his fist.

“Alright! This is it!” He said. “I’m gonna give it my all!”

“I hardly think you can effect the outcome of a game of pure chance.” He said, as he crossed his arms.

Axel continued shaking, while Luxord stood in front of him, with his arms crossed. Axel felt a little nervous, not knowing if his plan would work.

“It’s now or never! Moment of truth! This will decide who wins! I just need a five or a six!”

Axel continued shaking, hesitating as to when to throw the die, while Luxord smirked. Axel shook the die for a while before actually throwing it. Then, as Axel went to throw the dice, he punched Luxord in the face, and before he could fall down, Axel grabbed him by the collar and brought him inches away from his face.

“I tried reasoning with you, but apparently you’re too much of a stubborn imbecile! Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what you did with Roxas, and you can take you’re lame principals and shove them up your--

“I-I won’t tell you a-a-anything! You’re insane!” Luxord said, dzed and confused from the blow. You...you....wishy....washy....dilly.....dally.... .stupid....dunder...(Groans)....head!

“Ooookaaaay.....” Axel said, before he dropped him on the ground.

Luxord tried to get back up, but he fumbled around. Eventually, he did get up, but was obviously woozy and had trouble standing straight.

“Wow, I’ve never seen Luxord like this," Axel said to himself. “he’s obviously delusional. That blow to the head was probably too much for him. Well, he never really was a fighter, per se."

A smile then grew on Axel’s face.

“Hmmm.....This gives me an idea." He said to himself.

“Luxord, run around in circles!” Axel said to him.

“You....can’t tell me.....what to do!” Luxord responded. Muahahahaha...no one can! I...I....am...invincible! Long live the gambling king!” He said, as he raised his arms up in the air.

“This could be harder than expected." He thought, as he pondered for a while. “Maybe a little reverse psychology would do the trick."

“Luxord,” He started. “don’t tell me where Roxas is. In fact, don’t even to talk to me about Roxas altogether. I want to know nothing.”

“Okay.” Luxord responded.

“Darn! This is getting frustrating, I came all this way and ended up knocking a few screws loose accidentally. There’s gotta be some way to get through all of that pompous arrogance.....Hmmmm. " He thought, as another smile grew on his face.

“You know what Luxord, you’re right!” He said to him.

“I know....” Luxord replied.

“You are invincible! Nothing can stop you if you put your mind to it!”

“Well.....now that you mention it........I always wanted to work at a casino.”

“No one can stop you! Not even Xemnas!”

“Xemnas....Xemnas.......does he work at a casino?”

“No. No one works at a casino.”

“That’s what you think................I..........I’ll fight the opposition and.......I’ll win, for the greater good!”

“Would you just shut up and bear with me? Xemnas is using you as his own personal pet, he only wants what’s best for him, and not for you, or anyone else. Is that what you really want?”

“I want a--”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“No.”

“How........do you even know what I was going to say?”

“(Sighs) All right Luxord, what is it that you want, besides a casino, working at a casino, playing at a casino, and everything that has to do with casinos in particular?”

“(Long pause) Open up.........a tea shop.”

“All right, so you want to open up a tea shop, but how are you gonna--”

“No, a casino.”

Axel was becoming infuriated, but soon calmed himself and began talking again:

“All right Luxord, suppose you actually want a casino. How do you expect to start one if Xemnas is always watching over your every move?”

“Would there be a tea shop in this......casino?”

“Argh! I’m getting nowhere, fast." Axel said to himself. “What, is he getting dumber by the minute? (Sigh) In any case, I’d better finish this up quickly before he comes to..."

“Luxord! Xemnas wants to ruin your dreams of becoming a black jack dealer!” He cried out to him, in one breath.

“That’s not............nice.” Luxord replied, seeming more confused than ever.

“No, it’s not nice, and he’s using Roxas to keep you from playing the slots....or whatever it was that you wanted to do...”

“Really? Well......that’s why he wanted me to bring......him to the...”

“The what? THE WHAT!?”

“Beach....”

“?”

“How dare he! After all I’ve done for him! He never listens to what I have to say, anyway! I told him that we should bring Roxas to the Endless Abyss, where it would be quieter, but he decided to take him to the crowded beach. That‘s a terrible place for talking him into Sora! Well, I may have brought Roxas to the beach, but I sure did not bring him back! ‘Let him walk back’ I always say! Unfortunately, they both used a portal and I was the one who had to walk back, my powers didn’t work! I had overused them, but that’s not the point! The point is that Roxas and Xemnas betrayed me! I had to climb into the bathroom window because the castle door was locked, but when I came out, I didn’t know you were there! (Sigh) it’s no use complaining about it now, Roxas is off in the universe looking for Sora, but Xemnas is still here. All right, I’ll do it! Thanks Axel, for.......Axel?”

Luxord realized that he was talking to himself, for Axel was gone. Luxord quickly dashed out of his door and saw Axel heading for the door of the Hall of Empty Melodies.

“COWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRD!!!!!!!” Luxord yelled out to him.

Luxord quickly raised his hand forward, and a beam of light shot out of it and hit Axel. As soon as it did, Axel felt a slight tingling sensation. He looked at his hands and they were deforming themselves. All around his body, he felt some kind of deformation. He soon realized that his body wasn’t deforming, but reforming, he felt as though he was getting shorter......much shorter. Before he knew it, he realized that Luxord had turned him into a die.

“Ah...Ah....AAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!” He yelled. “Luxord, you idiot!! What is wrong with you?! After all I did for you, you go and betray me?!?”

Axel hopped to turn himself around, and saw Luxord lying on his back in front of his pedestal. He had fainted.

“Hmmph! I suppose that spell demanded to much energy from him.” He said to himself. Well, nevertheless I...I...

Axel soon realized that he was moving, nay, rolling on his own, down the small path, into the Hall of Empty Melodies.

Nausea overcame him as he rolled into the hall, as soon as he stopped rolling, he hopped and looked everywhere around him. No one was there. He took the chance to leave as fast as he could before anyone could see him. As he hopped all the way across the room, he noticed, from the corner of his eye, someone was walking on the balcony above him. He soon realized that it was Xaldin! Axel hopped away even faster, but as fast as he left the room, it wasn’t fast enough for Xaldin to miss him. The sight of a hopping dice was enough for Xaldin to investigate, so he jumped down onto the main floor, and ran outside of it.

“This is going to be a long day...” He said to himself.

Once he was out, Axel kept hopping into a corridor and turned right. As soon as he turned though, Xaldin had just come into the corridor and continued running. Axel had stopped hopping soon after he turned, and laid his back up against the wall. Suddenly, he stopped moving and pondered. He felt considerably taller than before. He looked at himself and saw his hands, and his feet, and his lower torso.

“I’m back!” He said to himself.

As soon as he did though, he heard Xaldin’s footsteps approaching.

“Well, I guess it’s too early to celebrate. I’d better get back to the castle, I’m sure Marluxia’s waiting for me with a mission or something. Maybe he left a note at the entrance....”

He immediately materialized a dark portal and hopped through it. The portal itself shrunk back just in time as Xaldin turned at the corner and stared into space.

“What the....“ He said to himself, as he pondered who could be behind a stunt like this. “.......Luxord!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luxord was back in his room, sitting on his table, holding a wet rag on his head. He looked at the circular moon in the night sky and noticed that it looked slightly different. Of course, he just thought it was a delusion.

“Goodness gracious! Who or what could have caused such a massive headache?” He said to himself. “Well, whatever it was, I’m not sure I’ll ever know what caused it. It’s just too painful to even think about it.”

Suddenly, he felt a small breeze.....a breeze that felt stronger and stronger, until his table actually tipped over. Luxord rolled his eyes.

“What do you want, Xaldin?” He said, as he got up and turned around, only to see Xaldin standing in front of his door.

“I think you know what I want.” Xadlin replied.

“No, I really don’t.” He said, as he applied pressure to his forehead with the rag.

“(Sighs) Feigning ignorance will not get you out of trouble young man.”

“‘Young Man”? I’m only 6 years younger than you.”

“That’s not the point! (Sighs) I just saw a dice hop down the Hall of Empty Melodies, you wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”

“Die.”

“What?”

“The singular of dice is die, and no, I had nothing to do with whatever foolishness it is that you’re implying.”

“Oh really now, do you expect me to believe whatever alibi you have in store for me? Besides, everyone knows that you’re the only person here that can turn people into dices.”

“Dice!”

“Silence!”

He then lifted his arm towards Luxord and shot out a burst of wind hit Luxord, and he tumbled back and knocked his table down the balcony.

“...Oh, dear.”

The two heard a crashing sound and heard a booming voice.

“XALDIN!!!!!”

A fearful expression grew on Xaldin’s face.

“Oh no, I’m too young for this.”

As he turned around and headed out the door, he was stopped by the sight of Xemnas himself.

“Wh--How did you.....where did he......how is that even physically possible?” He asked.

When he noticed how Xemnas was looking at him with stern eyes, he decided to keep talking.

“Xemnas, you must understand........I--” Xaldin bargained.

Xemnas lifted his hand to silence Xaldin, who then noticed a dark portal forming in back of him.

“Oh, I see.....Well, can I at least--”

Xemnas pushed him in the dark portal, which then closed itself. With Luxord being the only one left in the room, Xemnas spoke to him:

“Luxord, I understand you’re having trouble with your memories. You must keep in mind that our memories our tied together by the chains that bind our heart, for without memories, the chains in our hearts, or souls, would collapse upon themselves and we would cease to exist. My point being, you must question yourself upon seeing who is the right person to ask for directions, to the place where he’s been, and where you think you need to go.”

“Um.....tally-o?” Luxord replied.

With that, Xemnas disappeared into a dark portal and left Luxord alone, who stared blankly at the odd-shaped moon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Twas later in the day, and Demyx, while sitting on one of his chairs, had been practicing his combat solos in his room for several more hours. He finally decided to stop and, while dematerializing his sitar, got up from his chair and stood up. He started to strike several odd poses while talking to himself.

“Prepare to feel my wrath! He said, while pointing to an imaginary enemy. “Hmm.....no, that doesn’t seem right.”

He tried again.

“Feeling dirty? How ‘bout a quick shower? Muahahahaha.....hmmm....that’s not any better. Let’s see......This song will be your last! Hmm.......You’re history, you’re toast, just you wait!”

Demyx hunched his head in disappointment.

“(Groans) This isn’t working at all.”

He then began pondering.......

“Got it memorized?”

Suddenly, Axel came into his room through a dark portal. Upon seeing him, a smile grew on Demyx’s face.

“Axel!” He said, with a smile on his face. “Just the person I wanted to see!”

“Can it!” Axel replied angrily. “I don’t have time to listen to your lame lullabies, I only came here for information.”

“Oh......what about?”

“Roxas.”

“Hmm? What makes you think I know anything?” He answered, with a grin on his face.

“Nothing really, I just thought I should check.”

“...And if I did know something, what makes you think I’d actually tell you?” He said, as he kept the same grin on his face.

“Look, do you know anything or not?”

“Maybe,” He said, as he turned his back towards Axel. “maybe not. If you really want to know what you think I might know, you’ll have to proceed through a series of devious trivia ques--”

Demyx turned around as he continued talking, only to see that Axel was heading out the door.

“Hey, what are you doing!” He yelled out to him.

“I have better things to do than listen to you babble nonsensically.” Axel replied. You can keep whatever infinitesimal amount of information you have about Roxas to yourself, if you even have any.”

“I do, I do! Look, how about you just listen to one of my guitar solos and in exchange, I’ll tell you what I know.”

“(Sighs) I’m gonna regret this.” He said, as he turned around and crossed his arms.

“Yes! He said, to himself. “All right, you just stay there and enjoy the show......by the way, you will get wet, so be prepared.”

“Just get on with it before I change my mind.”

“Ok, ok.”

Demyx twirled his sitar and immediately started playing. Soon, several streams of water flowed through the air, they twirled in all kinds of directions and even around Axel himself, who still had his arms crossed. Soon, they started to form different shapes in the air and they even seemed to be communing with each other. During his display, Demyx played his sitar while dancing and twirling in sync with the music.

Towards the end of the display’s 23 minutes, Demyx danced and twirled more rigorously, and the water streams were flowing at a tremendous speed, so fast that Axel could hardly keep up with them. Eventually, the streams clung together in the center of the room, to form a giant model of Demyx himself, and after a while, it burst into thousands of tiny water molecules that evaporated as soon as they fell to the ground.

However, while the water show was finished, Demyx wasn’t. He continued twirling and dancing, and swinging his sitar like it was a guitar. His playing became more furious too. Eventually, he smashed it against the wall, and then twirled it some more and smashed it against the floor. Finally, as he lifted his sitar from the floor, he swung around with it several times before throwing it at Axel and rematerializing it in his hands before it actually hit him.

For his finale, he threw his sitar in the air above him, and spread his arms out while yelling:

“OH, YEAH!!!!!!”

He reached out and caught his sitar soon after, and after twirling it around, struck a pose.

Axel stood with his arms crossed, mouth agape, and stared at Demyx with a confused look.

“So, what do you think?” He asked him.

“.....That has to be.....(Pause)......the worst performance in the history of music.”

“WHAT?! Why, you ungrateful, idiot! How dare you even begin to insult my refined musical talent!”

“Talent? What talent? I’ve heard wounded animals that came up with better noises, and as for the water works, well let’s just say that the only thing it‘s inspiring me to do is to go to the bathroom.”

“You’re not supposed to be inspired, you nimrod! That’s the whole point! And how can you even begin talk to me about talent? You wouldn’t know talent if it bit you on the face and gave you rabies!”

“Frankly, I’d prefer to be bit on the face and given rabies, instead of having listen to that monstrosity again.”

“Don’t try to change the subject!”

“What? All I’m doing is giving you my brutally honest opinion. Don’t lash out at me because you can’t take criticism.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’d like to see you do a better job.”

“A small child could do a better job.”

“Why don’t you come over here and try it, then?”

“All right then, I will.”

Axel walked over to him and Demyx handed him his sitar, Axel snagged it and began to study it. He held the handle with one hand while holding it from afar and gazed at it carefully. Then, without warning, he whacked Demyx on the head with it.

“OOOOOOWWW!!” He cried out, as he crouched down and held his head.

“Hopefully, that concussion knocked some sense into you.” Axel said. Now, I expect you’ll tell me what you know without further interruptions?”

Demyx quickly got back up and snagged his sitar form Axel.

"Give me that! You’re crazy if you think I’ll tell you anything. Besides, I don’t even know what’s going on myself, (Sigh) you think the others would fill me in.”

“Oh no...I did not just come in here and waste 23 minutes of my time watching your water works.”

“Hey, nobody put a gun to your head.”

“Isn’t it a bit risky being here, instead of at Castle Oblivion? I mean, not just for you, but for Zexion and the others as well. Do you really think they could function well without you....not that it would make any difference, I’m just wondering. You know, I still wonder why Xemnas even ordered you to go there, I mean you of all people--”

“Look, the others will do fine without me, and I’m sure that Zexion can function well without me.”

“What? Since when are you defending Zexion, he’s such a kiss-up towards Xemnas, and what could he possibly do with what little powers he has.”

“You shouldn’t really judge anyone by appearances....”

“Rrrrriiight...”

“How did we trail off like this, exactly? I don’t want to leave here until I get answers.”

“Well, what can I possibly give you.”

“Good point...so, you don’t have any idea where Roxas might be?

“Have you checked his room?”

Axel stood silent for a moment. It had never struck him before to simply go see if Roxas was in his room. Without saying another word, Axel turned back and headed out the door, leaving a confused Demyx to scratch his head.
Suddenly, an idea came into Demyx’s mind, a grand idea. He turned around, his back facing the door, and then almost immediately turned back while pointing to an imaginary enemy and said:

“You shouldn’t judge anyone by appearances........(Pause).........I like the way that sounds!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Castle Oblivion, a dark portal materialized in front of the door to Marluxia’s garden. Axel came out of it. He took a look at the door carefully, hesitating as he pondered.

“I've been gone twice before without permission, one more time and I'm afraid someone might notice. Frankly, I don’t see how anyone hasn’t noticed before....well, that’s not important. All I need to do now is to go see Marluxia and ask him if I can have a few hours off. It shouldn’t be too hard, that enlarged ego of his certainly has made him easier to flatter."

And with that, Axel opened the door and called out:

“Hey, Marluxi--(Gasp)”

As he opened the door, Axel saw Marluxia fighting against Larxene and himself. He looked closely as the three flipped, blocked and parried each other’s attacks. After a while of staring at their acrobatics, he slammed the door shut.

“Ok......please don’t tell me that I just saw myself with Larxene and Marluxia.”

“Oh yeah, you definitely did."

Axel pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers.

“Zexion! That idiotic genius! Now that he’s pretending to be me, I can go back to the Castle all I want!”

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd that Zexion is posing as you for no apparent reason?"

“Who cares? With all this free time, finding Roxas will be a breeze.”

And with that, Axel materialized a dark portal and entered it. He soon found himself back in front of The Castle that Never Was.

“Well, back to the gulag, by which I mean this castle. (Snorts)”

“Might I remind you, that you’re alone..."

“Yeah, yeah.” He said to himself, as he waved his hand. “Let me just get my bearings straight. This time, I need to somehow gather information from Xemnas without actually talking to him....then again, maybe I should check out Roxas’ room, first...”

Axel’s pondering came to a stop when, suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching behind him.....closer and closer they came...Axel turned around, expecting trouble, and he saw Roxas.

“ROXAS?!” He cried out, in front of him.

“Long time no see.” Roxas said, with a smile on his face.

“What are you doing?? Where have you been??””

“I’ve been doing some soul searching, or heart searching if you will. Actually I only came here to talk to Xemnas.”

“What?”

“I need to ask him a few questions.”

“But what about the Organization?”

“Hey, Xemnas is the one who gave me permission to leave, he said I could come back anytime if I needed to, and I did need to, and that’s why I came here.”

“But.....do you know how much searching I did? How much infiltrating I did? And now you’re just here to speak with someone who’s manipulating you?”

“Manipulating?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Xemnas is sending you on a wild goose chase, just so he can keep you from finding out the truth.”

Roxas looked worried.

“Listen Axel, I like this organization, really I do...but if you had a chance to make yourself complete, wouldn’t you go for it?”

“But...you do realize that Xemnas is manipulating you, don’t you? I mean, why else would he help you?”

“Well, so far everything he’s told me has been true.”

“Like what?”

“Like that his name is Sora, and that he’s out there, voyaging other worlds...”

“Big deal, I could’ve told you that.”

“Look Axel, I don’t really have much time for this, I’ll get back to you later.”

“When Roxas? When you merge back with Sora? How will you get back to me then?”

“Will you just leave me alone? This isn’t only about you, you know.”

“Ok, ok....wait a minute, let me just get something straight here. Your personal hierarchy goes like this......finding your heartless is at the top, and then all the rest follows. Is that it?”

“Well, when you put it that way, yes, it is like that.”

“Do you realize how unbelievably selfish that is?”

“It’s not selfish, it’s essential to my emotional well-being!”

“You have no emotions!”

“Look, why don’t you come with me? That would be great! We could search for our heartless’ together!”

“What is wrong with you, Roxas? My heartless is dead, and so is everyone else’s, that’s why we’re creating the fake Kingdom Hearts. And get this, at the same time that Kingdom Hearts is manifesting itself, you’re off looking for your heartless, strange coincidence, is it not?”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s right, I told you Xemnas was manipulating you.”

“......Listen Axel, I really don’t have time for this, and I need to speak with Xemnas as soon as possible.”

“Roxas?! Do you even care anymore?!”

“Stop feeling so sorry for yourself, will you?! You’re the one who’s being selfish!”

“This isn’t about me! I’m actually trying to tell you something to keep you away from danger! Do you even know what you’re getting into!?”

“You don’t understand! If you had a chance to exist you’d take it even faster than I did!”

“I can’t believe how blind you are!! Does it even strike you as odd, that Xemnas, of all people, is reaching out to you?! Xemnas!!”

“I’ll have you know, that Xemnas is actually right about my heartless being closer than I think!”

“The question isn’t weather Xemnas is right or not, it’s why he’s lending you a hand in leaving.”

“Stop it! I know what I’m doing! I know what I’m getting into!”

“I don’t think you do! ‘Cause if you did, you wouldn’t let your “

“How can I be selfish? How can I know what’s important to me? I can’t be sure what I feel is real until I actually go out and look for my heart!”

“It’s not the action of reuniting with you’re heart that’s going to make you feel complete.

“Than what is?”

“.....I haven’t quite figured that out yet....but I’m working on it.”

“I knew it. How can you even begin to talk about what’s important to you, when you can’t even figure it out for yourself.”

“That’s beside the point! Look, haven’t you wondered why Xemnas ordered Luxord to take you away, when he could’ve just asked you to speak with him?”

“Well, he did try to speak with me, before you knocked him down. He probably sent Luxord because he wanted to talk to me when you weren’t around.”

“Exactly! He didn’t want me around because he considered me to be a nuisance, and do you know why he considered me to be a nuisance? Because I know the truth, and he was afraid that I’d get to you, so he decided to kidnap you and manipulate you all he wants!”

“Look Axel, I know it seems fishy that Xemnas is doing all of this for me, but if he’s giving me this chance, why not take it?”

“Because...because it’s.....”

Axel could not finish his sentence. Partly because he wasn’t so sure himself what was going on, and partly because he didn’t want to tell Roxas what he knew.

“I’m sorry Axel...” Roxas said, as he hunched his head. He then began to walk towards the Castle via the giant green bridge.

“Roxas, you stubborn idiot! You’re selfishness has left you too naïve!” Axel said, as he began to run after him.

“Well, well, the gruesome twosome have finally split.” A voice from behind said to the redhead.

Axel turned around and was surprised to see Xigbar.

“.....have you been listening to our entire conversation?” Axel asked.

“I was just taking a walk around town,” Xigbar answered. I heard two people arguing and....well, you know.”

“....”

“(Sighs) I didn’t catch much, but it seemed to me that Roxas was acting mighty strangely.”

“Why don’t you mind your own business? I can take care of things myself.” He said, as he crossed his arms.

“Oh, come on now, Axel, I thought we were buds. You can tell everything to good old ‘Uncle Xiggy’”

“....”

Xigbar noticed that Axel wasn’t in the mood for joking, so he decided to change his behaviour.

“Welp, I see that you’re not in much of a mood for talking, would you feel more comfortable talking about it?”

“Welp?”

“Well, I don’t really have any information per se, but I do know someone who might know something.....I overheard Saïx and Xemnas talk about Roxas and Namine.”

“Namine?”

“You know, that blonde witch.“

“I don’t know any Namine...”

“Well, I’m afraid that’s your problem.”

“What does she have to do with any of this, anyway?”

“Well, you’ll be working with her, maybe you should find out.”

“Maybe I should be more present at the Castle...I might be able to gather some information there that may clear a few things up.”

“Well, I’ve done all I can do. See ya!”

“Wait Xigbar....um.....well, thanks for helping me.....and, sorry for giving you the cold shoulder back there, I was a bit miffed. (Sighs) You know, aside from Roxas, you’re the only other member I can trust.”

“Hey, just doin’ my job.”

The two smiled and then Axel entered a dark portal. Xigbar went in the opposite direction, back into the city, all the while Xaldin, who was at the top of one of the buildings, glared at him, while holding one of his spears. The light of the dented moon shone down on him as he sneered.

-------------------------------

A dark portal materialized itself in one of the castle halls. Axel came out of it, and began to creep through said halls, doing his best not to be seen.

“I think a little spying is in order, first.” He said to himself, as he crept. “Let’s see exactly what Roxas and Xemnas are talking about...”

“You’d spy on your best friend?" His conscience asked.

“It’s not spying, it’s eavesdropping, and it’s to protect my best friend.”

“He’s not your best friend anymore. Heck, he’s not even the same Roxas."

“Shut up! He’s more of a friend than you’ll ever be.”

“I’m your conscience, I’m the only friend you can trust."

“Yeah...I guess you’re right."

Eventually, Axel made it to Xemnas’ chamber’s door, he stopped and applied his ear to it. All he could hear were incoherent mumblings. He opened the door ever so slightly, and as quietly as he could, and peeked inside.

All he could see was Xemnas, speaking to an unknown character, presumably Roxas. Xemnas stared at the character with that trademark monotonous expression of his and spoke:

“...This shouldn’t be as hard as you claim it to be.”

“Well, it is when you don’t know what you’re looking for.” Roxas answered.

“What is it that you’re looking for?”

“ I told you, I want to know why I wield the Keyblade. What’s my element? Who is my heartless really, and what was his life like beforehand?”

“...And you haven’t had any of them answered.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I did.”

“Roxas......I can’t give you a straight answer, no one can. This is your journey, you must figure this out by yourself.”

“Than why did you tell me all of this?! What was the point?!”

Xemnas moved away from the door and could no longer be seen by Axel.

“Roxas,” He said. you have amazing potential, I feel it unnecessary that you waste any of that potential in this insane asylum.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Roxas replied. “but I’m still not going to waste my time doing nothing, I’ll still take advantage of all this free time.”

“A wise choice, your determination never ceases to amaze me.”

Axel heard the sound of a portal materializing and then disappearing, soon after he saw Xemnas walk in his field of vision and heard him say:

“Or is it you‘re selfishness that never ceases to amaze me? I always seem to get those two mixed up. Oh well, no matter. The last peace of the puzzle will soon fall into to place...”

“What the.....” He whispered, in a shocked tone.

He immediately closed the door as quickly and as quietly as he could and ran down the hall. He went down some stairs and through a narrow corridor that led to the Hall of Empty Melodies.

“That idiot!” He said out loud. “I should just leave him to wallow in his own filth and misery, but I can’t stand around and do nothing anymore, something has to be done!”

As soon as Axel headed into the giant hall, he heard a familiar voice.

“Axel!” Xaldin cried out.

Immediately, he stopped. He looked up, and saw Xaldin on one of the balconies, glaring at him from a distance. He jumped down from it, and landed slowly in front of Axel.

“Going somewhere?” He asked.

“Why, yes actually.” Axel replied. “I was going back to Castle Oblivion. Now, if you don’t mind--”

“Quiet! You’re a fool, do you know that? To actually be leaving your post without proper permission.”

“Who’s permission exactly? Yours? Last I checked, you weren’t in charge of this organization, Xemnas was.”

“Have you asked permission from Xemnas?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.”

“Really? Is that way I spotted you creeping around, trying not to be seen, after you’re little conversation with Xigbar?”

“Doesn’t privacy mean anything to you?”

“Don’t try to weasel out of this! You know exactly what you’re getting yourself into, and whatever it is, I’ll be here to stop it... “

“Is that so? You know exactly what I’m getting into? All right, my dear Watson, with your intellectual savvy, what do you deduct from my recent behaviour?”

“Knock it off! Axel, I hereby accuse thee of conspiring against the organization!”

“Oh, this is rich.”

“SILENCE!”

Xaldin spread out his arms and started to float. Suddenly, visible gusts of wind came from all directions. They eventually flew around the entire room.

Axel felt a floating feeling, he looked down and realized his feet weren’t touching the ground.

“What th--” He said.

Higher and higher he went, until he was at about ten feet.

“I don’t have time for this!" He said in his head. “I’ll just have to use the easy way out..."

Axel spread his arms out and materialized his chakrams. Immediately, he set them on fire, and powered them up. As Xaldin saw what Axel was doing, he dismissed it as a feeble attempt to defend himself, he then brought in more gusts of wind. They were so thick, that Axel could actually see them. As the winds blew harder, and lifted Axel higher in the air, he powered up his chakrams even more. The fire around them was so thick, that it produced smoke and ashes, which were subsequently hurled around Axel and hid him from Xaldin’s view. He looked as hard as he could, but the smoke was to thick for him to see Axel. Little by little, the smoke and ashes were carried by the winds all throughout the room, and as Xaldin’s wind gusts were going around in a circle around it, and back towards Xaldin, the smoke eventually reached him. As the smoke wrapped itself around him, and the ashes were inhaled accidentally, he immediately covered his mouth and coughed into his arm. Immediately after, the winds died down completely, and smoke and ashes filled the room.

Xaldin, frustrated, ceased coughing and angrily blew the smoke away by waving his arms horizontally, the smoke separated itself and blew to each side of the room, thus clearing it up. As soon as Xaldin had done this however, Axel was gone, and he was staring into space.

“AXEL!” he cried out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Castle Oblivion, the gang (excluding Axel) was sitting around the main table in the main room, digesting after their Chinese meal. Zexion then got up from the table and proceeded to the guest rooms.

“Excuse me for a moment, I must.......proceed to the....guest rooms.......to digest......”

He slowly started walking, then he walked faster, and eventually he ran out the door.

“Well,” Larxene said. “this certainly was a delicious dinner, don’t you think?”

“I suppose...“ Marluxia answered. “although I would have preferred cooking for everyone’s sake.”

“Oh Marluxia, if you really cared about everyone’s sake, you wouldn’t want to cook.”

Everyone in the room, excluding Marluxia, suddenly started laughing altogether, simultaneously. After the laughter died down, Marluxia paused for a bit before speaking:

“Well, I am talented in the domain of plants,” He said. “perhaps one day I could whip up a vegetarian meal.”

“...And feed us what?” Vexen asked. “Fertilizer? I say, we’ll all be as big as Lexaeus.”

Everyone then started laughing again, in the same way they did before. Marluxia stared at them strangely as he was trying to compute in his mind what was going on.

“But I really think that you’d all enjoy my vegetation.” Marluxia said.
“Or will your vegetation enjoy us?” Larxene said.

Everyone started laughing again, in the exact same fashion as the two instances beforehand. Marluxia was absolutely bewildered at what was happening, as it never happened before.

“What are we, on a sitcom?” He said.

Suddenly, a dark portal materialized itself in the front of the room, Xaldin came out of it and was greeted:

“Hi Xaldin!” Everyone except Marluxia said, cheerfully.

Xaldin barely acknowledged them as he moved out of the way of the portal and let Xemnas come out of it. Marluxia was surprised to see him, and as soon as he did see him, he asked him:

“Xemnas, what brings you here?” He said, in a surprised tone. “Surely, your not here to evaluate me are you? I assure you I’m doing a fine job as it is.” He said, as he got up from his seat and walked towards the front of the door.

Xemnas said nothing as he looked at Marluxia with a monotonous facial expression. This made Marluxia feel even more uncomfortable.

“I tell you Xemnas,” Xaldin said to him, ignoring Marluxia’s statement as well. “Axel is not here. See for yourself.”

“Axel?” Larxene said, intervening. “What are you talking about Xaldin? He was right here before, fighti--er.....feeding one of Marluxia’s plants.”

“Oh, was he? Was he really?”

“Do you actually allow plants in this room, Marluxia?” Xemnas asked, striking a new conversation with Marluxia.

“Well....“ Marluxia started. “ye.....I was just.....you know.....I-I didn;t....you know, I didn‘t want to, um....” Marluxia grew more and more uncomfortable the more he stared at Xemnas’ monotonous expression. “.......I.......I........I--” He ended up saying.

“It’s a simple yes or no question.” Xemnas told him.

“Well--”

Suddenly, before Marluxia could finish, the door flew open and hit him in the back, after which he fell down. No one but Xaldin was surprised to see Axel in front of the door.
“Oh,” He said, as he saw what he had done to Marluxia. “sorry Marluxy....I mean Marly.....I mean....” He took his eyes away from him and brought them over towards Xemnas and Xaldin. Upon seeing them, he then started to perspire. “Oh.....Hello......” He ended up saying.

Xemnas turned his head slowly toward Xaldin, who’s mouth was agape, and who still had his surprised expression on his face.

“But I tell you, he was in the Castle,” He said, trying to save his skin. “I spoke with him! I almost had him! Besides, this means nothing! He probably came here through a dark portal as soon as he escaped from my grasp.”

“Xaldin,” Larxene said. “are you aware of the excruciatingly long corridor that is formed between here and the Castle that Never Was? If Axel had left a few minutes ago, he would still be walking in the corridors, and as you can see....he’s right here.”

“Yes, but you see, he could just as easily have gone--”

“That’s quite enough, Xaldin.” Xemnas interrupted.

“But I--” Xaldin couldn’t finish his sentence, for he saw that behind him, a dark portal had materialized itself. He looked at Xemnas, who had the same monotonous expression, and sighed. “Well....“ He said. “can I still--”

Xemnas then pushed him in the portal before he could finish his sentence. After that he turned his head towards everyone and spoke:

“I trust you all know what you’re doing.”

“Yes sir, Xemnas.” He said, as he continued sweating, without anyone noticing.

“Good. Because should you fail, I should inform you that the detention room is not the only system of punishment we have.”

Xemnas departed through the portal after staring at everyone for a few seconds. As soon as it dissipated, everyone started talking amongst themselves.

“Well, that was a waste of time.” Larxene said cynically. “Where were you, Axel?”

“I was cleaning up after my fight with that giant plant monster.” He answered.

“it took you the entire supper hour?” Marluxia said, as he got back up and arranged his hair.

“It took you this entire sequence to regain consciousness?” Axel replied.

“Actually, I was feigning all that to make sure that Xemnas would forget about me before he left, and he did. I have you to thank for that, Axel.”

“Right, just don’t expect me to make a habit of it.”

“I say,” Vexen said to Axel.” why didn’t you tell Xemnas what you were doing, instead of standing around and sweating like a pathetic moron?”

“He didn’t ask. Besides, what he doesn't know won’t hurt him.”

“But it would’ve made everything that much easier.” Larxene said to him. “I really can’t find a reason not to tell him.”

“What difference does it make? What’s done is done, we can’t change that.”

“Would you like to have your supper now?” Lexaeus asked him politely. “We left some food for you.”

“Will you stop bombarding me with questions!” Axel told them. Argh! Can’t we have an engaging conversation without suspecting anyone?”

And with that, Axel stormed out the room and slammed the door shut. For a pretty long while, everyone stared at the door as they pondered what could’ve been going through Axel’s head...until Marluxia broke the silence of course:

“What’s gotten his Chris in a Kringle?” He said.

After a while of pondering, the door burst open and hit Marluxia in the back, again. Axel appeared in the door way, holding the door with his hand as he was panting and gasping.

“(Panting) Finally....(Pant)...did I make it in time? (Gasp) Did he come yet?” He asked them all.

“Who?” Larxene asked in return.

Marluxia got back up angrily and faced Axel.

“Yes Axel....“ He said, with a somewhat angry tone. “who is it, pray tell, that you’re looking for? And why on earth are you panting and gasping, you just left a second ago.”

“..........Well....(Pause).....you know, I was just wondering if....”

It didn’t take him long before Axel realized what they were trying to say, and as soon as he found out, he made it careful to give anything away to them.

“How dumb can these people be?" He said to himself. “If Zexion, disguised as me, left not two seconds ago, shouldn’t they be way more suspicious? Well, no matter, once again their ignorance has benefited me in more ways than one."

“.....Ah, forget it.” He eventually told them.

Axel left, with his head hunched, and went to his room. The others, slightly confused, eventually continued with their daily routines.

Once Axel was inside the guest room, he waited until everyone else left the main room to go back inside. As soon as the last person left, he entered the room and looked at the clock.

“Well, if this is what it takes, then this is what it takes.” He said, as his eyes gazed upon the clock. “I really need the extra time, anyway.”

He took one of the chairs and dragged it over the clock, then he climbed on top of it, and moved the clock’s hands a few hours later. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Quickly he got back down from the chair and placed it back. The footsteps got closer and closer. Axel tried to dash out of the room and into the guest rooms as fast as he could, however, as he opened the door to go into the guest room, Zexion had come in.

“Oh, hello Zexion.” He said, still holding the door open.

“Greetings, Axel.” Zexion replied. “Am I bothering you?”

“Oh...uh, no, no it’s fine.” He said, as he calmly closed the door.

The two then looked at each other without saying a word, and pondered to themselves.

“I shouldn’t tell him that I know," Axel said to himself. “he might feel pressured to stop, and we certainly don’t want that. In fact, I should just hurry this up and go to bed now, I don’t want him finding out about this clock business either."

“So......“ Axel started. “how’s by you?”

“I-I’m fine.” Zexion answered awkwardly.

Another silence filled the room as the two continued pondering to each other.

"Do you think Axel suspects anything?" He asked himself. “You better change the subject and get out of here as fast as possible."

Zexion turned his head and looked around for something to talk about, that’s when he saw the clock and noticed what ‘time’ it was.

“Goodness, it’s already bedtime? I feel like I just ate.” He said out loud.

“What an idiot." Axel said to himself.

“Well Zexion,” He eventually said out loud to him.” that sensation you feel is nothing more than a desperate attempt from your soul to make you think that you feel. You see, we only eat because that’s what we’re used to, we do it to fill the void that our heart has left behind. So, I suggest that we all get to bed now, so that we may prepare ourselves for what’s to come.”

“What an idiot." Zexion said to himself.

“Well...“ He said out loud “...I...”

Before he could finish his sentence, Zexion noticed something about Axel. Strangely, something that he hadn’t noticed before. After staring at what it was for a few seconds, rendering Axel somewhat uncomfortable, he eventually asked him:

“I say Axel, you’re hair looks windswept, actually you look completely windswept, what happened?”

Axel felt his hair and noticed that it was somewhat dishevelled. He then remembered his little ‘run in’ with Xaldin.

“Well,” He started. “what do you know......it must be from my confrontation with Sora, what with the Aero spells and all. Actually, I was just about to go in and comb it, before you came in.”

“Oh....I see.” Zexion said. “Well, I shan’t keep you waiting any longer.”

“(Nervously) Well, then I’d better go and comb my hair, and get ready for bed at the same time. Why don’t you round up everybody for bed, then?”

“Uh...sure...” He said, puzzled by Axel’s soothing tone of voice.

As Axel entered the guest room, and Zexion went out into the hallway, both of them had a thought run through their heads at the same time:

“He knows..."

So, Zexion rounded up everyone in the castle, while Axel fixed up before bedtime, and for the rest of the ‘night’ the organization residents rested soundly, unaware that a crimson shadow was stalking the castle halls.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The morning after, Larxene had gotten up early. Quietly, she got up from her bed and made her way to the door leading out to second guest room. Zexion heard her leave, and as soon as she closed the door quietly, he got up quietly as well, and made his way into the bathroom.
Once inside, he shut the door quietly and looked into the mirror. He contemplated:

“What could she want?” He asked himself.

“She needs some time alone, and I think you should respect that." His conscience told him.

“I know, but...”

“There isn’t really any buts. I think you should just give up this entire charade and tell her the truth."

“Are you kidding? It’s too late to go back now.”

"...And you figure it’s too early to stop?"

“Well...I suppose it ‘s...........ah, I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Just tell her the truth, it’s obvious she doesn’t like you anyway, especially after that disastrous walk around the castle."

“She enjoyed that walk, and you know it!”

“Quit talking so loud, will you? You’ll wake them all up."

“Oh, sorry.” He said, before he stood silent for a moment... “You know what? You’re right conscious, I should go tell her the truth.”

“It’ll make the disappointment go that much faster."

Ignoring that last statement, Zexion proceeded to head out the door. However, before he even put his hand on the knob, he stopped. His mind was racing and he seemed hesitant. He wasn’t sure who he should trust anymore. Himself or his conscious.
Eventually, he turned back and looked at himself in the mirror. After letting out a big sigh, he held up his hand and snapped his fingers.

From the outside of the bathroom, a thin ray of light shone out from the bottom of the door, and dissipated after a few seconds.

Back inside the bathroom, Zexion was now looking at Axel in the mirror. He applied his hands on the sink and turned his head away from the mirror.

“You’re a coward, you know that?" His conscience told him.

Zexion let out an even bigger sigh as he hunched his head.

“I know...” He said.

He then quietly proceeded out the door, and back into the guest room. He tiptoed out of that room, and into the other one, where he saw Axel, sound asleep. Feeling hesitant, Zexion eventually continued out that door and into the other one, where he saw Larxene sitting alone at the table.

“What are you doing here?” He asked her.

“(Sighs) I was just thinking is all.” She answered. What are you doing here?”

“I just got up now, couldn’t get any sleep though, what with....uh...with Vexen and his constant ‘reading’. I mean just reading and reading. It’s enough to drive you insane.” Zexion had actually improvised these words, not knowing what had happened the night before.

“Yeah, I heard you yesterday.”

“Yeah...sorry about that. “ He said, as he chuckled nervously.

Larxene took her eyes off Axel and stared at the table, contemplating something. After a short silence, her eyes went back to Axel and she asked him:

“Axel, can I talk to you?”

“I suppose...” He said, hesitantly.

Axel went over to the table where Larxene was and sat down, they started to talk.

“Listen, I know about the whole flowers thing.”

“Flowers?”

“...And I’m flattered by the whole thing but....”

“But...”

“I just don’t know.”

“?”

“Do you know what I dreamt about yesterday night?”

“You dreamt?”

“It was about Zexion.”

Axel was speechless.

“You see? You see what you’ve done?” Zexion’s conscious told him. “You really should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I-I don’t know what to say...” He uttered, looking sad. “Am I supposed to feel offended?”

“No, not at all. It’s just...(Sighs) I just don’t know. Bah, who am I kidding anyway, I can’t even feel love.”

“Sure you can Larxene. In fact....” He said, as he leaned closer towards her. “I too, feel the same way...”

“Oh no...” His conscious repeated. “Don’t you dare even think of going there...you hear me?”

Both of them stared into each other’s eyes....Zexion actually felt like something was going to happen, and Larxene didn’t know any better.

“Knock it off!!“

Axel suddenly backed off.

“No, no.... This isn’t right.” He said.

“What’s not right?” Larxene asked.

Axel left the room in a hurry and hurried back to his room. Back inside, He quickly ran back into the other guest room and went for the bathroom door, not caring who he woke up. However, he was surprised to see that the door was closed, he jiggled the knob a bit, and saw that it was locked. He knocked and a familiar voice spoke.

“It’s taken!” Axel said, from the other side.

“Uh...for how long?” Zexion said, in his original voice.

“A while.”

“Oh, great...” Zexion muttered to himself, as he turned away from the door.

As if things weren’t bad enough, Zexion heard someone getting up from bed. It was Lexaeus. His short hair was pressed in a strange shape, and he looked particularly tired. Upon seeing Axel (Zexion), he asked:

“How long have you been up?”

“Uh...I’ve been up for a while now...” He said, in Axel’s voice. “You know, I’m...waiting for Axel to uh....I mean--” Zexion tried to cover up his words before being interrupted.

“Is Axel taking to much time in the bathroom again?”

Upon hearing this, Zexion was confused. However, he was instantly relieved after figuring out secodns later what Lexaeus meant.

“Y-Yeah...” He said, in his regular voice. “I was waiting for him, but...uh....you could go, I just remembered that I left the washing machine on fire.”

Upon saying that, Zexion left. For a few moments, Lexaeus was left scratching his head and pondering, and he eventually came to an interesting conclusion.

“...We don’t have a washing machine...” He said to himself, before he went back over to his bed and collapsed on it.

Zexion quickly went out the door back into the first guestroom, where he saw that Vexen was already up. He had already made his bed, and was currently making Axel’s. However, upon seeing who he thought was Axel, he did not hesitant to scold him.

“I say Axel,” He started. “this is seriously getting out of hand. I demand you stop being so lazy and do your own bed.”

“But I--” Axel (Zexion) said, before he was instantly cut off.

“No ‘buts’, young man.” Vexen interrupted, as he let go of the bedsheets and walked towards Axel. “You have been slacking off far enough, and I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.”

“You’re getting too old for making beds?”

“Quiet! Now, I want you to make your own bed by yourself. I must be on my way, and I must bring Zexion and Lexaeus along with me.” He said, as he passed Axel and headed for the door.

Zexion wasn’t sure what to say, he fiddled with his hands as his mind raced a mile a minute, and he eventually spoke:

“Zexion’s not there.” He said.

“I say, I beg your pardon?” Vexen asked casually, as he turned back to face him.

“I heard him leave early this morning, I heard him mutter something about taking a walk while he was passing by our room.

“Oh...well, that’s good to know. T-Thank you for telling me Axel.” He said strangely, before entering the door, knowing for the first time what it felt like to thank Axel.

Upon entering the second guest room, he saw Lexaeus asleep on his bed.

“I say, wake up Lexaeus!” He shouted. “We need to go find Zexion and then have a boring meeting.”

“Very well,” Lexaeus said with his eyes closed, as he continued sleeping.

Vexen stared at him for a while before speaking:

“I meant now.” He said.

“Yes, yes...” Lexaeus responded, before dozing off.

After a few seconds, Vexen had become irritated. He leaned close to Lexaeus’ ear and shouted:

“Wake up!!”

“Will you shut up, Vexen!” Axel said, from behind the bathroom door.

Immediately upon hearing this, Vexen turned his head towards the bathroom door and stared at it.

“N-No...” He said to himself. “How is it possible?”

He put his hand on his chin and pondered for a while, before coming to the conclusion that:

“I don’t even want to know...”

So, he turned his head back towards Lexaeus, and noticed that the scream barely had an effect on him. Eventually, Lexaeus did open his eyes and looked at Vexen, who was frowning at him. After sighing, he got up, and entered a dark portal with Vexen.
Hearing the sound of a dark portal materializing, Zexion figured that the coast was clear. He snapped his fingers and turned back to normal. He then proceeded to walk out the door and into the main room, where he hoped Larxene would be.
As he went to put his hand on the knob, his conscience spoke:

“This time," It said. “You’d better clear things up."

Zexion kept his hand on the knob, but didn’t open it. After a few seconds, he responded to his conscience:

“Don’t worry,” He said. “One way or another, I will.”

He then turned the knob and headed out the door, where he met Larxene and...well, you know the rest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So yeah, tell me what you think. Chapters 6 and 7 should be up soon, I'm almost finished re-initializing chapter 6, and I just need to correct chapter 7. So...yeah.

[Lectori Salutem]

That was long!!! But it was also good!!!