Here's chapter fifty - two. Thank you kingdomdisney, SkyWarrior2, caitlinkeitorin, PhantomGirl12, NumberXIII, Confizzledworld, The Original Evil GRRL, and Flightfoot for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Fifty - Two: Connections

The armored figure stood alone.

Not that he was really surprised, of course. He didn't get much company where he was. Still, he couldn't help feeling surprised that he even still existed. He remembered back to that day, to the brief battle he'd fought against those mysterious figures cloaked in white. How he'd been asked by a forgotten memory like himself, one he'd once saved, to go and help the friend she'd called Roxas. How he'd used all the force of his will to get there…

And seeing the person who looked like Ven. He had been surprised enough by seeing what appeared to be a specter of his past that he hadn't paid attention to the hammer being swung towards him…until it had slammed into his rusting armor…

The next thing he'd known, he'd found himself back in the desolate Keyblade Graveyard. He lifted his head to the sky. He understood now that the person he'd thought was Ven was Roxas. But that begged the question of why?

Aqua…Ven…where are you?

He found himself falling into the kneeling position he'd held for countless years, the joints of the armor more easily responding to it than to remaining in the upright position he'd been holding. The blade of his Keyblade stuck into the ground, his hands still grasped around its hilt.

I promised I'd make things right. But I'm beginning to wonder…if it's really my job to do.

His head, which had still been uplifted to the sky above, fell down against his chest. And, for some reason, one not even he could understand, these words were the ones he spoke next:

You're only a monster if you choose to be one.

Roxas woke up to find the world still shrouded in darkness and rivulets of sweat running down his face. Instinctively, he reached a hand into his pocket, fingering Xion's seashell.

As he began to calm down, he wondered what had bothered him so much. He knew…he'd had a dream, but he couldn't remember much about it. He knew it was about the mysterious armored figure who he'd thought had been destroyed by Kisue's hammer. Other than that, he only remembered snippets of words the figure had said: …beginning to wonder…if it's my job to do…

You are only a monster if you chose to be one.

He shook his head, sitting upright. He looked up to the starry sky above. I don't understand. Why would I dream about the empty armor?

For some reason, thinking of the armor made him think of the slip of paper that he still held in his pocket. He reached in and grasped it, pulling it out and unfolding it to see once more the words it held. It was beginning to get worn from all the handling it had undergone, but the prophetic words were still as easily read as the day the wind had blown it to him:

The gate can only be closed by entering and becoming the sacrifice, the noble on saved by the hands of time.

He still had no clue what it meant, if it even meant anything. He glanced over to his sleeping friends. He thought of asking them if they'd figured out anything new about the mysterious words, then decided against it. Besides, he didn't even know if they remembered it. He considered asking Xion, too, but their last few conversations had been odd, to say the least. As for the second voice, well…he wasn't sure he wanted to ask that one.

As he slipped the paper back into his pocket, the sky above began to grow brighter with the first signs of dawn. It'll be time to head out soon, he thought, pushing himself into a standing position, and trying to push thoughts of the dream and the odd words out of his mind.

Shadow was the next one to wake. She blinked with surprise when she saw he was up. "Aw, man, I thought I was going to be first!" He smiled slightly, knowing she wasn't really phased at all and would be ready to go sooner rather than later.

Dash was next, but Angel and Violet weren't too long after. By that time, the sun had already painted the sky with creamy colors. "Ready?" he asked.

"Of course!" Shadow exclaimed as the others nodded their assent.

"Then let's go." With that, Roxas led the others into the woods.

It wasn't long before the blond Nobody let Dash take the lead, and, with some cajoling, convinced Violet to lead when her speedy brother disappeared from sight. Shadow, being Shadow, couldn't help running ahead a few times before remembering she had an even smaller idea of where they could be going than Dash and Violet did. Angel remained at the back, silent except for the times when he yelled to Shadow (who never listened) not to run off without thinking. As for Roxas, well, his best guess as to where Syndrome's lair would be was the gigantic volcano at the center of the island, but he was content to let the two younger kids lead.

It gave him time to think.

Think about Xion's mysterious behavior and the second voice that had intruded upon his thoughts. Think about the new sort of odd dreams he'd been having lately. Think about the Destiny Islands trio, the Time Racers, and Lea. Think about his own future…

He gave a troubled sigh. Violet glanced back at him. "Is something wrong?"

"Just thinking," he replied, blue eyes staring into the jungle before him.

"About anything important?"

"Yeah," he replied. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Have you - or anyone else you know, for that matter - seen anyone else that was strange? Besides us and the Phoenix?"

Violet looked surprised for a moment. "No. Why do you ask?"

"We're just looking for some people." He shook his head. "Never mind."

Dash suddenly raced back to join them. "Guys! That volcano's just up ahead!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shadow asked, dashing forward.

"Wait! Shadow!" Angel called in exasperation, chasing after her. The remaining three were left with not choice but to do the same.

The former Time Racer had caught up to his companion by the time they reached the base of some sort of support beam. Now the two of them, along with Dash, were examining it curiously. As Roxas and Violet joined them, all five looked up its length. "What's it holding up?" Shadow wondered.

"It looks like some sort of rail," Violet said.

An odd sound hit Roxas's ears. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Dash asked, lowering his head to look at him.

The sound grew louder. "That!"

Above on the rail, a circular cabin attached to a mechanism flew by on the track, causing them all to jump involuntarily. "What was that?" Shadow exclaimed in surprise.

"Aside from some form of transportation, you mean?" Angel asked dryly.

"It might be our way in," Roxas responded.

The other four gave him curious looks. "What?" Violet exclaimed in surprise.

"Obviously Syndrome's hideout must be in the volcano, or at least close to it, or else this track wouldn't be here," he began. "I bet that if we can somehow get inside one of those things, it would take us right inside."

"Great idea!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Not bad," Angel conceded, "but we don't know where the place they leave from is, or if there even is one outside the volcano."

"No," Roxas agreed, "but, even if there is no rest stop outside the volcano, there has to be ways to get into one of those things. After we figure out how to get inside, we can figure out where to go from there." The others gave their consent, and he led them along the path of the rail, away from the direction of the volcano.

Sir?

A man with orange hair turned to look at the Dusk that had approached him. "Yes?"

We've detected some unusual signals on the radar. What do you want us to do about it?

"Really? You interrupt my work for some weird signals?" He turned away from the Nobody. "Do whatever you want. I'm busy."

Of course, sir.

As the Dusk spiraled away, Syndrome turned his full attention to the two captured supers before him. "Now, then, what are you two hiding?"

No matter how hard she tried, Xion couldn't get the image of the dream out of her head.

She could still clearly remember the contrast of light and dark, Zylen's grizzly death, and Roxas's dark gaze as he looked down upon the man he'd killed. She shivered, hunching down on the stained glass floor of the Station of Awakening and hugging her legs tightly to her chest. Remembering her dream was enough to make her want to cry, and she buried her face in her knees in an attempt not to.

She tried to console herself by telling herself that Roxas would never do something like that. She knew him; he was one of her best friends, after all. She thought there was too much light inside him to do that.

But wasn't he a Nobody?

That thought always brought her up short. She couldn't keep telling herself it was alright, knowing what her friend was. Nobodies couldn't feel; he wouldn't be able to feel any remorse if he killed the Time Racer, no matter how much she wanted to believe he wouldn't do the deed.

She felt the presence before she heard the voice. "Alright. Talk."

She pretended she didn't understand. "About what?"

"You know." There was a sigh from behind her. "You drive me crazy until I agree to talk to him and help guide him, then you stop."

She didn't turn to look at her companion. "What's your point?"

"You're kidding, right?" There was a pause before the voice continued. "Do you just want to make sure he hears from me?"

She exhaled slowly, not quite as willing to lie about that. "No."

"Then why won't you talk to him?"

Because I'm afraid. Afraid that if she spoke to him, he'd go down the dark path she'd seen in her vision. Afraid that trying to save him would doom him. Afraid that she'd find out he really was as heartless as all the rest…

"Xion!"

The voice of her companion brought her back to the present. "Sorry," she murmured, still not looking back.

"You still haven't answered my question."

She gave a small shrug. "I can't."

"Why not?"

She couldn't help but remember Roxas saying those exact same words once to her before. She dodged the question by replying, "You seem to be doing a pretty good job of guiding him. You've even decided to talk to Sora."

"Nice try, but we aren't changing the subject that easily."

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "Can't you just let it drop."

"No." There was another long silence, before she thought she could sense the arms of her companion being thrown in the air in exasperation. "He's your best friend, for goodness sake!"

"I know, but…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

There was another of those long silent periods before the one behind her spoke again. "You worried about his Nobody status?" She unintentionally inhaled too deeply. "Well, I wouldn't too much if I were you. Maybe he's not as heartless as you seem to want to take him for."

She finally whipped around to look at her companion, to see a form slowly heading away. "What are you talking about?"

The figure paused, glancing back at her. "Have faith in him, Xion. Sometimes…that's all you really need to do to make sure they're safe." With that, the figure finally left, leaving Xion alone in the Station of Awakening.

Far away, on a dark beach, a hooded man looked out across the waves. He'd been called by some Ansem, by others DiZ, but right now, none of those names mattered to him. He found that his mind was focused on events far beyond the dark margin in which he sat. "The stars are finally starting to move," he murmured, looking to the sky. "How much longer…before all the dots are connected once more?"

That's it for chapter fifty - two. Review, please?