The Castle was supposed to be peaceful, a save haven.
But nothing was ever peaceful in nightmares, when your demons came out of hiding.
In the midst of white and gold high count sheets, a brunette mumbled incoherently, shifting from side to side.
Sure, he might have been able to escape it all by day when he had more pressing matters to deal with; but at night she haunted him.
He could see her face so perfectly, her laugh and her smile staring through the darkness at him.
Tonight, was different though . . . she wasn't happy, she was struggling against an unseen force.
It was black, swirling around, pulling at her porcelain skin. The darkness seemed to consume her petite form as she stood there; looking around, her mouth moving soundlessly. She was alone, lost in the darkness. He tried to call out to the red haired girl, but failed as she ignored him. Soundlessly, he watched her nod to something, closing her eyes momentarily. His expression froze as he saw Kairi clasp her hands in front of her body, a faint glow surrounding her.
He didn't know why she was doing that; why was Kairi trying to open her heart?
He tried to yell at her, calling her name to no avail.
Moments later, Kairi glow brightened slightly, pushing the darkness further away. Sora let out a breath of content, Kairi wasn't doing what he thought –
Then, his breath caught.
The darkness started to gain its ground again, eating away at the white glow. His eyes widened as Kairi fell into darkness, yelling her name, louder and louder to no avail.
Then, everything went silent as Kairi fell.
It felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest.
He was brought out of his thoughts though, when a males' voice sounded. It sounded familiar, like he knew it from somewhere, but . . .
Kairi's grip went lax as she fell, hitting the ground; her heart dropping from her hands, fizzling into a million sparkles before disappearing.
Shaking off his stupor, he ran to the fallen girl, his footsteps echoing through the silent space. Stopping before the pink clad girl, he knelt down to grab her, but his hands went right through her . . .
Catching his breath, his expression stuck between surprise and confusion, the darkness started to dim, a vibrant white creeping through it. His expression darkened as he caught sight of a silent figure watching the fiasco take place; slowly approaching the fallen girl.
"Sleep well, Princess," he muttered, quickly scooping up the slim girl.
The voice sent a shiver down his spine, it wasn't natural.
Then, just like that Kairi and the man disappeared, leaving him standing there alone.
Kairi needed him and he had no idea where she was . . .
"KAIRI!"
The sheets rustled violently as the brunette kicked out, jerking awake. In the blink of an eye, Sora threw his cocoon of blankets away from him as he jolted upright. With Kairi in his mind, he flung himself out of bed, shivering when his bare feet hit the cold hardwood under foot. Shaking his head, his blue eyes coming into focus, Sora sighed, flopping back down onto the bed.
He was in the Disney Castle and it had only been a dream.
But . . . something nagged on his mind, making him bite down on his lip.
He could feel it, Kairi was in trouble; it wasn't just a dream. He clenched his hands into fists; this was the second time Kairi needed him and he wasn't there to save her.
What kind of hero was he? He couldn't even protect her from the darkness.
"Kairi . . . you lost your heart again," Sora mumbled to himself; running a hand over his face. "Why am I so useless? I wasn't there, you must hate me now."
Shaking his head, his anger getting him nowhere, Sora pushed himself off the bed. He knew what he had to do, he had it formed in his mind already; he was going after Kairi. Grabbing his coat from the back of the room's ornate chair, he threw it on haphazardly. As he opened the bedroom door, he unconsciously fished out the Oathkeeper Keychain Kairi had given him in Traverse Town.
He had to find Donald and Goofy; as much as they liked being back home, they had to get moving again.
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Roxas's feet touched down on the ledge of Twilight Town's Tower, the blonde staggering as his weight and Kairi's made him stumble, his footing limited. Holding his breath as he teetered on the edge – couldn't they have given him more footing? – he shot out his free hand, trying to get a hold of something. Finally getting his footing, Roxas let out his breath in a whoosh, his heart hammering in his chest. Looking around him, he slowly inched himself across the ledge, intent on the larger platform steps away.
Once onto the larger platform, Roxas let out a sigh; it was finally over. He shook his head, glancing down at Kairi; how was he supposed to explain the heartless girl to his friends? He frowned as he glanced at the old, worn out bed sheet covering the opening to their hideout; hopefully they weren't there right now . . .
He sighed in relief, the room empty when he pushed the sheet aside. Making his way into the room, he moved Kairi around in his arms, dropping her onto an upturned box, leaning her up against the wall.
Shrugging out of the black cloak, he balled it up before chucking it into the corner. "Won't be needing that again," he muttered, watching it fall in a heap under their dart board. Sighing, he slumped down into the old beat up couch, fishing the cards Mickey had given him out of his pockets. "Now, what should I do with you?" Roxas mumbled, looking over the cards at Kairi.
What had Namine meant about Kairi's heart? She was still alive; she was still warm to the touch; so she still had her heart. But, Kairi was indeed vacant, she hadn't said anything since he found her.
"Oh, Roxas! You're back!"
He jumped out of his thoughts, standing up quickly, hands balling into fists.
"Hmm, you're right – where have you been?"
Blinking, he noticed Olette, Hayner and Pence standing in the doorway. Olette grinned at him; Hayner crossed his arms over his chest while Pence held up his camera, taking another candid shot. He didn't miss the inquisitive looks on their faces.
"Hey – who's that?" Hayner exclaimed, noticing Kairi in the corner. A smirk came over his features as he glanced back at Roxas, a gleam in his eyes. "What're you doing up here, huh?"
Olette's face went red, nudging Hayner with her elbow. "Stop that."
Hayner just smirked, draping an arm around Olette's shoulder, pulling her against his side. "I know what you're thinking, Olette," he whispered. "You wish it was you . . ."
Olette gasped, pushing Hayner away from her. "I'm not . . . no!" Hayner just grinned as she stumbled over her words. "Not like its any of your business anyway," she grumbled, pushing her hair back as she flitted over to where Roxas was.
Hayner just grinned, shaking his head; another victory for him.
"That's Kairi," he said, unsure what to say. "It's a long story how she got here; I don't fully understand it myself." Yes, that would have to work. It was then that he noticed they were holding something in their hands. "What've you got there?"
"This?" Olette grinned holding out a blue gem to him. "They were from the Struggle Tournament's trophy – we won Roxas! We beat Seifer and took first place," Olette glanced down at the gem she held. "The announcer called them Summons, isn't that a weird name?"
"This one's for you," Pence said, tossing a gem at Roxas.
Roxas caught it awkwardly, holding it out before him. He frowned slightly, shoving it into his pocket. "So how was the tournament?"
"Great!" Hayner said with a laugh, flopping down on an upturned crate. "You missed your fight against Seifer though; he was kind of angry about that, we had to forfeit that one."
Roxas let out a laugh; he could see Seifer's face. He shook his head as he saw Hayner shoot him a look. "Right, right, not funny."
"So, they won that one automatically. I just barely managed to beat Fuujin – she's crazy, by the way – and Olette creamed Raijin just because he didn't want to hit a girl, it was perfect."
"Where were you anyway?" Olette asked, making her way across the room.
Hayner shot a grin at Roxas, wriggling his eyebrows as he glanced at Kairi. "Off with her, huh?"
"Um, you could say that, I guess," It would work.
"Is she okay?" Olette asked, kneeling in front of Kairi, confusion on her face. "She feels so cold and her eyes . . . maybe we should take her to a doctor?"
Like that would do anything, Roxas thought grudgingly to himself.
"She does look kind of shook up," Pence said, frowning.
Roxas shook his head; "She just lost her heart." No doubt, they'd get it out of him anyways.
Olette blinked, glancing over her shoulder at Roxas. "She lost her heart?" she echoed, turning back to Kairi. "Now really, if its' over some boy, just forget him!" She nodded, placing her hands on her hips.
Kairi didn't reply, her lips moving wordlessly. Roxas shook his head, holding back a laugh at the irony in Olette's words; she didn't know the half of it.
"Not in that way," he slowly said, trying to sort through the thoughts in his head. "I mean, her heart isn't there, she literally lost it –"
"Well, it couldn't have fallen out," Hayner said drily, elbowing Pence who let out a laugh.
"It's just shrouded in darkness," Roxas cast them a look. "Only her light can bring her out the darkness, I just don't know where he is right now. But, if they're really connected, he should feel her pain . . ."
"That's really romantic," Olette grinned, sitting down on the chair beside Kairi.
"How is she alive then?" Hayner asked, bored. "I hated Biology; but you'll die without a heart."
"I asked the exact same question," Roxas said with a laugh. "But I never got a solid answer. I think her hearts still in there, somewhere, but she just lost sight of it."
"That doesn't make any sense," Hayner grumbled, twirling a dart between his fingers.
"I know," Roxas said, shaking his head. "I don't fully understand it either."
"You said Kairi was looking for someone – who is it?" Pence asked, glancing from Kairi to Roxas. "She isn't from around here, so how did she get here?"
Roxas sighed; how was he supposed to explain Namine to them? "Well, I met this other girl named Namine . . . she was at Sunset Hill, waiting for the Ghost Train."
"How come we didn't see her then?" Hayner challenged. "I was at Sunset Hill this morning walking the dog."
"You mean chasing him," Olette chided.
Hayner threw a glare at her. "I didn't see anyone there."
"She was waiting for the Ghost Train," Pence said, frowning. "Maybe you couldn't see her, maybe she was a ghost."
Hayner started laughing, Olette trying – and failing – to hold her laughter back. Roxas shook his head as his friends laughed loudly; no doubt they thought he was crazy. He was such a bad liar.
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The doors of the Twilight Train sprung open, one person exiting moments before the doors closed again. Clad completely in white, her aquamarine eyes look in her surroundings, the citizens of the town going about their own business. Slightly humming to herself, she started forward, running over her timetable. Pushing open the glass doors of the station, she had to shield her eyes as the sun was starting to set, hitting her square in the eyes.
She frowned momentarily; she needed a pair of sunglasses.
Shaking off the trivial thought, she picked up her pace; she needed to find Roxas and Kairi. This couldn't wait till tomorrow; they didn't have that much time. Pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes, she gripped her sketchbook tightly to herself as her feet hit the pavement heavily in her hurry. She could vaguely feel Roxas's presence, he was here somewhere . . .
Her eyes scanned the rooftops of the bustling urban town, her eyes stopping on the Twilight Town.
She grinned; bingo.
"Now, to get all these issues dealt with," Namine sighed, her walk slowly turning into a run.
She didn't have any time to waste.
Twenty minutes later, Namine let out a huff, leaning against the wall. Twilight Town's layout was . . . confusing. She had never taken her eyes off the Tower, but she kept winding up further away from the object in question. Gritting her teeth together, she pulled her sketchbook out, flipping quickly through the pages; locating the hastily drawn map of Twilight Town.
Glancing from the map to her surroundings and back again, she frowned, tracing her finger through the drawn streets. If her map was right; then she was in the residential district, she couldn't help but groan. Somewhere along the lines, she had taken a wrong turn. "It figures," she said, tracing a path to the Tower. "Let's see, left, straight, right, left, straight, straight and up a hill . . . simple," she grumbled, pushing her bangs away hastily.
Nodding to herself, she folded her sketchbook up again, holding it tightly to her side. Her footsteps hit the cement rapidly, mentally going over her directions. A dozen wrong turns later, Namine allowed a small grin to crack her painted façade as she found herself in the shadow of the Twilight Tower.
"How am I supposed to get up there?" she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
With narrowed eyes she looked over the Tower, trying to find something plausible. There had to be a ladder, a stairwell here somewhere, right? Sighing, she shook her head, there was nothing; just the main door to a built in office opening and closing every few seconds. Pushing her hair back again; who knew Twilight Town got this hot in the summer; she started around the building, maybe there was a back entrance.
She could feel their presence nearby; they were here somewhere.
"He always said I was stubborn," she said idly, shaking her head. "Just my luck, the players are just as stubborn . . ."
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". . . you're crazy, you know that right?" Pence slowly said, breaking the silence.
Roxas shot him a look, frowning. Olette shook her head, biting down on her lip. "It's hard to believe . . ."
"Did you get possessed or something?" Hayner asked with a laugh. "I mean really; some girls' waiting for the ghost train – one we can't see, mind you – and now she's talking to you? You'll never live that down if it gets out."
Roxas sighed, throwing Hayner a withering look as he ticked things off on his hand. "I'm not crazy," he grumbled, leaning back on his palms. "It all really happened; Namine was there and then this other guy showed –"
"Correct," a light voice chirped, pushing the blanket over the entrance aside.
Roxas jolted as he heard the voice; he knew exactly who it was. His friends, however, jumped at the interruption, turning around. In the entrance stood a white clad girl, her blonde hair shining in the dimming light. She smiled at the three of them as she allowed the blanket to fall behind her, blocking out a majority of the sunlight. Hayner tensed as Namine moved further into their hideout; his eyes watching her intently. Olette picked herself up from her old chair, perching herself beside Kairi, her eyes wary while Pence fumbled with his camera.
Roxas shook his head at his friends' reactions; grinning widely. Pushing himself off his seat, he crossed the room to where Namine stood – oblivious to the stares she was receiving – draping an arm over her shoulders. "Guys, this is Namine."
Olette was the first to come out of the stupor that Namine's presence seemed to inflict on them. Standing up, she crossed the room, stopping in front of the two blondes, grasping the other girls' hands. "So, you're Namine," she shot a glare at Hayner, before smiling at Namine. "I didn't think you were a ghost – boys and their movies, huh? Roxas told us about you, kind of," Olette added, with a shrug. "I'm Olette – and that's Pence and Hayner."
Namine nodded to the three in turn. "Hello."
Olette let go of Namine's hands, placing her hands on her hips. "You're pretty, you know? I wish I looked like that . . ."
Namine smiled, shaking her head. "Trust me on this one; you don't want to be like me."
Olette raised an eyebrow, say what? Before she could ask though, Namine had wriggled out of Roxas's grasp, her eyes having located the vacant red head. She ignored the small group as she quickly pushed past them, stopping in front of the red head. With a sigh, she shook her head, kneeling down in front of Kairi, reaching a hand out to push her red hair back. "So, it's true," she mumbled, grabbing Kairi's hand in hers; it felt so cold. "We weren't supposed to meet like this."
"These are good, are you an artist?" Hayner's words cut into Namine's thoughts; the blonde realizing her sketchbook wasn't resting in her lap. Her eyes narrowed as she saw him flipping through the pages. "Hey, this one looks like Roxas!"
Namine was on her feet in an instant. She quickly put herself in front of Hayner, hand outstretched, eyes ablaze. "Give me back my sketchbook."
Hayner blinked, that was surprise. Who knew she could be that demanding; she seemed to have such an innocent demeanor. He nodded, handing the sketchbook over, which Namine snatched back. "So, who was that?" he ventured, indicating to the book.
Namine shook her head. "It's not your concern."
Hayner raised an eyebrow, staring back at her. "If it involves Roxas; it involves us; we're his friends."
Namine didn't react to his harsh words, but merely shrugged. "It's not Roxas so drop it."
Hayner eyed her warily before shrugging it off. Maybe Roxas had a doppelganger – if she was waiting for a ghost train, then he guessed it was plausible. Namine sighed inwardly; glad to have avoided the subject of Sora. They didn't need to know and they didn't need to be dragged into the situation. Holding the sketchbook to her chest, she glanced over at Roxas, standing idly where she left him moments previous.
"Roxas, we need to talk."
Roxas nodded, he knew she'd bring it up eventually. Slowly, he shot a glance at his friends; Hayner staring heatedly in Namine's direction. Olette, upon noticing the look, nodded, flashed him a thumbs up. Pushing herself out of the chair, she waved her hands at the two boys, forcing them out of the hideout. Pence shrugged, busy with his camera; Hayner, on the other hand, let out a groan, rolling his eyes as he headed for the doorway. Olette grinned, holding the blanket back. "We'll be back in a couple, alright?"
Roxas nodded, and once the curtain fell back into place, he turned his attention back to Namine. "Alright, so let's get down to it."
Namine grinned slightly, glancing up at Roxas, her hands clenched together. "After this, you're going to have to leave Twilight Town – and this time; you won't be returning quickly."
"I don't want them involved in this," he said with a nod.
"Wise decision," she said, moving over to the window; the quiet town beneath them. "Your life will never be the same again."
Roxas nodded; Twilight Town was so quiet and hardly changed; while his world had just been thrown into chaos. "Where am I supposed to go now?"
"The Twilight Path," Namine said immediately, staring at the goings on in the street below. "There is a slight chance Riku will still be there."
"Riku," Roxas mumbled, frowning. "Why do I have to meet him?"
"Riku knows the darkness well," Namine whispered, looking at her hands, a million expressions running across her face. "He will be the only one who's able to help you; he knows everything inside and out due to certain events –"
"And you're not going to tell me about it, are you?" Roxas cut in, rolling his eyes.
"That's right," Namine agreed, turning her back on the window, leaning back on the windowpane. "It's not my story to tell you. Riku knows Castle Oblivion and only through him can you return there."
"Hold it right there," Roxas said, getting up quickly, his eyes hard. "You want me to do what? I'm not going back there."
"I said; I need you to return to Castle Oblivion after all this; we need a spy – and you're the only choice."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Hello, they tried to kill me, remember?" Angrily, he pulled the Keyblade Keychain from his pocket, tossing it to Namine who caught it awkwardly. "They know I'm the Keyblade Wielder – why would they trust me? I haven't changed!"
Namine laughed lightly, shaking her head. "You have a lot of questions. They will ask you why you've come there; the only answer is that you've decided the light isn't for you. You have to believe it and make it sound you, understand?"
Roxas nodded slowly, this was getting more complicated as this went along. Suddenly, he wished for the life he had; this wasn't as much fun anymore. "So, this Twilight Path . . . I get there how? And, what if Riku isn't there?" he added as an afterthought.
Namine smiled, holding up a hand to stop his questions. "I have known Riku for a while; we keep in touch now and again. As for the Twilight Path, it's not a place but more of a location. The only way there is by a train; that is how we all arrived here," Namine shook her head, glancing around them. "Now, we should be leaving soon before they track you back here again . . ."
Roxas rolled his eyes, letting out a laugh. "We can't exactly take the Twilight Train, Namine – it's always packed with people . . ."
". . . at night?"
He didn't miss the mysterious glint in her eyes. "Well . . . I don't know . . ."
"Then, there's no problem," Namine said, grinning cheekily at Roxas.
"But, what if there's someone on there?" He shook his head, his eyes falling onto Kairi. "And, what about her?"
Namine sighed, glancing at Kairi as well. "She can't come with us. To enter the Twilight Path you must be completely sure of who and what you are; currently, Kairi is capable of neither. If she was to enter there in her current condition, she would be lost forever."
"So, I'm going alone then?" It seemed to be a popular theme.
Namine just grinned, silently walking over to him, tapping his forehead. "I'm not going to be far."
So, he was going by himself, again. Vaguely, he wondered what had happened to the old days when Olette would badger them about forgotten homework and their biggest fight was against Seifer.
"Why can't you go?" He grumbled, swatting her hand away.
"I have something that I must attend to," she said, distracted. "Be careful what you say about Kairi around Riku; he is very fond of her and I don't want to cause him unneeded stress. I will see you at the train station at eight o'clock sharp. Say your goodbyes to your friends and have them watch over Kairi for you."
Roxas nodded at the request, Namine smiled, picking her sketchbook up off the overturned crate.
"Wait!" Roxas shouted, seeing a white light slowly appear behind her. "Who's that brown haired boy?"
A ghost of a smile flitted across Namine's face. "That is Kairi's light – that is Sora."
Sora . . . he thought, momentarily dumbfounded as Namine disappeared before him. The boy in the picture looked like him; more then he would have liked. What was that supposed to mean anyway? A frown appeared on his features; a million new questions for Namine coming to mind. He made a mental note to ask her later.
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"Roxas!"
Deep in thought, his mind a mile away, he jerked at the sound of his name. Shaking his head, he glanced around him, his friends making their way up the slope, Market Square behind them. Olette let out a laugh as Hayner whispered something to them. Roxas frowned, his eyes narrowing before noticing what they held. Each one held a sea-salt ice cream; two in Olette's hands.
Olette laughed; taking a lick of her ice cream. "You want one too?" she jerked the spare one out of his grasp. "Well, I do have a spare one . . ."
Roxas lunged at the waving ice cream again, smirking as he felt his hands close around Olette's. The brunette stumbled, eyes widening as Roxas caught her hand, her balance swaying, the two falling to the ground. Olette groaned; Roxas's weight on her. She frowned, her hand closing around nothing. Eyes widening slightly, she glanced to the left; her jaw falling as she saw the sea-salt puddle a couple steps away.
"My ice cream!" Olette shouted, shoving at Roxas. "You jerk . . . augh! That cost ten munny!"
"Now, now, don't you two look comfy down there," came Hayner's voice.
The two didn't have to look at him, to know he had a smirk on his face. "Shut up," Roxas groaned, pushing himself up, offering a hand to Olette.
Olette grabbed Roxas's hand, standing before him moments later. "You know, you owe me an ice cream now . . ."
Roxas nodded, letting go of Olette's hand. "I think I still have some munny left over from my delivery today; I'll be back in a couple minutes," he said, rooting through his pocket. "Oh, can you watch Kairi for me? I might be gone for a while . . ."
Hayner rolled his eyes, shoving Roxas lightly in the back. "Seriously man, the ice cream shop is like three minutes from here!"
"Well . . ." How to put it? "I have to stop by the Twilight Path first."
Olette sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "But that's all the way on Sunset Hill – that's going to take almost an hour!"
"What?" Roxas raised an eyebrow, what was she talking about?
"It just opened up, it sells garden gnomes and stuff . . . is your mom trying gardening again?" she asked with a laugh.
"Er, yeah," It was the best answer going. "It closes early, so she sent me with an agenda!"
"That's moms for you," Hayner said with a shrug. "They just want to ruin summer vacation with chores."
"She should get my mom to help her," Pence said, his sea-salt ice cream gone. "She's got a green thumb."
"Yeah, I'll tell her later," Roxas agreed. It didn't escape his eyes that their shadows were getting longer – it was later then he'd expected. "Don't let anyone take Kairi from you, okay? I mean it."
Olette nodded. "You got it, and I won't let Seifer near her either."
"Speaking of Seifer," Hayner drawled; a gleam in his eyes. "You should try your trophy gem; ours didn't do anything!"
"Yeah," Pence agreed with a nod. "Weird stuff's been happening to you; maybe you can get it to do something . . ."
Roxas nodded; fishing through his pockets for the gem Olette had given him; where did he put it? He smiled as his fingers came in contact with the gem, pulling it out. He frowned as he looked at the blue orb to the red, yellow and green ones his friends possessed; they didn't look any different. Grinning, he held it between his thumb and pointer finger, holding it up to the sunlight; his friends doing the same.
The gem lit up in the sun, but his eyebrows furled together; the middle darkening. "Is there something in there?"
"What?" Olette looked intently at hers, shrugging before leaning over to look at Roxas's gem. "I don't see anything."
"You don't?" Roxas echoed, blinking a couple times. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. Refocusing his eyes however, he saw the middle was still dark. "Is there anything in yours?"
Olette shook her head, offering the red orb to him. Taking it from her, he held it up to the sun. He frowned; there wasn't anything in there. Why was his gem the only one with something inside? He shrugged; there was no doubt about it, Namine had something to do with this. He forced down the urge to roll his eyes; the blonde haired girl seemed to be controlling his life.
"That's weird, I guess I'm just more special then you guys," he shrugged, flashing a grin at them.
"No, you're just crazy," Hayner said, a smirk on his features, the four breaking out into laughter.
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Demyx's eyes narrowed as he glared across the way at the chair Axel occupied. He knew something was going on here – and that Axel was at the center of it all. He gritted his teeth together as Axel said something, his hands motioning to something; he knew how to keep an act up. His hands balled up into fists as he thought of Riku and Axel's calm reaction to his appearance; allowing him to take Kairi . . . were they working together?
But, Axel said the credit was his regarding Kairi, so maybe . . .
"I told you, you areincompetent," Saix grumbled, narrowing his eyes in Demyx's direction, anger waving off him. "You couldn't even handle watching a defenseless girl? Pathetic," a drawl crept into his voice as he spoke.
Demyx shook his head, jumping out of his thoughts as he glanced at the hateful Nobody. "Shut up – I threw her into darkness, didn't I?"
Saix sneered at him, his lip curling up as he stared him down. "You still lost her."
Demyx clenched his teeth together, balling his hands into tight fists again. His eyes flicked from Saix to Axel – who sat calmly in his chair, hood pulled up to hide his expression – and back to Saix again. "The brat was dressed in the exact same outfit as us –"
"And, you just gave the key to him?"
Demyx glared at him, his words failing. The cloaked figure on the highest chair sighed, barked out a command, the two Nobody's falling silent. "Axel," his icy voice cut through the silence, echoing through the room, his dark eyes falling on the cloaked red head. Axel's laid back posture straightened up at the sound of his name, his hood falling down. "You were there as well – who was the cloaked figure?"
Axel held back a smirk at the question; everything was going the way it was supposed to. He shrugged, replying with: "Riku."
"Riku," his voice echoed, his tone dead. "It would figure he would come; the Princess means a lot to him as well . . ."
Xigbar smirked, his hands tightening around his armrest. "The Keyblade Master has yet to arrive in the Fabled Countryside; taking out Riku in the meantime could be easy. A mere boy trying to protect a heartless Princess . . . he won't stand a chance."
"Do not underestimate Riku; him and that wretched King almost destroyed us from the inside last year – do not forget that. If it is Riku behind all this, he will not be defeated easily; he knows what he's up against. Knowing him, he will have accomplices by now; he has been silent for too long."
Remaining silent, Axel watched the goings on silently, inwardly smirking. This was actually working out better then planned; everything was being blamed on that weasel Riku; any more accusations and the Dark Wielder wouldn't be around much longer. One less thing he would have to worry about in the future. All that left was the Second Wielder of Light and have Sora find out his light has been eclipsed by darkness again. That news would cause distraught on him and he would leave himself open for an attack. That would only leave Namine – who, he suspected, upon finding out his players were disappearing one by one would come into the open as well.
All the pieces were starting to fall into place . . . one by one . . .
"Since Kairi has vanished," Demyx grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It can't be that hard to find her; she won't be moving to quickly."
Saix snorted; shaking his head. "You're going to find her . . . do you even know where she is? You already showed us how you work . . . why should we trust you with her wellbeing again?"
Demyx noticed the smirk that appeared on Saix's face, twisting his expression. "As if I'd fall for the same trick twice!" he yelled, balling his hands into fists, seeing red.
"He's going to the Twilight Path."
Silence erupted in the circular room at Axel's words, the black clad group eyeing the red haired man, who sat there bored. "Spitting out some crap location, won't clear our suspicions of you."
Axel shrugged, brushing off Saix's words. "I can manipulate the Dark Wielder, I can convince him to let go of Kairi; that I have her heart."
"Why you?" Demyx shouted; his nose wrinkling up as he glared at him. "You failed at killing the Second Wielder; you've failed as well."
"You're just an incompetent as Demyx," Saix smirked, glaring down at him.
Axel shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "DiZ showed up," he paused for a moment, allowing that fact to sink in as a brief smirk appeared on his face. "At least I managed to convince the Princess to open herself to darkness . . ."
Silence hung in the chamber; Axel did what?
"Don't lie!" Saix shouted, his anger getting the better of him, his hands itching towards his broadsword. "Demyx did that – only useful thing he's done yet."
Axel smirked, his cold eyes falling onto Demyx; who sat ramrod straight in his chair, eyes hard and his mouth in hard line. No doubt about it; Demyx was pissed off again; he hadn't expected the tables to turn on him . . . "Demyx here got angry at our little Princess when she tried to find out about us; tossed her into Namine's old room. His anger getting the better of him, he refused to go near her, so I did it for him to make up for the Twilight Incident. I let him have the credit, but, if he's going to play dirty and make me the bad guy, I can play the game too."
Demyx's eyes narrowed; that all sounded too rehearsed.
Saix snorted, casting a cynical look at Demyx. "So, you really are incompetent; it's too bad you didn't die last year too."
Demyx's hand curled up into a fist, it taking all his restraint not to send his water sprites after him. He'd aim for his nose . . . a broken nose would go perfectly with that scar of his. Before he could react however, the icy voice of their Superior broke into the silence. "Axel; you will go to the Twilight Path, only because you can manipulate him. Afterwards, you will put an end to the Second Wielder; Roxas."
Axel nodded, his mind whirling. He could do this in one sweep; retrieve Kairi, destroy Riku and Roxas; he knew Namine would want the two to meet (if they hadn't already) on the Twilight Path.
It was all really simple . . .
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03/06/09