A/N: I realized the other day when I was playing KH2 again, the 'roof' of The Castle That Never Wasis the 'Altar of Naught'. How the hell did I forget that? *drifts into a daydream where no one never forgets a thing*

Writing Merlin's bit was so weird!

Sorry for the crappy ending in this chapter, but it was already nine pages and I didn't want it to go any longer. There is quite a bit of POV switching, so pay attention ;)

RECAP:

Riku, realizing how much this was hurting, held you even tighter, saying incoherent words in your ear, trying to ease the suffering, but it barely helped. The black spots got larger and the pain became even worse. Your voice was hoarse from screaming and you couldn't even breathe anymore.

The last thing you were aware of before the pain suddenly stopped was Riku saying something in one more attempt to calm you down.

"I love you."

Then your eyes shut and you slipped into darkness.

STORY STARTS:

Riku's POV

All at once Maryx went completely slack in your arms. You felt a tingling sensation through your body - no doubt an effect of the light - but you ignored it. "Maryx?" You shook her as lightly as you could, but she didn't stir. "Come on Ryx, stop playing around." No response. 'God no, please don't be dead,' you thought desperately.

Roxas and Kairi came running up the steps to meet you, wide grins on their faces. "We finished them all off!" Roxas bragged. "You should've seen Kairi, she kept blasting them with these awesome energy attaaaa…" He trailed off as he and Kairi saw Maryx's state. "She's okay, isn't she?" Kairi asked.

"I…I'm not sure…I mean, she's breathing…right?" Just to double-check, you looked back down at Maryx to see that her breaths were short and ragged.

You barely noticed as more people approached. "Man, Kaori is awesome!" Sora exclaimed. "She was like that killing machine in that movie with the zom…bies…"

"Ryx!"Kaori fell to her knees and tried to grab her from you. "Ryx! Wake up! Talk to me!"

"Be careful," you choked out, pulling Maryx back a little. "You might hurt her."

Kairi, who was surprisingly calm, knelt down and delicately put her hands to Maryx's neck. "Oh…her pulse is hardly there at all. You guys should heal her, fast."

You fumbled around your pockets for potions and ethers, and started pouring them down her throat as carefully as you could. When she didn't react to them, Sora and Roxas gave her their stash, but still she didn't wake up. "Try Curaga," Kairi suggested.

Sora raised his hand and said, "Heal." A green glow surrounded her, and everyone leaned in closer to see what would happen. Unfortunately, when it faded you saw that nothing had changed. "Why isn't anything working?" Kaori asked frantically, looking close to tears.

"Calm down, Kaori," Roxas said gently, crouching down and putting his arm around her. "She's still alive."

"She's all I have left!" she snapped, even though she leaned back into him. "She can't die, she just can't!"

"She'll be okay," you said quietly, in an attempt to convince yourself more than her. "We just have to get her somewhere safe so that we can treat her properly."

She whimpered softly and Roxas helped her up. You stood up along with them. "Where should we take her?" he asked,

"Gummi Ship," Sora stated. "We can care for her better there, and if she doesn't wake up then, we can take her to a world that has some sort of hospital. Doctors can probably help her now better than us."

You nodded blankly and exited the Altar of Naught, still carrying Maryx. Your friends had to jog to keep up with your brisk walk. "Slow down! You might hurt her!" Sora puffed. Instantly you slowed your pace and looked down to see if she was alright.

"Go as fast as you like, Riku," Roxas said, shooting Sora a quick glare. Nobody dared to state the obvious: Nothing much could damage her more.

Out the castle, around the skyscrapers, through the barren city. You went as quickly as you dared, glancing at Maryx every few steps to make sure that she was still breathing.

"Look out!" Sora yelled, pulling you back. You had been so focused on Maryx that you hadn't noticed a lone Dusk swaying right in front of you and reaching out a sleek silver knife-arm at her.

"Don't even try," you growled at it, fending it off haphazardly with one hand.

"I think we should've gone a different way," Roxas muttered as more appeared.

"Again?" Kairi sighed.

"Riku, put Maryx near that building so you can fight, we'll have to keep them away from her," Sora instructed, already drawing out the Keyblade.

You didn't think twice and placed Maryx at the foot of a tall building, then summoned Way To Dawn. "Kairi, guard her!" you said quickly. She nodded and ran to Maryx, and you joined Sora, Roxas, and Kaori to fight off the Nobodies.

"Kairi, watch out!" Roxas called. While fighting off all the Dusks trying to reach Maryx while she was vulnerable, Kairi had failed to noticed some of them gliding past her unnoticed, and one of them was now struggling to pick her up. Sora managed to reach them in time to strike them down.

After a very long time, the Nobodies were gone. "I thought that would never end," Roxas panted, wiping his forehead.

"Where did they even come from?" you asked.

"Hey, Kaori, remember when Xemnas suddenly stopped fighting us and started muttering stuff and waving his hands in the air?"

"Yeah, I thought he was going insane! He was mumbling something about two thousand and something ducks."

"He must've said 'two thousand and something Dusks', not ducks!" Roxas said, laughing a little.

"Ducks, dusks, what's the difference?" you said, even though you were grinning. "Let's just get out of here."

"Look at this, you guys," Kairi said, brushing away the jet-black hair from the right side of Maryx's head. A surprisingly large gash was there, and it was still bleeding somewhat. "I was wondering where she was bleeding from. She must've gotten this when that Nobody tried to pick her up; I think it had dropped her."

"Bloody empty shells," you mumbled, touching the wound gingerly.

"Hey! Ex-Nobody here!" Roxas protested.

"Sorry…It's not like they had a reason to try and pick her up anyway..."

Kairi shook her head at began to bandage the wound. "This means she hit her head pretty hard on the concrete. It'll probably be even longer before she wakes up now."

"What?" you yelled.

Kaori bit her lip and took Maryx's hand. "But she will wake up, right Kairi?"

She sighed and put the bandages away. "I honestly haven't a clue. I'm so sorry, Kaori."

"Hey, I know who can help us!" Sora said brightly, obviously trying to cheer Kaori up.

The idea struck you as soon as he said this. "Merlin!"

"Exactly! It shouldn't take that long to get there. And besides, there isn't much more we can do for her here, so why waste ti – I mean, why wait for her to recover when Merlin could help us straight away!"

"Two good ideas in one day, Sora." You smirked at your best friend. "It's gotta be a record."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Your POV

Darkness.

Black.

Nothingness.

Blearily, you forced your eyes open. 'Where am I?' you thought. You were in what seemed to be an eternal void, effortlessly floating in midair. Waving your arm about experimentally in front of your face, you were relieved to see that your eyes had already adjusted to the darkness.

No. Not darkness, like Kingdom Hearts light and darkness. It was just plain darkness, like night. So at least you were safe from anything evil.

"Never mind where I am," you muttered aloud. "Why am I here?"

You leaned backwards so you were floating on your back and put your hands behind your head, mimicking one of Sora's favourite poses, as the memories flooded back. "Let's see...Kairi and Roxas were fighting off Nobodies, Sora and Kaori were fighting Xemnas near Memory Skyscraper, Riku and I were at the Altar of Naught. We made the keychain, he kissed me, then I attached it to my Keyblade."

"Oh, then the pain started. It was so horrible! Worse than anything I've ever felt. It was like my heart and my body was been torn apart really slowly. Then Riku...that idiot, he could've been killed! Though it was a little comforting for him to be there..."

"Anyway, then I started to see black spots. And Riku said something, and I was really surprised. What was it?" You frowned and rubbed your forehead. "Damn it, I know it was something really important!"

Just then a sharp pain shot through your skull, and you clutched at the right side of your head. "What was that for?" you grumbled. "Shit, that hurts..." You knew it would take a while for the pain to go away, so you took up the Sora-position again.

You stayed like that for a while, trying to remember what Riku had said. "Eh, it'll come to me soon enough. But man, I hate it when I can't remember things like this! I swear, it seems so painfully obvious and yet I can't think of it."

"So, after he said whatever-it-was, I blacked out. Did I? Or...am I dead?"

Riku's POV

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Sora, poking her arm isn't going to wake her up," Kaori said tiredly. She was sitting on a chair next to Maryx's bed on Roxas's lap, and Roxas had his arms around her. "Believe me, I tried."

"Yeah, I know," Sora sighed. He was sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall. Kairi was next to him, leaning on his shoulder. You were sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Maryx's hand. It had been five and a half hours since you had returned to the Gummi Ship, and four hours since the ship took off.

"How much longer 'til we arrive?" Roxas asked.

"Four and a half hours," you said tonelessly.

"Kairi? KAIRI?" Sora was saying frantically. You tore your eyes away from Maryx to see Kairi had passed out.

"What happened?"

"I don't know! She just blacked out!"

Your POV

"'We're sooooooooarin', flyyyyyyyyin', there's not a star in heeeeeaven that we can't reach...'"

You continued to float/fly through the darkness, searching for some sort of way out. For some reason one of your hands felt really warm. There was still a dull ache in your head. "Man, I'm actually resorting to High School Musical...though if you think about it, it's not THAT bad..." You stopped for a moment and then continued, singing a different song.

"'Wake me up inside, wake me up inside, call my name and save me from the dark. Bid my blood to run, before I come undone, save me from the no-thing I've be-come.' Hah, nothing can beat Evanescence!"

For some time you tried to think of songs that applied to your situation, just to beat your boredom. Eventually though, you ran out of ideas, and you groaned in frustration. "How long have I been here?" you yelled. "Where's the damn exit sign? Or at least the fire escape!"

Somebody laughed softly, and you spun around to see who it was. "Who's there?" you called out, summoning you weapon.

The person laughed again. Cautiously, you made your weapon disappear. The laugh was too innocent, too kind, to belong to someone evil. "Who are you?" you asked again.

A small light flashed before your eyes and a pale girl appeared. She had light blonde hair, wore a simple sleeveless white dress, and had the clearest blue-grey eyes you had ever seen. "What's your name?" you asked.

"Namine," she said softly, with a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm–"

"Maryx, I know."

She looked so familiar, but you couldn't tell where you'd seen her before. "Have we met?" you asked curiously.

"In a way. I'm Kairi's Nobody. And I suppose you could call me a witch. I can restore memories, make new or false ones, and erase them too. Also, I can talk to people in your condition."

"A witch...you're Kairi's...Nobody?" You suddenly recalled the conversation with Kairi about bringing out Roxas. She had said, 'It was either that or draw Namine out of me, he can't do both, so we decided to bring out Roxas.' Back then, you were too surprised with finding out about Roxas to ask who Namine was. "She mentioned you once," you stated, "but she didn't say who you were."

"I know. You were surprised about the fact that Sora had a Nobody."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"I was listening. Being one with Kairi, I hear everything you guys say."

"Stalker," you teased. "So, where the hell am I, Namine?"

She smiled and turned away. "It's a little complicated. Basically, you're on the brink of death."

"I'm dead?" you asked in horror.

"No, no!" she said hastily. "You're not dead. But you're not technically alive. You're inbetween."

You thought for a moment. "Like a Nobody?"

"Something like that," she giggled.

"So, what you're trying to say is, I'm unconscious?"

"No...well you are...but...it's hard to explain. But your life is slowly draining away. You have a choice, Maryx. When the time comes, you can choose either to awaken, or to stay. If you don't wake up, you'll leave this place anyway and you will die."

You shuddered a little at this. "You're pretty good at breaking bad news that no one wants to hear, you know?"

"Yes, Roxas once said something similar to me," she smiled.

"How do I wake up, then?" you asked eagerly. "I'm not just going to give up and die!"

"Right now, your friends are flying to Radiant Gardens. They're going to go see Merlin and ask him if he knows a way to cure you. He does know a way, and that's when you'll have to make the choice."

"What choice?" you exclaimed. "Of course I'm going to choose to live. Why wouldn't I?"

"I was hoping you'd say that." She extended her hand and you took it warily, not sure of what was happening.

When you took her it, she made a white portal with her other hand and guided you through it. On the other end you gasped as you realized you were floating above your real self lying on your bed in the Gummi Ship. Kaori was sitting on Roxas's lap in a chair near your bed, and they were craning their necks to look at something on the other side of it. You turned your head and saw Sora leaning over an unconscious Kairi, desperately trying to shake her awake. Riku was there too, sitting on the edge of the bed and saying something to Sora. For some reason, you couldn't hear anything. "Why can't I hear them?" you asked Namine, who was hovering next to you.

"I'm not sure," she frowned. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and when she opened them you could hear them.

"Sora, don't shake her like that, you might hurt her," Riku was saying. He sounded worn out.

"She's blacked out because you're here with me, right?" you questioned, and Namine nodded. "You should go back then! They look really worried."

"They look like that, because they're worried about you too."

You noticed that Riku was holding your hand, quite tightly as well. "So that's why my hand's feeling warm," you said, almost relieved. "I thought something was going wrong with it!" Then you saw the bandage around your head. "And that's why my freakin' head hurts. Did I get hit by something?"

"Yes. They were taking you back to the Gummi Ship when Nobodies fought them. Riku had to put you down and fight, and Kairi was guarding you. Some Nobodies slipped past her and tried to pick you up and dropped you, and you hit your head on the concrete."

"Pfft, and I'm not even that heavy," you scoffed. "Let me guess, I could've woken up without Merlin's help if that hadn't happened."

"Yes."

"Joy..." Below you, Sora had laid Kairi on the ground, so that her head was resting on his legs. He was saying something to Roxas, but you weren't paying attention. "Listen Namine, couldn't you at least go back for a minute or so and send some sort of telepathic message to Kairi saying that she's blacking out because you're with me, and then come back? Seriously, they look really concerned about her."

She smirked a little, although on her it just made her look sweeter. "And then they can pay more attention to you," she joked.

You smirked back at her. "Exactly."

"Well, if it concerns you that much, I suppose I could. But it will take me a while to come back."

"No problem," you said cheerfully. "Any company would be great. Can I stay here?"

"I'm afraid not. You'll have to go back to where you were before." She smiled regretfully, slowly starting to disappear. "Namine, wait!" you called out suddenly. She stopped fading and looked at you in question. "Before I forget, Riku said something to me before I came here. Do you have any idea what it was? Or could you help me remember?"

She shook her head and continued disappearing. "I think he'd prefer to tell you himself," she said, then she was gone. The scenery around you changed back into the black place. "What could it have been?" you wondered.

Riku's POV

You had tuned out completely to Roxas and Sora's conversation. Not that you weren't concerned over Kairi; it was just that you felt there was a reasonable explanation, and she would probably wake up. All in all, there wasn't that much of a reason to get so worked up. 'Though if it were me and Ryx in Sora and Kairi's place, I guess I'd feel the same way,' you thought, looking down at your hand that was still clutching Maryx's.

"Hey, I think she's waking up!" Sora declared. You looked up and saw Kairi stirring on the ground. Soon she was sitting up at rubbing her head. "Namine..." she murmured.

"Namine?" Roxas repeated. "What about her?"

"Who is she?" Kaori asked.

"Kairi's Nobody," you all responded in unison.

"She...she just talked to me," Kairi said.

"What did she say?" Sora asked.

"She said I blacked out because she left my body to be with Maryx."

"What?" you exclaimed.

"She said Maryx is in a different place, and she went to her so that she could show her a way out. I'm conscious now because Namine came back. She said Maryx told her to come back, since you guys seemed worried about me."

You shook your head as you tried to take this all in. "Wait, so Maryx is here now?"

Kairi seemed to be thinking hard. "She was here," she said slowly, "but now she's not. Also, we can't contact her in any way."

"Damn it!" You were oblivious to the fact that you were squeezing Maryx's hand much harder in your anger.

"She said Maryx can feel any pain or comfort that she gets here, like her hitting her head and you holding her hand, Riku. Speaking of which, you're probably hurting her right now." Instantly you loosened your vice-like grip. "And she's leaving again, actually as soon as I'm done telling you this. She's going back to keep Maryx company, because...it's lonely...there..." Almost as soon as she said this she blacked out again.

Sora looked worried as he caught her when she fell backwards. "Well...at least that's the only reason why she's blacking out."

"What did I tell you?" you said, managing a small smile. "She's fine. And Namine wouldn't do this if it was hurting Kairi. Don't worry, Sora."

"What happened?" Leon asked seriously, crossing over from the computer to the entrance of Merlin's house, where you were holding Maryx. His expression deepened when he saw Sora walk in holding Kairi. "Did you get attacked?"

"No," you responded, "actually, we finished the mission."

"Kairi's unconscious because Namine is with Maryx right now," Sora interrupted. You vaguely remembered that Sora had told Leon all about Namine and Roxas the first time you had come to Radiant Gardens with Maryx, while Yuffie was showing her around.

Now Leon looked purely confused. "Alright...she's with Maryx...who's in this room now, unconscious..."

"Namine isn't here," Kairi corrected. She filled Leon in on what happened. "And that's why we need Merlin.

"Hmm..an interesting dilemma indeed," a voice mumbled. "Now, come in, come in, you must be tired from carrying those two."

"You were listening the whole time, weren't you?" Sora asked Merlin, who had just appeared. He set Kairi down on the ground near the centre of the room. You did the same with Maryx.

"Well of course, my boy," he said cheerfully. "I was here the whole time. None of you would ever notice an old wizard like me!"

Leon shook his head and turned up his mouth into something that very nearly resembled a smile. "Merlin, you know you were invisible."

The wizard crouched down to examine Maryx. "Details, details."

"By the way, Merlin, this is Roxas and Kaori," Sora said.

"Based on what Namine said, I can easily bring Maryx back for you," Merlin said.

A surge of hope ran through you. "You can? Do it, then!"

"Hold your horses," he chuckled. "Now, stand back, it's been a while since I've brought someone back from this state."

"You know what you're doing, right?" you said threateningly.

"Why, certainly? How on earth could you doubt me?"

"He did not just ask that," Leon muttered.

Your POV

"He did not just ask that," you muttered with Leon.

Namine giggled next to you. For someone so quiet, Namine was really good company. Mostly you had killed time alternating between talking to her and watching the others in the 'real world'. You didn't do that for long then, since watching Kaori and Riku being so distressed made you feel sad. "That is one big book," you commented as you watched Merlin pull out a gigantic book of spells and a glowing, super-sharp wand.

"I should warn you Maryx, this will sting quite a bit," Namine said.

"What else is new?" you sighed. Merlin began reading some nonsense that you couldn't comprehend at all. "I better go now Maryx," Namine said. "I've stayed far too long as it is."

"Why didn't you say so?" You hugged her and withdrew quickly. "You don't seem like the type to hug," she said, laughing.

"I'm not, you're just huggable," you smiled. "It was great to meet you."

"Bye Maryx." She stared fading like she had the first time. "By the way, you can stay here and watch this time."

"Really? Why?" Before you could say more she had already left. "Bye Namine," you said softly, even though she couldn't hear.

Merlin's voice grew louder, and the gibberish became more complicated. "I summon thee BACK!" he said finally.

"OW! Damn, that thing is sharp!" you exclaimed as he whacked your real self on the head hard with his wand, and you felt the blow clearly. Below you, a speck of blood formed on your real self's forehead. You touched your forehead gingerly and saw a small drop of blood on your finger.

Your hand started to fade in front of you, and a stinging sensation overwhelmed you, though it was nothing compared to what you had felt back on the Altar of Naught. 'Guess this is it,' you thought.

Your surroundings started to waver and soon became a big blur. Then everything went black again.