Chapter 36

(Halls of Passage)

Silence echoed through the halls... Such large halls for so small a population. One could go for days without meeting a single person. If only he'd not been called back by Maleficent before he could put the chase on those two rats in the walls... Spies...

The silence rang in his ears with a sharp clacking noise- No, not silence- the sound of booted feet in an even tread. Reno smirked, recognizing that particular clack of heel, the length of stride, the creak of leather. How many years had that particular stride sent chills down the spines of raw recruits and grizzled soldiers alike? How many of the company's executives woke up in the middle of the night, trembling in nameless fears because of that man?

Leaning against the wall, the redhead watched with half-lidded jade eyes as the silver haired warrior stepped around the corner, walking purposefully down the hall. This wasn't a hall used often, even though it was on the outside of the Castle that Never Was and afforded a lovely view of the growing Kingdom Hearts, there were better vantage points to view it from than this- which meant that the warrior was heading off towards one of those vantage points which could only be accessed by this very hall.

Blue-green eyes met jade, and Reno smirked first. The swordsman didn't respond, but the promise in his blue-green eyes was one of death and eternal suffering. The swordsman went on, but Reno wasn't about to let the opportunity pass and opened his mouth, "Think you're something special now, don'tcha?" Not like Reno could die permanently, after all.

It seemed as if the silver haired warrior wasn't inclined to respond, for he passed Reno, turning his eyes forward once more. After a few steps- without looking back, without changing stride- the Prince of Darkness sneered, "I always knew I was destined to rule the Worlds. ...Insolent Traitor."

"Now that you've got a heart... do you hate me?"

This question broke Roxas from his idle contemplation of the flesh on the tips of his fingers and how his nails- Sora's nails- were getting a little long. It was an unexpected question, and Roxas had to think about it for a moment before he realized that he probably should answer Axel before he began to think that the answer was 'Yes'. Looking towards the redhead from where he sat in the pilot's seat, idly orbiting Disney Castle since Sora hadn't returned yet, Roxas stated, "I thought we went over this?"

Axel was staring at his knee where he had a foot propped up on the ship's control board in front of him, making his chair angle back in a way it probably wasn't meant to do for long periods of time. "I don't know," the Nobody murmured. "I can't predict what you'll think or feel now... well, I never could. You were always so strange compared to the rest of us."

Snorting, Roxas shook his head, "Probably why you liked me."

"Do I like you?"

"Oh!" reaching over, Roxas bashed a fist into Axel's shoulder, then stood, "Now you're being emo! Stop that." Turning away, he headed towards the door at the back of the room and paused there, "I've not had anything to eat in a while, come have- breakfast I guess it is now- with me?"

Still rubbing his shoulder, Axel stared back at Roxas, then heaved a sigh and stood, "Alright," he muttered, following the blonde as he went through the door. "But you never answered my question."

"I didn't think there was a point to. If I hated you, you'd know it, Axel. Promise!" Looking over his shoulder as they walked through the short hall with two doors on either side which led into very narrow bunk rooms, Roxas smiled once more as he continued speaking, "There really are only a few people that I hate. It's not a pleasant emotion after all." At the end of the hall, Roxas pushed the door open and stepped into the kitchen/bathroom. Apparently Chip and Dale had thought it economical to put all the plumbing in one place. At least there was a door between the kitchen part of the room and the showering area- a door that could be closed if needed. There just wasn't much in the way of elbow room when the door was closed though. "I save my hate for those who really deserve it."

Pulling out a chair, Axel turned it around and straddled it backwards, folding his arms over the back, "Heh," he laughed, "Like Xemnas?"

Roxas snorted as he continued towards the fridge and opened it, hunting for something to reheat, "Yep. And Maleficent. You do realize, Riku did a lot of rather cruel things to me- me personally while I was in Twilight Town with my memories and personality smeared like mashed potatoes- but I don't hate him for that." Looking over at his friend, he found Axel staring down at the table, drawing invisible Nobody emblems on the top with the tip of his finger.

"About that..."

"Ah," Roxas sighed, "now we get to what's really bothering you." Axel's lips twitched towards a smile. Finally picking out a packet of something that looked like macaroni and cheese, Roxas tossed it into the reheat unit and headed to the small square table, placing his palms on it as he leaned forward, "DiZ is another person that I hate. I don't appreciate being treated like a puppet or a hammer, something you use and then forget exists till you need it again. I will not put up with being called 'Nothing' or 'tool'- I refuse to believe that I should not exist, because how can something that shouldn't exist, exist? Nothing cannot be something at the same time! And by having form, we are something."

Lifting his jade eyes, Axel's smile was faint, but heartfelt, as he stared at Roxas, "So you think that applies to me too?"

Firmly, Roxas nodded. "Of course it does. You're not to blame for what happened in Twilight Town. I- actually, I kinda liked my year there. I got to be normal. I went to school under my own name, I had friends under my own name, I had enemies all my own. Not just inherited from Sora." Axel winced at the name. "But those memories, and my time in the Organization, are my memories. Sora can't have them. I talk to him about stuff that happened, but I don't give him everything of mine." Reaching across the table, Roxas placed a hand on Axel's shoulder, looking into the redhead's eyes as the reheat unit peeped softly in the background, "You can be friends with Sora too, but never think of us as the same person. Our relationship will always be different," he emphasized this by squeezing Axel's shoulder in a tight grip, "and I don't hate you, no matter what you think you've done to me."

Open expression and apparent good mood returning, Axel replied, "Alright... I... just hope that someday, I'll be able to honestly return your feelings, instead of just imitate them."

"The fact that you even bother shows that you care," Roxas pointed out with a grin as he straightened and returned to the reheat unit to pull out his ...whatever meal it was and dropped the hot packet on the table before it burned his fingers too much.

For a second, Axel thought on that, then nodded his agreement, apparently realizing that his attempts to act like he had emotions were indeed more than he had to do. "Maybe there's some inherent goodness that resides in the soul?" Since that's all he had left, that had to be where he was getting these urges from. Or maybe he just wanted to feel normal, and Roxas always treated him like a person. "I am sorry for attacking you, though."

Pausing in his hunt for silverware, Roxas looked over his shoulder in confusion. "When...? Oh! Twilight Town. Yeah, well, I probably hurt you more." Returning to the table at last, Roxas flopped into a seat and held out the second fork he'd found. Axel took it after a moment, waiting for Roxas to say something more- he couldn't have meant what Axel thought he did.

Roxas, however, just smirked and got himself a forkful of mac and cheese and Axel was forced to ask, "Hurt me more how? By not remembering me? Or beating the crap out of me?"

"Both! Though I assure you, the first was not my fault. DiZ and Riku decided that I needed a new personality. They couldn't really reprogram me quite the way DiZ wanted to, so they just smeared what I had into an unidentifiable mush and dropped some common tour guidebook information on Twilight Town into my head and told me I'd recently moved there with my foster parents." He snorted and sat up straight, looking at Axel who had a fork paused halfway to his mouth, cheese dripping off the bottom, "You know what it's like? To know that there's something important you should be doing but trying to remember what it was is like wading through molasses? I recognized you, Axel. I just... It just wasn't there in a coherent form for me to say exactly who you were. If DiZ and Riku had just asked I would have willingly participated in the plan to revive Sora- that's what I left the Organization to do after all! Conceited ..." Roxas shut his mouth there before he said anything nasty and instead put steaming macaroni in place of the words that hung on the tip of his tongue.

Axel, reminded that he still had a fork poised, finished taking his bite and silently laughed, shoulders shaking. Swallowing, the redhead replied, "Alright, I forgive you for not remembering me."

"Good. Now you can quit being Emo. Emo just doesn't look as good on you as it does on me."

"Roxas," Dale's voice was calling, "Roxas!"

Hurrying to the communications controls, Roxas hit the button and called back, "I'm here, what's wrong?"

"Sora's ship is back," Chip announced.

Breathing a sigh, Roxas nodded, "Alright, thanks. Tell him we'll meet him in the library."

"Right-oh!" the chipmunks said in unison. Roxas really didn't like talking to them. Releasing the com-button, the blonde straightened and looked towards Axel.

The redhead lowed his hands from his ears, "I sure hope those two don't talk to us often," Axel muttered.

Laughing, Roxas replied, "They don't. They're ship technicians and only bother us when we've destroyed their hard work. Let's teleport down and I'll introduce you to Minnie."

Axel hesitated, then nodded, apparently coming to some internal decision, for he lifted his chin and followed Roxas to the teleport pad. A flash of light later and Roxas opened his eyes, stepping out of the corner of the room he'd just appeared in. Minnie was at Mickey's desk. "Queen Minnie," he greeted and she looked uncertain. "I'm Sora's Nobody, Roxas, this is Axel," he gestured at the redhead as Axel wandered further into the room, looking around at all the books.

Minnie nodded regally at that, "King Mickey spoke of you," she said, accepting Roxas and his existence immediately, which must have meant that Mickey had said good things about Roxas. That was a relief.

"Gee. This is more books than I've ever seen," he mused. "You read any of these?"

"A few," Minnie replied.

"Huh," Axel grunted, as if the very thought of reading a book honestly amazed him.

Roxas had to bite his lip to not laugh. Instead, he scratched the back of his head and stated, "We found King Mickey and Kairi, they're both fine for now, but we weren't able to break them out of Xemnas's dungeon."

Minnie hopped down from her seat and came around the desk, "But where's Sora?" she asked, just as a flash of light went off in the corner.

Looking over, Roxas grinned, "Right there," he pointed.

"Huh?" Sora asked, looking around, "Axel!" he exclaimed upon seeing the redhead, "You're alright!"

With a sour expression, Axel turned to face Sora and replied, "Yeah, no thanks to you. But who's holding grudges?" He offered his hand out.

"Not me," Sora replied, taking Axel's hand and gave it a firm pump, "A friend of Roxas's is a friend of mine! Kind of hard to hate his friends, after all."

"Donald! Goofy!" Minnie gasped, "Sora found you! But where is Aros?" Khimari rumbled softly and headed towards the door to stand guard.

Releasing each other's hands, Sora and Axel exchanged nods and the brunet got into his explanation, "Laguna's with him and the Girl, I'd have followed them further, but I had to come back here and report." He looked towards Roxas. "You want to go first or should I?"

Uncaringly, Roxas shrugged, "I can," he said, and at Sora's nod, Roxas folded his arms on his chest as he started, "I wasn't able to find out what exactly Xemnas and Maleficent had agreed upon to make them work together, but they're both residing in the Castle that Never Was, and I did find Kairi and Mickey. Xemnas found out about Aros- which was apparently Maleficent's plan and she didn't tell him about that, so he released Riku to help create Kingdom Hearts."

Sora breathed a relieved sigh, shoulders slumping, "Then there's a chance we'll run across Riku somewhere. That's good."

"Kairi asked me to tell you that she's fine," Roxas stated, looking directly at Sora. "Mickey also explained what was in those books. The one you have is a diary and he was working on decoding it when the Heartless attacked. He knocked the book on his desk onto the floor and under the desk to keep the Heartless from finding it and gave the diary to Pluto. Mickey said he thought the diary might be a Door, but didn't specify what kind of door."

"It's a door into Aros's past," Sora stated, "And if you meet a guy named Gary... Kill him."

Silence fell briefly as everyone absorbed the fact that Sora had actually succeeded in growling something and looked incredibly peeved. Roxas cleared his throat, "Ahem... yes... Gary is Maleficent's newest Heartless General. He's got orders to kill you, but intends to take his time at it. He's also got orders to manipulate and turn someone named Kaiyou into a Heartless."

Again, silence fell as Sora's head jerked up and he went pale. In two steps, he closed the distance between himself and Roxas, grabbing Roxas's shoulders in a pinching grip, "Kaiyou?" he demanded, "You're sure that was the name they used?"

Worried and unnerved by the excited and terrified look on Sora's face, Roxas tried to lean back. "Y... yeah? Maleficent was standing right next to where I was hiding when she said it."

"Kaiyou..." Sora whispered, "Kaiyou is alive!" This was said with such joy that the sudden shift of his mood directly afterwards was shocking. Sora went pale with horror as he said, "And Gary's after her!" eyes wide with horror at the thought- whatever thought had occurred to him.

Lifting a hand, Roxas balled a fist and thumped Sora in the stomach hard enough to get his Other's attention, "Come back to reality, Sora, and explain?"

Coughing, Sora finally released Roxas to clutch his own stomach and straightened with some difficulty, "Didn't have to hit me..." he whined and shook his head at Roxas's deadpan expression. Looking around the room, Sora met expectant looks on the faces of his other friends, and taking a breath, he hesitated, then smiled, "Anyway!" he said cheerfully, "We chased Aros to a place called Toontown, closed the World Heart there while Aros defeated the Heartless lord on that World and opened the path of Light to the next world. We followed him to a place called Salem, almost thought we'd missed him till after he'd already defeated the Heartless Lord- Ladies, actually, of that world. I met Xigbar and Zexion- and Gary."

Taking a breath, Sora got serious finally and stated, "Maleficent and Xemnas are collecting the Princes of Darkness- the opposite number of the Princesses of Heart. I believe most of them are in Hell, which Xigbar convinced the witches of Salem to open the Gates for. Aros and I killed the witches shortly after that then Aros closed the World Heart. I would have closed the Gates, but there was nothing there to close, their spell just made a reflection of the opening in Salem, so I don't know where the gates really are. Anyway- then Aros took Laguna and the Girl, Dagger, and went back to their ship."

"So Aros has gone on to the next world?" Roxas finished for Sora, who nodded.

"But Sora, who's Kaiyou?" Goofy asked, finally interrupting the reporting session to ask the burning question on everyone's mind.

"And who ish Arosh?" Donald added, stomping a foot, "You never told ush what happened in the book!"

"The book?" Roxas asked, looking around.

Looking towards Roxas again, Sora changed the topic and asked, "What was the other book- the one Aros has? Did Mickey say?"

Frowning, Roxas tapped his foot, "You're avoiding the topic," he pointed out, "But the second book is important. It's a book Ansem the Wise wrote that explores the possibility of using hearts as a power source. The book diagrams a gun that can suck hearts out of people."

Gasps went around the room and Sora rocked forward a step, clenching his fists, "We can't let Maleficent or Xemnas get a hold of that book!"

Roxas nodded simple agreement to that. "Now, back to the subject of Kaiyou and Aros," he said ruthlessly, "Why don't I know about Kaiyou if she's so important to you."

Sora stepped back, avoiding everyone's eyes, "...I- I haven't thought about her in a long time. I ...thought she was dead. That's what Mom said when I asked." Flexing his fingers, Sora shook his head as he walked past Roxas to the other side of the room, needing a little space and a moment to compose his expression. "But she's alive."

"But Sora!" Goofy objected, "Who is she?"

Looking over his shoulder, Sora took a breath before he turned to face them fully, "I- I don't know who Kaiyou is... For some reason, I can't remember, though I know I really miss her. But from everything Gary's said so far, I think he knows who she is." Looking at his friends, Sora continued, "We have to save her. I think she's with Aros, but I can't let on how important she is to me. Gary's knowing about her is scary enough. Xemnas and Maleficent knowing about her would spell certain death for her."

Surprisingly, Axel nodded, "Yeah," he agreed, "those two will use anything against you. Xemnas especially wants to rip you apart. Dying isn't fun, you know."

Glad for the change of subject, Sora replied, "Yeah, I know." He rubbed his side wincing at the memory of being stabbed by Gary's sword. There was a massive hole in his shirt there, and he was still coated with blood, "uh, how are you back?" the brunet asked, finally remembering that no one had specifically said anything about it.

"All things when left to their own devices return to their natural states. Hearts turn into Heartless when released from Kingdom Hearts, and Souls return to Nobodies when there is nowhere for them to go," Axel explained, "So in short, we're immortal." Absently, he spread his hands as gasps went around the room. "No need to worry about me though. I'm on his side," he pointed at Roxas, "Whichever side he chooses. I don't care, so I'll leave the moral issues up to him. He's better equipped for it, after all."

Roxas snorted, "Gee, thanks. Just what I always wanted- ultimate responsibility for whatever whacked up things you do," he stuck out his tongue at Axel. The redhead just smirked.

Sora sighed, "Though I'd like to head out now and chase Aros and Kaiyou, I need food, and sleep. I've been fighting nonstop for the past twenty-four hours."

Eyeing him, Roxas sighed and shook his head, heading over to Sora where he lowered his voice, "Then let's combine and see if we can contact Kaiyou before you pass out."

"Somewhere quiet," Sora agreed in a soft whisper, then looked beyond Roxas's shoulder to his friends and put on a smile.

In a flash and sparkle, Roxas disappeared, making all but Axel jump in shock, "Gawrsh! Where'd he go?" Goofy asked, looking around as if he might find Roxas hiding behind the coat rack or maybe under the desk.

Lightly laughing, Sora shook his head, "He had to have half my heart to have a physical presence. We just combined again, that's all. He's still here." He looked directly at Axel and found the redhead just standing there, arms folded and not looking at Sora.

"Axel," Roxas said, "You don't have to stay here... but please stick around?"

Blinking, the X-Organization member looked over and took a moment before he nodded. "I'll be on the ship," he stated and turned, stepping into a portal of Darkness he'd opened directly behind him. When it closed, Sora sighed.

"I think I unnerve him," Sora observed absently.

"A little," Roxas agreed.

Goofy, picking his lower lip admitted, "Gee, you're a little unnerving to us too when ya talk to yourself like that."

Both of Sora's halves burst out laughing. "Sorry! I'll try to keep it internal." 'Only Kairi and Riku really understand what it's like,' Sora sighed to Roxas.

'To never be completely alone,' his Nobody agreed, 'It's nice sometimes. But other times... well, I like being able to do things separate from you.'

'You want to split up more often?' Sora asked, finally beginning to understand Roxas's feelings on the matter. '...Alright. We can tell people you're my cousin or something- visiting for the summer.'

Pleased with the compromise, Roxas agreed, settling more comfortably into Sora's body as the brunet turned his attention outward, looking towards Minnie, "Got anywhere we can sleep for a while?"

Minnie nodded immediately, "Of course, Sora." Turning towards the door, she led the way out into the hall. Donald, Goofy, and Khimari had their own places to sleep, which left Sora the only one without a room.

'Sora... what is that on your arm?'

'A gift from Kaiyou.'

AN: Entry from Webster's online dictionary...

Harmless
Pronunciation: 'härm-l&s
Function: adjective
1. Free from harm, liability, or loss.
2. Lacking capacity or intent to injure.
3. NOT GARY.

Next Chapter: 'Her face... why can't I remember her face?' he asked as snow fell from the whitewashed sky, blurring the already buried shapes of the headstones in a graveyard that shouldn't be.