Well, here I am, still alive. Sorry it took so long; with the end of the semester and conflicts within this chapter, it took a long time to decide on how this one should go.

If there are discrepancies, please point them out to me; this chapter was re-written about 10 times, so there may be scraps of previous versions left.

But anyway...enjoy!

I've given you just enough to get aggravated with me again. Oooh cliffhangers!

Have fun!

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"Hey, Isa. Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Lea asked suddenly, drawing Isa out of his calm trance. After a long day's rest, the pair were back on the clock tower as usual, watching the clouds. Isa had been nearing sleep again, and Lea had been staring off over the ocean for an immeasurable amount of time. Isa glanced over at his best friend curiously. He had an odd tone in his voice.

"Don't tell me you miss her," Isa growled sternly, at first intending to tease him. When Lea didn't immediately answer, Isa sat up and faced him. "Lea—you'd be dead if she'd had any less shred of restraint. She may have some sort of connection with us, but there's a high chance she was made for the sole purpose of killing us off."

"We don't know that for sure," Lea retorted irritably. "Besides, are you really the one to be judging someone else's past?"

Isa sighed and returned to where he had been laying, brow lowered. Lea ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry," Lea realized, shaking his head. "I'm just pissed because I can't figure this out."

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't have been included in this," Isa responded, already having forgiven his friend for the stinging remark. Isa had temporarily forgotten their situation during his relaxation, but their conversation had brought back the pressing questions that no one seemed to have the answers to.

Isa wasn't sure what to think of her. They knew very little of her, except for the fact that she was a Nobody. She had no memories of interactions with any other Organization members, and had thus been forced to learn to live on her own. She had not been taught the harrowing ways that he and Axel had learned, but she had also not been shown how to give mercy. A Nobody untainted by the hands of darkness, despite treading the shadows…is this how they were? Without a heart to guide her, how did this girl know what she was doing? How did she know to long for her forgotten past? How did she know to stay her blade in times of battle?

Isa sat up again suddenly, eyes wide. Lea jumped and looked round for a threat he was sure had suddenly appeared. When he found nothing, he looked at Isa, who was still staring into the clear sky.

"What the fuck, man?" Lea cried, annoyed he had been taken by surprise.

"When you met your first adversary, stared into his eyes with your blade at his throat, did you hesitate?" Isa asked suddenly. Lea blinked rapidly and swung his legs away from the edge of the clock tower so that he was facing Isa.

"Seriously. What the fuck, Isa? What kind of question is th-"

"I didn't. I didn't stop for a second. I showed no mercy. I didn't know how to," Isa continued, seeming not to hear Lea. Lea grew silent as he watched Isa's eyes watch something he couldn't see. "How can you know what's right from wrong when there's nothing to guide you?"

"You can't. If you're worried about what you did…the past is done; there's nothing you can do to change it. I mean…when you don't have the capacity to love, much less know how to be kind to someone instead of killing them, you can't very well crush yourself over it," Lea answered quickly, seeing the shock in Isa's eyes. Lea wasn't sure why this had suddenly come up, but he didn't want to see Isa get dragged into depression. Lea had only just remembered and was fighting it. How long had Isa had to face this alone?

"Lea, that's…I…," Isa stuttered, blinking until his vision finally cleared. He turned to Lea with a piercing gaze. "That's not what I was talking about, imbecile." Lea narrowed his eyes.

"What else could you have been talking about?" Lea asked in annoyance. Isa stood suddenly.

"If you aren't taught the difference between right and wrong, there is always something there to guide you…if you're whole, anyways. When you're a Nobody, what's there to help you make the right decision?" Isa continued, shaking his head. Before Lea could cut in, Isa focused. "I'm talking about the girl; the one you named 'Fey'. How come she stopped herself each time she could have killed us all? What made her do that?"

"Fuck if I know," Lea responded immediately, still irritated. "She has no heart; there's nothing guiding her. She always turns to leave when she gets backed into a corner, right? When she's forced to choose between our presence and running, she runs. So she's not aggressive, but she's not exactly warm and welcoming either. Nothing to get excited over." Despite his annoyance, he continued on with his musing, trying to give Isa something to run with. In their times of bewilderment, the two usually managed to pull something out of nothing.

"Instead of eliminating what stands in her path, she chooses another that does not involve bloodshed. More difficult and time consuming. What makes her do this?" Isa repeated, trying to understand it. Lea put a hand on the wall for support and joined his friend standing.

"The only explanation could be the influence of her memories. Just like how she knew us," Lea offered. He knew that the other reasons they were headed for were completely impossible.

"Do you really think she was taught mercy over bloodshed and efficiency?" Isa responded. He took a step forward and peered down onto the plaza. Lea shrugged. Isa was right; there was no way the Organization would have taught her those ways. Someone outside of the Organization, maybe, but not within it.

"There's no explanation for what you're trying to solve, Isa. A Nobody cannot be guided by anything, because they're empty. If somehow her memories influence her, then that's a possibility. The only other way…," Lea trailed off, raising an eyebrow at Isa. Isa said nothing, only looked at his companion. "You're out of your fucking mind if you seriously think that could be a reason."

"I don't consider anything impossible at this point," Isa retorted, reaching out and grasping Lea's shoulder. Lea's eyes only narrowed.

"THAT is impossible at this point. If it was possible, she wouldn't be what she was," Lea cut off quickly. Isa was usually much more steady minded than Axel, but the direction Isa was looking for answers was a path into nothing. There was no possibility that there could be anything true down this pathway. Isa sighed and dropped his arm to his side.

"I don't know, Lea. There are no others who are more knowledgeable about Nobodies than ourselves. However when we were Nobodies, I never thought to question why we were the way we were. We all had that same answer thrown at us; that we were without hearts, and therefore incomplete. There was no other reason but our drive to reclaim our lost hearts. But this girl doesn't even know what she lacks. She only moves forward with instinct…longing…," Isa said softly, more frustrated with each passing second. "There are some questions about Nobodies that not even we can answer. If we are inept at understanding, who else could possibly know?"

Lea pondered what they knew and glanced out at the town below them. Lea did remember his times as a Nobody, and understood what Isa was saying. He had never given it much thought until it had been brought up. Only when he had met Roxas had he been driven by something other than commands. He had found a great friend in Roxas, and had placed himself knowingly in danger numerous times to spare him. In a time before, he would have never done so because it defied all logic he had known. The feelings he followed stemmed only from his encounters with Roxas.

If this girl was doing the same, she had somehow encountered something or someone that had changed her. It was all that could make sense.

Yet, at the same time, she was still as lost and alone as before. She sought out no one; she only searched for her past. One she had discovered that existed only by vague ghosts and voices that haunted her. That, perhaps, was their answer.

"Do you think she's trying to remember someone very important to her?" Lea asked suddenly, breaking the tense Isa's concentration. Isa gave him the same look when Lea had answered wrongly before.

"You're talking about the guidance of memories again," Isa pointed out, looking annoyed. Lea didn't respond right away, but he didn't back down.

"Memories, yes…if she's trying to remember someone that made her feel different than the emptiness she knows, then she'll do everything in her power to have those memories back again," Lea murmured, only able to think of his own past. He had changed so much, and had barely held on to the feelings with the memories that faded each day. "It's possible. Her drive to search for her memories could be a reason why she's like that. Then she's no different from us."

"Though plausible, you forgot one thing, Lea," Isa reminded, sitting nonchalantly on the ledge of the clock tower, as though they weren't several stories up. Lea snapped out of his daze and focused, not seeing what he was missing. "Let's say her memories give her the drive to find a path and find purpose. Very possible. But that doesn't explain the way she reacts when faced with danger. No matter how much she can remember, if there is no heart, there are no feelings."

Lea watched his friend, knowing they were rounding back to the conversation Lea had struck down earlier. Lea stretched and peered over the edge behind Isa, prepared to cut him off once again.

"Come on, let's go into the plaza. You can yammer all your nonsense to me on the way there," Lea offered, moving suddenly as if to push Isa off the edge. His friend leapt to his feet swiftly and moved away from the edge with a scowl. Lea grinned, pleased with himself.

"How do you know what I'm about to say isn't true?" Isa asked, knowing exactly what Lea was doing. For some reason the subject was touching a tender spot with Lea and he was refusing to acknowledge it.

"Because it's bullshit," Lea answered sharply, maneuvering past his friend on the narrow ledge. Isa followed him down the clock tower, thinking as carefully about his next words as he was with each step.

"Lea, I recall something you said to me once. It is a blur, but I do remember the generality of what you were trying to communicate to me," Isa began, receiving a quick glance from Lea.

"It's not relevant, Isa. Shut it," Lea hissed. Isa raised an eyebrow, knowing the opposite was true. He continued.

"It was in the period where Roxas graced our presence…you said that your heart wasn't lost after all, but rather hidden in someone else. And if you could somehow manage to stop him and bring him back, you could-"

"Dammit to fuck, Isa," Lea cut in, bristling. He remembered perfectly well without having to be reminded. Isa narrowed his eyes. He was standing precariously on a thin line, but he had no intention of backing away.

"You could become whole again if that person was willing to share their heart with you," Isa finished, flinching expectantly. Lea lashed out, twisting around on the last of the stairs before they reached the ground. His hand slammed against the wall beside Isa's ear, shaking.

"But that didn't happen, did it?" Lea snapped, infuriated. Isa opened his eyes again, mildly surprised he hadn't been struck. Lea waited a second to regain his senses before he retracted his arm. "I was wrong. Even if he had remembered our friendship, I would have still been empty. All he did was remind me of what I was missing."

Lea moved off slower than before and Isa remained where he was standing on the stairs. Lea realized he wasn't following and looked back uneasily. He was sure he hadn't actually struck Isa, but his friend seemed reluctant to follow now. Isa looked apprehensive.

"Do you really believe that?" Isa asked, moving at last. He cleared the last few stairs and placed his feet firmly in the shadow of the clock tower. Lea sighed.

"I do. It was foolish of me to believe that could be plausible. I mean…you know what happened to us, and yet we're whole again. And alive, which is the strange thing, considering what it took to get to this point," Lea pointed out, shaking his head slowly. "Either way is shit. Either you exist as a numbed zombie cursed to live forever, or you allow yourself to be killed in the slight off chance you get reborn back into your old self. I mean…besides you and I, there hasn't been anybody else that I've recognized. Could we have been the only ones who came back? And if so, why? "

Isa joined his friend as they moved absently toward the plaza and the beach.

"I often pondered why we reawakened here. Though we lost what was left of our life force, we returned here, whole once more. Where did our hearts originate from?" Isa questioned the sky, barely paying attention to where they were walking. Lea glanced around as the crowd grew thicker.

"That's the kind of shit we're never going to know, no matter how much we need to know it. I can't even think of anyone who could possible know something like that," Lea growled, knowing they had hit a brick wall that they weren't going to be able to think their way around this time. Whatever was truly guiding the girl in her endeavors was to be veiled in mystery forever. If it had anything to do with the Heart, there was nothing more they could offer.

"Indeed. It seems like all that we can do now is simply offer our aid to the girl if she returns here. There's nothing more we can do to help her remember," Isa murmured, stepping to the side as he nearly bumped into someone. Lea spun around, trying to spot Isa as the crowd grew thicker. He called out his friend's name, but to no avail. Instead, he stood still and waited for the crowd the pass.

As it thinned out, he finally spotted his blue haired companion standing several strides away.

"Hey, Isa! Over here…," Lea trailed off, noticing Isa's gaze was locked intensely on something nearby. Lea approached cautiously and followed his gaze to something surprisingly close by. Before Lea could speak, he saw him too. His words were forgotten, and he simply stared.

After a long moment, Isa glanced over at his companion.

"Do you think…?"

"Holy fuck. What are the fucking odds?" Lea cried, looking at Isa with a shocked expression. "How many worlds, and this one is the one he's in?"

"You forget how similar we all once were in the time before the Organization. He is no doubt from this world, as we are," Isa pointed out, knowing well that passerbys were looking at them disdainfully after hearing Lea's outburst. "But as for the odds of actually meeting once more…slim to none."

"Yet here we are. Do you think he remembers us?" Lea asked softly. He wasn't sure if any other members suffered amnesia as he had at one point.

Before Isa could answer, a clear voice cut through their conversation.

"How could anyone forget that loud, foul mouth of yours, Axel?" he said, not looking up from the book that was placed carefully in his lap. His voice was cool and collected as ever. "And how could I forget the scents you carry? They're distinct even in these forms. I would know you even if you didn't resemble your other selves."

"Shit," Lea responded, unable to form any competent conversation at that point. Isa rolled his eyes and shoved Lea to the side as he approached.

"What are you called now?" Isa asked, as he came closer. He was still not acknowledged. Lea finally recovered and caught up with Isa in an instant, eyes narrowed.

"And why the fuck are you here?" Lea cried, an almost suspicious tone in his voice. They stopped finally when dark blue eyes lifted to pierce through them.

"I am Ienzo, as I have always been," he answered softly, completely focused. His hair still covered one eye as he straightened, and it seemed as if it was actually Zexion who was sitting in front of them. "But believe me, Axel, I am not here to assist you in any endeavor. I haven't forgotten anything. I came here to benefit my curiosity alone, nothing more. Our encounter is merely…an unfortunate stroke of chance."

Lea's eyes narrowed at the blunt insult, but Isa was more focused as usual.

"What has drawn you here, Zexion?" Isa asked, using his old name. Saix and Zexion had a slightly less traumatic history than that between he and Axel. Even so, the dubbed 'Ienzo' did not seem pleased to see either of them.

Ienzo closed his book, with one finger still tucked inside it to mark his place, and stood. He seemed to be ready to leave without a word, but something made him hesitate. He looked over at Isa alone, his gaze somehow less hostile.

"Even if you do not have the power to detect scents as I do…how could you miss a presence as luminescent as hers?" Ienzo quizzed softly. He turned his back. "Blinded even as it blazes at your side. As long as you are glowing as she is, you are within line of sight. There are many eyes watching this beautiful aura." He didn't wait any longer before striding away into the crowd. Isa looked after him, trying to quickly decide whether to follow. When he looked to Lea for help, the red haired man was only staring.

"Shit," he repeated. He looked down at himself, as if he could see the aura Ienzo spoke of. Isa glanced around as a young mother glared at them before dragging her child away.

"Lea, would you tone it down a bit?" Isa hissed, moving closer and grabbing his friend's shoulders. "Come on, we can't lose him. He used to carouse the library in the Castle all the time. He may know something."

"Get off, dammit," Lea snapped, wriggling free of Isa before sidestepping to put distance between the two of them. He huffed in annoyance. "You don't have to drag my ass everywhere. I wasn't planning on letting him get away. Not at least until he tells us how much he knows about Fey."

Isa and Lea followed after Ienzo's trail, both with different intents, but with the same ultimate goal. They wouldn't let any chance at finding success slip away from them. Even if it meant revisiting the world they both had longed to leave behind.

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Fey sat slowly on the floor, letting her legs ease out from their cramped position. She had been crouching for some time, reading the note over and over again. The words did nothing to clarify for her. There was no name, or any information that could tell her anything. The only part that made it impossible to discard was the frantic message scribbled around the project and number.

If initially found by another, one could have passed this off as a forgotten sheet that had fallen between the desk and the wall. But she knew better. This was meant to be lost, and found later, though not by her.

Still, something deep down stirred at the sight of it.

It was not like before. That was a nostalgia that bordered remembrance, so close she could almost see the memories. They were close to the surface. The feeling when she looked at this note bordered on something hidden much deeper. She felt only a slight constriction in her chest that undermined her calm and forced a sense of unease into her thoughts. This was connected to her somehow, but she didn't know how.

Had she seen these files before? Had she helped with this project? Or…had she been the project?

She had come here for answers, but this only complicated things further. She had seen a path forming before her, but now it led only into darkness. How long would she be in the dark this time? Would she ever understand who she was?

"What is my name?" she asked the empty castle, waiting for it to answer. The voices had once chanted her name, but she had never been able to understand their odd language. It was nothing but noise to her.

An anxiety began building inside her, but she didn't know how to answer it. She wanted to move, but she didn't know where to go. She was still lost, and there was nothing to guide her. She reached an arm back to the floor behind her, ready to push herself to her feet without further ado. She was too frustrated to stay here any longer.

Her hand came down on the syringe, piercing herself with the needle as it bent under her weight.

After a sharp intake of breath, she retracted her arm, picking up the syringe with it. The needle pulled free and bounced across the floor with a high pitched clink. Her sharp eyes focused swiftly on the tiny hole already closing on her hand. Her rapid breath did not originate from the pain.

She recognized the feeling before it fully struck, and braced for it. Even so, something different happened. The voices did not murmur to her as they should have. There was only a dark feeling creeping up inside her like a poisonous mist. There were no voices or noises in the room. There was nothing but the feeling within her chest that clawed like a deranged beast.

This silence was worse than the voices.

There was another place within her that she had forgotten. This one was much deeper and darker. This was not just a wall she was facing; it was something buried deep under the suffocating emptiness. She would not be able to reach it, not matter how deep she dove.

Fey stood unsteadily, still clutching the slip of paper in her fingers. Everywhere she turned, she was halted. She had no desire but to move forward, but her bridges were crumbling one by one. She looked down at the writing again, letting the darkness move within her. She endured each passing second, trying to understand it. Its voiceless touch was chilling, and she finally looked away.

Her body eased back into a relaxed state, and she began to forget her anxiety. Her ambition was fleeting as the wind, with nothing to anchor it down with. As it slipped away, the paper she had discovered began to slip away too. It meant nothing to her, and therefore led to yet another directionless road. As she looked down to watch it fall, her eyes brushed across the syringe that was lying on the floor nearby.

The empty numbness vanished in an instant.

She had known it once before. Perhaps not this particular needle, but she had encountered them once. She felt it as she stared fixated at it. She listened, but the voices were absent, as if they were too far away to be heard. These memories only brought on a brief sense of familiarity…and dread.

She reached down and paused, remembering not long before when she had picked it up, what anxiety it had caused. Before she had regained her voice, she would had backed away and left the source of distress. Now, she couldn't leave it behind. It had jolted her back awake before she had lost her way again. As long as she was in the presence of something that dragged her out of the dull and unfeeling state of mind, she would hold onto it. And when she finally traced these clues back to the truth and remembered, would the anxiety go away?

She lifted the syringe and gritted her teeth in defiance as it sent trills through her. The disquiet was almost overpowering, but she refused to let go. The turmoil warring inside of her would have to continue to rage until she could find the answers she sought. If she forgot her motive for even a minute, she would return to her calm and content wandering. She had done so long enough. It was time to remember everything, especially the one whose name danced at the edge of her subconscious memories. He was the reason she didn't want to let go. She had to remember his face and his touch; she wanted to feel the same as she had in that room, on that bed.

Fey placed the objects very carefully in a small pocket within the jacket. Their presence was still haunting her, and keeping her eyes from closing once more. With her renewed determination, she turned in place and paused mid-step. She had pieces of her past, but no way to decipher them. The only way was to encounter those who were ultimately reaching toward the same goal. Her initial thoughts of the group was the unease and desire to flee. Even now, she dreaded their intention to reach out and touch her, but she had little choice. They were the only ones she had any familiarity with, and they may hold the keys to the door that sealed off her past.

There was only one place to go now. She couldn't sense it, but she somehow knew they were would be there. It was the one place she was always drawn back to.

Her foot came back down to the floor and she tilted her head, listening. It was difficult to think straight with the pulsing electricity running through her from the syringe and note. But even with that thorn in her side, she still felt herself being drawn forward.

She brought movement back into her legs and weaved around the silver tables, avoiding their cold metal touch. She reached the far side of the lab, and the door came into sight. She lifted her hand and called for a portal, wasting no time. She needed to find the others and give them this shred of evidence that she had lived behind the veil of darkness in her mind.

Not yet…

The portal formed, and shivered. Before it could fully open, it faded out of sight. Her arm fell to her side and she grew still, eyes focused forward.

She didn't whirl in place or hunt the room for the disembodied voice. She only waited, fighting a new wave of unease. This voice brought no comfort. It was commanding and filled with a dark promise. It was a voice she felt she had no power to disobey.

She tried to move forward, but felt the ghost of bands across her wrists and ankles, unable to budge. She took in a deep breath and found it was almost impossible to fill her lungs. She felt restrained, at a high level of discomfort.

The more she fought against it, the more she felt her breath being torn from her lungs. She sank back down to the floor where she had previously been, trying to breathe again. She was denied any gasp of air, and she felt herself growing dizzier as the moments passed. She knew she was going to go back into her silent, slumbering world, and she braced herself for the impact.

Before the darkness embraced her once more, she heard a voice, far more distinct than the rest; one she recognized as the nameless force that drove her forward. He was calling her name desperately, as though trying to summon her back. It grew quieter as shadows crept in around her vision, and she could no longer blink them back. She closed her eyes at last, and listened as his frantic, unintelligible cries faded.

She expected the silent nothingness as she was forced back into slumber. It was impossible for it to be otherwise.

But alas, it was.

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In an odd turn of fate, the moment Fey would have stepped through the portal onto the beach, a different pair of boots lighted down instead.

The sun was still bright in the sky, and the figure standing in the sand, seeming having appeared out of nowhere, was drawing attention. But it didn't matter. They were there for one purpose alone, and the rest of the world didn't matter as long as the task was completed.

It took only a second to pinpoint the radiant aura nearby. Black boots swished through the sand with ease, pausing at the tree line. At a first glance, there was nothing there in the sand before him. There truly was no object, but that didn't matter. The presence lingered, and he breathed in deeply, savoring the scent. She had been here.

He reached down with a gloved hand and brushed the sand aside, searching. He blinked twice more, and it came into focus.

A ghostly silhouette came into view, fading slowly. Broken chains were strewn across the beach around him. But he knew within a second that they were not normal chains.

"Impossible," he whispered, turning in place. Several people on the beach had subconsciously wandered away, a though sensing the darkness within the cloaked figure nearby. Only a few remained, watching with uneasy curiosity. "My…how you have grown."

He recovered from his initial shock and swept around, hand close to the sand. The aura touched his own and shuddered before crumbling away into nothing. He watched as the last trace of her presence dissolved before he straightened. A small smirk graced the face he hid from the world. Soon, it would not be just the aura he was brushing with his hands.

He turned to go and paused. His head lifted and swiveled about. Something was off. He had erased her from this world, and yet…her aura remained.

Somewhere off in the city, he sensed it. Her aura was glowing softly, beckoning to him. But it wasn't just an aura. It was moving quickly through the plaza, signaling that it was not a ghostly remain. He focused all of his attention on it, intent on erasing all doubt. The aura moved onward, not stopping.

He breathed in deep and shivered briefly. He was closing in, and his hands clenched tight. Soon, his claws would close around her, and he would end this chase at last. He would smother the beacon that had haunted him, until there was but a glimmer remaining. Then…

He smirked. The remaining few on the beach suddenly lost their curiosity and fled, walking quickly away from the mysterious figure. His unseen aura had suddenly grown more powerful, almost sickening, and it drove them away.

He very carefully removed his gloves and placed them in his pocket, flexing his hands in the sunlight. The leather was useful during the hunt, but it was time for the final front. He wanted nothing between himself and he girl. He wanted to feel her aura slipping away into his darkness.

Today was finally the day.