Disclaimer: This chapter is really long. I realize that. It took over four months to group my ideas together, so…yeah. There's a lot to cover.

Disclaimer: Wakka's balls.

Auron and Wakka: NOT THAT AGAIN!

Erm…yeah. Maybe this time when I say I'll stay on track, I will. I have become the George W. Bush of fanfiction by saying I'll stay the course. Crap.

Oh yeah, there are more costume changes in this chapter.

Auron: (smacks forehead).

I love you all, my awesome fans. I really do.

Axel: Lies! Lies! She forgot to tell you about a twist!

Oh yes, besides the airship hijack, the effects of Sin on Radiant Garden, and costumes, there is something I forgot to mention. It's important, I guess…very!

…So sorry, sidetracked again. I'm extremely disappointed in you people. There is a concerning lack of Auron and Rai fanfics. Get to writing some, damn it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Once upon a time, there was a magical land with ghostly rivers and colorless fields. Even if the world had been drained of all their color, they were still a happy folk. The cows mooed with glee, the chickens clucked in happiness, and everything seemed so quaint and charming.

…That is, if you ignored the shouting troupe of Nobodies and the flying cat-thing.

"Eh? So BOTH of you are aeons?" Demyx asked, stupefied, to their new acquaintance Artemicion. The mog told them the big cat and the mouse went near the river and that Choco, his fellow aeon, might have gone that way too.

"Right! We work together to use super attacks, ne!" the fluffy mog replied. "Well, we can't do much damage, but we can heal you and help you find the rest of us!"

"Ooh, I bet there's some super secret 'Smother-to-Death-with-Cuteness' attack, right?" Xaldin sarcastically said. "And stop saying 'eh!' It's annoying!"

"Well the Canadians would say differently," commented Axel.

"Who?"

"Never mind! Just explain what this big cat and this mouse look like already!" Larxene yelled.

"Well…the cat has a big hat and a grumpy face and the mouse has a big grin and shakes everyone's hands!" Artemicion said.

"Yeah, that helps us a lot. If you can't describe them well enough, then at least ell us you know they will definitely be by the river." Auron said. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and glanced up. They were near a river that flowed like black watercolor paint with grey sand, and grey waves, and…well, nothing too colorful to describe. There was, although, a large steamboat docked on their side of the river bank. Marshmallow-like puffs of smoke came from an unseen boiler room and a crane hung high above with a cage attached to it.

That cage…was bent in, broken in, and for the lack of a better phrase, pretty screwed up.

The group stopped to examine the boat. Artemicion used his tiny wings to fly up to the metal mass. He poked it, he sniffed it, he pushed it and made it swing like a giddy schoolgirl at recess, and turned to his companions and shouted "Yay! Choco isn't around here anymore!"

"And tell me why this is a GOOD thing, you frigging furball?!" Larxene cursed at him.

"It means he escaped from the mean cat and mouse! Yay!"

"You can't be serious!" Demyx smacked his forehead. "Where could he have gone to?"

"Don't worry, I think I have an idea," Axel said. "If you can remember, Xemnas kept a close eye on those who were controlling the Heartless, right?"

"Mm-hm," the three Organization members hummed.

"Well, one of the worlds the Heartless masters tried to control was this place, Timeless River…I think. And in Timeless River, a Heartless master couldn't get in so easily because of a time paradox. Do you know who that is?"

"Maleficent?" Demyx posed.

"No, she isn't cheery enough for this place."

"The king?" Xaldin questioned.

"He doesn't control Heartless!"

"Xaldin's mom!" Larxene yelled in glee.

"Don't talk if you're not going to try!"

"Pete."

"Whozzuh?" Axel stuttered.

"Pete. The one who disrupted the Underworld. Pete." Auron confirmed. Axel smirked and put his arms around the stoic man's shoulders.

"Now this is a guy who remembers a mug like that!"

"Get off me."

"Okay!" Axel quickly removed himself and hid behind Larxene. "But still, now we have to find Pete, because he's going to do something…evil with Choco! Yep, that's right, something…er…bad! So we must travel to the ends of this colorless land to find him!"

"You don't have any idea what you're saying either, do you?" Auron asked.

"Shut up!"

"Both of you be quiet! We know we're looking for the fat one, so let's keep a lookout for anything too weird…er. Weirder." Xaldin suggested.

"Ne, ne, like big floating doors, ne!"

"Exactly…wait, what?"

"Ne, ne! There are big floating doors near where Demyx sat on me! We should check in there, na!" Artemicion tugged on Demyx's coat. "Let's go, let's go na!"

"Na, let's go see!" Demyx added and they skipped to the four doors of mystery. Meanwhile, the others were still confused on how the moogle managed to make up another nonsensical word like 'na,' and how Demyx quickly picked it up and into his vocabulary.

They made their way over to the quartet of entryways. Along the way, the party had become five people and a fuzzy flying cat (because moogle doesn't translate well in a Nobody's head). And there were four doors. The math isn't that hard. Of course, Larxene suggested that she should stay behind in case the chocobo was around them the whole time, and if she spotted him, he would become fried chicken. The rest argued on why she got to be the lucky one. Well, there are plenty of reasons why not, but Larxene has a way with words, and in this way:

"Well, Demyx is the summoner, so it's his duty to find the aeon, Auron's in the same boat because he's the guardian or whatever, Xaldin does less than I do because he's drunk or hypnotized the whole time in every world, and Axel hasn't done anything yet because he just joined our little crusade. And I think the fuzzy thing hates me."

Auron would have replied, but time is money, and money is gold, and a chocobo's feathers are gold. It's a strange connection, but it works. So the four horsemen took their places, Auron at the first door, Demyx at the second, Axel at third, and Xaldin (or Captain Useless, as the savage nymph called him) at last. They all walked into the blinding lights, and into the new pieces of the world. Larxene watched them leave, and her hand wiped the oversized and cartoonish drops of sweat off her forehead. She would have gone with one of them, but that presence was bothering her. It was there, and it was unavoidable. She turned around and glanced to each corner of the black and white calm.

"I know you're here, whoever you are, so stop hiding and show me your face."

"So you do, Number Twelve."

Her electric blue eyes widened as she saw the man she learned to fear materialized in front of her. His white-grey hair flowing, his robes a shadow mixed with the others, his eyes those of a basilisk gluing her feet to the ground. Even if everything looked so much cuter and surreal, it was still…him.

"S…Superior.." she gasped.

"Yes, Larxene, and may I ask how you are doing?"

"I thought you were dead already…"

"No, I asked how you are doing, not if I'm alive." His hand reached out and gripped her arm. She struggled to make him let go, but his nails dug into her skin. His cool and collective voice asked her again, "Where are the other members who are with you?"

"Who do you know is with me?"

"Xaldin, Axel, and as far as I know, the most troubling one is Demyx, correct?"

"Where are the other with you?" she tried to say through her gritting teeth.

"With me? Child, they choose to serve me! What contracts do you think I make? Luxord, Xigbar, and Saïx are still in the World that Never Was, awaking their fates."

"Then if you already have minions, why are you trying to get us back? Our allegiance isn't to you anymore!" She knew she made a mistake by saying that. What a stupid, stupid, stupid thing to say. It would put targets on all of their backs, even Auron's. Xemnas wasn't good with the times members tried to remodel or break free of the Organization. And she, who had survived her attempt at a coup with the Graceful Assassin Marluxia, could be the one with the worse punishment. She fanned her kunai trio in her free hand, and Xemnas knocked them out again effortlessly.

"You know you can't beat me with those, if you could fall prey to the keyblade master with them. Let me make a deal with you: you can have your life back if you try to put an end to the plans Demyx and his new friend are making, and join me in the last fight for Kingdom Hearts."

"My life isn't yours for the taking! And neither are the rest of theirs!" Larxene couldn't take this much longer. Was she actually starting to care about her idiotic traveling partners, or was this herself talking for everyone?

"Then I will make sure that all of you receive more pain than you have felt in your entire lives, even when you had hearts. Especially the summoner and his guardian!" Xemnas let go of her arm. She pulled up the sleeve and saw thin trickling lines of blood and violet bruises painting her skin. He raised his hand to beckon a portal of darkness.

"Wait!" she cried before he disappeared again. He turned his head ever so slowly. She gulped. "What do you know about Sin?"

He smiled. "We all indulge in Sin, but only some of us can harness these sins as our own."

And he melted into the shadows, just like that.

Larxene fell into the grass drained of green. She coughed, trying to suppress the bleeding from her arm. Her mouth licked the little rivers of red, while her hopeless and trembling hands grasped clumps of grass. She wanted to cry. Seeing Xemnas in front of her made her want to stick those kunai full of lightning into the cavern where her heart would be. She thought she was free by now, free! But no, nothing that made her happy wouldn't last long. Well, it never lasted long for anyone. She can't have the freedom she wanted the whole time she was chained to the Organization. Axel couldn't keep the only friend he had because it wasn't meant to be, according to Number Thirteen.

And sooner or later, Demyx wouldn't have those feelings anymore that Auron made him have.

So she did care about the others. It would have been much easier if that wasn't the case. But she did speak for everyone to Xemnas. Sure, someone could have gotten wrapped up in the moment and said they would go with him, but no one would want to. Even Xaldin was enjoying his life on the outside. And to know that there were three others, waiting to for a "death by Sora" at their base, god, what a horrible man. She couldn't tell anyone that she saw him, no one, and she had to be careful about that. Some members said that reading Larxene is easy because she only has two expressions: pissed and disturbed. And the one who made up that saying was Axel.

If she wasn't trying to hold back her tears, she would have screamed into the charcoal sky.

"Shit," she whispered, as she settled with the voice she had left.


Meanwhile, through the four doors:

"I'm getting a headache from these Heartless…I swear if I fall over all of them are going with me."

--------

"Get away get away from here!"

"Yay, Demyx is the great protector of Lilliput, ne!" (now we know where Artemicion went)

--------

"I'm supposed to be stopping the fire…and I use fire. What is wrong with this place?"

--------

"Oh shut up Pyro, I have to protect furniture! This is the stupidest task ever!"

--------

"Then you shut up too…Xaldin? How can you hear me?"

--------

"They don't make black and white houses very well. These walls are paper thin. You're really, really, loud when you complain."

--------

"Demyx! Can you hear me too?"

--------

"Yeah, and Auron is yelling at me for failing my task already, so what do you need?"

--------

"How did you already fail it?"

--------

"Well, I was supposed to make it so no one attacked the big tower in the middle of the circle—"

"Ne, and Demyx fell into it, na!"

"Yeah, but at least I found something!"

--------

"What?"

--------

"A foot! It looks like a bird's foot and it's big!"

"Ne, they put Choco into pieces!"

--------

"Even if Demyx is a complete dolt, I think that's what we should do to get out of here."

--------

"Fall into a building?"

--------

"No, do the wrong thing! Don't protect the furniture, keep the flames alive and jump!"

Of course, theories like these are usually right, thankfully for our anti-heroes. Auron jumped off the small planks that were holding up the rest of the Heartless (and he didn't realize ghost don't sink, but remembering you're dead can slip some people's minds). Axel threw his chakrams aflame into the burning building, and Xaldin sat in an unmoving chair while watching the couch and wardrobe travel into the black hole.

"Auron, there are people screaming inside! Shouldn't I get them out?"

--------

"No! They aren't actually there!"

--------

"Man, this feels so wrong."

Axel kept feeding the fire in front of him, trying to ignore the screams of pain. He watched the foundation crumble as the second story toppled onto the first, then the third, and so on until there was nothing but a heap of beams and ashes. He slammed his pinwheels into the engines of the zooming hot rods and peered inside the towers ruins. Axel expected to see the disturbing limbs or other body parts of the chocobo, but Demyx left out the part that they weren't sawed-off stumps. They were puzzle pieces, like wooden chunks that fit to make a statue or a key, and his was shaped like part of the main body and the other leg.

"Xaldin, how's it going in your door?"

--------

"I have nowhere left to sit. The damn wormhole took everything!"

--------

"Well, did you get anything?"

--------

"It looks like there's something on the ground still, hold on a—oh gods, it's the head!"

--------

"Quit acting like a pansy, it isn't real! Demyx, you still got that leg, right?"

--------

"Yep! Auron, are you done falling now?"

--------

"I have the other half of the body. Quick, go through the door you came in!"

They all rushed back to the doors and pushed their way back into the grayscale twilight. The four men almost ran into each other after their trials of destruction. Then they spotted Larxene, still wheezing on the grass near them.

"Larxene!" Demyx cried out as he rushed to her side. "What happened to your arm? Who came here while we were gone?"

"N-no one, a few Heartless came around here. Big ones, like Behemoths. They caught me by surprise." Axel saw her eyes as she spoke. Obviously he could see right through her, so she changed her tone before he asked what was really wrong. "Stop worrying about me already! Did you find the bird or what?"

"We found something close to it," Xaldin said, snatching the rest of the pieces from the ghost and the Nobodies. He fit them together to make the final chocobo, and hopefully the final clue to where it was.

It didn't do anything, which shouldn't surprise you by now.

"Oh damn it, you leave, get me scraped up, and now we have no lead whatsoever! Got any ideas now, Furball?" Larxene wheezed at Artemicion. Demyx told her to stop talking or else she would fall over. He tore off a piece of his Organization coat and wrapped it around the cuts Xemnas had made. He said if there was no Organization, he shouldn't care about his uniform anymore. She shuddered to think that it might not be nonexistent is the Superior knew where they were.

"Eh? No, no, I don't know how to find Choco, ne! That's why I wanted to look with you!" he said in his defense.

"Does anyone besides me think that the puzzle IS Choco?" Axel asked.

"No!"

"But he does have a point," Demyx pondered. "Sure, the big scary kitty Mr. Pete can't use magic, but that means there's some one who can!"

"Maleficent?" Axel posed.

"No, this is too basic for that, I think."

"Xaldin's mom?" Larxene questioned, and Xaldin shot her a dirty look.

"Erm…probably not."

"Doesn't anyone keep track of the names we mention in the past hour? He's talking about the king!" Auron yelled, not in glee.

"Exactly! It's a test to see how good of a summoner I am!"

"Well obviously you're not a very good one if you can't turn Pinocchio into a real bird, huh?" Xaldin smirked. "No aeon you have can change the composition of anything, so now what?" That question really left Demyx a little stunned. All of the problems they had so far were easily fixed, but that's because he had someone else's help. This rested solely on him, and he still wasn't quite used to that.

"Oh…okay, lemme just think of something…" he said as his sitar appeared and he clutched its neck. "Maybe…no, that would blow it away, so how about…no, that's too wet…it'd break that way…um…I think it would die if that happened…hold on…" The others watched as Demyx was lost in his thoughts. It would hurt his pride if they just shouted the answer to him, but they weren't going to get anywhere if he sat there and thought on his own. Demyx looked up and saw them staring at him, disgruntled.

God I'm such an idiot, they probably already know the answer and they just don't want to tell me because they think my feelings will get hurt, he thought. What, do they think I'm that stupid? Seeing them look at me like this is what really hurts!

"Any luck yet? What about—" Larxene asked.

"Hold on a sec, I think I almost have it…"

"Well we're not getting anywhere, so you could try—" Axel began

"I said I almost have it, okay? I don't need your help!" Now he was getting frustrated. It was something so simple but he couldn't figure it out. He needed it to be quiet, he needed to think, but no matter how hard he tried, it wasn't coming to him.

"Demyx, please, before anything happens, try to listen to us first." Auron said.

That's it, I give up.

"Look, I get it, I'm a screw up! I know that I just can't figure it out because I'm too dumb! I just don't like it when you hide the answer to make it look like you don't know either! I don't need your pity, you know, I just want to get the answer on my own!" Everyone looked surprised. It would have been so much easier if he pretended he was ignorant, but that came over him. It was a feeling that he hadn't experienced yet, but it made his stomach churn and his head throb.

He was pretty sure it was called anger. The smallest thing made him angry again. Like those times, when he went into the cities, and…no, that wasn't like it at all! It wasn't that extreme, and he promised himself that those feelings wouldn't come out again. But then he remembered something else about his life as a Nobody: he had never gotten angry at anyone, but used that extreme form all the time. He was certain that one was called rage. Demyx put his hand to his head to stop the headache that felt like fire burning him inside out.

Fire…

"Fire! That's it!"

"Fire isn't going to work, it's just going to burn up and die!" Axel insisted.

"No, trust me, it's going to work!" He began to pluck the sweet melody of the firebird and the Phoenix's flaming wings came to life without its shades of red and orange, but with the same grace and "un-chibi" look. "Phoenix, get Choco out of the wooden trap!"

"Demyx, it's not going to work! Listen!' Auron tried to say.

"Auron, Choco isn't the wood, he's in the wood! It's like a box and he's stuck in it! Watch!" Phoenix cast a breath of fire across the grass where the life-sized wooden bird lay. The wood burned with black smoke and ashes spread into the air. Little puffs of grey covered with black dots (or an ashy yellow puff, to those in color) emerged from the fire with a loud "KWEEEHH!" sound. Finally, the tomb was destroyed and Choco had become free!

"Yay, yay, Choco is back, ne! We knew you could do it, ne, Demyx!" Artemicion cheered, who had been quiet for some time. And although no one else wanted to admit it, they probably shouldn't have doubted him. Would they say it? Of course not. Demyx needed the time to feel proud of himself as he watched Artemicion and Choco become the new music for his summoning duties.

Demyx turned to his cohorts with a big boasting grin. "Shall we get going then?"


"Yeah, yeah, just get back to the castle and hopefully it's not an 'off with our heads' getaway," Larxene groaned.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the universe…

"Tifa! Tifa! Are you all right?"

She couldn't see much, only black haze and the blur of someone kneeling over her. They kept screaming her name, but she was so distant from reality at this point. What had happened exactly? There was a shadow that loomed over everything, and then…the buildings around her started to crumble…and then something must have hit her head really hard for her to get knocked out. What was that shadow, anyway? It certainly wasn't a cloud.

Pull yourself together, Tifa! Get back in you head!

Her focus came back pixel by pixel as the blur above became familiar golden spikes and good old Mister Melancholy and Handsome worrying over her. His crystal blue eyes watched her frantically as the crashing waves as she coughed her strength back. He smiled at her, the rare smile that you couldn't get out of him even if you threatened his life and sanity.

"Cloud…what happened?" she murmured

"I don't know, Tifa, I was underground the whole time and I hear something on the surface but I just couldn't help you in time…" He pressed her against him in a loving embrace. He was always the same to her. He had the most gentle touch, the smell of compassion and desire, the taste of…

Speaking of the senses, she was able to see the wreckage perfectly. The black haze was smoke coming from every orifice in the city and it filled her nose with the smell of death. The only things she could hear were Cloud's drowned apologies and the crackling of fire.

And everything around them was flat. No buildings, no bridges, no people.

"Here, we need to get you to Aerith right away," he said as he lifted her up by her back and the crevasse under her knees.

Hmph, I've always wanted a fairy tale ending, but this is just ridiculous.

"How are the others doing?" Tifa asked in her hoarse voice.

"They're…okay."

"Cloud, tell me the truth. I've known you long enough to know that 'okay' with a pause before it means 'bad.' What's wrong?"

He sighed and began walking to the boroughs without making eye contact with her in his arms. "Before most of the damage was done, Cid and Leon were the first two to see…whatever it was. It was heading for them and Leon pushed Cid out of the way and told him to find everyone else. But now…"

"You can't find him?"

"…yeah. We don't know if it…consumed him or not, but we can't find any reasons to think differently…" They had made it to the center of the boroughs, where a line of lifeless and hopeless people stood in front of a wobbly blue tent. They saw Yuffie handing out packages of band-aids, medicine, and food, while Aerith was treating a man who had lost a leg during the attack.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"Is this worse than…him?"

"…yeah. A lot worse."

Yuffie saw the two from the corner of her eye and motioned for them to walk to the tent. Her eyes showed concern for Tifa, and told Cloud to lay her on a cot so that Aerith could treat her right away.

"We've been so busy, there hasn't been any time to breathe! It's a good thing you two are safe, though. Cloud! Get to work on handing out packages! Cid's busy on the gummi ship communication thingy with Sora, so we need all the help we can get!" Yuffie said in one big huff.

"Do you know if anyone's seen…Leon yet?"

The ninja fell silent. That wasn't a good sign.

Cloud felt a droplet of rain fall on his nose. He looked up to the sky to see dark grey and thundering masses spit on them, like the heavens punishing them.


Whatever this was…something had to be done.

Back in the Falcon Peak…

"Okay, so tell me what's eating you. That face you made earlier is not the good face."

Axel was pacing in front of Larxene, who was sitting on a bed in a large cabin, furnished only in white and red.

"Nothing happened, damn it! And if it did, I'd tell you! Who do you think I'd spill the news to, Xaldin? leave me alone!"

"The normal Larxene would spread the news around, even if it was bad. Come on, I won't tell anyone!" he said teasingly.

"Why don't you go play in the engine or walk outside in the nice, oxygen-less air, huh?" she yelled while hugging a squished white pillow. There was no way he was going to get her encounter with Xemnas out of her. None of these guys needed that on their minds while they were fighting some giant monster they never heard of and trying to get their sanity back.

"Fine. You know what? You can have this little secret all to yourself. See if I care. Auron and Demyx are probably done navigating, so we should get out there anyway!" Larxene threw the pillow at Axel's head and leaped off the bed to follow him into the cockpit.

In the cockpit Auron was sitting at the larger chair in front of the controls and Demyx was touching lights and menus on a holographic map. Xaldin, on the other hand, was sprawled on a huge red ottoman, trying to balance a pencil on his forehead. Captain Useless indeed.

"We're heading to an area called the Pride Lands. All I can see is some grass and a few cliffs…" Demyx said as he pushed a button with a plus sign to zoom into the new planet. "Are you sure that this place is gonna have an aeon on it?"

"I'm not saying there is, I'm saying there could be," Auron replied while steering the airship to an appropriate landing spot. "The worst that could happen is that we have to look somewhere else."

"Or we'll be wearing some hideous new wardrobe." Larxene added. Auron merely shuddered.

"Are you feeling better Larxene? You can stay on board if you want to!" Demyx suggested.

"I'm not that big of a slacker, you know! It's Axel's fault I was cooped up in that room the whole time!" she barked back.

"No, it's okay! Auron and I are going by ourselves so that you three get a break!"

"Yes!" Axel and Xaldin simultaneously cheered.

"…but then he said that if you ever try to get out of any work, he's going to slam your skulls into the wall and beat you so hard that no one would recognize you. He said it'd be for the good of Sine." Axel and Xaldin's spirits melted into despair and Auron smack Demyx over the head again.

"It's Sin! Sin! Not Sine, not Sloth, Sin!"

"Well maybe if you didn't hit me every time I said it wrong I wouldn't be doing it out of spite!"

We have now arrived in: Pride Lands.

""Oh yes, almost forgot," Auron smirked as he took a small golden key out of the ignition "if you wanted to leave or wander around, well, you can't. Have fun." He grabbed his Masamune and walked with Demyx out the hatch. The three remaining Nobodies were stunned.

"Well this isn't very fair!" Axel pouted, like a spoiled eight-year-old.

"Think of it this way: we're under house arrest because we did something horrible." Xaldin said while tossing his pencil up and back.

"Oh yeah, because we've been really bad people since we've become guardians," Larxene said sarcastically as she grabbed a small can of some unknown beverage from the newfound refrigerator. "It's like we've been car bombing and eating babies 24-7! Man, if we had a nickel for every bad thing we've done as Nobodies, we'd be—what's this?"

Out of the refrigerator came a black lamp of a dull and rusty metal. It was surprisingly light and Larxene brought it to where Axel and Xaldin were sitting.

"What the hell is that?" Xaldin asked.

"I think…it's a teapot. But it feels kind of empty. Maybe it's low-cal." Larxene pondered.

"I think I've seen one of those in a book before, but I can't remember what you use them for…maybe it's some kind of healing potion bottle." Axel posed. But as he watched Larxene rub the sides of the lamp, his eyes widened and he made a motion for her to halt. "Wait a minute! Don't do that!"

"What's your problem?"

"I have seen that before! It's a cursed magic lamp owned by an evil pirate harlot! If you touch it anymore, she's going to send her army to kill you!"

Xaldin smacked his forehead in annoyance. "That is the stupidest story I have ever heard. Larxene, keep rubbing. We all know that genies come out of lamps and grant you three wishes. And I want to get out of here, so maybe we can wish for an extra key." Larxene agreed and kept rubbing the lamp. A thin stream of blue smoke came from the opening. That stream grew into a river, and that river grew into an ocean.

"Well, if all we're going to get is smoke, I better be getting high sooner or later." Larxene pouted.

She rubbed the lamp harder, like a bad itch (or an inappropriate movement, select the one of your choice). She growled, alas, nothing was happening. In her frustration she threw it against the wall. "Damn it, why isn't anything happening?"

Yeah, something's gonna happen.

The charcoal lid flew off the lamp like a torpedo, and almost hit Xaldin in the eye if he hadn't dodged. Puffs of deep gray smoke filled the room, making the Nobodies' eyes water. There was the cracking of thunder, not from the nymph but from deep in the thicket of clouds, deep in the lamp. Shadows grew behind the smoke. Gargantuan hands reached out and grabbed things invisible to their eyes, but then became axes of steel, unlike Lexaeus's old tomahawk of Aztec bright colors. Those shadows grew into blue masses with blood red and bone white horns.

And, although Xaldin wouldn't dare say it out loud, they just looked like gigantic cows.

Because they were gigantic cows. Ohoho, yes they were. Bovine deities from a distant world. Cackling with evil snorts and moos. This was going to be a hell of a break.

"You puny mortals!" the bull with the red horns growled. "You have disturbed our sleep!"

"But Brother, isn't that good? We've been stuck in here for years!" the other one chided.

"…yes, is that so? Then you have our thanks, mortal."

"We're not mortals! We're Nobodies!" Larxene yelled.

"Which makes you even less important. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Sacred,"

"And I am Minotaur!" said the one with rusty horns.

"You know, Minotaur is a lot cooler of a name than Sacred, you pansy." Axel jeered.

"Quiet you! Because the three of you have freed us from our lamp-like prison, we are willing to give you each one wish. You must think about it carefully because it will affect you forever. Now hurry up."

"Awesome, Axel thought we were going to find a hooker pirate and we get a genie! This makes up for everything!" Xaldin said. "But now we can't say to give us a key."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't doubt that Auron will smash our heads into a wall. So try to wish for something more reasonable. Here, I'll go first." He stood up and cleared his throat "I'd like to wish for—"

"Oh sorry, forgot to remind you," Sacred added. "we can't grant certain wishes. If you want to control someone, kill someone, magically have someone fall in love with you, cause a giant disaster killing millions, or break a seal placed upon you, we can't do that. It's part of a code that we have to follow."

"…damn. Now what am I supposed to wish for?" Xaldin cursed. He tapped his dreadlock head for a moment, and then the lightbulb went off in his head (and you betcha, it burst into glass shards seconds later). "I wish I had a million munny so that if we get stuck in a world I can buy all the beer and status enhancers I'll ever need." The Brothers nodded their heads and a pile of sacks of munny lay before him. He dived in like a child at his first swimming lesson.

"Of course you did, you greedy bastard," Axel said and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to wish for something more practical!"

"A hooker pirate?" Larxene asked.

"Very funny. I wish for a heart!" And sure enough, he got one. That is…a real, live, beating one that he dropped on the floor after he was finished screaming. "What is that!"

"It's a heart. A magic one. Technically we aren't supposed to give you a heart either since it directly affects one's bodily composition, which is quite dangerous. So we decided we'd let you test an old wives tale from our world. If you can digest it in the next twenty-four hours you will get the expressions and feelings of a real heart. That is, if you survive. Dig in." Minotaur explained. Axel looked like he was going to be sick.

"This is the worst love potion I have even seen. I'm not going to risk it if I'm going to die! Larxene, hurry up and get these sickos out of here."

"I don't want anything."

"What?"

"You heard me, I don't want anything!" she said with her arms crossed. There wasn't actually anything she could think of. Of course, this was a big giveaway to Axel that there was something wrong with her (because she was a sucker for free stuff) but that didn't really matter. What they needed was something to get Xemnas to back off, without killing him. What they needed was a big power boost, yeah!

What they needed was an aeon!

"Lemme ask you a question first," she said. "Do you know anything about summoning and all that?"

"Ah, the warding of Sign and the use of aeons, correct?" Minotaur replied, but soon after Sacred smacked him.

"It's Sin, not Sign!" he said, reminiscent of their swordsman.

"Uh huh. So can I wish for the two of you to cram yourselves into that lamp again so that our idiotic friend can use you as an aeon or something?"

"Hm. I think that can be arranged. Are you sure that's what you want?" The brother red pondered. "That's quite a selfless wish."

"I know, it's not usually my style. But since King Midas and the Cannibal are probably going to regret their decisions, I might as well. We don't stop anywhere long enough to get that drunk and I'd eat that heart any day. So I wish for you two to become aeons for Demyx!"

The brothers looked at each other, confused, and nodded their heads. "As you wish. We'll stay in the lamp until the grand summoner gets back." The clouds of smoke came back and Sacred and Minotaur slowly disappeared back into the lamp.

"Grand summoner my ass! He can't even say his enemy's name right!" Larxene scowled. Then she noticed Axel and Xaldin, staring at her. "What?"

"You did something nice. Did you forget to take your crazy pills today or is the savage nymph softening up?" Axel asked.

"Consider it an early Christmas present."

"But last year all you gave me for Christmas was a second-degree burn." Xaldin added.

"…then screw you all and happy birthday, Demyx."


"Come on Auron! You have to try running like this! It's awesome!"

This new world called the Pride Lands, whatever was with it, Auron hated it. It wasn't just the fact that there were too many colors (and coincidentally, any world with too many colors had some singing animals), but that he was an animal himself.

If there was anything more mortifying than becoming a lion, a black and white munchkin and a merman all in the same month, let alone year, he wouldn't feel like going back to the Underworld. Which there probably wasn't.

His dark maroon fur replaced his skin and he found himself on all fours. He didn't have a long and flourishing mane, just patched of darker red and his scar running through his body. Demyx on the other hand was tan with cowlicks flying about as he ran in his new body.

"I'm not going anywhere in this stupid body." Auron said coldly.

"But come on, you'll never get to feel like this again! Running around like this is so…exhilarating!" Demyx pleaded.

"…No."

"You know, you can't keep this tough guy act up for long. I know you want to run and frolic in the flowers—"

"—Does my name and the word 'frolick' ever come together?"

"Well, at least act like you're having a good time!"

"I 'm not dressed like a damned red Ronso to have a party, I'm here to help you find an aeon."

"Geez, what a killjoy." Demyx frowned, not even knowing if being a Ronso was good or bad. He walked away from his guardian. Auron was still unmoved as he left him. "Don't you have to follow me? Since you're my guardian and all?"

"Nope."

"Fine then. I guess the 'great Auron' is just too old to chase after someone. Getting a little too weary for his own good. It'd be a sham if he couldn't fulfill his duties, right?" For some idiotic reason, this got to Auron. Not because some punk kid was spouting nonsense out of his gigantic mouth, but because that punk kid was using that as an excuse to not be by himself. They had been through a lot in the past few days, and nothing on that list he made was getting done. Was Sin dead? As far as they knew, nope. Were his cohorts wreaking havoc? That was easy to answer. Was Demyx stable? Oh hell no.

"If you wanted me to go, just say it out loud," Auron sighed as he walked toward Demyx, while still getting accustomed to his extra appendages. "You didn't have to beat around the bush."

"I know, but…" the nocturne trailed off, "I thought you'd tell me to grow up."

"Trust me, that's never going to happen. But that doesn't mean you have to. I've been used to being by myself. But you, you're clingy. You need people around to feel safe. Whatever."

"Thanks," Demyx said and smile with a toothy grin "but do you have any idea where we are?"

Indeed, he didn't. They seemed to have wandered far from where the airship was landed, and were engulfed in dusty rocks and bones. But minutes later the world around them had become so different, with lush grass and bright flowers and the calm hum of water. Demyx was absolutely fascinated with this place, pawing at every blossom to taste its nectar and clawing at every rock to see what would be hiding under it. But he never made a sound. He kept quiet during his discoveries and let nature's pure silence fill the air.

And, of course, there was something wrong with that, according to Auron.

But before he could ask, Demyx spoke. "Auron, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Well, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier today, and—"

"Oh come on," Auron said, cutting him off "I couldn't care less. You got mad. It happens to everyone."

"No, listen! How am I supposed to…not get mad? I don't like having that feeling and…I know you guys get kind of scared when I do, so…"

"You really don't get it, do you? That's all it is. A feeling. Everyone has them. It's just a simple emotion that can get to you. Having emotions like that is proof that you're human. Besides, I would have been wrong anyway. I was going to say to use Cerberus."

nah, he doesn't mean that.

"Thanks. Sorry you have to repeat yourself so much."

"That's only because it won't sink into your—"

"Ooh, a waterfall!"

"…Exactly." the swordsman sighed. Demyx was captivated by the waterfall and the shallow pool of crystal-clear perfection in front of them. He had never seen anything like this in nature that made him want to stay in a world for a while, to just be entranced by its beauty. He looked down into his own reflection with his sandy fur and exaggerated blue eyes. Even he had to admit he looked ridiculous. His eyes glanced further away, and it was if he saw…fire in the water. There were little red and yellow flickers that blinded him. He looked up from the water and gasped.

"Auron…is that a lion?"

"I highly doubt it."

It was huge, a mass of rich chocolate fur set ablaze. It looked like a wolf, but with horns that were made of steel and adorned in tassels and gold bands. It growled, not at the two, but to his own reflection as it took another sip of water.

"I'm guessing that's our aeon, Demyx," Auron said.

"Yeah, but this isn't good!"

"Oh, what now?"

"If I meow at it, is it going to try to kill me?"

"…You're an idiot, Demyx." he said, with a half-smile, and followed his summoner to chase Ifrit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Whew, finally! It took so long…and so will the next one probably, but it'll be worth the wait! Because something extra-special is going to happen in:

Chapter 10: Origin

This time, we'll be seeing a totally different world, and you'd never expect it! Somewhere you've seen before, but in a different before! Want a hint?

It's Spira! And along with finally seeing Auron's home world, we'll see a new plot, a new form of destruction, deceit, confessions, and information about one of our Nobody's past that is so shocking, it will make you slap yourself.

Seriously. It's Spira, people. And you know you want it.