Silence stole through The Castle That Never Was, winding between strange pillars and down hallways as twisted as it's inhabitants. Occasionally at the end of a corridor you could catch a glimpse of a black cloak whipping around a corner: the members of the Organization tended to flit in and out of the place like moths going from one light source to the next.

The bedrooms of the Nobodies were in the higher regions of the Castle. Every door was shut, and there was almost no one around to hear when a dark portal expanded suddenly in the middle of the hallway, breaking the silence, and a tall, red-haired man stepped out, dismissing the portal with a flick of his wrist.

"Axel."

The red-headed man turned to face the only other person in the hallway. Saix stepped out from the shadows, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes as cold as his long blue hair.

"You've been spending a lot of time in Twilight Town," he said coolly.

"I like it there," Axel replied, cocking his head to the side. "Charming little place. Great night life."

"You've been spending too much time with that girl," Saix retorted.

Axel grew still, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I don't see how anything I do is any of your business."

"We had a deal-" Saix hissed, stepping forward.

"That I would help you rise to the top?" Axel finished. "Well, things have changed lately. I've noticed that I don't really get anything out of that deal, so I'm not too interested anymore."

"That girl is the 'cause of this, isn't she?" Saix exclaimed. "She's changing you! She's not good for you! Must you be so obtuse?"

"Must you be such a drama queen?" Axel mocked. He turned away from his former friend and began to saunter towards his bedroom.

"Perhaps Marluxia will have more luck persuading the girl to stay away from you," Saix said quietly.

Axel froze, and then whirled around.

"You told the new guy to hunt down Drana?"

"I only told him to talk to her," Saix murmured. "But I wouldn't put it past him to ignore my instructions and instead use her for his own purposes. It really is too bad that you dragged her into this."

Axel stared at him, feeling like molasses was trickling into his veins. A thick, heavy sensation stole over him, and it took him a moment to recognize what this thing was: fear.

Saix watched, his expressionless face morphing subtly into a tiny smile, as Axel conjured a dark corridor and dove headlong into it, vanishing in a swirl of blackness.

"Hope you learn your lesson, Axel," he whispered.

Drana stared at the pink-haired man advancing on her, and she slowly backed up, trying to keep as much space between them as possible.

"I don't understand," she said carefully. "How could I be of use to you? I'm nobody, really, nobody at all."

The man smiled again. "Oh, you're not a Nobody, though you know all about them from Axel, am I right?"

"No," Drana said, swallowing hard. "You're absolutely wrong."

He chuckled, and then suddenly sprang forward, appearing in front of her before she could do so much as blink.

"I think I'm right," He whispered, grabbing her by the wrist. "And I think you're coming with me."

There was a distant whistling noise, and suddenly a flaming red disk shot between them, forcing the pink-haired man to let go of Drana and stumble backwards. The chakram hit the wall and embedded itself deep into the brick. Pink Hair didn't even have time to move before Axel surged forward and pinned him to the wall next to the chakram, flame wreathing the ground around his feet and dancing up his legs like he was some demon from hell.

Axel stared into Marluxia's eyes, feeling a rage he had never felt before, not even in his human life.

"If you touch her again," he said quietly, tightening his hold on Marluxia's neck. "I will kill you. You got that, Freshmeat?"

Marluxia gulped, unable to meet Axel's eyes for fear that they would incinerate him. "I...I understand, Number 8."

Axel glared at him for a second longer, and then released him, the flames dying down.

Drana stared as the pink-haired man slumped to the ground, massaging his neck and gasping for breath. Axel wrenched his chakram out of the wall, his every movement tense and irritated, and then turned to face her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger, and something else she didn't recognize.

"Hey!" the pink-haired man croaked out from his place on the ground. "Are you just going to leave me here?"

"Shut up, Pepto-Bismol," Axel snapped.

"I'm fine," Drana replied. "Thank you. How did you know-"

Axel laughed shortly. "Don't flatter yourself! I was just coming back here to ask you where to meet you tomorrow. Then I saw the new guy here picking on you. I didn't really want him to kill off my friends, so I thought I'd step in."

But Drana was almost certain that it had been more than that. Somehow, Axel had known that she was in danger and had come to help her. He had cared enough to come and help her.

The ground tilted and the sky began to swirl, and for a second Drana thought she was fainting, but then everything vanished and another image flew in front of her eyes, this one in black and white. A boy, a duck, and a weird dog thing were standing in a huge, white room of what looked like a castle, all of them wearing slightly awed, slightly confused expressions. Suddenly Drana saw him standing in front of them, smirking as usual. It was Axel, but not her Axel. His eyes were cold and he looked as if he really couldn't feel anything. The vision flickered, and Axel abruptly dashed forward, chakrams out, and attacked the boy. Almost as soon as their weapons met, the vision faded.

Drana's head swam and she realized that this time she really was falling, watching the world go sideways in slow motion. Axel leaped forward and his arms curled around her, catching her before she hit the ground.

"I thought you said you were okay!" he snarled angrily.

"I thought you said you couldn't feel emotion," Drana said, smiling slightly. Inside, her mind was racing. Why was Axel in the future colder than he was now? She had thought that she was helping him! He was starting to feel things now, but the him in the future was worse than ever!

"I hate to break up this cozy little discussion," the pink-haired man said, climbing slowly to his feet. "But I'll just be going now..."

"Whatever, Avon Lady," Axel threw at him.

"Stop it with the jokes about my hair!" the man exploded.

"Well, if it wasn't pink, I wouldn't make fun of it, now would I?" Axel retorted.

The other man spun angrily on his heel and summoned a dark portal, stomping quite childishly into it and vanishing.

Drana used Axel's distraction to slowly ease out of his arms, finding herself unconsciously missing the feeling of being held by him. She stood up, trying to shake off the warmth of his body next to hers.

"I was just dizzy," she said, smiling flippantly. "I'll see you in the square tomorrow, right?"

Axel got to his feet as well, still staring at where Pink Hair had disappeared to. "Right."

"Well, see you!"

Drana turned and ran away down the path, letting her feet run faster and faster across the stones until the houses around her blurred into long coloured lines alongside her. What was she doing wrong? Why hadn't the future changed for Axel?

What was she doing wrong?