Asher sighed, leaning against a window in the Gummi Ship, watching the stars fly by as its autopilot guided them to the next troubled world. Star took the sigh as a sign that he wanted to talk—until then it had been a silent trip.

"The ship seems to be having a rough time finding trouble…that means there's not a lot of Heartless left, right?"

"The Heartless aren't the problem. Worthless freaks."

"What do you mean? Are you talking about that Xemnas character?"

"Remnant. He isn't Xemnas anymore."

"Oh. Well, is that who you're talking about?"

"Sure. He's the biggest threat now. He'll stop at nothing to become whole again…even turning us both into Heartless to absorb our Nobodies."

"That sounds terrible."

"Still a better fate than Brandon's," said Asher remorsefully.

Star frowned. "You can't blame yourself."

"You know damn well I can blame myself. Who else am I supposed to blame, huh? Hades? Sephiroth? The point is it was MY responsibility to keep you two out of trouble. Look what a great job I did of that."

"But you didn't KILL him!"

"Well, I might as well have! It's my fault he's gone! Then, I couldn't put myself in your position either. You'll have to tell his parents about his death."

"It'll be hard, but I think I can handle it."

"Lucky you."

"What is your problem?" Star demanded angrily.

"I'll TELL you what my problem is! My problem is that I'm responsible for someone's death!"

Asher suddenly collapsed on the floor, clutching his head.

"Asher, what's wrong?"

Asher simply writhed, clutching his head more tightly.

"Asher, what's going on?"

He could feel his heart pounding, pumping guilt through is body. It wouldn't stop. He had to stop it. He couldn't take it. It was his fault…it should have been him.

"Asher?"

His hands were wet. Something warm was covering them now. What could it be?

"Asher, STOP! You're bleeding!"

Asher froze. Blood? Bleeding? He pulled a hand away from his head and examined it. It was completely red. It was dripping. He'd dug his hands into his head so hard he'd caused himself to bleed. He felt himself slipping back into reality. He felt the cold floor, smelled the stuffy air…but suddenly reality was far away once again. Someone was there. It was Star. She leaned over and put her hand on his shoulder.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Surprised, she jumped back.

"Only one woman can touch me. Just Trista, not you."

"Asher, Trista's not here, and I'm worried about you."

"What do you mean, not here? She's supposed to be here. Where is she? What have you done with Trista!?"

Star was puzzled. "I haven't done anything with Trista."

"Liar! You're one of them!"

"One of who, Asher?" It was then that Star realized that Asher was not in his right mind.

"One of them…you're trying to get rid of her…you want me alone…"

---

"Come on, big guy. You know you want to. You'll belong with us. Besides, she wouldn't love you like you are now. She couldn't."

The blonde haired woman was really starting to get on Xanthas' nerves. "Listen, bitch, I already told your little friends that you guys can take your deal and shove it. I'm not interested."

The woman pouted. "Oh, you're disappointing. I would have thought a brilliant, determined…ATTRACTIVE—" she slowly caressed his arm at the word. "—man such as yourself would be enthralled by an offer like this. Why won't you accept, Xanthas? Or…is it Asher?"

The truth was that he didn't really know. When he'd been whole, his mind had been so closely interwoven with his heart that he was completely unable to distinguish between the two. His emotions were tied to his brain almost as much as they were to his heart. He didn't know if he was really his Nobody or if he was simply himself, missing a piece.

"It doesn't matter. I already said I'm not interested."

Her hand was on his chest now. It slowly worked its way down his side. "I can make it," she said as she moved her hand behind him and firmly grasped his buttocks, "worth your while."

Was this freak really offering sex as an incentive to join her Organization?

"You pathetic, manipulative, slimy little whore…are you telling me you're gonna sink that low to get to me?"

"Oh, I'll go as LOW as I need to," she said suggestively.

Xanthas grunted in disgust.

"Of course, I can see you're…opposed to the idea."

"To say the least," Xanthas said, grasping her wrist and pulling it away from him.

With a simple twist of her hand, she now held his wrist. "But maybe it's not meant as an offer. Maybe it's a threat."

"You wouldn't dare."

A crooked smile shot across her face as she locked his hand behind his back. She pulled him close to her, so that their torsos rubbed together…so that he could feel her…

"Hm…I wonder…you've kept your innocence for her. What would you do to maintain it?" She pressed harder against his body, but her grip began to loosen, testing him, seeing what he would do next.

He broke away. "You're sick."

She snapped her fingers and suddenly held a black cloak, much like her own. "The offer stands, Xanthas. As do the consequences of not accepting. Personally, I'm hoping you reject it at first. I'd love to get the chance to…persuade you."

Xanthas hung his head. He couldn't refuse. It just wasn't in him to betray Trista, even if it wasn't his fault. Besides, maybe this Organization XIII could help him, make him whole…if he played his cards right.

The woman frowned. "Hmph. How boring." She tossed him the cloak.

He quickly threw it on, and attempted to speak casually. "So what exactly does this Organization do?"

The woman smiled mischievously. "It's going to make us whole again.

He allowed himself a slight smirk. Maybe this Organization wasn't quite so bad after all.

---

Asher's head was reeling. "THOSE BASTARDS!"

---

Axel stood leaning against a wall. The twilight of the stars shined enough to reveal his striking orange hair and the piercing greenness of his eyes. "Does Roxas know about this?"

Xanthas chuckled remorsefully. "Let's be serious here. The others don't even know I exist."

"Of course they don't. You don't exist."

"Hilarous. But seriously…"

Axel's face contorted into a frown. "Listen to me. Don't leave. If you do…I'll be forced to come after you. Maybe even Xemnas himself will."

"Right," Xanthas said sarcastically. "Except that I'm not that important."

"You're more important to Xemnas' plans than you think."

"I doubt that."

"Wake UP! He came after you to recruit you HIMSELF. I'd say that makes you at least as important as Xigbar."

"Yes, because we all STRIVE to be as important as Xigbar," Xanthas rolled his eyes.

"You can use his little toy. That's pretty important, I'd say."

"Maybe."

"Come on, let's go back."

"You can go back, but I'm not. The Organization's not including me. Screw 'em."

"You can't turn your back on the Organization!"

"Why not? The Organization's turned its back on me. The way I see it, there's no room for a fourteenth member of Organization XIII."

"That's not…"

"I'm no better than one of Xemnas' damned Dusks to them and you know it."

"Fine. If that's the way you feel, Roxas and I will have to bring you down."

Xanthas laughed. "Roxas? He'll be the next to go, I think. He's too strongly tied to the Keyblade. Eventually, he'll have to go back to Sora…wherever he is."

"He's not a schemer like Zexion."

"Maybe not, but he is an honest person. And honest people do honest things. Besides, with Sora still alive, as Xemnas believes he is, it's Roxas out of all of us with the best chance of being whole again. It's a hell of a lot to just walk away from, Axel."

"Xanthas…"

"Do me a favor, Axel. Forget I exist. Forget any of this ever happened. And if I find a way to make you whole again and Xemnas doesn't…I'll be sure to let you know."

Axel was about to attack, but then had a change of heart. "Is that really what you're gonna do?"

"Sure. I'm looking to be whole, and it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to find a way to help you, too."

Axel turned around. "You know what? You just might be the one to do that, too, Xanthas. Tell you what: I'll do it. Just…make yourself disappear. If you're not around, I can just tell Xemnas I eliminated you. Then nobody has any problems."

"Thanks, Axel. You're the best."

Axel's head cocked back toward Xanthas. He had a half smile, half scowl on his face. "Just remember, kid. I'm taking a risk here. You'd better pull through for me."

"Of course."

"After all, that's what friends are for, right?"

Xanthas chuckled. "We both know Roxas is your only friend. No one wants to be my friend."

Axel smirked. "That's because you don't have a pleasurable personality. You should be nicer to people."

"I'll have to remember that."

"See you around, Xanthas."

"No," Xanthas said as a portal to darkness appeared before him, "you won't."

He stepped into the portal, and Axel walked away. Axel snuck a quick look back at the portal as it disappeared. "I'm counting on you, Xanthas." He walked away solemnly.

Only a few days later, Axel and Xanthas met again, despite Xanthas' statement. "It didn't work. He knows."

"So I guess you're going to kill me now, Axel?"

"Nah," said Axel, smirking. "I convinced him sending me would be a waste of time. That Demyx would be more than enough to handle you."

Xanthas smiled. He knew what that meant. Demyx was okay as a fighter, but he had no spine. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Really, I…"

"No, I mean it. Don't mention it."

---

When Asher came to, he found himself lying on the cold floor of the Gummi Ship. His head was bandaged, and the blood was cleaned up except for a stain where he lay. Star was standing over him, smiling. "Good to see you're all right."

Asher moaned. "That depends on your definition of 'all right'. So…where are we?"

"We're still between worlds. The computer says we're headed for some place called 'Castle Oblivion'."

Asher frowned. "Oh, no."

"Have you been to Castle Oblivion before or something?"

"Well…Xanthas has, so I guess I have. I remember it." Would Remnant have returned to the castle? "It's where the Organization used to be."

"Why did they chase you? They couldn't accept your refusal to join?"

"Not exactly. I used to be a member."

"But then you left?"

"Exactly. They didn't like that."

"But isn't the Organization gone now?"

"Yeah." Asher frowned. He was still afraid. He was afraid he might wind up in the Hall of Rememberance. Even Sora had trouble in the Hall.