Gah! I just had exams today v.v I hate summarising. Who the HELL thought it was a good idea to make someone who's studying to be a translator learn how to summarise? °twitches°

Well anyway, here's to hoping I don't get stuck with any resits. I'll leave you people to read the chapter in peace now since that's basically why you're all here, not to hear me bitch. Enjoy folks and R&R!


--: 04 :--
Something About An Answer

'Got it… memorized?' Roxas suppressed the urge to pretend he hadn't heard what the other had said. People who could create fire out of nowhere probably shouldn't be challenged like that.

He held up the key he was still holding, glancing over to where the other one had fallen and cursing when he noticed he'd never get to it in time if this guy decided to attack. He focussed back on Axel, "So what are you planning to do? Burn us to death?"

Axel raised an eyebrow, the amusement never leaving his face. "If I'd wanted you dead, why would I have saved you just now?"

"I could've taken him," Roxas grumbled. He heard Sora cough softly behind him and glared at his brother. "I could've!"

Sora gave him a sweet smile as if he hadn't done anything before looking back at Axel. "So, if you're not here to kill us, can you tell us what's going on?"

Axel's eyebrows raised, his gaze flicking from the keys in their hands back to their faces. "Keyblade wielders that don't know what they're fighting. Now I've seen everything."

"Keyblade… wielders…?" Roxas looked back down to the giant key in his hand. The thing was called a… keyblade. They were actually meant to be used as weapons to hit things with.

"I'm out of here." Roxas lowered the keyblade and started walking back into the camp. He cautiously passed Axel — the older man giving him a surprised look as he walked away — and tried to keep his eyes away from the many corpses that were lying further up ahead. Maybe there were still others around that he could help. They couldn't all be dead, could they? Hayner was too damned stubborn to get killed. At the very least he'd still be running around, right? He could use some company if he was going even half as insane as he thought he was.

"Roxas, where are you going?" Sora ran over to him and grabbed his arm. Roxas winced as the wound he'd previously gotten stung at the sudden movement — funny how he hadn't noticed it at all during the fight — and he had to take a moment to make his head stop spinning. At least it was getting better. He turned around slowly and looked Sora straight in the eye.

"I have been attacked two nights in a row by weird animals I've never seen before in my life. These animals somehow defied the laws of physics by being able to fly without wings or anything of the sort, and creating fire, ice, and lightning out of nothingness. I couldn't knock those things out with a branch or a struggle bat but the minute I get two giant-ass keys from out of nowhere, I can get rid of them in one or two blows. Then some guy with a hair colour that shouldn't exist shows up, throws some fireballs, and tells me those key things are called 'keyblades' and are apparently really used to kill things with." Roxas took a deep breath before he turned around again. "I've obviously gone insane. I'm going to embrace the insanity and run around like a crazy person now."

"You were attacked yesterday too?" Sora's eyes widened and Roxas slapped his forehead, regretting the action as his head instantly protested. He turned around to glare at Sora, the brunet taking a nervous step backwards. "That's all you caught of what I just said? You're holding a giant key of your own and you haven't come to the same conclusion as I did?"

Sora looked back down at the key and just shrugged. "I still think they look kind of cool." As Roxas' glare intensified, Sora grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Besides, we can't both have gone insane while seeing the same things. I can see the guy with the impossible hair colour as well."

Axel frowned and actually pouted as his hair was insulted for a second time. "Can we stop talking about my hair and go back to the part where you two don't even know what you're holding?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, turning back towards the camp. "I think you just said they're keyblades. If you don't mind, I'm going to save some imaginary people that might still be around."

"Everyone's already dead; I checked."

Roxas stopped yet again and swallowed hard, reminding himself that this wasn't real and his classmates were just fine. The way Axel had said everyone had died bothered him though. There hadn't been a single hint of caring in his voice. In fact, there hadn't really been any trace of any emotion in it. Couldn't he have come up with a more caring person?

"Everyone's… dead?" Roxas turned back to see Sora turning pale, the keyblade falling from his hands as they started to shake. Naturally Sora hadn't noticed the bodies further up ahead yet.

Unable to stand it when his brother was close to tears, Roxas quickly came back over to the brunet and put a hand on his shoulder, feeling Sora shake all over, "Sora, it's just—"

He wasn't even able to finish his sentence as Sora pulled away, glared at him through tear-filled eyes, and punched him.

Roxas fell to the ground, too stunned at the reaction to be able to do anything. Even the mild spinning of his world did nothing to distract him from Sora's face. Sora continued to shake, though it was from anger now. "We're not crazy! Those weird things did attack us and they did kill our friends! Snap out of it, Roxas!" Sora kicked the key that was lying at his feet before collapsing to the ground in tears. Roxas stared in shock for another moment. Sora had never gotten angry, let alone at him, and he'd definitely never punched anyone. In fact, Sora had attracted bullies like crazy when they'd been younger and had never lifted a finger against them, despite the fact that Roxas knew through past struggle matches that Sora could've fought them off.

His head turned in the direction of the camp, taking in the sight of the frozen and lifeless corpses. Patches of ice were spread all over the place and some of the bodies had been mauled so badly by the shadow things, he could make out the flow of blood from where he sat.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. The thought that he'd gone insane just didn't hold up anymore as he heard Sora's sobs.

He sat back up and pulled Sora into his arms, staying silent this time as he fought to keep his own emotions in check. To distract himself, he looked back up at Axel and focussed on what the redhead had said before. "So, keyblade wielders?"

Axel nodded, not fazed in the slightest by the emotional display in front of him, "Haven't your parents told you about this? I might be new to all of this but even I know about keyblade wielders."

Roxas let out a snort, "If our mother ever saw a giant key appearing out of nowhere, she'd scream and call the army to take care of it."

"Interesting mother you've got," Axel chuckled. "So you have no idea what you were fighting or what I am, huh?"

"A guy with an impossible hair colour?" Roxas couldn't help but smile a little as Axel sulked at the comment.

"No, what you were fighting were demons. So am I, just a little different from them."

Roxas stared before shaking his head slowly, "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Nope."

Roxas took a deep breath and for the first time in his life tried to suppress the rational part of his mind that was telling him demons only existed in video games and horror stories. "Demons, giant keys that are used as weapons… What's next? Aliens?"

"Nah, haven't seen those around yet."

"The 'yet' part is very reassuring," Roxas grumbled. "So explain, what makes you different from the other… demons."

"Well for one I'm extremely good looking."

"And you obviously have a bigger ego too," Roxas added dryly. Axel continued without missing a beat.

"But to know what makes me different, you'd first need to know what the other things are. Heartless, which is what those things are called, are demons that need the essence of a human heart to survive. As long as they eat that essence, they can live forever. If they'd ever stop though, they'd die. The essence also makes them stronger. The purer or more innocent a heart is, the more power a Heartless gains."

"They eat the essence of human hearts?" Sora pulled away from Roxas' chest, wiping away his tears and looking up at Axel.

"Yeah, the essence of a heart is what humans use to feel emotions and such. The Heartless themselves lost their hearts when they became demons so it's an instinct of sorts to try and get back what they've lost. No matter how many hearts they steal though, they won't ever be able to feel again. Heartless lose all ability to think rationally though and are guided purely by instinct so they'll never realise that it's pointless."

"So what makes you different?" Roxas asked, glancing over at one of the giant keys on the ground. "And why can we beat those Heartless things with giant keys but not with anything else?"

Axel sighed, a hint of emotion appearing on his face for the first time. "Heartless were once human. When a human is attacked by a Heartless and their heart is taken, they become Heartless themselves. Your friends," he motioned towards the corpses, "will turn into Shadows soon enough."

Sora paled as he looked back towards the camp. "They'll turn into those shadowy things? Can't we stop that?"

Axel shook his head. "No, they've already started to change into Heartless. There are only two things that can happen to them now. Either they turn into the things that attacked you, or they become like me; a Nobody."

The hint of melancholy that had been showing on Axel's face disappeared and he grinned. "Heartless generally leave a trace of a person's heart behind. With most people this trace simply leaks out like blood from an open wound. Some people manage to cling onto it, though. When they turn into demons they maintain their human form and still have a shadow of their emotions left. Those emotions only show in extreme situations though."

'That explains why he doesn't seem bothered at all by what's happening.' Roxas frowned. If Axel had no emotions, why had he saved him last night? Not to mention just now? "So if you don't care, why bother saving people? I mean… you were the one who saved me last night, right?"

The melancholy returned to Axel's face for a moment before the redhead pushed it away and shrugged. "I didn't exactly ask to become a Nobody when I was turned into one. It's not like I go around looking for people to save, but since I was around anyway, I figured I could give you a hand. I never thought you'd be stupid enough to stick around for a second night."

"I thought I'd been dreaming…" Roxas looked away. That's what he'd told himself anyway.

"Dreams don't hurt." Axel gave a pointed look. Roxas could also feel Sora looking at him weirdly. He glared back at the two of them. "When you get attacked by supernatural things, reality isn't the first thing you think you're in."

"Want me to prove you're awake right now?" A small flame appeared over Axel's hand, illuminating his face in a way that sent a shiver down Roxas' spine.

"I think my arm is proof enough, thanks." Roxas glanced down at his left arm, the wound no longer bleeding but still a fiery red colour. It still stung when he moved it so he had more than enough reminders that this wasn't a dream. At least his head had stopped spinning.

"Damn." Axel let the flame disappear and sighed. "Anyway, as for your keyblades being the only things that can kill Heartless, that's not entirely true. Nobody magic also works as you've seen." Another flame appeared and snaked its way across Axel's hands before disappearing. "I don't know why those are the only things that can kill them, though. All I know is that Heartless simply aren't affected by other things. . It's why everyone on this island was killed way back when."

"Killed?" Sora blinked. "I thought the story said they disappeared without a trace."

Axel stared at them for another moment. Roxas frowned at the strange look he was given and narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You two really don't know anything about those keyblades, do you?" Axel's lips twitched.

Roxas and Sora gave each other a questioning look before looking back at Axel and shaking their heads.

Axel burst into laughter, doubling over and clutching at his stomach. Roxas' brow twitched. Sora instantly turned red in embarrassment, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was embarrassed about.

It took a few minutes for Axel to calm down. The redhead wiped away a tear and let himself fall to the ground. Shaking his head as the last chuckled subsided, he sat up and looked at them both. Roxas continued to glare in annoyance and Sora was staring down at the ground, biting his lip nervously.

Axel chuckled once more before speaking again. "Okay, I've only been a Nobody for about a decade or something, so I wasn't around when this island was still inhabited. It's kind of a popular story though so I've heard it a few times from other Nobodies I've met. About 75 years ago a clan lived on this island. Everyone in that clan had keyblades. They were the ones who killed Heartless when they appeared in this world. As you might imagine, they weren't exactly popular amongst demons, so there was one Nobody who started planning to get rid of them. He used the portal that links the Realm of Darkness to this island — the one the clan had been guarding — and set loose as many Heartless and Nobodies as he could find. There had never been an organised attack so the clan was completely overwhelmed. In one night everyone on this island was killed and turned into Heartless themselves. Since they were keyblade masters and some would have probably held onto the trace of essence in their heart, the man who had led the attack personally made sure not a drop of that essence actually remained."

The story their teacher had told them flashed through Roxas' and Sora's minds, the entire thing becoming a lot more real all of a sudden. Obviously some of the facts had gotten messed up, or rather misinterpreted, but the basics of the story were still the same.

"So if everyone was killed, how did we end up with these things?" Roxas glanced at the keys lying on the ground. "And why did I get two while Sora only got one?"

Sora, apparently only now noticing this little fact for the first time, blinked and then pouted in realisation. "Yeah, why does Roxas get one more than me?"

Axel shrugged. "I told you, I wasn't around at that time so I wouldn't know. One of the clan's members probably survived and managed to stay in hiding or something. You two just happened to be the first ones to summon keyblades again since that time if your parents really don't have one."

Silence fell as Roxas tried to wrap his mind around everything that had been said. He was used to rationalising everything, not believing supernatural forces were to blame for what happened to people. The complete change in mindset was giving him a a headache, but at least he wasn´t fainting over it like he had the night before.

After a moment Axel frowned as he looked towards the camp. "I do wonder why the Heartless came here, though. This island's been abandoned for so long, there wouldn't have been any reason for them to randomly come looking for hearts here."

"You said that the purer a heart is, the more power a Heartless gains when he eats it. Those keyblade wielders from the past sound like they had pretty pure hearts so maybe Roxas and I do too." Sora drew his knees up to his chest, his voice growing quiet as he finished his thought. "Maybe we drew them here."

"I doubt that. You two were never trained."

Sora and Roxas looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, noticing a guy around their age leaning up against a nearly tree. Sora's eyes wandered from silver hair that shone in the moonlight, to sea-green eyes that were staring at them intently, down the rest of the other's body. He bit his lip and blushed as he noticed what he was doing and quickly brought his eyes back up to the teen's face.

Roxas' eyes narrowed at the newcomer. "More demons, just great."

The silveret pushed away from the tree and walked over, coming to a standstill not too far away from Axel. Axel looked him over as well, frowning as if something was bothering him. "Never seen you before. Who are you?"

The apprehension the teen's face had previously held melted away as he spoke, "Riku."

"What a sea of information you are." Roxas rolled his eyes, reaching out for the keyblade he'd dropped earlier and putting his hand on it in case this guy ended up fighting with them. "What do you want?"

"You seem to be lacking some information I can give you," Riku answered simply, his eyes focussed on the keyblade Roxas was holding. His face was completely devoid of any kind of emotion though, so Roxas guessed Riku was another one of the humans that had managed to hang onto a bit of their heart.

"I think we'll be fine without knowing exactly what happened here." Roxas got to his feet, dragging Sora up as well. He didn't even trust Axel completely, let alone some new guy that was offering free information.

He turned around to head back towards the camp, hoping they could get out of here before everyone started turning into Heartless. He wasn't entirely sure if he could swing his giant key around at them, knowing who they'd been before. He wasn't even entirely sure if he'd be able to walk past the bodies without giving in to the urge to go and find Hayner or Kairi, just to check if they were really….

"Really? So I guess that girl who was dragged away from here screaming your names doesn't mean that much to you."

Roxas was really getting sick and tired of being stopped every time he tried to walk away.

Sora whirled around, eyes wide. There was only one girl in their class they were really good friends with and who would call out to them. "Kairi?"

Riku shrugged. "If that's what her name is. All I know is that a man dragged her through the portal and that she's the reason the Heartless came here."

Sora ripped free from Roxas' grasp, Roxas' protests going completely unheard. The brunet ran back to stand in front of Riku, his eyes large and pleading for the other to tell them what had happened. Riku stared at the him for a moment before falling prey to those eyes, actually taking a step back in discomfort before he spoke again. "Your friend is one of seven girls that can open up the door to Kingdom Hearts, the place where all hearts are born. The man who took her is trying to get there because he wants to become immortal. With an infinite amount of hearts at his disposal, he'd never have to worry about growing old and dying. He'd also grow so powerful that no one would ever be able to stop him again."

Even Riku himself seemed surprised he'd told them so much in one go. Roxas would've smirked at how effective Sora's little trick was if he hadn't just heard one of his friends had been kidnapped by a madman.

A dumbfounded silence fell as Riku waited patiently for them to process what he'd just said. Roxas opened his mouth to call Riku insane but his voice had left him and he closed it again. After everything that had happened this really didn't sound as crazy as it should.

As no reply came, Riku sighed and shook his head. "Fine, I'll start at the beginning, then."


Yay, now I've got everyone introduced that matters! Well, aside from the bad guys obviously but we'll get to that. I hope nobody minds the large amounts of information I'm now throwing around; it's kinda necessary. See you all next week! Review!