Oh maaan, sorry guys. I totally meant to finish this chapter way earlier than I did... And Fanfiction kept giving me an error mesage while I tried to post it, so I've actually had this chapter done for a few days now... Well, anyway, here it is! Sorry for the wait!

And before we go on, I need to say two things: 1) I don't own anything besides the words in this specific order, the plot, and the characters for the most part, except Iridessa and Seyzel, and 2) All the italicized blocks of text like in this first part and later on in this chapter are Axel's dreams. OH! I lied-3 things. 3) I'll start replying to reviews at the beginning of each chapter starting with chapter 4, so please review a lot and get my fingers busy typing away! =D

POSSIBLE SPOILERS, PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

Disclaimer: Also, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, the characters, and all that jazz. I'm just a really big fan, happy to write fanfiction for you all (and myself ;D).

Enjoy the chapter~!


Chapter 3: Delving Deeper

"Man, first day of high school… It hasn't been too rough, though—thank goodness," I say, my hands on my hips.

Seyzel frowns. "Ha, for you, it hasn't," he says.

"What? Did you get bullied already?"

He nods, his glasses glinting in the sunlight. Seyzel has been my friend since the start of middle school, three years ago. I met him when I was on my way home one day and saw him getting picked on by these older kids. Naturally, I stepped up to the plate and saved his neck with my trusty weapons. After that, he practically groveled at my feet, begging me to be his bodyguard. I couldn't refuse, so ever since then, we've pretty much just been friends.

"Who was it! I'll kick their asses!"

Seyzel just points to something or someone behind me just as a large, looming shadow falls on me. I feel hair fall onto my shoulders as someone puts their arms around me. Looking up, I see two turquoise eyes staring into mine. What the—!

"Iridessa, let go of me or I'll kick your ass!" I try to pull away, but it's not working.

"Geez Louise, Lea, you really need to clean that potty mouth of yours." She pouts, her arms still wrapped around my torso. I try to escape from her grasp, but it's no use—she's just too strong. "Stop struggling."

My face feels really hot, and my heart won't stop pounding. "Stop being…so strong—and tall, too." She's nearly a head taller than I am, but only a year older. "Geez, are you even a girl?"

Iridessa tightens her hold on me. "What! That's so offensive. You're just short—and I have boobs, you know." Yeah, of course I know; they're pressed against my back.

I wince as Iridessa lifts up my shirt and places her hands on my chest.

"W-what are you doing!" I gasp, my face burning. "Your hands… are really cold…"

"Your skin's burning up, Lea," she says and pauses. "…And your heart's beating really fast… Oh—!"

Suddenly, Iridessa lets go of me, and I fall to my knees.

"Sorry…" she says.

Huh? "Why'd you stop?" I ask, standing up. Wait—no. "I mean, it's not like I wanted…"

I look up to her, but she's turned in the other direction. I follow her gaze to someone walking this way.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing to my sister?"

Sister? Oh, I see. Iridessa and this other guy look a lot alike. They've both got those turquoise eyes and that blue hair. The other guy finally comes up to us. Oh, and he's just as tall as Iridessa, too.

The guy suddenly pushes me onto the ground. "I'll ask again—what do you think you're doing to my sister?"

"Huh? She was the one—"

"I know what I saw. You were obviously manipulating her. Iridessa would never do such a vulgar thing." The iciness in this guy's eyes is terrifying.

"Bullshit!" I turn to Iridessa. "C'mon, Iri-chan! Tell your brother I didn't do anything!" Why isn't she looking at me! "Tell him you just came out of nowhere and constricted me—auugh!"

Suddenly, I'm on the ground again with an aching jaw. I look up at Iridessa's brother. His fist is still raised and he looks absolutely livid. "You will not spout such ridiculous lies about my sister," he says, practically growling. He grabs Iridessa's arm and pulls her away, leaving me on the ground and a bunch of onlookers disappointed that there was no fight. She didn't even look at me.

Seyzel offers me a hand. I take it, glaring in the direction Iridessa and her brother went.

"Waah!" Seyzel cries. "Lea, I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I'm not too good at fighting… And besides, that guy looked like the devil!"

"What? Eh, it's okay. He's not worth it."

"What was that all about anyway?" he asks.

"No clue," I say, rubbing my jaw. "Huh, I never knew Iri-chan had a brother… Guy's got a seriously strong punch though."

"So, I'm guessing you already knew that girl."

"Yeah, I met her at the beginning of last summer. I wonder why he thought she was innocent. She was clearly sexually harassing me…" I can feel my face turning a little red again. "If anyone's manipulative, it's her."

"Hmm… Do you like her?" Seyzel casually asks.

"Huh! Of course not! How do you even figure—?"

"Well, your face was red almost as red as your hair, and you almost looked like you were enjoying it."

Damn. I shrug. "…You got me."

Seyzel smiles, then his eyes widen. "Oh, wait! I remember those two from elementary school. The guy's name is… Augh, I can't remember, but it started with an "I." Anyway, his sister—Iridessa, was it?—was a year above him, but he was still with her every chance he got. He never let her out of his sight, you know? He wouldn't even let most people near her, and if someone he didn't like—he didn't like most people, mind you—even so much as looked in his sister's direction, he would glare them down."

"Wow… He's one touchy guy, then. We barely know each other, and I'm already on his bad side."

"Yeah, pretty much. Oh, and when she left for middle school, the guy was all alone 'cause he'd pretty much just drawn a circle around him and his sister that kept everyone else away from them. I wonder if he's got any friends now…"

I laugh. "Probably not with that attitude."

"Well… maybe if we—"

"We are NOT making friends with him," I interrupt, already knowing what Seyzel has in mind. "We barely know each other and we're already enemies."

"But, think about it this way: it might be the only way for you to hang out with Iridessa if he keeps such tight security on her."

Huh… "Well, I guess you've got a good point." If I wanna continue my friendship with Iridessa, then I guess I've got no choice. I look up at the sky. "School's over for today, and I don't have any homework—thank goodness—so let's do this." I raise my fist and punch the air in front me. "Commence operation: Make Friends with the Bastard! We're gonna do it, Seyzel. Got it memorized?"

Seyzel and I are back in our normal outfits, sitting in the bushes in front of Iridessa's house.

"So, tell me again: why in the world are we in the bushes?" Seyzel asks.

"I told you, we have to 'assume an inconspicuous position.' I read it in a book before I came here."

"You obviously have the comprehension of a four year-old because I'm pretty sure there's nothing more conspicuous than two people hiding in the bushes in front of someone else's house."

That's not Seyzel's voice. I look up to see Iridessa's brother looming over me. Seyzel screams.

"Hey…buddy. How's it going?" I smile nervously.

The guy yanks me up by my shirt.

"Don't try and act innocent." He releases his hold on my shirt. "So, what? You here to apologize for earlier?"

"Apologize? You can't be serious! You freaking punched me in the jaw—and it still hurts, by the way."

"Hmph, good," he says, smirking.

"Psst, Lea."

I look down at Seyzel, who's still in the bushes. "Get out of there already!"

"Right… sorry." He steps closer to me and whispers, "Remember the plan. We're supposed to be making friends with him not provoking him."

"Ah, you're right!" I whisper, and then more loudly, I say, "This guy's stupid face made me forget."

"Lea!" Seyzel turns to the guy. "Sorry about my friend, here. He just doesn't know how to control his mouth sometimes. Anyway," he says and holds out his hand. "I'm Seyzel, and this guy's Lea."

The guy shakes Seyzel's hand. "Nice to meet you," he says, and even smiles. He looks even more like Iridessa when he doesn't look…mean. He then turns to me when I hold my hand out for him. "And I already know who you are; Iridessa talks about you a lot."

Yes! "She does!"

The guy's smile fades. "Unfortunately, and F.Y.I., I'm not shaking your hand so you go on ahead and put it down." He turns back to Seyzel, and his smile resumes its place on his face. "Anyway, I'm Isa. The girl your friend here so rudely touched earlier is my sister, Iridessa. She's probably inside. Why don't you come in?" Isa walks towards his house, Seyzel and I following, and opens the door. Seyzel walks inside, but Isa slams the door in my face when I try to go in, too.

"Wh-what the hell! Let me in, let me in!" I moan. This stupid idiot really gets on my nerves. Oh!

I run to the side of the house, dive into the bushes, and peer through the window right above me.

Ah! Perfect view. Seyzel and Isa are in the kitchen, talking. Oh, and Iridessa's there! She's holding something… A tray, I think. Seyzel and Isa each take… a cookie from it. Yeah, it's a tray. Wait! No fair I want a cookie, especially if Iridessa made it…

I throw myself against the window. "LET ME IN."

Seyzel jumps, Iridessa nearly drops the tray, and Isa glares at me. He says something that I can't make out, walks to the window, and opens it.

"What!" he asks, eyes gleaming with anger. "What do you want!"

"I just wanna get inside," I say and put my fingers on the window sill to climb in. Isa reaches up for the window to pull it back down. "Wait—don't—AAAUUGGH!"

Axel stirred in his sleep, subconsciously feeling the pain in his fingers.

"Oh, Lea, I'm sorry my brother smashed your fingers in the window," Iridessa says, holding ice to my fingers. She is sitting next to me while Seyzel and Isa sit on the other side of the room. Seyzel looks a bit nervous, but Isa has his arms crossed, looking infuriated.

"I'm sorry, too," I say, and then I mumble, "Stupid bastard."

"Lea! What'd I tell you about cursing so much?"

"Sorry, but why should I have to control my tongue when I'm speaking the truth?"

Before I can fend myself, Isa's right next to me, ready to strike. However, Iridessa guards me from him.

"Isa, stop it!"

"Don't protect him! He just insulted me, and don't forget about what he did earlier, either."

Iridessa sighs, obviously exasperated. "Look, guys, we seriously need to have a talk." She turns to me first and says, "Lea, I'm sorry I got you into this mess. My brother just doesn't understand some things he really needs to." She looks at her brother now, saying, "And, Isa, sweetie, I'm not the innocent little girl I used to be. I don't know what you thought you saw earlier, but Lea wasn't 'manipulating me' or whatever it was you said. I hugged him like that on purpose." She giggles a bit, looking at me. "Hee, I'm sorry, Lea, it's just that I really like hugging you 'cause your skin is so warm… It's like you've got a fire inside of you…"

I look away from her, and I can feel my face burning. Isa clears his throat.

"Oh? Oh, sorry. …Anyway, Isa, I really did hug Lea on purpose. I'm just that kinda person, you know? I just don't mind touching people like that… Anyway, I'm older than you, Isa, so you can't go around acting like you own me or something. I appreciated it when we were younger, but now it's just plain annoying." Isa looks like his sister's words literally slapped him in the face, and Iridessa won't look him in the eye. "I'm really sorry, but I'm sixteen! I need my space…"

Isa looks so hurt right now, I almost feel sorry for the guy. "I… I see, but," he says, but then his expression completely changes. He glares at me, his eyes throwing daggers right through me. "But I still don't like this guy!"

"What!" I jump up next to him, so we're face-to-face—well, as close as we can get to being face-to-face because Isa's a whole head taller than I am. "What the hell did I do!"

Isa just continues to glare at me while Iridessa scolds me again for cursing. "Why the heck wouldn't I dislike my sister's boyfriend?" Isa asks. Wait…

"Boyfriend!" Iridessa and I both exclaim.

"What? You're not…?"

"No, we aren't!" I say.

Iridessa gets up from her seat and places a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Look, Isa, you've got it all wrong. First of all, Lea's not my boyfriend, and, like I said before, it was all me earlier… So please just stop being so overprotective."

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you to get hurt again like you did before," says Isa.

"Huh? What happened before?" I ask, turning to Iridessa.

"N-nothing happened before…" But I know something did. She's obviously lying to me. "Um… Anyway, Isa, you have no reason to hate Lea. Now make up with him while I go get the cookies."

When Iridessa leaves the room, I ask Isa, "What? What happened to her?"

"None of your business."

"…"

"…"

An awkward silence passes over us until Isa finally speaks up. "Look, I'm… sorry. And, just so you know, I'm only apologizing because my sister told me to. I still don't like you, and I probably never will."

"Your apology is accepted, but, for the record, I'm only accepting it because your sister would want me to. I still don't like you either, and I probably never will."

"Good. And I'll let you hang out with Iridessa… only if you promise to protect her."

"Now that, I will do. Let's shake on it." I hold my hand out for him, he takes it, and we shake just as Iridessa comes in the room with the tray of cookies.

"I'm glad you guys made up," she says, smiling.

Yeah, I guess we did make up… Sort of.


Axel and Roxas sat atop the clock tower eating ice cream after their mission together that day.

"I'm gonna miss this ice cream thing we do," Axel said, his gaze focused on the setting sun.

"Huh? Why?"

"Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna be away."

"Oh…" Roxas said, looking fairly disheartened by the news.

"Since you're my buddy, I guess I can fill you in," Axel said, taking his chances by telling Roxas the details. He went on, saying, "I'm gonna be at Castle Oblivion for a while."

"What's that?"

"The Organization's got a second castle situated in the world between worlds," he answered. "It's called Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah. I wish people told me these things."

Axel fell silent for a moment before rising to his feet. "Well, I gotta head back and get ready. Fun, fun, fun… Anyway, you take your time," he said, and then he left for the Castle.

Just after the last remnants of Axel's corridor of darkness melted into nonexistence, Roxas raised his cleaned off ice cream stick, having noticed the word "WINNER" printed on its side.


Axel's breath was hitched, he had but sliver of health left, and he was running. Fast.

"Uh-oh!" A heartless that appeared out of nowhere flew at him. Chakrams in his sweating hands, he slashed at it, but it still had life to spare. Axel, on the other hand did not.

Ignoring the heartless, he picked up the pace, his feet pounding much harder on the ground than they had been before. He had been sent on a mission to defeat an Orcus in a weird place called "Wonderland." Despite its pleasant name, the world was far from it, in Axel's opinion: yes, the scenery was pretty great, but he had long past forgotten its initial beauty. At first, he had been focused on defeating his enemy, but it had proved to be far too strong for him, who was still fairly weak for someone who had been a member of Organization XIII for over two years. Presently, however, he was completely bent on fleeing the battle, but the Orcus was extremely relentless and had been chasing him through the hedge maze. To make matters worse, he was lost.

And to top it all off, he was on the verge of collapsing—he barely had any health left, he had used up all of his potions, and he had never been too good at casting Cure, let alone any other kind of magic besides Fire magic. The only thing keeping him going, he was certain, was the fear of dying. He had stopped caring about failing another mission much earlier, probably right after he realized he was lost in the maze.

'Gotta… keep… pushing…' Axel thought as he ran on, only to be halted by a tall hedge wall blocking his path. 'Crap… Dead en—aaugh!' Axel began to think, but his thoughts were interrupted by the Orcus' blade making contact with his back, and he fell to the ground, tears streaming down his fac. The breath had been knocked out of him, and his whole body ached. He willed himself to get back up and try with what little strength he had left to defend himself, but to no avail. 'Too much… pain.'

This was it. He was done. 'They'll probably come looking for me since I won't RTC, but they're not gonna find me. I wonder what Isa would think…' Axel grimaced at the pain and his foolish thinking. 'Isa wouldn't care. No… Isa would, but Saïx… Never gonna happen.'

The Orcus' shadow fell on Axel, the Nobody's opponent ready to deal the final blow. Axel tensed, preparing for what lay beyond the gate of eternal sleep for those like him who had no hearts, and—

"GUARD!" sounded a deep voice from somewhere behind the Orcus, and a shining wall appeared between the Orcus and its helpless victim, protecting the latter from the sword. As the sword struck the barrier, however, the Orcus suddenly disappeared and Saïx was left in its place.

"Good work, Number VII," the deep voice said again, and Axel recognized it as belonging to none other than Xemnas, his Superior.

"Yes, thank you, Superior," said Saïx. "Although… I don't understand why the Orcus has turned into Axel."

'Saïx?' Axel thought, but his mind was too numbed and he began to drift into unconsciousness.

"Ah, yes," Xemnas drawled. "I will explain, but first…" The Superior hovered over to Axel's limp body, picked the Nobody up, and quickly cast a Cure on him. Axel promptly regained consciousness, although his senses were still quite dulled.

"Where…?" Axel's vision unclouded just as his mind did, and he exclaimed, his memories unforgotten, "Ack! The Orcus! Is this—! Am I—!

"Remain calm, Number XIII," said Xemnas, and Saïx let his claymore disappear as he listened obediently. Xemnas released his hold on Axel before addressing both of them, saying, "This mission was a test—mostly for you, Number VII, but you were observed, as well, Number VIII. You see," the Superior said, "the Orcus each of you saw was an illusion—in truth, you were battling each other and were being evaluated on your performance."

"And I suppose I passed?" Saïx asked.

"Precisely."

Axel was reluctant to ask about his own performance, but he did so, anyway. "…What about me?"

"Compared to your opponent, your skills are below par. However, in any normal circumstance, your performance most likely would have been satisfactory."

Axel's shoulders slumped slightly at his rating, disappointed that he didn't do as well as the Superior hoped, but still incredibly relieved that his life spared and that he was never going to die in the first place.

"Your mission is accomplished. I suggest you return to the castle at once." Once this was said, Xemnas opened a corridor of darkness and stepped inside before it closed in on itself, leaving Axel and Saïx alone.

"Um… good job," Axel said awkwardly. His relationship with his old friend had recently begun to fade, and speaking to Saïx had just become… weird.

Saïx simply nodded, which ticked Axel off a bit.

"That's it?" the redhead asked. "Not even a 'thank you' or anything?"

"I don't see the point." He turned his head, and his piercing yellow eyes met Axel's. "You should be thanking me, really."

"What? For what!"

"For sparing your life."

"Sparing my…?" Axel felt a surge of anger he had not felt in a while. " Are you insane? You would've killed me had Xemnas not—"

"Lord Xemnas—" Saïx corrected.

"Who cares! You're being ridiculous!" Axel stopped, his heart racing, his eyesight blurring from the anger. Then, in a much softer voice, he asked, "What's happened to you?"

Saïx sighed, seemingly a bit exasperated. "We've been over this before…"

"Yes, we have, but things are still just as… messed up as ever," said Axel, a hint of a plea in his tone and eyes.

Axel opened his mouth to say something more, but Saïx acted first, instead, embracing the other Nobody. Axel was caught of guard by this, his arms still hanging at his sides.

When Saïx spoke again, his voice was not much more than a whisper. "Do you want me to apologize?" he asked. "Apologize for simply carrying out my mission? You don't forget our purpose, and I won't forget our friendship. Lea." At this, he let go, turned around, and started to head for the corridor of darkness to RTC. "You're the weaker one, now," Saïx said, but Axel was too far away to hear.


ENTRY 6

Axel is going to some place called Castle Oblivion. He told me because we're friends. He had to go home early to get ready, and after he left I noticed the word WINNER on my ice cream stick. I wonder what I won… I'll ask him when I see him tomorrow.


Castle Oblivion

They pushed up the C.O. plan. Our little hero with the key must've made a move. Me and his Nobody have been meeting up for ice cream the last few days. Not the best conversationalist, but at least he's mastered a few facial expressions besides "doom" and "gloom." I told him about C.O., but he didn't seem to follow. Guess that's understandable.

I had another dream this morning. I remember Isa being there, but this time there were two others, I think. What were their names again? I feel like there was more to it than that, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. Not now.


Yay! That's it for this chapter. And FYI, the "Entry 6" thing is Roxas's diary entry for... Day 22, I believe, just as "Castle Oblivion" is Axel's entry for Day 22 in the Secret Reports, both for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Aaand, the random unitalicized bit in the middle of the chapter is the last scene (I think it's the end of it) for Day 22, also in 358/2 Days. So yeah... Just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, wow, this was a pretty long chapter for me. It was like... 10 pages on word where I originally wrote it. It's mostly because of that first dream, with Lea and Isa and those other two. By the way, I wrote that to show basically how Isa and Lea met (not the official way; I just made it up off the top of my head ^^;) and how they went on to become friends. ...Well, actually, I didn't tell how they became friends, but it's pretty much implied. And I hope Iridessa, Isa's OC older sister wasn't too much of a Mary Sue. I tried to make her not one, but I dunno if it worked. And even if she is a Mary Sue, I'm not sure if she'll turn up again in this story like... more than once or twice more, so she's not too important. Neither is Seyzel, for that matter.

Mmm... Lastly, I hope that no one's bothered by all the dreamed memories of Isa and Lea. The plot will happen soon! I promise (hopefully)! I'm pretty sure next chapter is when Isa and Lea are actually introduced in their own time (as in not in Axel's dreams), so there won't be much more italicizedness and dreams and the sort. Maybe.

Yeah, so that's all I think. Oh, and like I said at the author's note in the beginning of this chapter before things got started, I will probably be replying to reviews at the beginning of each chapter starting next chapter, so keep those reviews coming, please (it's the only way I know people actually wanna read my story... besides Story Alerts, but still... I need the feedback =D)! So yes, please review and read! Thank you, thank you, thank you, EVERYONE! I love you, guys! See ya next chapter (hopefully it won't take 3 months again... or a whole year in the case of my other KH fic XD)!