Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, though I do own the Kingdom Spades.

A/N: Once again, I am really sorry for the length of this chapter. It's short, and I know it, but my inspiration comes in streaks so I think it's best to get the chapter up while it's hot.

Chapter 11

Swimming in Illusion

Kairi lay on the bed alone, her breath coming quick and ragged. She wasn't aware of anything besides the realization she had just been rejected by Axel. Shivering, she stared up at the ceiling, running her fingers over her bruised and bitten lips.

God dammit, she was crazy. She'd completely gone off the deep end.

Getting up on her shaky feet, Kairi retracted her steps through the house and out into refreshing cold. The door closed behind her with a click that resounded through the still night. A tall, thin figure stood before her, shoulders hunched. The flaming red hair was a beacon in the dark.

"Axel…"

The figure twitched. "You know, this is one of the strangest worlds I've ever been in. It's Halloween everyday here."

"Really?" Kairi asked, not really listening. "Axel, what happened?"

"Kairi, I just can't!" he said, temper flaring up.

Kairi didn't flinch, just stared back, hard-eyed. "Are you afraid of catching something?"

Axel balled his fists. His face was pale and he was shaking. "Kairi, you can't just expect me to be able to control myself! I have no heart, I have no willpower, I just—."

Kairi drew her hand back, slapping him sharply across the face. "Just stop talking. All you're saying is bullshit."

Axel pressed a hand against his cheek, shocked. Kairi giggled, feeling a rush of fondness for the man in front of her. Why did she like him? There was no reason for her to feel anything but loathing, but there you were.

They moved together again slowly. Kairi rested her head against Axel's chest, taking in the smell of his cologne. "I don't really know what's going on, but I don't think you're evil."

Axel closed his eyes, a single tear escaping and sliding down his cheek. It'd been a long time since he'd let himself cry.

He could have stayed like this all day, but suddenly Kairi was ripped from his arms. He got less than a glance of the portal and the man who had taken her, before it all disappeared, leaving the landscape just as it had been a moment before.

Except that Kairi was gone.

It was dark; that was about all she was sure of. Wherever she had been spirited off to was completely without light or sound.

Wait. There was a sound. The clanging of metal against stone, echoing like a gunshot through her head. Kairi felt around on the ground, feeling nothing but cold granite beneath her. The sound had come from her left, hadn't it?

Suddenly, a hand clutched her shoulder. She shrieked as a ball of light sprang up right in front of her, revealing the damp prison walls and the man touching her. His face loomed up like something out of a nightmare, two thin scares slicing across the bridge of his nose.

Kairi felt senseless terror fill her. The bile was rising in her throat as memories of being shoved to the wet ground filled her, of being held down. And of Axel rescuing her.

Would he rescue her now?

No, nobody was going to come. What use was it, cowering against the floor? He would hurt her no matter what, so why shouldn't she fight? Even as this swept through her mind, the blades on the gauntlets reacted, appearing suddenly, one of them in the perfect position to stab the man deep in his stomach without Kairi moving a muscle.

He grunted, clutching at the wound. She took this opportunity to scramble to her feet and out of his reach. She could see the dark blood perfectly in the glow from the disembodied light.

And suddenly the wound wasn't there anymore.

The man looked up. He was smirking now, the same terrifying smirk Kairi remembered. "Sorry, my dear. It will take a little more than that to get rid of a Nobody like me."

"Nobody?" Kairi repeated numbly. "What's a Nobody?"

"Nothing you need to hear about," the man answered. "What you do need to hear is that my name is Sai'x, your new jailor." He seemed to relish the notion.

Kairi swallowed, forcing her thoughts to stay together. "So I'm a prisoner of Organization 13?"

Sai'x nodded, the smirk never dropping of his face.

"And you're using me as bait to find Sora?"

Sai'x chuckled, shaking his head. "Honestly, how much did that useless piece of filth tell you? Not that I'm surprised, you do seem to have a few qualities Axel would have found…appealing." His eyes flicked up and down her form.

Revolted, Kairi scowled. "Where am I going to be kept, here?"

"Here? Of course not. This is much too dingy for a creature of the light such as yourself. This should be more suitable." He snapped his fingers. The dungeon was swept away, replaced by another cell. This one's walls were pure, blinding white. Through the bars (which were white as well) Kairi had the view of a gigantic domed ceiling, silver and shining. The floor dropped off a few feet beyond her cell, leaving nothing but a slender, fenceless walkway leading to the door a hundred yards away.

"Where are we?" Kairi asked. She was shocked to find her voice was steady.

"In The World that Never Was," Sai'x answered. "This place," he moved his arms in an all-encompassing gesture, "Does not exist. It was not created by god, or the creator, or whatever theological nonsense you humans have come up with. It was created by anger, by lust, by pride, by gluttony, by sloth, by avarice, by envy. The darkness in the people's hearts has brought this world into reality."

Kairi was silent. The thought that the ground she was currently standing on was crafted by people's sins…well…it was a lot to take in, to say the least.

Sai'x got a different impression from her silence, it seemed. "Does it frighten you?"

"No," Kairi answered. "It doesn't frighten me." She looked at the silver-haired mockery of a human being. "And neither do you."

Sai'x eyes blazed. She had read him perfectly. The thing this man hated beyond everything else was being stood up to. With a strength that was both frightening and unreal, he thrust her against the prison wall.

"I swear to you, if you do not fear me now, you will fear me later."

What would Sora do? Kairi asked herself. Do what Sora would do.

"Fuck you," she growled.

Okay, not exactly what Sora would do. But close enough.

Sora collapsed to his knees, gasping for oxygen. He seemed to be choking on everything else in the air; ashes, smog, the coppery smell of blood. Goofy and Donald were in the same position, and even Cloud was soaked with sweat.

"Is that all?" Sora managed to gasp out. He looked out over the edge of the cliff, down into the valley. It was teeming with a living, breathing mass of darkness, so thick there didn't seem to be anything else. Hollow Bastion really was going to hell. They had been fighting for almost an hour straight, beginning with that psycho with the guitar, and ending with heartless after heartless.

"What's that?" Donald's startled voice came from his left.

He looked up. A man had appeared, a man with red hair and a long black coat.

"Not you again!" Sora moaned, hoisting himself to his feet with the keyblade.

The man (Axel, wasn't it?) sighed, shrugging in exasperation. "Seriously, you guys are really thick. Can you really not see Organization 13's trap when it's right in front of you?"

"Shut up," Sora spat, wiping his forehead. His hand came away red. "I don't care what you have to say."

"You've changed," Axel observed.

"Yeah, and I told you I don't care what you think! You're the one who kidnapped Kairi!"

For some reason, Axel's shoulders slumped. He looked almost…depressed? How did that figure?

"Look…" he began stiffly. "About Kairi…I'm sorry."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, actually, you need to…"

He trailed off. His eyes widened, staring off over Sora's shoulder. "Shit," he muttered, fading into darkness and out of sight.

Another man had replaced him. This one was silver-haired and shorter, but he was wearing the same coat. The coat of a Nobody.

"Ah, Sora," he said, smirking. "I see you're harvesting hearts like a good little worker bee. Continue."

Sora raised the keyblade, gripping it so hard his fingers went numb. "What's up with you people bothering me all the time?"

The man chuckled. "Bothering you? I'm just here to deliver a message. From my master," he added.

"Message?"

"Yes. The message is, 'Kairi misses you.'"

Sora felt his stomach seize up. The keyblade clattered to the stony ground, but reappeared a moment later in his nerveless hand. "Kairi? You've got Kairi?"

"Don't worry, she's being taken good care of." The man's tongue flicked out, licking his lips.

Sora may have been a kid, but he wasn't an idiot.

"If you touch her, I swear I'll kill you. I'll kill all of you!"

"Yes, yes!" the man cried, raising his hands. "Take that rage and direct it at the heartless! Do what you were put into this universe to do!" He snapped a finger, summoning heartless in a ring around him.

Sora fought them. What other choice did he have?

Kairi sighed, kicking one of her shoes off. It flew across the cell, hitting the opposite wall with a thump. The other one followed it a moment later.

Sure it wasn't the most intellectual pastime, but she was so bored. She had never allowed herself to imagine what it might be like to be the prisoner of Organization 13, but it definitely wouldn't have been this. This was stupid! All she'd had to do for the past two days was stare at that never-changing bridge thing in the center of the room!

Wryly, she thought how much more interesting things would be if Axel showed up. Did you get detention for having sex in an Organization cell?

She laughed stupidly, wondering faintly if she was going crazy. Maybe the boredom was going to her head. Could people go insane from boredom?

"Come on, Axel, here boy!" she called.

Honestly, most times you couldn't get rid of the guy, but the minute you wanted him for something…

"Come on, I'm so fucking bored!" she yelled again. "Come on, we could finish what we started two days ago. I'm sure I'd make a good fuc—."

"Would you shut up?"

Kairi screamed. Axel had appeared outside her cell, wearing a really annoyed expression. She scrambled to her numb legs, stumbling over to him.

"Axel, oh my god, where have you been?"

"Around." He glanced to either side of him. "Listen. There's not much time. I can't reach you inside this cage, and you can't call up a portal either, can you?"

Kairi shook her head.

"I thought so. You're stuck here right now, but don't worry. Your hero's coming for you." He scowled, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Sora…he's on his way."

"What?" Kairi covered her mouth with her hand, aghast. "Isn't this exactly what the Organization wants?"

Axel shrugged, smiling his lopsided grin. "Told you I was a bad guy, didn't I? Now, about what we started two days ago…what'dya have in mind?"