Chapter Eleven

One Step Closer

Xemnas sat with his chin resting in his hands, contemplating his options. The Melodious Nocturne had vanished during his battle against Sora but he wasn't dead...yet. The water wielder had simply vanished along with Axel. The red head was causing more trouble than he was worth. Siax wanted nothing more than to tear Axel to pieces with his bare hands.

Xemnas wanted the Keyblade Master in one piece. The more Heartless the boy disposed of the more hearts Xemnas could gather. Kingdom Hearts was almost complete but these unforeseen circumstances were deeply unsettling. At least he knew were Luxord, Xigbar and Saix were. Axel and Demyx were creating problems Xemnas did not want to deal with. And then there was the matter of Zexion.

Number Six was a resilient and strong creature. He was one of the Original Six after all and so his strength allowed him to survive the battle against Riku. The boy had been possessed by utter darkness at the time and it had made him strong.

Zexion never spoke of the incident, only that he escaped with his life barely intact. But Xemnas was no fool. He knew that Zexion had begun behaving differently since that idiotic blond boy vanished.

Xemnas had seen how Zexion would react around Demyx. The blond boy had a way of attracting Zexion's attention when no one else could. The Cloaked Schemer's actions since Demyx's disappearance had to be addressed. Xemnas opened a portal from his office so that he could travel to the room that held the stones of the Organization's members.

Larxene, Xaldin, Vexen, Marluxia and Lexaeus were all gone now, taken back to the darkness that had spawned them. Sora and his allies were closing in on the Organization but recently activity had been quiet. The Heartless and Ducks remained untouched by the Keyblade Master in certain worlds. It was obvious that something was seriously wrong. Why was the Keyblade Master not performing his duties?

Xemnas turned to leave when something from one of the stones caught his eye. A stone was glowing brightly, neither red nor blue. It pulsed with a swirl of colours and a vibrant beauty, something Xemnas had never witnessed before. The stone belonged to the Melodious Nocturne. The lights continued to glow until all the colours ever created and named swirled before the leader of the Organization.

"What is this?" Xemnas muttered. He had seen many things in many different worlds but this was something entirely new.

"Demyx..." Xemnas felt his eyes widen. It wasn't possible was it? Did Demyx recover what was supposed to remain lost?

He knew one thing though. He had to find Zexion and demand an explanation as to what was going on. If anyone knew what that blond was up to Zexion would know or at least possess some idea. Opening a portal Xemnas stepped through and began his search for the Cloaked Schemer.

"Let me out right now!" Seifer screamed for the sixth time since he had woken up. He slammed his fists against the white bars until his hands started to ache.

He couldn't remember much aside from that strange lilac haired guy who punched him in the face. He remembered his friends calling his name and then darkness. He had awoken inside a white cage with no accessible escape routes. What the hell could that lilac haired guy want with him anyway? All this weird shit started to happen when that Sora kid came to Twilight Town. If he ever saw that kid again he was gonna kick his ass.

The blond slumped to the floor, his head and hands aching. He removed his sweat socked beanie to release his honey golden locks. His hair tickled the nape of his neck while some locks fell near his aqua coloured eyes.

From what he could see of the place beyond the dungeon there was nothing but white and black buildings. Even if he could escape from this cage Seifer had no idea where to go. His bright eyes widened when a dark portal appeared and his kidnapper emerged.

"Let me go now you fucker!" Seifer yelled. The blond was back on his feet, his beanie hat lying on the floor.

"My name is Zexion and you are not leaving anytime soon." The man threatened. He was holding a book and some candles in his hands.

"What have I done to you?" Seifer cried.

"You'll help me get a friend back." Zexion snarled. "Just do as I say and you'll be fine."

"What happened to my friends?" Seifer demanded.

"They are safe. I had no business with them." Zexion shrugged.

"They better be safe or I'll tear you apart." Seifer hissed.

"You are in no position to threaten me Seifer Almasy. Just help me reclaim my friend and you can go." Zexion said smoothly.

"Why should I help you?" Seifer crossed his arms.

"You want to get back to Twilight Town don't you?" Zexion stated coldly. "All I want to do is cast a simple spell on you."

"No fucking way!" Seifer yelled as he backed away towards the wall.

"You have no say in the matter." Zexion snarled.

Before Seifer could do anything Zexion lashed out and punched the boy in the face knocking him out cold again. Leaning down he carefully situated the candles around Seifer's prone body then he opened the book. He had stopped by the library to retrieve the text and no one there had questioned him about it. Luxord was still seething over the Port Royal fiasco. Saix was with Xemnas and Axel was nowhere to be found.

Zexion absently wondered where the red headed pyro had gotten to but that didn't matter right now. Lighting the candles Zexion stood back and he started to chant in a long forgotten language of magic. Light started to flow from the flames of the candles.

The light wrapped around Seifer's body and invaded his head. The Cloaked Schemer allowed a harsh smile to grace his lips as the Memory Retrieval Spell started to take effect.

The blond human started screaming profusely as the tendrils of light entered his mind to drag out any memories that could be of use to Zexion. Seifer tried to clutch his head but his bound wrists prevented that. He thrashed around on the floor, his legs kicking out while his useless screams echoed throughout the dungeon. Zexion scowled at the screaming Seifer was making then it ceased and blissful silence fell across the dungeon.

Casting an MRS was extremely risky. The subject sometimes went mad with the onslaught of memoires suddenly coming back to the forefront. Demyx didn't exactly have the strongest mind and Zexion had felt something painful course through his body when he learned the blond was a victim of an MRS.

The slate haired Nobody did not care for the boy from Twilight Town. If he went mad he went divulge the information Zexion sought. Either way Zexion would get what he wanted.

"So let's see if there are any memories hidden within you." Zexion murmured.

He knelt down beside the prone body. The boy was moaning, his face contorted in obvious pain. His brow wad furrowed, he was concentrating on something, recalling a memory. The Cloaked Schemer opened a page in his book, his eyes scanning the spell. In case Seifer did go insane Zexion would have to restrain him with magic. As Seifer stirred again he said only one word and it brought a luminous smile to Zexion's pale face.

"Myde..."

"Jackpot." Zexion grinned.

Vincent Valentine had waited almost nine years for Myde's Nobody to come looking for his Other. When the boy finally showed up it was almost too good to be true. Demyx had the similar features of Myde as well as the hyperactive attitude Vincent remembered fondly.

The gunman could hardly believe that the young Sorcerer he had been charged to protect was finally going to come back. Vincent watched as Demyx was slowly absorbed into the light created by Myde's heart.

When the heart emerged not too long ago Vincent thought for a brief moment that the boy would awaken. But it seemed that without the soul Myde would never wake up. The soul was just as important as the heart, especially for a Sorcerer.

Vincent had missed the hyperactive brat a lot more than he would ever admit. His missed Seifer and Reno just as much. At the thought of the red head Vincent cast his blood red gaze towards Axel.

The Nobody had an uncanny resemblance towards Reno. The same red hair, green eyes and the bizarre marks below the eyes. Could Axel could Reno's Nobody? If that were the case then it made Vincent's task a lot easier.

Myde wasn't the only person Vincent had to find. The Gods only knew where Seifer had gone to after Myde had cast that memory spell. Myde had told Vincent that he wanted to protect Seifer and the only way to do that was to rewrite his memories.

Myde had gone the extra mile and altered Seifer's appearance so that he looked younger than he actually was. Seifer had been eighteen years old when the Heartless attacked Radiant Garden. He had been a master of the Gunblade, his weapon was called Hyperion. Myde would do anything to protect his older brother. Vincent remembered the look of absolute misery on Myde's face when he cast the spells.

Yen Sid, Myde's teacher, had been the one to take Seifer to wherever he was now living. Myde had been heartbroken to let go of his precious brother. Reno had cried as he held onto his blond lover. Vincent shook his head to clear away the painful memories of separation. At that moment an alarm went off within the chamber. Somebody had entered the tunnel from the Mansion.

"I feel honoured. We have more quests." Vincent drawled.

"What are you gonna do?" Axel asked.

"I'm going to see who it is. You stay here and keep an eye on him." Vincent ordered. He left holding one gun while Axel stared bemusedly after the dark haired man.

"Time to wake up Myde." Axel muttered.

The red head was doing this for Roxas. He wanted the blond boy back more than his own heart. Demyx was his solution to the problem involving Roxas and Sora. Axel watched as the light vanished leaving only a naked blond within the capsule. The red head felt a smile tug his lips just as Vincent returned with Sora, Donald and Goofy in tow. Axel approached the capsule and gave a short bark of laughter.

"Now the party can really begin."