May the madness continue. . .

POV change. Also, some ASL usage, yay!

. . .

Chapter 1: Nobody

. . .

Seven years, that's how long it has been. Seven years the boy with blond spiky hair has been with the devil. Seven years his friends and uncle have been worried about him, but they all just thought he was traveling abroad. But as far as the little blond knew, he didn't know he had a family out there. He didn't know that he had friends outside the house he could only assume that he grew up in. Even though he was twenty-eight years old now, he was treated as if he were seven. He couldn't help it either. He was pampered. The red-head did nothing but give him his undying affection. It was a bit suffocating at times, but as far as he knew, that's what lovers did.

The blond sat at the window in the greeting room. He sat there and watched the rain. Then he felt something hit his leg. He looked down at his leg and found a dark and light blue ball. He looked over and saw a man, much taller and paler than he was stood over in the entry way. His blue hair hung over his shoulders and his yellow eyes were puppy like. The blond boy smiled and picked up the ball. He lifted the ball and threw it into the hall opposite of the greeting hall. The man instantly transformed mid jump in the air into a big, thick fur husky-like dog and chased after it. He came back, ball in mouth and dropped on the couch. The boy threw it again and the dog brought it back again. They repeated the action several times. Then after the last throw, the dog jumped up on the couch and snuggled with the blond boy. Yawning, the blond boy rested his head into the fur of the large dog. . .

"Roxas." The blond boy's eyes fluttered open to be met with a pair of orange ones. "Axel's home." The boy slowly rose up from the soft fur of the dog rubbing his eyes. Roxas. . . That was what everyone here called him. But that name really didn't mean anything to him. But since it's what the red-head, Axel, called him, that's what he went by. And it really bugged him why. As far as 'Roxas' was concerned, Roxas wasn't his name. He honestly didn't believe that he had one. He believed he didn't have anything, nor was he anything. He was a Nobody. As harsh as it was to think about, it was the truth, but only he thought so.

Roxas hurried, as in the little pitter-patter of his feet against the steps of the stairs and muffled dragging them against the carpet echoed off the walls. He was in no real hurry to greet Axel. Even though Axel claimed that Roxas was very special to him, Roxas couldn't help but feel a bitterness towards him, like a hatred. But regardless, Roxas did whatever Axel asked.

Roxas walked up the steps to the attic that Axel had remolded into a loft-like bedroom. The entrance was nothing more than a flight of stairs and a trap door. Next to that was a small bathroom that held a shower, toilet, and sink and mirror. In the loft were two dressers, on with a large mirror shelf, one with a TV resting on top, and the other with a book self, all in front of a large window opposite to a large bed cover with white sheets, pillows, and a green comforter. Then just steps from the bed, was a window that one could sit at and watch the world from. All the walls were painted white with a black ceiling. The floor was covered with a glossy polished dark wood. The irony of the room belonging to the head of a clan of Satanist is that his was the brightest.

Roxas pushed open the door and walked over to the bed where a devilish looking red-head was lying holding open a book. Roxas laid down next to him, wrapping his arms around the devil's torso. He smiled and kissed Roxas' forehead. "It's been raining all day today." The blond boy just looked up at Axel. "How was your day?"

The blond boy sat up. 'Today, S-A-I-X and I do-do, played ball'

"Really?" Axel smiled. "You know, when you first came to us Saix honestly was the last person I thought you'd befriend. He's not the friendliest guy."

'Meaning?' Roxas signed.

"When I first met him, he nearly ripped my throat out." Axel cocked a smile to the young boy on his bed. "We didn't really get along for the first few weeks. He mostly stuck with Xemnas." Roxas nodded as he looked around.

'Zexion where?' Axel sighed.

"We had a bit of an argument this morning." Axel just waved it off. "It's nothing, really." Roxas shook his head. He wasn't really convinced. Zexion played as if he didn't exist and Roxas didn't understand why. He never did anything to the grayish-blue-haired man. So why?

Axel ran his hand over Roxas' head and pressed their lips together. This feeling between the two of them, Roxas always felt weird about kissing Axel like this; he felt like it was the wrong thing to do. Like something about this-he felt like there was supposed to be someone else. But he never dared questioned Axel about it. Roxas had seen the red head angry and he hid in a closet away from him for a month because he was so scared. So angering the red-head was out of the question.

"You're quite today Roxas." Axel smiled stroking the boy's cheek. "Well not that every day you aren't quiet, but there's something off about you. What's wrong?" Roxas merely looked out the window.

'Nothing.' He signed.

"Are you sure?" Roxas nodded. Axel wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and kissed his forehead again. "You can go off and do whatever if you want. I have some planning I need to do." Nodding, Roxas got up from the bed and went down the trap door. Landing in the hall underneath the trap door, Roxas contemplated on what to do.

He skipped merrily through the halls till he came to a big red door. He knocked three times before it opened. A blond much taller than he was wearing Victorian age attire greeted him warmly. "Come to have a tea party?" Roxas nodded and stepped inside the circus-like room. "Who should we play with?"

'Just you and me'. Roxas nodded.

Demyx put his hands to his hips. "What's going on?"

'That feeling-I have again I.' Roxas lowered his gaze to the floor. 'Axel-he-thinks I'm special, I know, but-I don't feel same.'

Demyx sighed. "Look Roxas, Axel is someone really special to you. Someday, you two will get what you deserve." The puppet master smiled. "Now come on. How about we go and fix up an old style Japanese dinner?" Roxas shook his head. Something about today just nagged at him in the back of his skull. But what was it?

'Today important, why?' Roxas signed.

"It's not, Roxas." Demyx cupped his face and met his eyes. "I promise." Today really wasn't an important day. Not to Roxas anyway. Not that he remembered. . .

That night ended like many for the past seven years. Demyx and Roxas make dinner together, Roxas and Axel showered together, and then Axel rocked the little blond to sleep in an adult manor before returning to his room where Zexion was waiting either for a good fight or for Axel to start graveling. . .

The next morning, Roxas woke up to the sound of the rain pounding on the window. He kicked off the blankets of his bed and walked over to the window. It was a pure white out. Rain hammered the window and Roxas figured going back to sleep was pointless. He showered and then got dressed with a dark green and white striped sweeter hoodie and dark blue worn jeans. Wondering out into the hall, Roxas got the very unnerving feeling that no one was home. The blond went down stairs and found the house eerily quiet. The only sound coming from inside was the sound of Saix snoring on the floor near the door.

Roxas sat at the window in the living room watching the rain. Once it started to lighten up, he got a very sinister idea. He got up and silently tip-toed to the front door. He slowly turned the locks and cracked the door open. He looked over his shoulder back at Saix. He was still snoring. A smile crept on Roxas' face as he stepped into the outside world for the first time in who knows how long. The light drizzle made his hair and clothes go damp, but he didn't care. He was out of the house, one of his secret desires. Roxas let his bare feet splash through the puddles in the front yard. But then a thought came to the small blond. Why stop there? Surely the gate was unlocked, so why not go out and explore the town he knew nothing about. The blond wonder out of the gate and into his a world of creatures Axel explained as to be humans. . .

The boy didn't know what to expect from this different world, but he didn't think that they would look just like him. It was very-strange to him. He walked about the streets observing passers-byers. Some shared really questionable looks at each other when he passed by, but he figured that was normal.

It's only natural for people to stare when you're clearly different from them. Roxas thought to himself.

At some point he grew tired of walking and sat down a bus stop bench. The rain had stopped and a little bit of sun light leaked through the clouds. Sun light-Roxas wasn't familiar with it. Not at all. For the past seven years it has only rained or snowed. The sun had disappeared. Mesmerized by the brief event, Roxas stood up from the bus stop bench and stared up at the clouds. A small smile rose on his face and he clasped his hands together over his chest. Then out of nowhere, he heard something drop to the ground.

Roxas turned to his left and saw a lightly heavy-set man with brown spiky hair wearing khakis and a black T-shirt holding an umbrella over his head. He stared intently at the boy just feet from him. His mouth was slightly agap and his brown eyes widened. He seemed frozen, like the boy was something that shouldn't be. The man gulped and his lip quivered as he said, "Roxas?"

The blond merely tilted his head. 'I know you?' He cocked an eyebrow.

"Sign language?" The man questioned before he regained his composure. "Um-Roxas-It's me, Pence." The name sounded familiar to the blond, like he should know it, but it didn't match any face he had stored in his memory. "We were close friends-once upon a time."

'When?' Roxas signed slowly. When he saw Pence's eyes just stare he lifted up his single hand. 'W-H-E-N?'

When Pence fallowed the fingerspelling best he could. "When?" Roxas nodded. "Back when we were in collage. You and Hayner were married-and Olette and I were engaged then-" Roxas stopped listening after the word 'Hayner'. That name was very ominous and haunting.

Roxas stopped Pence from his explanation and signaled him to watch his lips. 'Who. Is. Hayner.' He mouthed. 'What. Can. You. Tell. Me. About. Him."

Pence seemed to catch that better than the figure spelling. "Come with me, and I'll explain as much as I can." Roxas nodded and quickly help Pence pick up the groceries he dropped and they walked the length from the bench to a small two story house. . .

"Olette, Namine, I'm home." Pence called out inside the house with no answer. "They must be out." Roxas let his eyes wonder around the room taking in everything. The living room seemed like a typical one in décor and atmosphere. It felt very comfortable in here. It felt like home. Pence handed Roxas a pen and paper, making communication easier. "So what happened to Roxas? One day you're laughing and trying to move on with your life, and the next Olette, Luxord, and I are reading a letter saying that you're leaving. We tried finding you, but you seemed to drop off the grid. What happened?"

Roxas took all of the in as he tapped the pen against his lip trying to come up with a response. He decided the truth was a good way to start. 'I really don't have a clue. Honestly, I'm not sure you're even telling the truth. All I know is that seven years ago, I woke up with no memory what so ever. I don't even know if Roxas is my real name.'

Pence cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Are you saying you don't remember anything? Not me, not Olette, who's practically your sister, or Luxord, or even Hayner?" None of those names rang a bell. Roxas only shock his head. Pence eyes were like glass. "If that's all true, then who are you living with now?"

'He goes by Axel. Red hair, green eyes, tall, kinda scary looking.' The look on Pence's face was one of pure fear. All color drained from his face like he had seen a ghost or just received the worse possible news. 'Something wrong?' Pence just threw his arms around Roxas making the boy feel very awkward. Pence started shaking and he wiped his eyes.

"You've been living with Axel this whole time?" Roxas nodded as Pence shook his head. "Roxas that's not good. Axel's not a good person." An eyebrow went up on the blonde's face. Pence sighed. "Over seven years ago, Axel and his 'family', as he calls it, moved here. People didn't really mind, but that's because no one really knew him. To this day, a lot of people still don't pay him any mind because of his friendly face, but he's the one that took you away. We know he's the one responsible for turning your life up-side-down." Roxas first reaction was to shake his head, to deny everything Pence was saying, but that little voice in the back of his mind kept screaming at him that the logic was undeniable.

In the seven years he's known Axel, Roxas was never allowed outside. If people on the outside knew Roxas, knew the truth on how to regain his past memories, that's be the perfect reason for Axel to keep him hidden. It all just seemed to give him a headache.

A hand met Roxas' shoulder. "Are you ok?" Pence's voice was gentle and calm.

Roxas shook his head. 'Not really. You're telling that Axel, the man that's done nothing but help me for the past seven years is the bad guy. He does get angry at times, and he can be scary, but he's a good guy.' Pence sighed. He figured there was no winning the argument.

"Fine. If you say so." Pence seemed worried. Roxas didn't, no couldn't understand why. He scratched the back of his head and rubbed his arm. He scribbled something on the paper and handed it to Pence.

'Sorry, but it' time I get going. It was nice meeting you, again, I think.' Pence nodded and gave a squeeze to Roxas' shoulder.

"Stop by any time, Roxas." Pence smiled. "I know Olette would be more than happy to see you." Roxas gave him a nod and waved as he left the small house. It was late in the afternoon and Roxas felt it best to go back to the big house. A light rain had picked up and gave Roxas small chills. Sighing heavily, the sound of Roxas' bare feet splashing in the puddles on the pavement filled the air around him. . .

When Roxas entered the house through the big red door, his heart skipped a beat. A single figure stood in the entrance hall. His arms were crossed, his feet were more than a shoulder's length apart, his eyes were a blazed with anger, and his mouth was pulled as if he was about to snarl. Roxas gulped and pressed his back against the door. So much for sneaking back in quietly.

Axel didn't move. Instead he lifted his hand and wagged his finger motioning for Roxas to come closer. With little control of his free will, Roxas moved closer to the, more than likely, livid red-head with his heart racing in his chest. Axel merely brushed the back on his against the blonde's cheek. A smiled cracked on his face relaxing the blond for a moment, then Axel, in a real quick motion pulled his hand back and the back of it met Roxas' face again, this time knocking him backwards. The smile that was on Axel's face faded and was replaced with a look full of pure anger. "What the hell did you think you were doing today?" The blond merely shook his head holding his hand up against the stinging pain in face. "I could have sworn I told you that you were forbidden from leaving this house!"

'But why?' Roxas signed. 'Mingle with humans, wrong, why?'

Axel grabbed the collar of Roxas' sweater and pulled their faces close together. "Simple Roxas. This is a haven for people like you. Soulless beings have a hard time finding a place in this world. Nobodies like you don't last long." Roxas' heart sank as Axel started to kiss the bottom of his jaw. "Humans are cold creatures. They find it hard to accept those that are different. The moment they find out what you are, they'll only shun you and possibly hunt you down." Roxas didn't want to believe, but for all he knew, the man Pence he met today could have been lying, he could have been talking about someone else. Then again, Axel could have been the one lying. Roxas wasn't so sure about either, but for right now, he would believe Axel. He had never given Roxas a reason not to believe him. Tears swelled up in Roxas' eyes blurring his vision. Axel stroked his back calming him as he picked him up and walked up stairs. . .

The next morning, Roxas sat in the shower letting the hot water run over his body. The air was thick with steam fogging up everything. It was hard to breathe, but Roxas didn't care. Last night, for the first time in who knows how long, Roxas had a dream. There wasn't much, but there was the cold blue. Even then, it showed in small sequences in the blurs of black and white, it haunted him. It also scared him not knowing what it could mean. And the chances of someone here telling him the truth seemed slim. Then again, there was one person-

Roxas knocked on a think wooden door; it took three knocks to get an answer. The door opened to reveal a man a few inches taller than him with grayish-blue hair covering the right half of his face. His eyes were pale, almost like cataracts, and his aura was bleak and lifeless. He rolled his eyes at the smaller blond. "What do you want?"

'Something only you will give me.' Roxas signed. 'The truth.'

Zexion crosses his arms a little shocked and leaned against the door hinge. "The truth?" Roxas nodded. "Well, well, aren't we the little rebel. The truth is simple Roxas; if you weren't so stupid you wouldn't be in this mess."

'What?' Roxas made an angry-shocked face.

"Nobodies aren't born, Roxas." Zexion stated matter-factually. "In order for Nobodies to exist, their soul has to be taken by a being of Hell or Heaven. Chances with either or are the same."

'Not making sense.' Roxas signed in agitation.

"Of course it wouldn't." Zexion flicked the blonde's forehead sending him flying backwards. "You're too stupid to make sense of anything." He shut the door and Roxas mentally kicked himself. He should have known better than to ask that demon. But he did get some sort of answer. At least now he knew that at some point he had a soul, but question was-what happened to it?

. . .

"Yeah, we're a little quant around here." Roxas looked from his book as Axel's voice rang through the entrance hall. "Try to keep to ourselves as much as possible."

"So the ritual in the middle of the park I've heard so much about is keeping to yourselves?" A different voice asked. It belonged to a boy who looked just around Roxas' age, but was really ten years younger than him. He wore a short-sleeve dress shirt with light blue plaid pants and a tie to match, with black convers with his brown hair stuck up in each and every direction.

Axel shrugged. "Hey, wanna-bes are very annoying. We really only did it to shut them up." Both of them chuckled. Roxas shook his head and went back to his book. "Now Roxas, really? We have a guest and you're just going to ignore him?"

Roxas looked up at the red-head. 'Yes. I'm not allowed speak with outsiders. Remember?'

The brunette smiled. 'Sorry.' Roxas was a little surprised. 'You not deaf. You sign why?'

'I can't speak.' It was true. Roxas had lost his voice completely some time ago. His first day here he tried countless times to ask questions and speak with the others, but all that came out were puffs of dry air. Saix took him under his wing after that and taught him sign as a way of communication. 'Don't know why.'

'Oh.' The brunette finger spelled. 'My name what, S-O-R-A. You?'

'R-O-X-A-S.' Finger spelled. He placed his left hand over his chest and with his right hand, made little squiggles with his right hand above his left. His right hand also made the sign letter 'R' making his name, soul with an 'R'.

"Hm. That's an interesting sign name." The Sora kid pinched his chin with his thumb and rested his elbow in his hand.

"What makes you say that?" Axel asked with a strong hint of skepticism in his voice.

"Just because I've never seen it before." Sora played off the question with pure nonchalants. Something Roxas never saw anyone do with Axel. In fact, he knew Axel saw as an insult. No one was nonchalant with him. It was either be serious or keep your mouth shut with him. Roxas swallowed. "I'm sorry; I don't really socialize much with others. My fiancé and I do a lot of traveling so I don't get to stay in one place for very long." Something in Sora's eyes seemed sorrowful.

"How bad could traveling with the girl you're going to marry be?" Axel walked Sora into the living room joining Roxas.

"That's fiancé with one 'E', not two." Sora said pulling his brown messenger bag over his head and placed it on the floor. "I'm marrying another guy. That doesn't weird you out, does it?" Axel cocked an eyebrow before pulling Roxas' face to his and kissing in a hunger like manor.

"No problem at all." Axel grinned. "Only that I'm not the lucky guy."

Sora chuckled. "You are charming, but sorry, you're not my type."

"What is your type?" Roxas rolled his eyes and turned back to his book. Sora had his grin on his face and his eye landed on Roxas.

"The silent type." Roxas slowly raised his head and met Sora's eyes. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but something in Sora's eyes peeked Roxas' curiosity. Did this boy know something that Roxas didn't? What was he doing here? Whatever it was, Roxas felt it was a good idea to know. . .

The hours ticked by and Axel felt it was a good idea to let Sora spend the night. The town was really scary at night by yourself if you were new to it. Sora agreed if he was allowed to spend the night with Roxas. Axel didn't protest and neither did Zexion. Once in the comfort of the blonde's room, Sora plopped back on the bed.

"Can't remember the last time I felt a bed this soft." Sora sighed.

Roxas locked his door before he turned to face Sora. 'You here why?' Roxas signed.

Sora sat up and was dead serious face. 'Yesterday, my fiancé got phone call. From who, your uncle, L-U-X-O-R-D.'

'Why?'

Sora shook his head. 'Because, you.' Roxas raised an eyebrow. 'Your name what, R-O-X-A-S. You have family and friends who love you. They worried why, you! Open your eyes! Now, open your memory!' Roxas was taken aback. Now he was getting more questions than answers. 'I know, you scared you, but please, trust me. Tomorrow, we leave here together. You will understand then. Ok?'