LET'S GET THIS DONE, PLZ.

I'M UP SOO LATE, WOOO!

MY FRIEND IS SLEEPING SO I HAD TIME FOR THE LAST CHAPTER OF RANDOMNESS BEFORE WE START HITTING THE FINALE.


Chapter Twenty-Eight: Downhill

Was it going to be like this forever?
This... strain between all of us?
Why.. why did it end like that?

"Somebody accessed our main computer without authorization," said Saix, sitting on his chair along with Xemnas and Xigbar.

"Little poppet seems to be turning into a problem," replied Xigbar. "You know she's the one that did it."

Saix shook his head, and Xemnas thought back on what Saix had said before—that Axel had gone to Castle Oblivion again. Hopefully, he would find something, Xemnas thought.

"Aura also seems a little distant," stated Saix. "Without knowing what that voice truly is, we need to be careful around her."

"I can't believe she's still alive," replied Xigbar. "That brat, Marie, is completely tenacious."

"Our plans remain unchanged," Xemnas spoke out. "Axel, Roxas, Aura and Xion will play the roles Kingdom Hearts has chosen for them."

Xemnas told both Saix and Xigbar that all they had to do was watch.

ȶ
Xion

Xion walked inside Castle Oblivion, and she suddenly bent down. Lately, she had been having dreams. Dream about who she was.

Axel walked out of the portal, and saw her bent down. He asked her why she was here, and she said she was starting to remember how she came to be here. And it was through Castle Oblivion, her answers lied within it.

"You can't just throw orders to the wind, Xion," stated Axel. "They'll destroy you outright."

"Axel.. I'm remembering who I was," she said. "I have dreams every night. You're in them, Axel!"

"Then they sure ain't memories," he replied. "How could I be apart of your past?"

"Don't fool me!" she shouted. "We've met before! Right in this castle!"

"Have not."

Xion begged Axel for help, but he merely shook his head. She grew impatient, and ran past him, running to the door at the end. Axel shouted for her not to go, but she ignored him nonetheless.

ȶ
After the mission: Axel, Roxas and Aura.

"You guys are early." Axel walked towards Roxas and Aura, who have been sitting on top of the clock tower eating ice cream. Aura looked over to Axel, and waved while munching on her ice cream, and Roxas laughed stating he was late.

Roxas handed Axel an ice cream, and they all started staring into the sky. Roxas tilted his head, and he smiled. "Today makes 255."

Aura questioned him, while Axel raised his eyebrow. "What's that about?"

"It's been that many days," replied Roxas. "Since I first joined the organization."

"Time sure does fly," said Aura, taking another bite from her ice cream.

"Do you have that number memorized?" asked Axel.

"Yeah," replied Roxas, looking at his ice cream. "Have to hang on to something, right?"

Roxas spoke about how he didn't have memories before the organization, so he really didn't have anything to hold on to. Aura looked down at the town, she never knew her memories, but they were introduced to her by Stella. The only thing she didn't tell her... was the name of her original persona.

"Don't you guys remember?" he said, still looking at his ice cream. "I acted like a zombie."

Aura laughed, and Axel smirked. They both simultaneously said out loud that he still acted like a zombie, and Roxas sarcastically thanked them. They all laughed, and Axel suddenly talked about why the sunset was red. He told them that light was made up of lot's of colours, but only red travelled the farthest.

"Like I asked!" Roxas exclaimed jokingly. "Know-it-all!"

"Hey, at least I got to say something smart!" Teased Axel. "Since it's usually this nerd who says it all."

Axel pointed at Aura, and she blinked until she took in what he said. "Hey!"

She pushed Axel, and he made himself fall over so that he could lay on the floor. They all laughed, and ate their ice cream. Roxas felt really happy that he was so far into the year, and nothing bad had happened to him or to his friends. He only hoped that it would always be like this, days filled with laughter and fun.

Aura was also happy to know everything was back to it's happy and fun self. A lot of stress hit her the past days, but she was finally happy to be back to normal.

Axel sighed, and placed his hands on the back of his head. He was also happy to be with his two best friends, but there was still one thing missing that would complete that happiness, and that was his long time friend, Marie.

He wondered what she had been up to, and it sucked that he couldn't see her anymore, but he figured it would be alright if he stopped by and said hi.

A moment passed, and Roxas looked back at the entrance. "Seriously, where is she?"

Axel had a sour expression on his face, and he got up. He looked down at the town, and took a deep breath. "Roxas..."

"I'm not sure she's gonna show today," he said. Roxas gasped, and asked if she had collapsed again. Aura looked down and rolled her eyes, but she stopped herself from saying something nasty, for Roxas' sake.

"She..." Axel looked as if he was going to give out bad news, and Aura noticed. He turned back at looking down at the town, and acted differently all of a sudden. "...What, you didn't hear? She got sent on a really important mission. Pretty cool, huh?"

Aura looked at Axel with suspicion, she knew something was up. Roxas however, seemed to ignore it, and asked when she would come back. Axel merely said it all depended on how well she did her job, and didn't bother to look at Aura or Roxas. Roxas laughed, and told him it was fair. He looked at the sky, and smiled. Aura looked at Roxas for a moment, and so did Axel. He didn't know how to feel about lying to his friends, but it was for their own good.

Aura looked back at Axel, who had his head turned at the town. She knew there was something up with him, and she didn't like it.

ȶ
Xion

"No.."

Xion looked at a mysterious white orb on a pedestal in front of her. She lowered her head, and looked as if she was about to go into hysterics. "Then...I'm not... The person I was before... Wasn't me."

ȶ
The next day

All of the members gathered in the meeting room, and sat there in silence for a moment. Roxas looked around the room, and noticed Xion was not present. Aura also looked around, and noticed how empty the room had been. She began to think about Zexion, but she shook her head, trying to get him out of it.

"Xion is gone," announced Xemnas. Everyone looked up, and looked around the room staring at other members. Axel had his hand on his chin, and Saix didn't look interested.

Demyx raised his eyebrow, and was a little confused. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean, she like, flew the coop?"

"Nonsense!" stated Xaldin. "Why would she choose her own demise?"

"On the contrary," stated Xemnas. "No one is to go looking for Xion without my express permission."

"What? Why not?" asked Roxas, surprised and shocked about Xion's disappearance. Both Axel and Aura remained indifferent on the matter, but Aura expressed little concern, simply because she seemed to be important to Roxas. As much as she disliked that.

"She will be left alone," said Saix. "Or would you rather we find some punishment?"

"I'd rather you get her back!" Roxas shouted in protest.

"Why would we do that?" replied Saix.

Roxas merely growled, and Xemnas stated that all would be revealed soon. This caught Aura's attention, going back to what Stella had said... about finding out a 'horrible truth'. Aura was a little curious about something, but didn't want to ask.

Go ahead, ask.
You'll see that they won't have a reply.

Aura gasped lightly, but nonetheless agreed. She looked at everyone, and sighed. "If say... someone like me would leave the organization, would you let me be?"

Everyone looked at Aura, including Axel and Roxas. What in the world was she saying, they both thought. Roxas was finding it hard to believe that Xion left, he didn't want Aura to, as well. Axel on the other hand, didn't care much for Xion, but he didn't want Aura to leave.

As predicted, no one answered, and Xemnas sighed. Saix looked around, and found that no one else wanted to speak. So he thought to end things. "Lord Xemnas has spoken. Obey, or face your end."

Everyone nodded, and slowly left the room. Aura smirked to herself, and her trust in Stella only grew. She had been right, since they didn't say anything, and even avoided it. She sighed, and left the room as well.

ȶ

Aura stood in the grey area, and Roxas walked in it as well. He walked up towards Aura, who had been looking at Kingdom Hearts. He sighed, and was thankful that out of all his friends, she was not acting weird. Xion had been acting weird, and now she was gone. Axel was beginning to act weird, and Roxas wondered if he would leave as well. He didn't want any friends leaving.

"Hey," he said. Aura jumped a little, and looked at Roxas while smiling.

"Roxas," she replied. "You okay?"

"Yes," he replied, lying through his teeth. "No."

"I'm sure Xion is okay," she comforted. "But if it helps ease you, I'll look into it."

"What!" he nearly shouted, which caught most of the other member's attention. He looked around, and lowered his voice. "Really?"

"I'll see what I can do," she said. "Axel's been acting a bit weird, too. I should also look into that, since I'm worried about him."

Roxas smiled at Aura, and hugged her tightly. She jumped at the sudden act, but she calmed down a bit. She smiled at Roxas, and was happy to know that he was feeling a little better. Even though it involved Xion.

ȶ
Day 276

Aura and Axel had been sitting on top of the clock tower, and had been talking about random stuff. Although Aura had not found anything on Xion, she did tell Axel that she had been disobeying Xemnas' orders to find her. As Axel was about to say something, along appeared Roxas.

"Hey, you're actually up here," Roxas said, surprised at his arrival.

"Been that long, huh?" asked Axel. Roxas laughed, and took a seat next to Aura. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"So..." asked Roxas, trying not to let Axel know about her secret plans.

"Axel knows," she said. "And I've looked around this town, and other worlds. But nothing."

Roxas looked a little depressed, and Axel got up from his spot. "You wanna go look for her, huh?"

"But we—Xemnas' orders!" he replied in protest.

"Orders, shmorders," replied Axel. "Starting tomorrow, let's use our spare time after missions to help Aura look for Xion. Maybe you missed some things while looking."

"Hey!" Aura said while getting up. "I'm a recon and search pro! Not as good as Demyx make himself out to be, but I'm good!"

Roxas laughed, and also got up. "Hey! Then it's a deal!"

Roxas and Aura laughed, and they looked at the town. Axel looked at the two of them, and then looked away. Aura looked from the corner of her eye as Axel did that, and she was so curious as to why he was acting so weird.

ȶ
Day 297

For the past few days, Aura, Roxas, and Axel had been searching for Xion while they had their spare time. Axel had told both Roxas and Aura that Xion originated from Castle Oblivion, but they didn't know what the place was like. Although Aura knew that her original persona had visited it, with Stella telling her, she never got a glimpse of those memories.

Stella told her that she would show them in due time, just not while she was in the Organization. She told her it would be best if she showed them after the truth was revealed, in other words, it would be a long time.

Although she was on another mission, Roxas and Axel got the chance to go to Castle Oblivion and search for the imposter. Saix had initially wanted Aura to go, but she was busty with another mission.

However, as soon as she heard that Roxas had collapsed during the mission, she rushed her mission, and went to Twilight Town to meet up with them. As she ran towards them, she noticed Roxas lying on the floor. She gasped, and called them both.

As soon as she reached there, she bent down to catch her breath. She jumped when Roxas got up quickly, shouting out a name Aura had heard before. "Riku!"

Aura gasped, and wondered how Roxas knew that name. She shook her head however, and bent down to his side. "Roxas, are you okay?"

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"You collapsed right inside the castle doors," replied Axel. "Don't you remember?"

Roxas shook his head, and Aura helped him up. She shouted asking why Saix couldn't just cancel her mission to let her handle the imposter mission, Axel scratched the back of his head, and Roxas dusted the dirt off his coat.

"We need to go back to C.O," stated Roxas. Axel, however disagreed, and Aura merely listened. Both Axel and Aura stood still, and Axel turned around and asked who was there. Aura prepared herself, and Roxas looked over, and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Xion?" he asked. And surprisingly, she was standing not too far from him, Aura and Axel, but another person appeared with her. She looked at everyone, and looked down to the floor. She turned around, and opened up a portal as she walked through it. Roxas called out for her to wait, and ran towards her. However, the person that was with her blocked him, and she escaped.

"Get out of my way!" he shouted. The person only stared, and Aura found something off about him. He was wearing their coat, but he was helping Xion escape. She gasped, and finally found out that it was the imposter.

The man ran away, and Roxas ran after him. Aura gasped again, and started running after him. Axel sighed, and followed along as well.

They ran into the tunnels of Twilight Town, and followed the imposter everywhere he went. However, reaching the deepest part of the tunnel, they managed to corner him. As they ran towards him, he had already disappeared. Roxas looked around, and Aura took a breather.

"I thought the imposter was sighted in Castle Oblivion!" questioned Axel. "What was he doing here!"

"Xion.." was all Roxas could mutter. Axel told him that it wasn't Xion, but Roxas corrected him saying the one that escaped first was. "I don't get it. Why would she run from me?"

Aura looked at Roxas, and sighed. She turned around from him, and placed a hand on her chest. It seemed that no matter what happened, she always came second to Xion.

ȶ

The next day approached, and the gang had been in the grey area. Roxas and Aura were standing next to Saix while Axel had his arms crossed. Xion had apparently betrayed the Organization, and Saix had ordered Axel to bring her back.

He had also ordered Roxas to take out the imposter, to which Aura felt a little betrayed. "You gave me all those missions so that I could take a back seat while someone else takes the imposter out? It should be me!"

"We need your power for more important uses!" he shouted. Aura looked at him and was surprised to see him shout at her, but she shook her head and glared.

"Fine," she simply said. "I'll be in my room."

Roxas watched as she walked away, and glared at Saix for shouting at her. He scoffed, and ordered them to do their missions.

ȶ

Aura stayed in her room, and sat on her bed. She sighed, and was still furious at how she wasn't the one who was going to take out the imposter. She had the right to do it, since she had suffered her time just gaining clues on him. She growled, and threw a nearby book at the door.

Don't be so angry, you must save it.

Aura jumped from the sudden voice, and looked at the ceiling, she sighed, and went to lie down on her bed. "I don't understand that idiot... not like I ever did, though."

You must not let anyone eliminate this imposter.
You don't know it yet, but he will be a great ally.
Trust me.

Aura raised her left eyebrow, and sat up straight and quickly. "But—what—no! He's an enemy! He even has Xion... not that I care, really. But still!"

There's a reason she left.
And soon you'll find that reason as well.

Aura sighed, and dropped her shoulders. She turned her head when she heard shouting coming from the grey area, and she got up to see what was going on. As she walked towards the grey area, she saw Axel and Roxas talking alone. She stopped by the door, and listened in.

"Where is she?" asked Roxas. Aura tilted her head, and wondered if they had found Xion already.

"Safe," replied Axel. A short silence appeared, until Roxas growled.

"How could you do that to her?" he semi-yelled. Aura peered in just a little bit, and saw that Roxas was clearly angry.

"Do what?" asked Axel. He had a look of innocence on his face, and Aura wondered what went on.

"You didn't have to use force," replied Roxas. He lowered his head, not wanting to look at Axel.

"Didn't I?" asked Axel. Aura raised her left eyebrow, what was going on? She thought.

"No.. of course not!" he retorted. "We're suppose to be best friends."

"This isn't about friendship!" Axel retorted back. Aura's eyes lit up in surprise, since she had never heard Axel talk back to Roxas. She walked in their view, and only stared. Axel scratched the back of his head, and looked at Roxas. "If that's all, I gotta go."

Axel turned around, and saw Aura standing there with a worried look on her face. Just what exactly was happening to her two best friends? Were they really fighting? Axel looked away from her, and continued to walk past her. She sighed, and blinked a couple of times. She looked at Roxas, and had a look of disappointment. Things were changing again, and she didn't like it. She took a deep breath, and walked away.

ȶ

As Aura walked around the Castle, she noticed Roxas walking up the stairs. She started smiling, and was about to say hi, however, Axel had beat him to it. "Hey, Roxas."

Aura stopped and smiled. She waited for Roxas' reply, but he only lowered his head, and walked past Axel, and he completely ignored him all the way. Aura's smile vanished, and she watched as Roxas walked away. She saw Axel scratch the back of his head, and she had a sad look on her face.

Nonetheless, she walked up to Axel, and patted his back. He didn't see her, since she was behind him, but he laughed as she appeared. She smiled at him, and her eyes softened. "I don't know what's happened, but I hate seeing my two best friends fight."

Axel smiled, but he lowered his head. Aura sighed, but still kept her smile. She told him she was going to the grey area, not to talk to Roxas about being a better friend, but to talk to Demyx and Xigbar. He laughed, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and sent her off.

As she walked into the grey area she saw her other friends, Demyx and Xigbar, sitting on the couch. She also saw Roxas, staring at nothing. She smiled to herself, and started walking up to him. He noticed her, and he lowered his head. He walked through his portal, and left her standing there. Her eyes lit up in disbelief, and she blinked a couple of times. Roxas wasn't mad at her, was he? He had no reason to be, she had done nothing wrong. She grew a little sad, and walked towards Demyx and Xigbar.

ȶ
Roxas

Roxas sighed to himself, he didn't know what to think anymore. Xion was ill, Axel wasn't acting like himself, and he was completely avoiding Aura. For what reason, he didn't know. He didn't want to talk to anyone, and he felt so alone. Aura hadn't been there to see what had actually happened between Axel and Xion, and he feared that she would take Axel's side.

He didn't want to explain it to her, and he didn't want her to take sides. So the best thing was to just avoid her altogether. He knew she would forgive him, they were best friends, and they do everything for each other. But what he needed was space from everything.

ȶ
Day 321

As days eventually turned into weeks, which turned into months, Roxas, Aura, Axel and Xion had all been pretty separate. It was only after a mission together that Roxas and Xion spoke to each other again, but even then, Xion couldn't help but notice how similar Roxas looked to him.

She had also begun to notice the power she was gaining, but also how Roxas looked fatigued every time. During that mission, the two of them had ice cream at their spot. It was there that Xion found out that Roxas, Axel, and Aura weren't on speaking terms.

"Did you guys get into a fight?" Xion asked.

"I can't believe that jerk would actually attack you," he replied. "As for Aura... I don't know. I wanted some time to think, and I usually go to her when I'm down..."

"But..?" Xion asked.

"I guess I was too down to even talk to her," he said. "Now she's always busy with missions, so I can't apologize."

"Roxas, I wouldn't be here if Axel hadn't done what he did," stated Xion. "And Aura didn't deserve to be ignored."

Roxas didn't respond, but Xion kept going. "They're your best friends."

"So are you," he replied back. Xion turned around to face the sky, and she sighed.

"It's just not the same without all four of us," she said.

ȶ
Xemnas, Xigbar and Saix.
Three days after.

Where they sit and discuss their issues, Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saix had been talking about the plans to grab hold of Sora's powers. Saix had assured that the devices for Sora's powers would be up in a matter of days, and the device to extract the power of Kingdom Hearts from Aura was already made and ready to go.

"The only thing that's missing is the other piece," stated Xemnas. "And we've no clues where she is, now."

"Axel has also ceased suspicion of where she could be, as well," added Saix. "But no matter, as long as Sora's powers will be in our hands, Marie has no protection, no "knight" to protect her."

"You're forgetting she has the power of Kingdom Hearts," added Xigbar.

"But, have you noticed?" asked Saix. "she knows about us from Castle Oblivion, and if she had the chance, she would strike us all down. Why is it that she's in hiding?"

"You know why," said Xemnas. "Sora's slumber affects her memories. As long as he stays asleep, she won't remember anything. And I believe Kingdom Hearts understands that, that's why it cannot give Marie her memories back."

"Right, since he's so close to her heart," added Xigbar. "It's the one thing Kingdom Hearts can't toy around with."

"Not necessarily," corrected Xemnas. "Whoever is controlling the real powers of Kingdom Hearts has a close connection to the girl, otherwise they wouldn't have chosen her. It just so happens that Sora's connection with her is stronger, thus overpowering the other."

"However," continued Xemnas. "If another person that's close to her heart comes into contact with her, it could release her memories, and she'll gain them back."

"We know for a fact that Axel has made contact with her at one point," replied Saix. "I know he is close to her heart."

"Correct," said Xemnas. "And indeed, if he had spent more time with her, her memories would have been brought back. But he mostly likely stopped so that she would not be found."

Saix looked at the ground. "What a silly guy he is, believing that with her he could feel."

Xemnas and Xigbar looked at Saix, and Xemnas had told them to return to their posts. They did, and only hoped that they would find Marie soon.

ȶ
Marie

Marie sat on the shores of the beach, and listened to the sound of the waves. Although she heard them a lot since she spent most of her days at the beach, she felt as if she hadn't heard them in a long while.

"Marie..."

Marie jumped, and turned around. She looked around her area, and found nothing. She raised her right eyebrow, and swore she had heard someone call her name. She shrugged her shoulders, and looked down at her side.

"Hey! Someone stole my diary!"

ȶ
Riku

Riku walked along the streets of Twilight Town, reading the book that he had stolen from Marie. Although he knew it was bad, it was curious to see what she had written since her memories were gone at the moment.

Maybe it's just me, but why do I keep having dreams about two boys that I've never met before? One of them is a silver headed boy with very bright turquoise eyes, and the other...

It's strange... for some reason... I can see him... but I don't know how he looks. I wonder if anyone else has ever had a dream like that?

Also, I keep getting this feeling of great sadness...confusion...and anger. It's like I can feel the anger, sadness and confusion of someone... but who?

I don't know what's going on, but I really wish I had the chance to see Axel. I haven't seen him since he said he couldn't anymore... I can't recall how much tears I shed that day, and I was sick as well. I also wonder how that boy, Roxas, is doing? I wish I also had the chance to see him... touching his face and staring into those beautiful eyes of his made me get this sense of familiarity... But I've never met him.

Weird,
Marie.

Although it was no laughing matter, Riku couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Marie had a diary. He remembered way back when they were little... She hated diaries. Nonetheless, he missed her. All he wanted was for her to remember him, for her to be brought back to her old self. He wanted his friend back.

I wish everything was back to normal.
Someones I even wish I never existed.
Or... sometimes I wish she never existed.


Starlightmint72:
Well, I should warn you, since I've never played the game I added some of my swirl3y touches to the story. Screw the game, Originality is what counts! Ahaha, I doubt she wants to do it out of good will, but if it makes Roxas happy, she's happy. But OH NOES! Roxas isn't talking to her, and everyone is angry or awkward towards each other.

Sajere1:
Only you would think of something like that. XD Yes, but that fluff has been blocked, Ah, yes. 30 chapters. The next one will fill in all of the last parts, and chapter 30 will be the grand finale! I'm so close to finishing! Who could feel bad for him? I can't find a reason. DX

Ruciro Katsura:
Sucks major wanton, dude. Well, the story is almost ending soo... Get that fixed bro.

Kingdomdisney:
Too bad it's all coming to an end! WHAT A TWEEST. And I dunno, people say Auxas, while others are Rora.