The instant he touched the stone and was transported to Purgatorio, Demyx took off. Getting airborne wasn't as easy as it had been, now that he couldn't make a jump-start, but he didn't know how long he could stand up by himself, with his legs only half-useful, and falling...well, it could have been bad, considering the ground was covered in Shadows.

It wouldn't stay that way for long, though. Not with six experienced fighters on the ground with them. He flinched at a sudden burst of searing heat, then ducked as the water dragon that had followed him through the portal rushed past. "Gah! Could you keep that thing on a leash?" Demyx just rose a little further into the air, away from the confusion. He wondered briefly if Heartless even had blood to boil - that was the only spell he knew how to cast...

Not like it was going to be necessary. There were already bursts of fire exploding right on top of the Heartless, boulders coming out of nowhere to crush them, arrows that didn't necessarily need to hit to leave the Shadows squealing and dying in their wake, bursts of gunfire that couldn't be tracked and couldn't be dodged, and of course Roxas and Lucio were simply taking apart every Heartless that got too close to one of the central portals. A few well-aimed jets of water were nice, but not really necessary.

Eventually, the few remaining Shadows skittered away, through the numerous portals ringing the edge of the...floating island they were on, the portals that led to the rest of Purgatorio instead of to Paradise, Stygia, or Valhalla. Lucio sighed. "Great. That's gonna make the route even more interesting. Do we really need to do this?" Axel smacked him upside the head. "Ow?"

Xanrivash was examining the ground next to the three central portals. "This must be the world they arrived in first," she murmured, following tracks the rest of them would never have noticed. "Some of them escaped through the other portals, but not many." She searched the ground near the outer portals. "But they didn't originate on this island. This is just where they spread from." She stopped at one of the portals. "I think they...started from here. Wherever it leads from."

Lucio scratched his head in an effort to remember, but Demyx squinted at the obscure markings on the stones. They made an odd sort of sense to him. "Marrakun-Ahk," he read.

Lucio slapped his forehead. "Great. So much for the Shining Ones. And Balance. And the Phoenix."

Axel stared at the stones as if they were the source of all the misery he'd ever experienced, including diabetes and seasickness. "Just going by the way our luck's been, I'll bet that's where Zexion is."

Demyx pulled his cell phone out and tried to call Zexion. "Not getting through. Rings once and goes to voicemail. Lovely time to turn your phone off..."

Roxas took a few steps towards the portal. "So now what, do we just check each portal and see if we find him, and hope we don't land in the middle of a mob?"

"You know, we could walk to Marrakun..." Lucio pointed at the massive chains extending behind the portal. "If you're afraid of the portal just dropping you into a mess..."

Trying to get across the chain was a trial. Except for Xigbar, who just walked on the nothingness next to the chain, and Demyx, who flew over it, they had a long, unsteady path with a mind-boggling drop if they slipped. Axel ended up crawling across the links, just for stability. He was sick to his stomach before he reached the other side. "Kingdom Hearts, that's as bad as a boat," he moaned when he was back on something stable.

Roxas nodded and sat down hard, feeling more than a little queasy himself; he'd been following Axel, so he not only had to deal with his own motion sickness, but had to watch Axel being sick, which didn't help his stomach any. "It would be a lot easier if they didn't sway like that...guess it's too late to take the portal."

"You two could really use some Dramamine," Demyx commented from overhead.

"Demyx?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck you." Axel stretched out on his back, digging his fingers into the loose black soil. "Yay, volcano. I think I'm just gonna stay here for a while."

"Volcano?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow.

Demyx floated up to the top of the mountain island they'd landed on. "Holy shit - it's a volcano!"

"Told you." Axel closed his eyes, looking like he was going to fall asleep.

Xigbar nudged him with a toe. "Sorry, dude, naptime isn't for a while yet."

Axel opened one eye. "Are there more chains involved?" Xigbar nodded. "Shit. I want sedation."

"Who are you gonna ask to carry you over those things, dude? Before you start namin' names, I gotta remind you that Demyx and I are both smaller than you are, and Lex probably isn't in a hurry to fall off."

Axel groaned. "Aw, man...isn't there anything...?" He looked at Xanrivash hopefully.

"That depends. Would you rather be sick or get dizzy and fall off the chain?"

Axel looked out mournfully at the void. "...Talk about rock and a hard place. I think I'll take motion sickness."

Demyx was soaring high overhead. "Lady and gentlemen, there appears to be some disturbance on the next island over," he called down with the help of a bullhorn. "Can't tell if -" he was interrupted by a burst of static - "-less or not."

How many are there? Roxas signed, figuring his voice wouldn't be able to carry that far.

Demyx dropped a little lower. "Sorry, Rox - what? Couldn't quite see all of that..."

How many are there?

Demyx soared off again, and did a few discreet loops around the island in question. "Don't think there's more than a handful of them, and they don't look like Heartless," he said, coming down low enough that he didn't need the bullhorn. "Looks like more demons."

"So the Shining Ones haven't been exterminated," Lucio murmured, rubbing his forehead. "That's a good sign, at least. Keep the Paladin out of sight and they might actually be friendly."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Demons? Friendly?" Lucio just stared at him. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"I was kind of thinking..."

"See, Axel never expects that, because he doesn't do much of it himself," Roxas muttered.

"Shut up or I'll go behind you just so I can blow chunks on you."

"Thoughtful and kind, and real handy on a boat too," Demyx cracked. He was flying low, and panting a little.

"Demyx..." Axel looked him up and down. "Why don't you land before you just fall out of the air from exhaustion?"

"I'm not that tired..." Demyx lowered himself to the ground, took a few hesitant steps, then stumbled and fell on his face. "And that's why." He sat up, looking dejected. "It could be worse...I could still be a total paraplegic..." he murmured as he rose into the air again, sounding like he was trying to reassure himself as much as anyone. "At least I have an alternate method of travel as long as I'm here..."

They made their way to the second chain. Axel immediately went flat on his belly as soon as he reached the first link. "I swear, this thing is longer than the first one..."

"It is. Just by a link or two."

"That's reassuring...or would be if the links weren't thirty feet long..." They crossed the rest of the way in silence. Roxas, who eventually adopted Axel's crawling technique, was relieved that this chain wasn't swaying nearly as much as the other one had. Axel managed to keep his stomach in line this time, though his face was almost as green as his eyes by the time he made it.

Zexion glared at his cell phone, now dead of low battery power. Granted, this was bound to happen sooner or later... He sighed and stuffed it back in his pocket. In this unreal, vaguely obscene world, the odds of finding a functional replacement, new battery, or compatible charger seemed slim at best, but for some reason he didn't like the idea of parting with it. Defunct it may have been, but it was his only link to anything off this island.

He shifted his glare from the phone to the Heartless congregated on the far side of the abyss. "Do be so kind as to go away and cease staring at me..." A handful of them blinked. Beautiful. I'm attempting to converse with Heartless. Hopefully I can find some way off this island before I lose the rest of my sanity.

One of the little Shadows tried to skitter across the chain connecting the two islands. Unlike the one who had made the attempt yesterday - or earlier today - or three weeks ago - this one didn't fall off midway; it made it all the way to the island Zexion was standing on. There it stopped, looking up at him with bright yellow eyes for a few moments before heading straight for him.

"Would you please -" Zexion glanced around, found a long chunk of wood, and swung at the Shadow. He connected solidly, and the Heartless went sailing into the void.

That was oddly satisfying.

Lucio came trotting back to the other Nobodies congregated at the end of the chain. "Okay, I went in and talked to them, they are from the Shining Ones, there are a lot of Heartless in Marrakun, casualty rates have not been that high so far, because they've been killing off the Heartless themselves, and they're gonna leave us alone. I convinced them that we were all Pirates of R'lyeh and therefore allies, not valid targets. Even the angel." He pointed at Roxas. "You're hereby supposed to be an evil angel."

"Suits him," Axel said. Roxas turned and glared at him.

"I'm not even gonna comment on that...there are two routes from here to the island of Marrakun itself. The west route covers marginally more dangerous territory, the east route is about twice as long."

"I vote west route," Roxas said immediately.

"Same here, especially if it's over those damn chains," Axel added.

"Nothin' to argue with there, dude," Xigbar said.

Demyx, who was still floating in the air and looking a little spent, nodded. Roxas wondered how much effort it took for him to keep himself airborne. "Short sounds good." Lexaeus and Xanrivash, as usual, said nothing, but even if they objected, they'd have been outvoted. Demyx set himself down on his feet for a few moments, breathing deeply. "Okay, short sounds good - in a minute."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna try to walk across, are you?"

"No thanks. I choose life. Just needed a quick break..." Demyx lifted off again. "I'm good now."

The rest of them made their way along the chain, Lucioforo in front, because he knew the way best, Axel and Roxas in the rear, because they were the most prone to motion sickness. All seemed well until suddenly, when the two of them were the last ones yet to reach the other side, the chain swayed violently enough to throw them off. Axel managed to cling to the link and pull himself back up, but Roxas was sent freefalling into the void. Axel screamed, but oddly enough, Roxas didn't. He just stared up at the rapidly shrinking chain and the floating landmasses it connected, thinking Okay, that's it, so much for this life.

Then something fell past him, and something grabbed him around the waist and jerked him to a stop.

"Gotcha," Demyx murmured in Roxas's ear. "Let's see if I can get you back up there now. You okay?"

"I...think so...Kingdom Hearts..." Roxas was obviously on the edge of panic; luckily, he had sense enough not to, because if he had, Demyx probably would have dropped him. The front of his pants was wet, but Demyx really didn't see fit to mention that. "How are you?"

"I'm holding out all right..." Time to see if I can fly with a passenger. They rose through the void, back towards the islands, at about half the rate Demyx would have flown at by himself. So...it's doable...just not easy...

Really...not easy... Before long, he was starting to struggle to keep them both airborne and rising. Roxas glanced back. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Not used to passengers...I'll be okay..." It probably wasn't a good idea to tell him he was running out of the magical power he needed to keep himself aloft. I'm not okay...I need more power or we're both gonna die...

Well, there was one way to boost his power in midflight, when he couldn't just land and rest or dig in his backpack for a potion...

Magic has a price. And that price is blood.

Agreed. As Demyx suddenly found the strength for a brief burst of speed, blood started to flow from his nose. Oh, for...could you do anything more undignified than a two-sided nosebleed?!

After that brief burst, they continued to rise slowly, close enough to make out Axel's face, staring down over the edge in terror...and Demyx's new-bought power started to run dry again. They dropped about fifteen feet before he caught himself. "Demyx?!" Roxas gasped.

"Sorry..." More power...I need more power...I don't care about the price... "Didn't mean..." A painful twinge in his gut that didn't go away - whatever was taking his blood in trade sure had some novel ways to get it. "...To scare you..." They rose a few more feet, then dropped again - this time, because he was running low on physical strength. This isn't going to end well, is it.

"Demyx..." Roxas's voice was definitely shaky. "You can't do this. You'll never make it up there trying to carry me."

Demyx's bleeding stomach suddenly turned into a lump of ice. "What do you...want me to do?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Roxas turned back to face him, swallowing hard. "You have to let me go. It's the only way you'll make it."

...You seriously expect me to do that?

Demyx looked him straight in the eye. All right, I need to get him up there safely. I need enough power to do that much, and I need to stay alive long enough to do it. That's all I need. Just do that much. "No." Faint popping sensations in both sides of his chest, followed by knifelike pain. He coughed weakly, and tasted blood in the back of his throat. "Either I get you...back up there...or we both fall...I'm not letting go." And suddenly, they soared.

Axel's face was dead white under his tattoos by the time they reached "solid" ground. "For a few minutes there, I was sure both of you were gonna fall," he gasped, as he and Lexaeus took Roxas's arms and hauled him to safety.

Demyx smiled faintly. You don't know the half of it...I'm so tired... He closed his eyes for a moment, and suddenly he was rising again, except his body was tumbling backwards into the abyss.

"Why did he do that?" Roxas whispered for the Kingdom-Hearts-knew-whatth time. Axel still didn't have a good answer for him; he just squeezed his shoulders again, in an attempt to be reassuring. It hadn't worked so far. "He knew it had to be one or the other of us...why did he do that?"

"Rox, I don't know, because I don't know what was going on in his head at the time," Axel confessed. "But if it were me, I'd have done the exact same thing. And I bet you'd be asking him why I'd do such a thing."

Roxas almost came close to smiling faintly, which was the best he'd done in two hours. "You're probably right." He shivered. "I just...can't stop thinking about him...wondering if he's hit bottom yet or if there's no bottom to hit at all, wondering if he's just gonna keep falling forever, or at least until he starves to death...that would be so awful..." He shuddered more violently. "And that could have been me..."

"Rox?" Axel said gently, and the younger Nobody looked up at him. "Demyx was dead by the time he started falling. I saw him - just close his eyes and stop breathing. He's not suffering."

"Really?"

Axel tried to smile. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."

Roxas seemed to ponder that for a while, then he turned around and gave Axel a hug. "I know you wouldn't. I'm sorry. At least he's not gone for good."

Axel hugged him back, but something started to gnaw at him inside. "I just wanna die, Ax. I wanna die and not come back."

He was over that, wasn't he? He'd decided to live - Sarai was able to heal him - he was willing to go on, even if he couldn't walk like he used to...he'll come back...won't he?

Was I really able to talk him out of it? I must have been, otherwise Sarai wouldn't have been able to do anything...

I never did get to hear him play one more time...

"Ax?"

He blinked, suddenly remembering where and when he was. He still had his arms around Roxas. "Oh...sorry..." He let go. "I was distracted..."

"Thanks, that was starting to burn a little..."

You'd better come back, got it memorized?

AN: Eeheeheeheehee. Y'all knew all along Demyx was gonna get it sometime.

The Sorcerer class, predecessor to both Wizards and Elementalists, has a skill called Sorcerer's Might that lets them trade hit points for mana. Theoretically, it's impossible to kill yourself by using Sorcerer's Might repeatedly, but if you get caught flying over the void with no mana, you're dead anyway. It's just not possible for a flier to rescue someone who fell off a chain, but oh well. This is a story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?