When I heard Vexen's idea, I thought he was off his rocker too. But when I heard his reasoning, I had to agree with it. There are lots of worlds where standards of health care technology are cutting-edge. There are lots of worlds where magical healers are powerful enough to bring someone back from the freshly dead. But other than the World that Never Was, there was only one world whose standards of health care, technological or magical, were high enough to surgically repair a broken hip without undue risk of infection, complication, or inadequate healing, and where not having a heart wouldn't make you either a media sensation or a target for lynch mobs.

Well, worlds, plural. The Nexus.

And for some reason, Vexen thought I still had friends there or something. Things may have looked different to him, but I thought I'd burned all my bridges when I a. ran out on the Pirates of R'lyeh and b. helped people who helped break up a raid they launched on the Alliance of St. Germaine. You'd think the Alliance of St. Germaine would like me a little for that, but, news flash - as soon as I set foot back in the Nexus, claws grow, skin cracks, I turn back into a demon. And AoSG doesn't like demons.

You didn't know I was a demon? Didn't the solid black eyes and sharp teeth give something away?

After thinking about it, I had to admit there was one faction who would a. help and b. not kill me - the Demons Without Borders. They're not the only band of demons in the Nexus who've turned their backs on evil, but they are the only ones who've dedicated themselves to healing. And since demons themselves can't accept healing from someone else - I dunno why, that's just how it is - they'll take in anyone but an evil human. Now that that was all cleared up, I just had to go get things set up over there. Really, it was a less stressful option than sticking around.

It felt - strange, going back home for the first time, though technically my old "home" was on St. Germaine Island, not on Harper Island. And before you say anything about how Nobodies can't feel anything, I have to admit that I don't buy into that. Just going by what the others went through trying to find me after I lost my heart and became a Nobody. I saw too much to believe we can't feel - people who can't feel don't mourn their friends. Sorry. Of course, when those in charge - generally meaning Xemnas and Vexen - start talking about it, I just nod politely and pretend to agree.

Off that topic. It was 3:00 in the morning and pouring rain, which has no real bearing except to set the mood. And it helped make me look more pathetic and desperate - did I mention how bloody short I am? Sometimes, it's an asset. Since I knew my way around Harper Island a little better now, I'd made a portal right outside the Demons' front door. The first one to answer my knock was a Dark Oppressor - one of the succubi types, mind-bendingly beautiful except for the fact that they radiate evil. "If you're looking to join, you'll need someone to send you an official invitation," she said bluntly - healers or no, she was a demon, and demons aren't long on etiquette.

"I'm looking for help. For a friend," I explained.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "As far as I can tell, you're here alone."

"He's got a broken hip. He can't walk, and I can't carry him. Besides, I wanted to make sure the coast was clear."

"Can you lead us to him?"

"Yes."

"If you're trying to lead us into an ambush, your scrawny ass is grass."

"I figured. There's only three of us - one is me, one's disabled, one's fucked at sunrise." Truth. Saix - why anyone would consider him a suitable escort for a wounded man was beyond me, except he'd kick any ass that got too close and ask for more - when he entered the Nexus, he'd turned into a Revenant, which is a shapeshifting undead warrior. Within the first five minutes, he'd turned into a bony blue wolf and hadn't changed back yet - he seemed to like that form. But Revenants can't stand sunlight - outdoors, and without adequate protection, it burns them horribly. "Anyway, they're waiting in the hospital."

Eventually, I went back to the hospital with an escort of five - the Dark Oppressor and a Void Walker, who seemed to be the actual surgeons, and two short Behemoths and a muscular Wyrm Master, who were probably there just for muscle. They're demons. They're suspicious. Though for all I knew, the so-called "muscle" were the top surgeons.

Which room Axel was in was pretty obvious - it was the one with the big blue wolf sitting in front of it. Saix glared at them all as if he was fighting the urge to kill them, but that would just get us all killed and he knew it. And once they saw Axel, who was still out like a busted lightbulb, the demons were all business - examining him, examining the folder full of X-rays and paperwork Vexen had given me to give them, checking how well Vexen had stabilized the fracture already, going over their stocks of potions, sterilizing their equipment, questioning me nonstop...it might have been a better idea to pretend I didn't have a clue, but after a few questions, it was already too late...

Don't get me wrong, I'd have stuck around - I don't run out on my friends without good reason, and before you ask, I didn't have any really good friends in the Pirates anyway - but Vexen had ordered me to get my ass back ASARP. There were still other casualties back home. Hopefully none of them would have to be shipped out too.

AN: Demyx is still MIA...

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, got it memorized?