As soon as Roxas woke up, he headed for the lounge. As he began falling asleep last night, a most disturbing thought occurred to him: Perhaps the reason he didn't remember his past was because he didn't have one. Maybe he was a puppet just like Xion. There was only one person that he felt safe asking, Axel. When he got to the lounge, he saw Axel slumped on the couch.

"Hey, Roxas." he said lazily.

"Axel, did you find Xion?"

"Yep." Axel replied. "She put up one hell of a fight, though."

"Did you know the truth about her the whole time?"

"Nah, not the whole time?"

"When did you find out?"

"Oh, you know, somewhere along the way."

Roxas prepared himself to ask the question that was troubling him the most. He happened to glance down at his hands and saw that his fists were clenched for some reason.

"Am I like her, a puppet? Did they make me too?"

"No, you're not a puppet." Axel replied.

"Then where did I come from? Who was I?"

"I dunno."

"You're lying."

Axel finally got up and faced Roxas.

"You must know something about me, you must have heard something."

Axel sighed.

"Roxas, there's some things you're…probably better off not knowing. Heh, there's probably stuff even I'm better off not knowing." Axel said with a laugh Roxas knew was fake.

"I have a right to know who I am!" he said, much louder than he meant to.

"You just gotta trust me, man."

Roxas stared into Axel's eyes, trying to trust him, but somehow unable.

"I can't trust you." he muttered, turning his back to Axel. "We can't be friends anymore."

"Hey, c'mon."

"Someone out there knows who I am and where I belong. That will be the one I trust." Roxas said, as he began walking.

"Where you going?" Axel asked.

Roxas paused.

"I'm leaving. I'm not coming back."

"You can't walk out on the organization!" Axel said, sounding aggressive now. "If you go out there, where people can learn our secrets from you, one of us will find you and kill you!"

"No one will find me." Roxas droned. "No one will miss me."

Axel watched as Roxas walked down the hall, knowing full well that he had no intention of coming back.

"That's not true…" he muttered to himself. "I will."

If he had a heart, it would have hurt seeing his friend walking away like that. He almost regretted that it didn't hurt…almost.

Saix sat at his computer reviewing the blueprints for the Dreadnaught, a battle station that the organization's forces were working tirelessly on. Xemnas believed that it was only a matter of time before other beings and groups of beings learned about the Nobodies and decided to start looking for their world, so they had built a fleet to combat anyone who came too close to their world. But that was not enough; Xemnas wanted a powerful battle station. Saix suspected that he planned to use it to conquer other worlds when he became complete.

Something along those lines, I bet.

His thoughts were interrupted by a small Dusk that came slithering into his quarters.

"What is it?" he muttered.

Roxas…leave…castle The Dusk whispered.

Saix pushed himself over to some monitors and turned them on. He scanned them until he found Roxas exiting the lift and walking across the arena. A Samurai Nobody approached him, but he stabbed it with his Keyblade and kept walking.

Ungrateful brat. Saix thought.

Saix opened a portal, which would take him to the front platform. He would not allow Roxas to leave the castle alive.

Roxas finally made it outside the castle. He had tried opening a portal but for some reason he couldn't concentrate, so he was going to have to escape on foot. As he made his way down the catwalk, he saw Saix waiting for him on the platform, holding his mammoth claymore. Roxas came to a halt and drew his Keyblade. For a few moments, neither of them said a word. Their intentions were already perfectly clear. Saix would not allow Roxas to leave the castle alive and Roxas would not allow Saix to stop him.

"I have nothing to say to you." Roxas said coldly, Saix not moving. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Roxas." Saix said icily. "Hearts die. Nobodies are forgotten."

Saix dashed forward and started sweeping his claymore from left to right, it was much larger and heavier than the Keyblade so Roxas leapt and rolled away from it, rather than trying to parry it. He had only seen Saix in combat once. Next to Xaldin, he was the organization's most skilled fighter. He did not appear to have any powers but he was as strong as Lexaeus and almost as quick as Axel. When Saix got within striking distance, Roxas was forced to block all of his attacks. Saix struck with such force that Roxas expected the bones in his arms to splinter at any second. He tried to jump over Saix but Saix swatted him him in midair and sent him flying off the platform and onto another one below it. Saix quickly jumped down after him. Roxas leapt back to avoid being smashed by the claymore but the force of the blow created a small tremor which made him lose his balance for a moment. Saix charged again and Roxas hurled the Keyblade at him, but he swatted it away with ease. He closed in to strike Roxas again but Roxas grabbed onto his claymore. Saix swung it in an arc and hurled Roxas off, though he saved himself by grabbing a pipe that connected the lower platform to the base of the castle.

"You couldn't beat me on your best day!" Saix spat as he approached the ledge.

He lifted his claymore high and brought it down to smash Roxas, but Roxas released the pipe and grabbed the one next to it with his other hand. Then, with his free hand he summoned his Keyblade and hurled it into Saix's stomach. Saix dropped his claymore and groaned, trying to pull the Keyblade out of him. Roxas grabbed his ankle and pulled him off the ledge. Saix tried to grab Roxas but Roxas swung his legs back and watched Saix silently plummet into the glowing abyss below.

Roxas climbed back onto the lower platform and walked to the other end. There were no bridges for him to walk across and he still could not open a portal. It looked like the only way for him to get across the abyss was to jump. He really did not believe that he could do it but he saw no other way. He went to the back end of the platform ran to the front and made the jump. He soared across the abyss and toward the edge of the dark city. It looked as though he would not make it but he summoned his Keyblade at the last moment and dug it into the canyon wall.

He reached up with one hand, grabbed a hold of the edge, and heaved himself up. Making that jump was physically one of the hardest things he had ever done. It would have been easier if he had his full strength. He was tired, but he could not rest, he could not stop until he was far enough away from the castle, he had to get moving before Saix got out of the Abyss. He got to his feet and began trekking through the dark city. The only sources of light here were some neon signs and some very dim street lamps. It was also dead silent. He kept walking until he got to an alley with a swirling mass of darkness in it. This appeared to be the only way out so, he plunged himself into the darkness, without the faintest idea where he would end up.

Xemnas spent hours working on Xion in his private lab. It had proven to be much more taxing without Vexen to help him, though he had one of his Sorcerers helping him with his instruments. All of the programming was finished, but the most difficult part was infusing Lilith's cells into Xion's own tissue, which he had to do on his own. Finally, his work was complete. Xion slowly opened its eyes and rose.

"Your mission is to defeat Roxas, absorb him into your being, and become the perfect weapon. Now, go." he instructed.

Xion got off the slab and entered the portal he opened for it, without a word.

Wherever Roxas was, Xion would find him.