Hey guys! I WAS going to upload this tomorrow, but I decided I didn't want to. Mainly because I'll be tired as heck since I have to wake up at 4:30 am and go to work at 5:30 because of Daylight Savings Time, according to my boss. I don't know if that's accurate, though. But I don't really care. ANYWAY! I have the next chapter already finished and I'm working on the NEXT one after that. This chapter is sort of an interlude. You guys might not like that, but I promise the next chapter will be pretty long to make up for it. ^^ On with the show~!

"Huh? Who are you?" Namine looked over at the very weak man. He was wobbling, pain evident on his face. Namine frowned as he walked closer to her. She stood, ready to defend herself if needed. But right before anything could happen, he collapsed.

She gasped and ran to him, kneeling down to check his pulse. She froze when she found none, and was even more shocked when he groaned in pain.

He didn't have a pulse. Yet he still was clearly alive. She looked him over again. 'Another Nobody?' she thought to herself.

She pushed him onto his back to get a proper look at him. He had short orange hair under a bowler hat, with bangs that covered one of his eyes. He also had a white coat and dark pants, with a gray scarf around his neck.

His face was contorted in pain and it was obvious why. He must have been attacked by Nobodies on his way here. They probably sensed his presence and sent a couple Dusks to retrieve him, but he fought back and came here.

Knowing DiZ would return shortly, she grabbed the man and dragged him to a spare room. After placing a few spells around the place so as to keep him hidden, she stayed seated until he woke. She knew he would have plenty of questions.


Xaldin sat in silence in the meeting room, his chair elevated like the rest. He was thinking back to what he saw back at the Beast's Castle. The girl in the hood… the one who was standing with the Keyblade wielder. She seemed so familiar to him. Yet at the same time, she felt foreign.

Her voice and weapon were familiar, yet the way she held herself as well as the air around her were drastically different. Without looking at her face, he couldn't be completely sure if she was who he thought she was. Even so, he was almost certain. He just needed the hood to get off somehow.

The sound of a portal opening and closing alerted him to another person in the room. He looked up and locked eyes with the leader himself.

"Your report, Xaldin."

The lancer nodded. "The process of turning the Beast into a Heartless was going well. He was completely fueled by anger, even attacking his friends as well as the Keyblade wielder."

"However?" the Leader's deep voice penetrated the air in a questioning tone.

Xaldin was quiet for a moment before continuing. "However, he was saved by Sora, and all the progress we had was lost. I sent a Heartless to deal with them, and almost succeeded; but it was…interrupted. Another Keyblade wielder in a cloak similar to ours came to their rescue along with two others."

"Another Keyblade wielder, you say?" his leader said in thought. "What did they look like?"

"Her hood was up, making it impossible for me to see their face, but the body shape was definitely that of a female."

"Was she dual-wielding?"

"No, but I would assume she was hiding the ability, or at least had little reason to use it. But before I left, I saw something interesting." Xaldin looked down as he recalled the strange occurrence. "As I went to leave, I felt a strange distortion in the area. When I checked, I found another hooded stranger with Sora and his friends, and by the look of things, she was a new enemy."

Xemnas seemed to grin at the new information. He was certain now that the mysterious person was indeed the one he had been looking for. It has taken many years after their last encounter, and now he cannot wait to find her again.

'Finally, you and I will be reunited once more...Sayomi.'


The first thing that registered in his head was pain. The second was the soft thing he was laying on.

He blearily opened his eyes, thankful that it wasn't too bright in the room. He looked around, noticing the almost rust-colored walls and dim light. It seemed like a bedroom, with a bureau, a bedside table, a dresser, and a large window in the far wall. Which meant he was laying on the bed.

He tried to sit up, but was stopped by a pair of small hands and a gentle voice telling him to be careful. When he looked to his side, he saw a petite young girl with blonde hair sitting next to him. He was tempted to force the girl into telling him where the hell he was and what happened to him, but his exhaustion won out and he laid back down.

"Who-" he started to ask, but was stopped again by the girl, whose hand was now in his face. She smiled kindly at him and handed him a cup of water to drink. He stared at it for a moment, trying to decide whether it has been poisoned. The girl chuckled.

"Don't worry. It's not tampered with. I wouldn't have taken care of you if I was just going to poison you."

She did have a point, he supposed. With slight reluctance (after all, he still didn't really trust this mystery girl) he drank the water. His throat felt so much better afterward, and he sighed in content.

The girl smiled. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions…"

"Yes… First of all, who are you?" he asked, looking at her. "And where am I?" She only smiled patiently.

"My name is Naminé," she replied, gesturing to herself, then to the room around her. "You're in a hidden room within an old mansion. The town you're in is called Twilight Town."

Now was when Roman was confused. Well, more confused than he had been. Where the hell was Twilight Town? He had never heard of such a place.

"You must be very confused Mr…?"

"Roman. Roman Torchwick." Namine smiled.

"Roman, where do you remember being last?" she asked. Roman thought for a moment.

"I was fighting on top of an airship. I was with an accomplice of mine, and we were fighting a Huntress. But then Neo flew off the side, and I continued the battle. I screamed to the girl, swung my cane, and then nothing but darkness…"

Naminé was silent as she digested this information. He sounded like a bad guy in that situation, but she wouldn't judge. Axel was pretty evil, too, but he switched sides thanks to Sayomi. Maybe this guy was capable of that, too? She's just have to try.

"Do you know what happened to me?" Roman asked, his tone serious as he looked at her with narrowed eyes. Naminé quickly shook her head, waving her arms dismissively and defensively.

"I didn't do anything to you, I promise. But… I think I do know why you're here." She looked down at her lap, taking a deep breath. She explained to him all about Heartless and Nobodies and what happens when a person loses their heart to a Heartless.

"So you think…that I'm one of these Nobodies?" he asked, trying to take it all in.

Naminé nodded. "The Creatures of Grimm you had described sound similar to Heartless. Black, disappear on contact, attracted to negative emotions and the darkness in one's heart. It's possible that either the Grimm are a subspecies of Heartless, or some Heartless managed to travel into your world. If that's the case, then the Grimm that attacked you was actually a Heartless, and was drawn to the darkness in your heart. But your heart was strong enough, and created a Nobody."

"But why me? And how can I get back home?" Roman was worried, but not so much for his sake. He was worried about Neo. What happened to her? Is she alright? Hopefully she was…

"I'm not sure. Traveling through worlds isn't something I've done often…"

"Then you're in luck."

Both Roman and Naminé's heads snapped toward the door, the new voice putting both on alert. Standing in the doorway was none other than Axel, a cheeky grin on his face and his arms crossed.

"Axel!" Naminé exclaimed, standing from her seat. "What are you doing here?"

"I sensed a dark presence similar to the Organization's and wanted to see what was up."

At Roman's questionable glance, Naminé explained, "Axel's a Nobody, too. Remember when I explained about Nobodies? Well, there's an Organization made up of twelve human-like Nobodies. Axel's one of them."

"Previously," Axel quickly corrected, surprising Naminé. "I haven't been on their side in years."

"But... you're still working for them," the young girl shyly pointed out.

Axel slyly pressed a finger to his lips, indicating the secrecy of the subject. Naminé frowned, but relented.

"So, you're the new Nobody, hm?" Axel asked, turning the subject back to Roman. Said man nodded and Axel sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Okay, here's the deal. We don't know what powers or abilities you have, and since you're new, I doubt you know, either. If the Organization finds you, they'll no doubt try to recruit you. And we definitely can't have that…"

"Because they're the bad guys, right?" Roman asked, crossing his arms. "Back in my world I was a bad guy. What makes these guys so different?"

"Organization XIII is much more dangerous than thievery. They're ruthless killers that will do anything for their goal. If they even suspect you to be a threat, even if in their own ranks, they won't hesitate to kill you…" Naminé said softly, looking down at the ground as she remembered Castle Oblivion. How Marluxia ordered Vexen assassinated, and how they trapped her there and forced her to do their dirty work.

Roman was silent as he thought. He never really worked for the good guys, but it seemed in this instance he had little choice. "So what then? If you sensed me, then most likely they did, too. So I can't lay low."

Axel and Naminé shared a glance before seemingly coming to a decision. Naminé turned to him.

"Well, we know of someone who we think can help you. She's been going to other worlds longer than even Axel. And she knows things that no one else does. She may be able to help you."

"She's the reason I'm not working with the Organization anymore. If anything, I'm like a spy. Not to mention the favors I owe her," Axel said with an eye roll.

"So you think this girl can help me get back to my world?" Roman asked.

"If nothing else, she'll protect you from the Organization. Maybe teach you a spell or two for protection while you learn to control your powers."

"Though she'll definitely hate the attention she'd get from helping you. Then again, she's already on their hit list. Number one priority." Axel smirked at the annoyed face she had made before she went into complete silence.

"What's her name? If I'm going to be traveling with her, I might as well know her name."

Naminé smiled in relief at his willingness to travel with a, to him, complete stranger. " Her name's Sayomi. And she's a Keyblade Master."

So what do you think? Tell me in your reviews! It's honestly killing me not uploading all of the chapters I got right now, but it'll be worth it, I promise.