I am sooooo sorry for the delay. I've had a bit of writer's block, and this chapter has been giving me some difficulty. Not to mention I have to get ready for school, cuz it starts in 3 days. :(

I realized that it might seem like Axel and Astoria are moving a little too fast, but then I thought about it. Axel is a Nobodie, so he wouldn't know, and he's Atoria's crush, so I don't think she'd care much. Heh.

Thank you to all of you who have reviewed. I promise to get the next chapter up a.s.a.p., but no garuntees on how soon!


"Roxas!" I looked up. The man in red had spoken. The one golden eye that was shown was narrowed. "Do not take your anger out on her. She plays no part in what Axel or I have planned. Now, because of your stupidity, you have hurt an innocent. Do you feel better now, knowing that you have caused pain to someone who cares for you?"

Naminé was still silent, as was the one who was gripping her arm. I looked at Roxas. He was standing there, looking at anything but me. I felt my self shrink within myself, leaving only the outer shell.

"Astoria, I believe your name is?" I nodded. The man in red continued. "I am going to have to take you with me. It is not safe for you here, and, seeing as what has just transpired, it will be for the best." I nodded again, not. Roxas was still ignoring me. "Very well, then, come along. Roxas, I suggest that you go back to your home and forget. Everything." Roxas ignored him.

The man in red turned, and created a dark portal. Black coat tugged on Naminé, and she glanced at Roxas.

"We'll meet again someday. I might not know it's you, and you might not know it's me, but we'll meet again. I promise." She looked so earnest, and all Roxas did was ignore her. Poor Naminé. Poor Roxas.

The man in black tugged on Naminé's arm again, and she went with him into the portal. The man in red was still waiting, and began to tap his foot impatiently.

"We must be gone from here quickly. If you are not going to come willingly, then I will have to take you by force." For some reason, I noticed his accent. It sounded Irish, and I found it pretty. I walked to the black portal, then stopped, and turned.

"Roxas…" He still wouldn't look at me. "Roxas, I know that you think I've been lying to you. But I want you to know that I haven't. Yes, I know Axel, but I don't know who these people are. Axel was assigned to watch over me by his boss. He stopped me from fighting our match, though I really did fall asleep." I attempted a weak smile. It didn't work. "Please, Roxas, at least don't forget me. At least remember that we were friends, once. That's all I ask."

Roxas still wouldn't look at me. I sighed, and looked at the man in red.

"Lead the way."

He bowed, and I almost wanted to laugh. Instead, I stole once last glance at Roxas, then I walked into the portal of darkness. Suddenly, I could feel myself falling, and I felt very cold.

When I woke up, I was on a cold tile floor. Groaning, I rolled over, then sighed, and sat up. This doesn't look like Roxas'…

That's right. Roxas accused me of betrayal, and I went with the man in red. I think I passed out when I walked into the portal of darkness. Looking around, I was in some kind of… laboratory? There were all these weird machines, and a computer that had ten screens, where the man in red was currently seated. I didn't see Naminé or the man in black anywhere. Standing up, I walked up beside where the man in red was seated. He was typing something that I couldn't see, thought I did catch "Restoration at 97."

"So, you're finally awake." I nodded. "I suppose you must have had a very tiring day to have fallen asleep twice." I felt my face heat up from embarrassment.

"Well, you try appearing in a strange world out of nowhere, not knowing how you got there or how to get back. Then you should try almost being kidnapped, then told that you're of interest to some big bad boss-man. After that, try having one of the only friends you have accuse you of betraying them. I think you might be a little tired after that, too." I raised my eyebrow. The man in red just laughed.

"I believe, my dear, that you might be correct. However, we have things to talk about." He turned his seat around so he faced me.

"Yeah, like what your name is, for starters." He chuckled.

"I am called DiZ. Now, your turn is over, and it is now mine. How did you get here?"

"Ooh, is this 'Twenty Questions?' I love this game!" I let out a fake squeal of joy. DiZ's one eye narrowed. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you what I know, which isn't much, if you can prove to me that you're not on the bad side." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Is there ever a true 'good' or 'bad'?" I scowled. DiZ smirked in triumph. "Very well. I am in the process of restoring the true keyblade bearer's memories." My eyes widened.

"Sora? What happened to Sora?" Dammit, I knew that I should have played Chain of Memories! Then it clicked: That was where Naminé was from.

"How do you know his name?" Uh-oh. I'd made the mastermind guy suspicious. That couldn't be good.

"Um… I've just heard about him?" DiZ was still staring at me. I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. "But, uh… what happened to him?" He was silent for a moment, and then told me what went down.

"Organization XIII, the group this Axel is part of, had control of Naminé, and were using her powers over Sora to erase parts of his memory. Now, Naminé is using her powers to restore them."

So then…

"What does Roxas have to do with this?" My forehead creased as I tried to think of possible answers.

"Ah, you are indeed a bright girl. I'm impressed." I could all but see the delight in his golden eye. "Roxas is Sora's Nobody."

Now I was just plain confused. Roxas- A Nobody, and not just any Nobody, but Sora's Nobody. How is that possible? What the hell is a Nobody?

"But…"

"I believe it is your turn to answer questions, now. So I'll ask again-"

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

I covered my ears to block out the loud electronic voice, and dropped to my knees. When it stopped, I looked up to see DiZ typing away. Feeling a breeze, I stood up and saw the man in black beside me.

"DiZ, what's going on?" Hey, that voice…

"It seems that Roxas has found his way into the other lab. He's on his way to see Sora."

Roxas? I wished I could see him and make him believe me.

"Is that wise?" I know that voice from somewhere!

"Oh, it's better than I had hoped for." I arched my eyebrow. What is DiZ planning? "Oh, what's this? It seems Astoria's friend has also managed to find his way here. Stubborn creatures, all of them." Axel…?

DiZ swiveled in his chair to face us. He studied me for a minute, and then flicked his gaze to the tall man beside me.

"Take her away from here. We don't need her seeing that Organization miscreant." The man in black grabbed my arm and started to haul me off, but DiZ stopped him.

"Do not let her see him, Ansem. Everything could be ruined if she does."

"Ansem?" He tensed up and gripped my arm tighter. "You expect me to go anywhere with Ansem after all that he did?" My eyes were wide with shock. I couldn't believe this!

"Yes, I do. You are in my care, so you will follow my orders. You will do well to remember that." DiZ was glaring at me. I glared back.

"And what if I don't want to? There's no proving to me that Ansem is good, not after he tried to get Kingdom Hearts!" I felt "Ansem's" grip loosen just a smidgen.

"Then we will have to take you by force!" He nodded at Ansem, and he let my arm go. He actually thought he could take me. We'll see about that!

"Screw this!" I elbowed Ansem in the ribs, pivoted, and kneed him in the stomach, sending him to the ground with an "oomph". Not waiting for another chance, I headed for the door.

I heard DiZ yelling at Ansem to chase after me, and I decided to pick up my pace to a swift jog.

Where's the room that Axel and Roxas are in?

I sprinted down hallway after hallway, each one filled with doors. Everything looked so identical that I thought I was going in circles. Then I saw a door with smoke coming out from underneath it.

Bingo.

I prayed the door wasn't locked when I came to it, and let out a sigh of relief as I turned the knob. Pushing it open, I stepped in, and then was stopped in my tracks by the sight in front of me.

Axel was in the middle of the room, crouched on one knee, clutching his right left arm. He had rips and tears all over his leather coat, a shallow cut on his forehead that was bleeding slowly, and he was breathing heavily. The room was blackened, but with the door open, the smoke was clearing. Indentions were all over the walls, as if weapons had hit them. Looking around, I saw Axel's chakram on the ground. I closed the door, and he immediately tensed, but didn't bother looking up.

"Come to finish me off? I didn't think you had it in the new you, Roxas. Fine then, let's have one more go."

He summoned his chakram, stood with some visible effort, and lifted his head up arrogantly. Green eyes met brown, and he relaxed.

"I really don't think it's necessary, but if you want me to school you, then by all means." I smiled, but it disappeared when he staggered, and I rushed over.

Letting him put most of his weight on me, I helped him over to the wall so he could relax against it. He leaned his head back and sighed.

"He got a lot stronger. Heh. Figures." I chewed on my bottom lip. I had some questions that I needed to ask, but I pushed them aside, telling myself they could wait.

"What happened Axel? DiZ said that you and Roxas were here. Did you two fight?" He chuckled.

"That was a rhetorical question, right?" I smiled. "Yeah, we fought. Little shit was mad. He remembered me, though…" He smiled a soft smile, and had a look in his eyes. Happy, yet sad. "Wish he could've remembered earlier. It was too late…"

He broke off, and got lost in thought. I gnawed on my lip some more. What did he mean, Roxas remembered him?

He turned his head towards me.

"Y'know, you keep biting your lip, it's going to get torn up more than your shirt." I blushed, and he laughed.

"I happen to like my shirt, thank you very much." Axel just smiled and shook his head. "So… I'm assuming you lost?" He scowled, and I laughed.

"Only because he was really pissed. That was the drive he needed, otherwise I would've wiped the floor with him." I raised my eyebrow (I was doing that a lot today), but he just ignored it. "He said if I saw you, to apologize. He said he didn't mean to be an idiot, that he couldn't help it. He hopes you'll forgive him. He said to tell you 'I care.'"

Axel was staring at me, waiting for an explanation, but I was too speechless. Roxas had actually said that? Huh. Today is just full of surprises.

"Where… where did he go?" I saw something flicker in those green orbs, but thought nothing of it at the time. I had to talk to Roxas. Axel lifted up a hand, and pointed to the other door in the room.

"He went through there." His arm dropped. "You gonna tell me what happened?" I winced.

"We… had a disagreement. He thought that because I knew you, I had set up everything that's happened. He thought I had betrayed him. I guess DiZ got him to see otherwise."

Axel looked at me for a moment, as if he was studying me.

"Man, no kidding. He really was an idiot. Oh well. Look, I know you wanna talk to him, so go ahead." I started to get up, and then hesitated, looking at him with concern. He just rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'll be fine, don't worry!" To prove it, he stood up, albeit a little slowly. He stuck his hand out and helped me to my feet. "Go find Blondie and talk to him, but don't do more than talk." He glared at me, and I couldn't help but laugh. Then I remembered that Roxas had kissed me, and I blushed. To hide it, I stood on my tiptoes and gently brushed my lips against Axel's.

"Keep in touch. Behave." He just smiled and watched me run out of the door.

Looking around this new hallway, I was shocked. There were probably five white pods lined up against both walls. Some looked as if they hadn't been used in years, except for two of them. Those two were opened, and recently so.

That's odd… Where's Roxas? Axel said he went through that door…

Rubbing my arms, I walked down the hall. It was chilly, plus this place gave me the creeps. I almost wished I'd brought Axel, but he needed to rest.

C'mon, Astoria. You don't need a man to help you. You just have to find Roxas, and- Aha! So that's where he must have went!

I had spotted another door, one that was carelessly left open. Cautiously, I walked towards the door. I had no idea what was beyond it, only that Roxas had gone through it. As I neared it, I could hear voices. Could it be…?

I peered into the doorway, and my suspicions were proved correct. The voices belonged to four people standing in front of a giant egg-like thing. Well, one person, a cricket, a dog, and a duck. Beings that I knew very well. Perhaps too well, considering the fact that I had never met them. But something was missing…

Where was Roxas?

DiZ had said that he was here somewhere. Axel had fought him, and told me that he went through the door. Now that I was in the hallway, the only other door he could have gone through was this one, but he wasn't in the room that it led to! From what I could see, there were no other doors in the room, so where could he have gone? Dammit, Roxas!

"Um. Excuse me…"

"Aaah!" I jumped back, and fell flat on my butt.

Grimacing at the pain, I looked up, and found myself staring into vibrant blue eyes. Whoa… I had always thought that his eyes were pretty, but in real life? Just… Wow. Then I noticed a tiny cricket in a suit on his shoulder. I blinked.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

I looked in the direction the raspy voice came from, and saw a duck. Next to him, was a dog, a very tall dog wearing a hat. He reached out a gloved hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

"Uh. Thanks." I was staring at the four of them like an idiot. They gave each other weird looks, and the dog began to whisper to the boy, who nodded. The dog pointed to himself.

"I'm Goofy." He pointed to the duck. "That's Donald." Donald snorted, arms folded across his chest, and glared at me. "The cricket is Jiminy." Said cricket smiled and bowed. "And that's Sora." He grinned and waved, then became serious again.

"Um. I'm sorry for scaring you. We just woke up, and didn't know where we were. Then we saw you, and thought you might know, but you were all spaced out, and… Wait, what's your name?"

"I'm Astoria. Sorry for freaking out. You scared me." Sora chuckled.

"So, can you tell us where we are?" Goofy asked. I nodded.

"We're in Twilight Town, in the very bottom of the Haunted Mansion."

"Hey!" We all looked at Donald. "Maybe the king's here!" Goofy nodded. Sora punched his fist into his hand.

"And if the king's here, then that means that Riku might be, too!"

I watched Donald roll his eyes at Sora's little boy grin. I saw Jiminy smile and heard Goofy laugh in the way that only he could. I was awestruck. I had met Roxas, seen Axel, argued with DiZ, and accused Ansem, but only after seeing a boy, a dog, and a duck did I truly believe that I was here. Only then did I truly realize I was in Kingdom Hearts II.

And one thing was certain. I strained to hold back my laughter.

The Keyblade's chosen was in desperate need of some new clothes.


Well, there you have it. The latest chapter in Astoria's adventure. Oh, does anyone know where I got Astoria's name from? To the first one who guesses, I'll write a scene of your choice (With some limitations, of course). Remember, FIRST ONE to guess. If you're second or third, I'll think of something. Lol.

Please remember to review after reading. I need you to keep up my confidence level:)