Title- Bright New Dawn

Summary- Riku's first mission for the Organisation- to recruit three powerful characters to the black-coats' cause, aided by Axel. But their enemies, both outside the Organisation and inside, have different plans…

Disclaimer- I do not hold the rights to either Square or Disney. If I did, Kingdom Hearts- Chain of Memories would come out in Britain much sooner.

Rating- PG-13

Spoilers- Huge ones for Chain of Memories. You've been warned. (There's also some slight spoilers for Final Fantasy X-2, although nothing major.)

Bright New Dawn

Chapter Five- A Hope in Hell

'Get up.'

The voice seemed to come from far away. It echoed in Riku's head, muffled by the darkness around him. Slowly, the pain in his body reawakening with him, he opened his eyes.

A figure swam in his murky vision, but it wasn't who Riku was expecting to see. The person who was shaking him awake was a sullen-eyed, dark-clothed youth, not too much older than Riku himself. Even with his pounding headache and blurry eyes, Riku could notice something off-putting about the man, something… familiar.

'You're alive, then,' the man said, getting up.

Riku blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog from his eyes. 'You sound surprised,' he said, rubbing at his face.

'Well, not counting the wounds on your back, neck and arm, there's about two hundred demons I can name who'd have made short work of two unconscious mortals like yourselves if I hadn't got here first. You're lucky Hades wants you alive.'

'Yeah, that's us. Lucky.' A thought struck him. 'Where's Axel?'

'Lying on his back, not too far from where you are. When I tried to wake him, he almost took my hand off with one of his weapons.' The man looked over to Riku's left. 'He tells me it was a reflex.'

Riku sat up, his vision clearing. Looking in the direction the man was facing, he saw Axel's familiar spikes of hair, almost neon against the black sand he was lying on.

'Good work back there, Riku,' Axel said, his voice heavy with exhaustion. 'I don't suppose you could have done that before I got my back torn off by flying dogs?'

Riku rolled his eyes. 'First the teleporting, now this. How's this for a new idea- if you want me to know something, teach it me. Or stop whining.'

'If you…'

'That's enough, guys,' the man said, interjecting. 'Not that listening to you two play the blame game isn't fun, but Hades sent me to bring the both of you back to his castle. I'm already late.' He pointed upwards, to where a skull-shaped fortress of rock loomed out of the smoky clouds above. 'Follow me.'

He turned to go, but Riku called out to him. 'Hey, wait. Do I know you?'

'I really doubt it,' the man replied. 'What's your name?'

'Riku,' he said, standing up. 'And you?'

The man paused, as Riku waited, expectantly. Surely he can't have forgotten his own name? How long's he been down here?

Finally, the man looked up to meet Riku's gaze. 'Shuyin.'

Trudging up the slope towards Hades' castle, Riku soon found himself walking behind Axel and Shuyin, who were silently navigating the dark mountain that led to it. The fine black sand that covered the rest of Tartarus was even looser the higher he got, and he found himself slipping in it, raising a hand to steady himself. If he looked down, he got dizzy.

He heard a beating of enormous wings above him, and he whirled, grasping the Soul Eater. Shuyin turned to look, raising his eyebrows at Riku's reaction. 'Don't panic, kid. It's an eagle.'

'What's an eagle doing down here?' Riku said, replacing his sword and feeling slightly embarrassed. They began walking again, the sand giving way to a rough stone path.

'Right at the top of this mountain, there's a guy who pissed Zeus off a few hundred years ago. Every day at dawn, an eagle flies up to where the guy's chained, and pecks out his liver.' Shuyin seemed to enjoy the effect this was having on Riku, because he continued, punctuating his speech with gestures. 'It grows back over the rest of the day, which I'm assured is just as painful as having it out, and then next morning…' He mimed the clacking of a beak with his hand.

'Great.' Riku looked, apprehensively, up the mountain. The eagle disappeared into the clouds. 'Who's Zeus, then?'

Shuyin looked at him, disbelievingly. 'You don't know who Zeus is?'

Riku shook his head. 'Friend of your boss?'

'Brother, actually. But they're not on the best of terms at the moment… or, well, any time for the last millennium or so. Hades is the… black sheep of the family, you might say.' He walked towards Riku. 'I thought everyone knew this stuff.'

'Well, we haven't been on this world long…'

Riku was cut off by a gesture from Axel. 'Ah, he doesn't know what he's talking about,' the red-haired man said, stepping between the two. 'He thinks he's from another world. Sometimes, I think he must be, but…' He shrugged, giving Shuyin a 'can you believe this kid?' look.

'Thought so,' Shuyin said, beginning to walk again. 'You didn't seem like the usual guys we get down here.'

He looked at Axel, whose eyebrows were raised. 'Yeah, I know about the other worlds. I'm not originally from this one, either.'

'Mind if I ask which one?' Axel said.

Shuyin was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded. 'Don't suppose it matters now. Ever heard of Hollow Bastion?'

As Riku's mind filled with unwelcome images- a fissure in the wall blaring green-and-black light, a cruel, red Keyblade, the far-off screaming of Malificent- Axel nodded. 'Been there a couple of times. You're from there?'

'Not quite. It's the same world, though. I lived in a city not too far from there- well, lived there occasionally.' There was a distance in his eyes as he spoke. 'I was in the army, so…'

'How'd you end up down here, then?' Riku said, a bit blunter than he'd intended.

Shuyin glanced at him. 'That's really none of your business.' He began to walk ahead, leaving Axel and Riku behind.

'Oh, nice going there, Riku,' Axel said, glaring. 'We've met two of Hades' employees so far, and you've managed to convince one you're an idiot and offend the other one. Try to keep your mouth shut when we meet the man himself, okay?'

'Sorry. I guess I missed the bit in Diz's briefing where I was told to be nice to the guys who run a hundred-miles-across torture chamber,' Riku shot back.

Axel smiled. 'You're in the Organization now, Riku. It should go without saying.'

The gates to Hades' castle were fastened tightly shut, towering above the small group that stood before them. They were made of cold, grim iron, and as Riku moved closer to them he could see that images of Tartarus' tortures were engraved into them, a mass of damned souls surrounded on all sides by grinning demons, with Hades' leering face carved above them all. Riku looked up further, uneasily noting the misshapen towers that disappeared into the black clouds above them.

Shuyin walked towards the gate, placing one hand on an indentation in the metal. 'I'm back,' he said, looking up at the engraving. 'Two guys from the Organization are here to make a deal with you. You gonna let them in?'

Riku recoiled in shock as Hades' carving glanced downwards, its mouth opening into a wide grin. 'Sure, let 'em in,' it said in Hades' wheedling voice, echoes drifting into the distance. 'Last time we had you guys down here-' its eyes flicked upwards, looking at Axel and Riku- 'I got a pretty good deal out of you.'

Shuyin stepped back as the gates creaked open, the screech of moving metal causing Riku to instinctively put his hands over his ears. What does he mean by that? Okay, Axel mentioned that they got Vorax out of here… but what did they give Hades in return?

When the gates had opened wide enough, Shuyin slipped in, disappearing into the darkness inside the castle. Axel nudged Riku. 'You coming with me, or are you going to wait out here? 'Cause I can't guarantee your safety either way.'

'You should be worrying about your own safety, Axel,' Riku said, walking towards the entrance. 'I'd hate for you to get in another fight that you needed me to get out of.'

Axel grinned, slapping him on the back. Riku turned around, looking surprised.

'You're getting cocky, Riku,' Axel said, laughing. 'Good. Trust me when I say you'll need a bit of confidence in the next few months.'

Riku couldn't decide if this was a compliment or a warning. Shrugging, he entered the castle, Axel following behind.

'Welcome to my humble abode,' Hades said, reclining on his throne and viewing Riku and Axel shrewdly. 'Haven't seen you guys down here since… what, three years ago?' He got up, walking down the steps to meet the pair. 'So, what d'you want?'

His ribs still sore from the Furies' assault, as well as the sharp nudge that Axel had given him along with a muttered 'only speak if you're spoken to', Riku remained silent. Axel smiled ingratiatingly, stepping forward.

'Same as last time,' he said. 'There's a few gaps in the Organization.'

'Ah.' Hades grinned. 'Well, let's see what we've got in stock.' He walked over to a gap in the wall, through which the fields of Tartarus were visible. 'Got anything specific in mind?'

'Well, we lost a scientist, a big warrior dude, and a self-proclaimed master of disguise.'

'You might just be in luck.' Hades leaned out of the gap, snapping his fingers. 'I can help you with the scientist and the warrior, at least. There's no shortage of mad doctors who made a deal for quote-unquote 'forbidden knowledge,' and the amount of warriors, fighters and just plain killers we've got, well…' Hades looked back at Axel. 'But I don't need to tell you that, do I? I sold you guys the best one we'd had for centuries.'

'You mean Vorax?' Riku said, before he could stop himself.

Hades raised one spidery eyebrow. 'Oh, so you can speak. I was wondering about that.' He walked up to Riku, his grin widening to show rows of serrated teeth. 'Nice to see you again, Riku. I guess you've made Vorax's acquaintance, then?'

Riku nodded. 'He didn't seem the friendliest of people.'

'You ain't wrong.' Hades looked back at Axel. 'How long's Riku been with you guys?'

'About a week,' Axel replied. 'First heart we've had in the Organization- well, him and his friend.'

'Hmm… I didn't think you took beings with hearts.' Hades tapped one long finger on his formidable chin. 'Seem to remember your boss was very strict on that. 'The Organization can't afford matters of light and darkness to interfere with its business'- that's a direct quote, I think.'

He glanced at Riku. 'How is the old heart these days, anyway, Riku? Last time I saw you, you were all about the darkness, terrible powers, yadda yadda. Now you're a good guy?'

'Something like that,' Riku said, anger boiling up inside him. Like I needed reminding of the last time we met.

'Actually, come to think of it-' Hades switched his gaze back to Axel- 'I don't seem to remember you, either. Were you with the group that came to get Vorax?'

'Nah,' Axel said. 'I've been with the Organization a grand total of half a year.'

'So they send the new kids to one of the most dangerous places in the worlds?' Hades grinned, looking back and forth between them. 'I'd start asking questions about how fond your leadership are of you, if I were in your position.'

'Anyway,' he said, returning to the gap in the wall. Vague, foggy shapes had begun to appear outside Hades' tower, performing disturbing pantomimes of the sins they'd committed in life. 'Down to business. Now, this is what we've got in the 'mad scientist' range.'

He made a dragging gesture with his hand, and one figure separated itself from the crowd, drifting inside the tower. Riku stepped back, instinctively. The man was rake-thin with scraggly hair, although its whole body appeared grey through the fog.

'This guy experimented on his pregnant wife, which would have been enough to land him down here even if he hadn't done a deal with me- your basic sort of thing, his soul in return for more scientific understanding.' Hades nodded towards the grey figure as it mimed an injection. Riku flinched. 'He's smart- you should see how the kid turned out- and he'll probably stay on your side as long as you've got interesting problems for him and a good supply of attractive test subjects.'

Snapping his fingers, he dismissed the ghost, as another drifted through the hole in the wall. 'Next up, we have another doctor. He was more of a weapons scientist than a biologist, which… I don't know if you'd find that useful?'

Axel shook his head. 'Diz makes all our weapons.'

'Well, it was worth a go.'

'Show us the warriors,' Axel said. The front row of shadowy figures dispersed, giving way to a group of larger shades. One moved forward at Hades' gesture.

'Here, we have your basic 'bruiser' type.' The figure was bald and stocky, resembling- to Riku, at least- an older Abraxas. 'Stoic, tough, loyal to a fault. If you want someone who'll beat on anyone who needs beating on without asking too many questions, this is your man.'

'Sounds promising,' Axel said. 'We might need more than just dumb muscle, though. Got anyone who can think as well as hit?'

'Well, the smart ones tend to be harder to find and less easy to trick. There's one I'm working on at the moment, though. I'll have his soul down here if you can wait a few weeks.'

'I'd prefer to get this done as soon as possible.' Axel gestured towards the doorway that led down to the entrance hall. 'What about that guy you sent to bring us in? The way he tells it, he's something of a fighter himself.'

Hades laughed. 'Shuyin? Sorry, no, he's not for sale. He's one of my personal servants- my newest one, in fact, and he's still got a couple of millennia left to go on his contract.'

'What's the deal with him, anyway?' Riku asked. 'Another one who signed his soul away?'

'Yeah, something like that.' Hades said. 'What's he been saying to you?'

Riku missed the 'stop talking now' look that Axel threw him as he continued. 'He said he used to live near Hollow Bastion, and he was in the army. Apart from that, he's said nothing that wasn't either an instruction or a veiled insult.'

'I don't suppose he wants to talk about it.' Hades stood up, a nasty glint of triumph in his eye. 'I wouldn't either, if I was him.'

'You're proud of yourself?' Riku said, angrily.

'Damn right I'm proud. It's not often you get two souls through one deal, especially a deal so deliciously ironic.'

Hades began to gesticulate, always a sign that he was reliving a particularly fond memory. 'The city he lived in… well, I'll spare you the politics. It got into a war with its neighbouring city. Problem for our kid Shuyin was that he'd spent some time in said neighbouring city, and met a rather pretty girl, name of Lenne.'

With a flick of his wrist, foggy stick-figures appeared, illustrating the story. 'She was in the other city's army- that's actually how they met, which is kinda cute, if you think about it- and of course she got called back to fight. This was sort of a true-love thing, so many tearful goodbyes, promises, etcetera etcetera. That wasn't enough for Shuyin, though.' A foggy Hades appeared between the two figures.

'I ask him if there's anything I could do. He says yes, keep her safe. Nothing about how, or where, just 'keep her safe.'' Both the Hades-figure and Hades himself grinned. 'Some people just let themselves in for these things, don't they?'

A cage appeared around the Lenne-figure. 'So she goes into the Underworld. Alive, of course, so technically safe. Which means Shuyin's cost his true love the chance of any kind of life, he's made a bad situation infinitely worse, and, oh yeah, I own his soul now.' The figures dispersed as Hades nodded to Axel. 'Pretty cool, wouldn't you say?'

'Nice,' Axel said, grinning. 'Ever thought of joining the Organization yourself?'

'Hey, I was modelling the full-black robes look before you kids were even around,' Hades responded.

Riku stepped between the two of them. 'If you're done with the mutual admiration, could we please return to business?' Both Hades and Axel turned to look at him, Axel annoyed, Hades amused.

'Little sensitive there, Riku?' Hades asked. 'You asked what his story is, and I told you.'

'You didn't have to enjoy telling it so much, though.'

'Ah, is that what this is about?' Hades walked towards Riku. 'You think I'm a horrible person. Well, you're right. I am a horrible person. I take souls, I destroy lives, and I get huge amounts of pleasure doing it.' The smile faded from his face. 'But you're the one who's buying those souls from me, so cut the holier-than-thou crap.'

Riku glared at Hades, but didn't reply. Axel moved towards the pair. 'Okay, if that's all dealt with, there's the small matter of payment. What did we give you last time?'

Hades thought for a second. 'It was some of those clothes Vexen made, wasn't it? The disguise cloaks… well, they looked more like tents on some of the demons down here. I can't tell you how useful it is for the guys to be able to walk around in public on the surface without people screaming and running away.' He held out a hand. 'Got any new inventions?'

'Ah, no,' Axel said. 'Vexen spent most of the last three years working on a way to clone people from memories, but his methods kind of depended on having an easily-controllable memory witch around. We can make a rough copy of someone, but they can only repeat a few phrases, and they last about half an hour. And… well, let's just say Vexen won't be inventing much of anything in the future.'

Hades looked at Axel in mock sympathy. 'He's dead? Shame, I quite liked him.' He moved towards Axel, an idea beginning to form. 'How did you get here, anyway? I thought the Keyblade Master put all the world barriers back up.'

'Well, Ixion had the foresight to install portals on all the major worlds while the barriers were down. We can move between the worlds on trains, although we've only got a few carriages…'

He looked at Hades' expression. 'Ah.'

'Don't suppose you can spare one? That would be… well, that'd be easily worth three souls.'

Axel nodded. 'I'd have to check with Diz, but we could probably find something.'

'It's… well, only having this world to explore was okay before I knew there were other worlds out there. But knowing there's millions and millions of sinners out there, and some other god's getting them… well, it's not fun.' Hades looked out at the mountains of Tartarus. 'Come back tomorrow, I'll see what I can find.'

'Will do. Where are we staying, then?'

Hades waved a hand vaguely. 'Ask Shuyin, he'll show you.'

Axel motioned to Riku. 'I think Hades wants some time alone while he works out exactly how many more souls he's going to get. Come on.'

Silently, Riku and Axel left the room, shutting the door behind them. As soon as Riku was sure he was out of Hades' earshot, he turned to Axel. 'What the hell is going on?'

'Funny, I was just about to ask you that,' Axel replied. 'How did you think we were going to persuade Hades to give up three of his hard-earned souls? Pay him? He's got all the money he needs.'

'So you think it's a good idea to open up all of the major worlds to that conniving little…' Riku trailed off. 'You heard what he did to Shuyin. Do you want him to be able to profit from the miseries of twenty other worlds, as well?'

'Why not?' Axel sighed. 'Look, you're just going to have to accept that this is the Organization. If it benefits us, we do it. Consequences are for people like your friend Sora to deal with.'

'I didn't get rid of Ansem to do evil on someone else's behalf, Axel.' Riku stepped ahead of him. 'Don't try and force me.'

'Try? No.' Suddenly, Axel's weapons were in his hands. 'I thought we'd established that I could make you do anything the Organization wanted. Or did you forget about our little hostage on Destiny Islands?'

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Riku turned and walked down the stairs, leaving Axel behind.

He hadn't spoken to anyone for hours. Shuyin took him to his room silently- Riku wondered whether he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation with Hades, as he seemed more subdued, avoiding looking Riku in the eye.

The room looked out onto Tartarus, and the wind that blew through the various holes in the walls carried with it the distant moans of its denizens. Don't know how we're expected to sleep, Riku thought. Of course, to Hades, this is probably like a chorus of lullabies.

The reading material on offer was bound in huge, leather volumes, and was mainly Hades' painstaking accounts of all the souls he'd tricked over the millennia. Riku put the one he was flicking through down, having decided that he'd rather have nothing to do than read another sequence of 'good person, slight flaw, flaw exploited, soul taken', and moved over to the window.

How did you get here again, Riku? he thought, as a harpy circled the distant mountains. The honoured guest of a murderer, overseen by a maniac with a hidden agenda, and slowly developing powers that you don't even understand, let alone know how to use… you swore you'd never let the Ansem thing happen again, but not a day after you got rid of that psycho you joined up with a whole bunch of new ones. Only difference is, they're obsessed with neutrality instead of darkness.

I'm only doing this until Sora comes back. Riku smiled for a second. The second he finds out that Kairi's being held hostage, he's going to flip out. The Organization won't know what hit them.

And until then?

I can't just quit the Organization. They'd kill me, and if they couldn't find me they'd kill Mickey and Kairi. He sighed. I'm way over my head here, I know.

He sat by the window for hours, empty-eyed, looking at nothing in particular. Eventually, he got to his feet, as if a decision had suddenly been made. Buckling the Soul Eater around his waist, he descended the stairs that led to the servants' rooms.

'Have you got a minute?'

Shuyin looked up from his task- he was writing something on a scroll, probably another of Hades' documents. 'What?'

Riku sat down next to him. 'I want to help you. I heard about how you got here, about you and Lenne, and I think I can help you out.' When Shuyin didn't answer, he walked around the desk towards him. 'I'm serious.'

'You shouldn't have asked Hades,' Shuyin said, angrily. 'I… I screwed up, but that's my business, not yours. Just go back to the surface- you can't help. You don't understand.'

'What I don't understand,' Riku replied, his voice steely, 'is why you're doing everything you can to avoid getting the love of your life back and undoing the contract. If you want to stay down here for a couple of thousand years, just say so, but I'd hoped you'd have more of a spine than that-'

'You think I don't want to?' Shuyin got up, slamming his chair back. 'Thanks for the offer, Riku, but you've got no idea what you're talking about. You can't go against Hades in his own world and expect to win, and if you think that two thousand years is a long service you should just see the contracts of the people who went against him.'

There was a pause, and then Shuyin continued, in a quieter tone. 'Thanks, but there's nothing you can do.'

'I think there is.' Riku looked him in the eyes. 'Can I have a look at your contract?'

Shuyin sighed. With a crack of unfurling paper, a scroll appeared in his hand. Riku took it. 'That was quick.'

'We've got them with us at all times. One of Hades' ways of reminding us who we belong to.'

Riku looked down the scroll. 'Yeah, thought so. It says here that your soul belongs to Hades on condition that 'Lenne comes to no harm,' right? Technically, a cut on her finger would be enough to break the contract.'

'Look, I think I know what you're getting at, Riku, but she's under guard constantly.'

'And I have a weapon that can cut through anything.'

'I don't even know where she is- she's in the castle somewhere, that's all I know.'

'And I can track people by their aura.'

Shuyin sat back down, returning to his task. 'That's good, but even if you did manage to get to her, she's protected by some of Hades' oldest magic. It can't be done.'

'Try me.'

'I don't think your boss would be too happy if he found out about this.'

Riku laughed. 'Axel? He's not my boss. And, no, he wouldn't be too happy, but that's why I'm not going to let him find out.' He leaned closer to Shuyin. 'Say what you like, but I can help you get out of here, and to take Lenne with you. Look, I told Hades that I was a good guy. I'd like a chance to prove it- not to you, but to myself. Please?'

Silence for a few seconds, then Shuyin nodded. 'I'm going to trust you. Don't make me regret it.'

'I won't.' Riku sat down again. 'I'll need your help, though. Can you tell me a few things about Lenne, for a start?'

'Well, she's younger than me…' The distantness that Shuyin had shown earlier crept into his tone, as he continued. 'She's slightly short, dark-haired… she likes singing, she gets depressed sometimes, and… she's really cute when she's worried. She…'

'That should be enough, thanks,' Riku interrupted. 'One more thing. The signal that I've got her will be a bolt of lightning. When you see it, run like hell towards the main gates- I'll meet you there. If you're late… well, don't be late. I'd prefer to do this without being discovered.'

He moved to go. 'Are you sure you can do this?' Shuyin called after him.

No.

'Yes, I am,' Riku said. 'Watch for the lightning.'

Shuyin nodded, and returned to his scroll. Riku headed downwards, towards Hades' catacombs.

So… if I were an imprisoned girl, where would I be?

Author's Notes-

Just a couple of what you might think are continuity errors. First of all, Hades could reach other worlds during the events of Kingdom Hearts, which is when he got Shuyin's soul. He couldn't before, and he can't now, which is why he wants access to them so much. Secondly, Charon said in the previous chapter that he'd never encountered anyone like Axel before, despite the fact that the Organization visited three years ago- this was a mistake on my part, but in retrospect they'd have teleported in anyway. The only reason they had to use Charon this time was that Riku can't teleport.

Originally, Lenne was going to be the character that Riku tries to help out, but with continued play of FFX-2 I realised that it'd have to be Shuyin. Their backstory here is kind of a KH-ification of their backstory in X-2, with Vegnagun replaced by Hades, and the Farplane replaced by Tartarus. (In both cases, Shuyin's meddling with things he doesn't understand in the name of love gets them both in worse trouble than they were to start off with.)

Sorry this chapter's so late. It got put on hiatus while I worked on my History and English coursework. I'll try and get Chapter 6 done quicker.

Chapter title is from 'Sandman'- specifically, issue four. That, however, is better-written.

(Incidentally, here's a fun game for you to play. The three shades that Hades demonstrates were all based on Final Fantasy characters. The first scientist is obvious, but what about the other two? Correct replies will get… oh, something, I don't know. I'd send cookies, but it's hard to get them down the phone line.)

Ginger Ninja- Axel is an unapologetic flirt. In HoP, in this, and in Chain of Memories. (He obviously considers himself God's gift to anything pretty with a pulse, no matter what gender.)

Riiku- Praise is always welcome. Thanks muchly. (I have yet to meet a Kingdom Hearts fan that wasn't madly in love with Axel towards the end of CoM- myself included.)

Twilight Unknown- Greek mythology was my earliest obsession. I must have been the only eight-year-old who came out of 'Hercules' complaining that they'd completely changed Hades' character and Hercules' backstory. Thanks for the review.

Jade-chan- I did think about putting in some Charon in-jokes- having him mention Amata, for example, or Zack- but decided that it wouldn't be funny to anyone outside of the comparatively small group that make up HoP. (Though I still want to get a line about 'clingy harpies' in there somewhere.)

Next chapter- Riku attempts to spring Lenne and Shuyin from their imprisonment, and Axel displays a side of his personality he hasn't shown before. Hint- fire is involved. See you next time, and, as always, thanks for reading.