A/N: One more to go after this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Night.

KH 358/2 Days, Night's Story

Chapter 14

Getting Weaker, & Weaker, & Weaker Still

Roxas and I went through the motions of the passing days, not feeling much except for tiredness from what felt like lack of sleep. One night, though, we had a dream where the boy in red and his dragon lost the Keyblade and light to another guy and dark grey dragon. We didn't recognize the other pair, but the boy in red and his black dragon we've been seeing. We woke up, and each felt moisture on our cheeks; it was a single tear.
"Wh-what? Did something get in our eyes?" we wondered quietly. We left for the main room, where we got our mission for the day. We were paired with Xion, so we left right away. Once in Agrabah, we felt...depleted of energy. I groaned and stretched, but that didn't help. Roxas slumped over, looking tired.
"What's wrong?" Xion asked worriedly.
"Nothing," we said.
"You look pale…" she remarked.
"You're imagining things," Roxas said, and straightened up with a smile. "Let's go."
"Well…okay…"
We explored the Cave of Wonders, which seemed to have more new areas to check out. We reached the Lamp Chamber, as it was called, and approached what looked like a sealed keyhole.
"End of the line," Roxas commented.
"I remember this…" Xion murmured. We looked at her.
"Huh?" we said.
"It's a keyhole, see?" she told us. I saw into her mind, and saw the boy in red and his dragon using the Keyblade and light to seal the keyhole. I snapped out of it as she almost fell, feeling faint. I shook my head as I jumped off from Roxas's shoulder.
"You okay?" Roxas asked her.
"Y-yeah," she said. I joined them again, and she looked at us in the eyes, and I felt weird when she did. "You both look so much like them."
"…What?" Roxas said in bewilderment. Suddenly, our target Heartless appeared, and we leapt into action. Out of nowhere, though, Xion finished it off with a single slash of her Keyblade. She looked at her Keyblade in shock.
"H-how…how did I just do that?" she whispered in shock. "Where did that power come from?" She saw us nearby, and we looked and felt exhausted. "Roxas? Night?" She ran over to us and asked, "Hey, are you all right?"
"Yeah…Using the Keyblade and light these days…We don't know what's wrong with us—we just run out of steam," we said together.
"You…you do?" she asked curiously.
"You know what, never mind," we said. "We're probably jus overworked, heh."
"You sure you're both okay?" she pressed.
"'Course we are," I said, and puffed out my chest. "C'mon, let's RTC."
We were hanging out at the Clock Tower eating ice cream as usual, when Xion asked, "You're both really, really okay?"
"Okay, now you're starting to weird us out," Roxas told her with a chuckle.
"Why?"
"Since when do you ever worry about us?" I asked in jest.
"Well, excuse me!" she laughed.
"Just feels strange, is all," Roxas explained. "Usually we do all the worrying over you. We don't think it's ever been the other way around before."
"Well, for your information…I worry about you two all the time, Roxas and Night," she replied.
"We're glad you're back, Xion," Roxas told her. "We just wish Axel hadn't been so rough with you."
"I guess he's not coming today," Xion remarked.
"You want him to?" I asked in disbelief.
"What, did you three have a fight?" she asked, confused.
"We can't believe that jerk would actually attack," Roxas muttered.
"So he's a jerk now?" Xion said. We said nothing, just sat there silently. "Roxas, Night, I wouldn't be sitting here if Axel hadn't done that." Still nothing from us. "He's both your guys' best friend."
"So are you," we said lamely.
"It's just not the same without the four of us…" she remarked, and we all three left once the sun had set. We wrote in our journal, and it read: "We feel so tired—almost disconnected from our bodies. The dreams have gotten stranger. Now we wake up with water on our cheeks. We don't know how it got there, but we think there's something really wrong with us. Today we were teamed up with Xion. She seems to be in a lot better shape than us. We had ice cream together, something we hadn't done in a while."
The next day went by quickly, and we wrote again in our journal: "We had another dream. Our heads feel heavy. We want to have ice cream with Xion and Axel again."
The next few days passed by uneventfully, and when something did happen, it was thanks to Saix. That day, we went up to Xion and tried to say "hi", but didn't get a chance to. She left the room for her mission, and we went straight to Saix. When we got to him, he rushed us.
"Roxas and Night. How are you feeling today?" he asked
"Same as always," we sighed. I pondered it, though. Saix wasn't one to ask that kind of question, so he was acting weird.
"I have and urgent mission for you both, and the Keyblade, and your light," he told us. "There's a Heartless that surfaced in Halloween Town. I was hoping you two might exterminate it for us."
"S…sure…Leave it to us!" we said confidently. Halloween Town was another world that we'd been to lately.
"Hey, whoa whoa whoa…Roxas, Night, you really wanna do that?" Axel said suddenly, and he looked genuinely concerned for our well-being.
"Why wouldn't we? I asked him.
"It's just, lately you-"
"Shouldn't you already be out on your own mission, Axel?" Saix asked coldly.
"Yeah, we need to get ready, too," Roxas told him. "Let's catch up later!" We ran off and left for Halloween Town, leaving a worried Axel behind. Once in Halloween Town, we started to search for the target. As we searched, Roxas said worriedly, "Xion looked really upset when she left this morning. I wonder what's on her mind…We should go talk to her when we finish up here." I nodded in agreement. I was a dragon of few words sometimes, but I did have a personality, at least. We check the town, but there was no sign of it. When we got to the Graveyard, however, I felt that the air was charged here. I bristled from the possible threat, and Roxas looked to me for some guidance.
"Where is it, Night?" he asked me.
"I-I can't tell," I stammered. Suddenly, the target appeared out of nowhere from behind us. "WAH!" I yelped, and fell off from Roxas's shoulder. He quickly summoned his Keyblade to him, activating my light, and we attacked the Heartless. After several powerful blows, though, it still wasn't down.
"It's…it's too powerful," Roxas panted. "We've gotta finish this now, before it wears us down any further. It's all or nothing…" We rushed the Heartless, but in a flash and a burst of flames, Axel appeared and blocked our attacks with his chakrams.
"STOP! All of you!" Axel yelled at us, and we saw Xion standing on Axel's other side, her Keyblade being held back by one of the chakrams.
"Xion?!" we gasped.
"Roxas, Night? Wh…what are you doing here?" Xion yelped. "The Heartless I was fighting—it was you two?"
"This mission was a setup," Axel informed us.
"What?" I said in confusion. We all relaxed, and Axel lowered his chakrams.
"It was rigged so that you three would battle each other," Axel explained.
"Us and Xion? But…" Roxas said.
"They would do that?" Xion whispered in shock. We left for the Clock Tower, and ate some ice cream once there.
"Brain freeze," Xion laughed.
"Been a while since we all hung out like this, huh?" Roxas said.
"Well, we have had our share of drama," Axel pointed out. "Hey, I just remembered—did you guys know you should be checking your ice cream sticks?"
"Really? For what?" Xion asked.
"Once you finish your ice cream bar, check the stick. It might say WINNER," Axel told us.
"Hey, wait a second…Oh yeah!" Roxas blurted out, and quickly recovered when I nudged him to keep him quiet.
"'Oh yeah' what?" Axel asked.
"Uhh…n-nothing. So what do you win?" I stammered, changing the subject.
"Heh, beats me," Axel replied.
"Haha, you don't know?" I laughed.
"It's gotta be something good, if you're a winner!" the redhead said, and we laughed together.
"Right," Roxas replied.
"Heh heh heh…Wow. The sun sure is beautiful," Xion remarked. "I know we've seen a lot of sunsets, but today's put them all to shame. If only things stayed like this." Axel didn't say anything.
Suddenly, Roxas said, "What if we all four ran off?"
"What?" Xion said, confused.
"The four of us. Then we could always be together," I explained.
"We don't have any place to run," Xion pointed out. Axel still didn't say anything.
"We know. Heh, we were just thinking out loud," Roxas said. Finally, Axel spoke up.
"Well, even if things change, we'll never be apart—" Axel started.
"As long as we remember each other…right?" Xion finished. "Don't worry, Axel—we got your hokey speech memorized."
"Just checking," Axel chuckled.
"I'll have these moments memorized for a long time," Xion murmured. "Forever, I hope."
"Us too. Forever," Roxas and I said in perfect synch. That night, we wrote in our journal about the afternoon we had all four shared. It read: "Us and Xion and Axel had ice cream. The sunset was beautiful. We don't have to write anything else down, because we'll never forget this day."
The next day came rolling around, and we left for the main area and saw Xigbar, Xion, Axel, and Saix standing together in a conversation. We joined them, and Xion's hood was covering her face.
"Now here's an unlikely trio. Me, Xigbar, and Xion?" Axel said.
"Worried I'll slow you down?" Xigbar taunted.
"'Course not. Touchy touchy…It's just not every day we get to go for a stroll with Number II himself," Axel replied. "Ain't that right, Xion?"
"Yeah," she agreed.
"Hey, you three teamed up for the day?" Roxas asked as we approached.
"You have your own mission, Roxas and Night," Saix told us.
"We can't trade with Xigbar or something?" my blonde friend asked, and I resisted the urge to smack my forehead and groan.
"What and extraordinarily childish notion," the blunette replied. "Do you need Axel to walk you everywhere now?"
"No…We didn't—never mind," Roxas tried to explain, but decided against it. Xigbar, Axel, and Xion left for their mission. When we left for our mission, I sighed, "Just us and the Heartless again today. Well, better get it done." Roxas nodded quietly. We went through with our mission, and departed to the corridor to RTC.
"I wonder if Xion and the others are back yet," Roxas wondered aloud, and I shrugged. We RTC'd, and found Axel and Xigbar speaking with Saix.
"Explain yourself, Axel," the blunette commanded.
"I didn't let her go. The old man needs to get his eyes checked," Axel told him. "Besides, she wasn't taking no for an answer."
"I'll give him that," Xigbar agreed. "Can't toss the blame around when I couldn't stop her either." We joined them then, and Saix gave us a cold look.
"And now we're left with the one we can't use…" Saix said mysteriously, and left.
"What was all that about?" Roxas asked. "And where's Xion?"
"She flew the coop," Xigbar told us. "Flamsilocks here couldn't trouble himself enough to clip her wings." Axel was silent, without a single response. His body language read that of someone who has just been caught in the middle of a crime.
"Axel, he's kidding, right?" Roxas asked, looking doubtful. Axel remained silent.
"As if. Your friend sat there sucking his thumb while Xion walked right off…I'm going back to my room," Xigbar said, and left. We got closer to Axel, and I bared my fangs at him.
"What happened out there?" I demanded.
"Look, nothing," Axel tried to say.
"Xion's gone! How is that nothing?!" Roxas yelled at him.
"It's just like Xigbar said," Axel replied. "I couldn't stop her from going."
"Don't give us that!" I snapped at him. "Why not?!"
Axel folded his arms across his chest and said, "Roxas, Night…Xion is like a mirror that reflects you both."
"What?" we said in confusion.
"The Organization made her to duplicate your powers," Axel revealed. "She's a puppet."
"Have you gone nuts? Xion's a person, not a puppet," Roxas argued.
"She's smoke and mirrors, guys," he replied. "…And when I looked in the mirror, it wasn't either of you I saw."
"We don't know what you're talking about," Roxas snapped at him, confused. "Xion is Xion. You can't expect her to be like us."
"That's not what I mean, you two," the redhead tried to explain. "It was only a matter of time before someone had to break the mirror."
"You mean destroy her," I growled. Axel looked away, and I could feel the shame coming off from him in waves. "Answer us!"
"Roxas, Night, if somebody doesn't, you'll…neither of you will be you anymore," he said.
"We'll always be ourselves! Your best friends, just like Xion!" Roxas and I yelled at him. Axel shook his head.
"Guys, you're…you're not seeing the bigger picture. Any of it," Axel told us.
"Ugh, forget this," we groaned, and turned and left.
"Roxas, Night!" Axel called after us, trying to stop us, but we continued to leave. "Why can't either of you understand…?"
That night, Roxas and I wrote down angrily in our journal, and it read: "Axel let Xion leave the Organization. Like he wanted her to go. She's a puppet? A mirror that reflects us? He's talking nonsense. We can't trust him anymore."
The next day, Xemnas assembled all of us in the Round Room. "Xion has vanished again," Xemnas informed everyone.
"Do we know where she is?" Xaldin asked.
"'It's not 'she'. Xion is just a Replica…a puppet," Saix corrected.
"Puppet? Someone made her?" Luxord said.
"Puppets usually don't make themselves," the blunette pointed out.
"The Replica program was one of our little pet projects," Xigbar explained.
"Replica whatza?" Demyx said in bewilderment.
"Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us about this 'pet project'," Xaldin said.
"The goal was to duplicate the Keyblade and light wielders' memories, and through them, their powers—thus making them our own," Xemnas explained. "Vexen oversaw the project at Castle Oblivion. However, our efforts were severely derailed by his unexpected demise. And this particular Replica—the one we called Xion—came to form an identity of her own."
"That caught us off guard," Saix added. "If anything like that ever happened before, no one at Castle Oblivion ever reported it. Did they, Axel?" Axel remained silent. I noticed his eyes glanced at us once, and then back to Xemnas.
"Fortunately, the puppet has no means of dashing our plans now, even if she has learned to pull her own strings," Xemnas said. "Still, she knows our secrets. We need to shorten her leash…And perhaps tighten it."
"You don't mean—" Roxas and I gasped. Xemnas ignored us and looked at Axel.
"Axel," Xemnas said. Axel looked to him. "Seeing as how she escaped on your watch, the onus is on you to capture her and return her here. I am willing to overlook any nicks and scratches. Just ensure that she still functions on arrival." Xaldin shook his head slowly in disbelief.
"Why you would allow a deserter back under our roof—she should be eradicated!" Xaldin said.
"'Deserter' is hardly the term for a broken specimen who wandered out from under the microscope," Luxord corrected.
"Axel, you have your orders," Xemnas said. "Dismissed." Xemnas left.
"Bring her back? It's sheer madness…" Xaldin muttered, and left.
"All this time, I've been talking to a puppet…Intense," Demyx said, and left as well.
"So now we just sweep it all up?" Xigbar said. "Heh…As if." He left his chair.
"If only the whispers at the top of the ladder reached the bottom rung," Luxord murmured, and he left, too.
"Axel." Axel looked up at Saix. "Those orders were absolute." Axel left silently.
"Still here, Roxas and Night?" Saix said. "Proceed with your mission."
"Xion is one of us," we said, shaking our heads.
"A puppet, one of us? Don't be absurd," Saix scoffed. "Count the seats. When have we ever been more than thirteen?" Saix left, leaving us all alone. Later, we ran into Axel in the main room, where he had just opened a dark corridor.
"Axel!" Roxas said, and he stopped. "We don't think Xion's safe here anymore. You're not really gonna do what Xemnas says?"
"I have to, or else I'm not safe here, either," Axel murmured.
"Well…could you at least try not to hurt her this time?" I asked.
"That's up to her," Axel replied. "Roxas, Night…Xion is dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" we asked.
"Have either of you gotten all your strength back?" Axel asked suddenly.
"Not yet…How long have you known about her?" we said. Axel said nothing and looked away. "You knew all this time, and kept it from us?" Axel remained silent as he departed through the corridor. I growled under my breath as he left, and I'm sure he heard me. Roxas and I were given a mission to plant a device in Agrabah's Cave of Wonders, so we took the device there. Once we got there, we set the device up in the lamp chamber, and suddenly, Heartless appeared! What a surprise!
"Heartless! They must be after the device," Roxas said, and we swiftly dispatched of them. Once finished, though, we were out of breath.
"What are we doing? Getting worked up over some device. Like we've got any clue what the Organization even uses it for…Everything's a mystery. They didn't even tell us about Xion. Hmph, the biggest mysteries are us—the idiots who keep doing everything they're told," Roxas and I complained. We left the cave and returned to the corridor entrance. "Why are we doing this? Why are we going back to the castle? There's nothing there for us. How can we keep working for them if they're gonna leave us in the dark? What are we saying…This isn't about them, or Xion. It's about us. Whatever 'us' is," we chastised ourselves. We looked up at the stars of the night sky. "We feel like the only people who don't know. Have we got anything left? Any place we really belong? Any friends…we still belong with?" We struggled with our thoughts for a moment, and tears budded in the corners of our eyes. We scrubbed them away and pulled our hoods up, leaving for the castle.
We woke in our room the next day, feeling angry at the world. "It's all just too much…" Roxas muttered, and I whimpered slightly. "Xion was part of that Replica Program. Made to copy my Keyblade and your light…And when she left us, Axel helped her. Like he wanted her to go. If he knew, why did he wait so long to tell us? Is it because we're the same thing? Xion, you, and I are all special Nobodies. What if they made us, too? Xemnas said…Sora and Shadow are what connects the three of us. But who're Sora and Shadow? Who are we to them? Axel knows." Roxas stood up, and I jumped onto his shoulder.
"I'll bet he's been sitting on all kinds of secrets this whole time," I said. "He doesn't even have the guts to tell us the truth about ourselves…" We stormed off the main room to confront Axel, who was by himself, and leaning against the glass wall at the end of the room. We walked over to him for our confrontation. If we did this, there was no going back…

To Be Continued…

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! You all know what happens next, no surprise there! R&R, peeps!