Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters – they belong to Square and Disney.

Stare Into The Abyss – Chapter Twenty

Upon entering the building, Sora felt an instant change in the atmosphere. The feeling of the darkness was stronger here. The empty chill that had filled him as he walked through the desolate streets of this world was now replaced by a growing horror. As he followed the cloaked back of Number Two to the second floor, the feeling was joined by the unsettling sensation of someone, or something, watching them.

Stopping, Sora turned to examine the shadows off to his side, certain he'd caught sight of movement. Not spotting anything there, he moved to start after Number Two once more…. But the NEO wasn't in front of him. Hurrying to the end of the corridor, Sora glanced to either side to try and see which way he had headed.

There was no sign of him.

"Hey!"

Nothing. No reply, no sound of anyone moving around. He was alone. Had Number Two left him on purpose?

Sora briefly debated on heading back outside and getting Kaze before realizing he wasn't quite sure how to get to the entrance hall from his current position. During his previous visits here, he'd never explored the top floors. Sighing, he decided to continue further in the hopes of finding Ansem himself.

Wouldn't the rooms be a good place to start looking?

Wandering up to the nearest one, he gripped Oathkeeper tightly before easing the door open. The glaring bright eyes of a Heartless greeted him. Stumbling back as it sprang forward, Sora swung his keyblade, catching the creature in mid-flight and disposing of it.

Why would there be Heartless here? Where they gathering here because this is where the Keyhole is located?

Exploring some more of the rooms, and dealing with several more Heartless along the way, Sora began to grow frustrated. With no real idea of where he was going, or where to even start looking, this would take far longer than he had expected. Ansem could be anywhere, and the building was far too large when considering the fairly small group of people that had used it. He'd have to ask Axel about that later... Just what did they need all these rooms for?

Opening another door, Sora was surprised to see a small group of Nobodies inside, rather than more Heartless. This place is full of everything!

Reacting quickly, Oathkeeper connected with one of the creatures as it lunged forward. The second was knocked aside, but the third managed to slip past him, out into the corridor. As Sora whirled around to focus on it, the second recovered and leaped, latching on to his shoulders. Shaking it off, he stabbed at it with the keyblade before spinning around to face the final Nobody as it came running back towards him. Unleashing a Strike Raid, Sora tossed his weapon, taking the creature out before it could reach him.

Glancing around to satisfy himself that there were was nothing else lurking around, he leaned against the wall to take a moment to think what to do next. Why were the Nobodies here too? If Ansem summoned them, did that mean he was close by? Would it be better to find his way back to the entrance and get Kaze? Or keep going?

Pushing away from the wall, Sora continued on his way through the building. Ansem was near, he was sure of it.

He couldn't turn around and leave now.

Axel was starting to grow impatient from sitting around and doing nothing. He didn't feel comfortable leaving this up to Sora. What if he didn't bring him back what he wanted? What if he didn't even ask? What if he just outright killed Ansem when he found him? Sure, Sora might not be quite that cold blooded, but what if he held a grudge over Riku? He hadn't just gone through all that to get nothing out of it.

Then, you're going to have to go in there yourself…

Which wouldn't have been a problem… if he weren't hurt. Could he even stand? Mentally checking himself over, Axel was certain that the only problem was the wound to his head. The thin scratch on his arm had already stopped bleeding and his wrist, while still somewhat sore, wasn't too bad. Bringing his hand up to his head, he cringed as he touched the side of it again. His fingers came away with a few small specks of blood, but it appeared to of stopped bleeding as badly as it had earlier. And the dizziness had eased, leaving him with just a headache…

… That wasn't being helped by Sora's NEO. He'd taken to pacing around the place before settling back on the ground for a while and then continuing his circling of the area.

"Can you not sit still for more than five minutes?"

The boy's head snapped around to face him. "Don't you think they've been gone a while?"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't exactly been keeping track of time."

"Oh, right." Wandering back over, Kaze crouched on the ground opposite him. "Any better?"

Axel bit his tongue to hold back a scathing comment. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

The boy grinned at him. "You can try and sleep if you need to rest. I won't stick a keyblade in your back or anything. I promise."

Axel gave an exaggerated sigh, but Kaze was having too much fun to take the hint and leave him alone. "Do you even need to sleep?"

"…Do you?"

"Well yeah, but…"

"There you go then. You're just the same as I am, remember?"

Kaze's playful mood quickly died as his face dropped. "You don't need to remind me." His stare shifted back towards the building. "So, is it normal for all NEOs to have weird dreams?"

"What are you on about now?"

The boy closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his legs. "That was when most of them came to me."

"Most of what?"

"Sora's memories. At least, I think they were his memories. Maybe they were just his own dreams and that's why they were so strange." He glanced back at Axel. "I guess you don't, do you? If you don't remember anything of who you were."

Axel shook his head, regretting it as it sent a slight jolt of pain shooting back through it. "No dreams."

"That's when I first saw Riku. I was trying to reach him. Or rather, Sora was, I guess. He was standing in the middle of a sea, holding his hand out for me and… And why am I telling you this?"

"Because we're both bored of waiting?"

"Right." Kaze smiled. "But not so bored that I'm going to tell you anymore."

Their conversation seeming to come to a halt, Axel decided now would be a good time to make a move. Reaching to retrieve his weapons that had fallen as Ansem had fled, he dismissed them until he'd have need for them again, and made an attempt to climb to his feet.

"What are you doing?"

Satisfied that he was at least able to stand, Axel turned to the building and started to walk towards it. Not quite an easy task when every step seemed to make his head worse, but that would pass… wouldn't it? "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're going in there yourself. Do you really think that's a good idea? Can't you leave this to Sora?"

"You were the one complaining about him taking a while. Don't you want to see what the hold up is?"

From the sound of footsteps behind him, it was clear the answer was a yes. Axel didn't really want him to come along, but it might be handy having someone to watch his back. He doubted the boy would of stayed behind anyway.

"If you collapse or something Axel, I'm leaving you," Kaze muttered as he drew up alongside him.

"I'm fine. See? I'm walking, aren't I?"

Kaze shot him a sceptical look. "Not in a very straight line."

Axel ignored him. Arriving outside the doors of the building, Kaze opened them and slipped inside. Joining him, Axel scanned the entrance hall considering which floor to start looking on first.

"Do you feel that?" Kaze asked.

"Feel what?"

"I'm not sure… It just, doesn't seem right…"

Shrugging, Axel moved off to the door located on the far back wall. He decided that they could work their way through this floor first before moving to the one above.

"You know your way around this place, don't you Axel?"

"Want a tour?"

"No. But, I think…we should head to the second floor."

"Picky." Axel glanced over to him. "And I say we check this floor first."

"You're even more annoying than usual," Kaze groaned as he reluctantly gave in and followed him. "You must have had a knack for getting yourself hurt if you were this awkward with your fellow Organization members."

Instead of taking it as an insult, Axel smirked. "It made training more fun."

"I'm surprised they didn't, accidentally, slip up."

"I'm sure they would of…" He trailed off as he spotted something flash past up ahead.

Having also noticed it, Kaze summoned each keyblade into his hands. Rounding the corner of the corridor ahead of them, they spotted a small, black figure hunkered down. Sensing their presence it spun around, ready to attack.

A Heartless?

Reacting first, Kaze sliced at the creature with both of his weapons, easily taking care of it. "Guess we should be a little more careful."

"Wasn't that a bit… excessive?"

Kaze frowned. "What was?"

"Using two keyblades on it. Sora manages with just one."

"It got the job done, didn't it? Don't complain!"

Yep, he's definitely a blood thirsty one…

As they continued to move on, keeping an eye out for anymore Heartless along the way, Kaze spoke up again. "Speaking of the other Organization members, your buddy isn't very polite, is he?"

Axel wondered what he could possibly want now. He was starting to get far too talkative for his liking. What is it with him? "…What?"

"Your other hooded friend. He took off before without even stopping to see if you were alright."

"Oh, him. I'll make a mental note to pull him up about that later."

"Does that guy ever actually take his hood off?"

"I've never saw him without it." Axel paused. Was he trying to hint at something? "Why?"

"Aren't you curious what's under it?"

Axel rolled his eyes. Was that all he wanted to ask? All these questions were starting to grate on his nerves. "A face, I imagine."

Kaze huffed. "You're no fun." He fell silent as he approached a large set of double doors. "What's behind here?"

"A library."

"Sounds like a good place to hide," Kaze mused as he pulled one of them open. Checking to make sure the room was clear, he entered, Axel behind him.

The boy moved off behind some of the shelves, leaving Axel to check the other side. As he was walking past the rows of books, he heard a sharp cry of surprise, followed by Kaze's voice calling out a few seconds later. "It's ok. There was another Heartless over here. Looks like it was the only one."

Axel stepped back out from behind the aisles as Kaze reappeared from his side. "Anything?"

"You mean, apart from books? No."

"What did you need a library for?" He moved over towards one of the shelves, his finger tracing the spines of the books before settling on one that he pulled off to read. "I wouldn't think you'd spend much time reading."

"I didn't." Axel headed back to the doors. "Are you coming?"

"Some of this is pretty interesting stuff. Listen to this…"

"No thanks." He exited back into the corridor before the boy could finish. Why was he wasting time reading?

Protesting, Kaze joined him, giving him an irritated glare as he passed. Axel began to continue in the direction they had been heading before their little detour, but a familiar voice stopped him.

"Axel."

Number Two. Only he wasn't anywhere near. His voice sounded faded, like he was speaking from a distance.

"What's wrong?" Kaze wondered from behind him.

"Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Great. He's using his little mind talking thing again?" Axel glanced around. Usually when he did that, he was near, so where was he?

"Top floor. He's here."

Axel instantly started heading back to the main entrance hall. Kaze rushed after him, shouting as they went. "Where are we going?"

"Top floor."

"Oh, so now you decide to agree with me!"

"He's up there."

"…Axel? Do you mean Sora?"

"I don't think he was talking about Sora," he replied.

"Who?"

Axel didn't respond, instead quickening his pace, eager to get what he wanted and leave. Arriving back in the main hall, he took the stairs to the balcony overhead, Kaze still close, keeping up with him. The single door there would lead to the various corridors and rooms on the second floor. Which provided another problem…where exactly on this floor was he supposed to be going?

"It's different here." Kaze pushed past him, before coming to a halt and turning to Axel. "That feeling… It isn't as strong here."

Axel tilted his head. "Seems the same as any other time I've been here."

Kaze shook his head firmly. "Maybe, it's something to do with the Keyhole? It's on the bottom floor. Maybe that's why it felt stronger down there…"

Not offering a reply, Axel continued to explore this floor, wishing Number Two would show up to point in him the right direction. The boy started muttering something about checking the Keyhole once Ansem was taken care of. Uninterested, Axel tried to blank him out. Does he ever actually shut up?

As they approached another corner, he could vaguely hear two other recognizable voices. Kaze also fell silent, listening, before taking off running towards the source of them. "Sora!"

Hurrying after him, Axel turned the corner and spotted Sora holding his keyblade ready as he aimed it at Number Two. Taking in the scene, Kaze came to a halt.. "…Sora? What's going on?"

"Ansem is in that room," he nodded towards a door to the right that Number Two was standing in front of. "But he won't let me in. He just went off and left me before, but I found him waiting here…"

Number Two's head lifted as he focused on Axel instead. "Are you ready, Axel?"

"You're letting him in, but not us?" Kaze demanded.

"This no longer concerns you."

"Of course it does! Don't you think that I might have some questions I'd like to ask him too?" Sora shifted his gaze to Axel. "And going in there alone might not be such a good idea."

"He's in no condition to do you any harm Axel." Number Two stepped back away from the door. "You can let them do this if you wish. It's your choice now."

Nodding, Axel face Sora. "Will you wait here?"

Sora scowled slightly, but it quickly faded. "Fine. But I still want to talk to him when you're done. Don't kill him."

Axel carefully avoided agreeing. He had no intention of coming out of that roomwithoutkilling him. Leaving the others outside, he opened the door and entered. He immediately noticed how much darker it was inside when compared to the rest of the building, the walls creeping with shadows. It appeared that it had served as a storage room of some kind, but was empty now. Was there some significance to him choosing this room?

Ansem was leaning against the back wall, blood smeared across it. Seeing he wasn't armed, and seemed even worse off than himself, Axel relaxed. He waited a moment, expecting a comment, but there was only silence.

Axel stepped forward. "You're going to tell me what I have to do, like you said you would."

"I said I'd tell you if you won, Axel." He leered. "You lost the moment you let the others interfere."

"Tell me."

His only answer was laughter. Axel felt his hand curling into a fist at his side. He isn't going to tell you anything…"What where you planning on doing? What was the point of doing this, to this world?"

"Hasn't he even told you that? Perhaps you should try asking him."

"You mean Number Two, don't you?"

"Still prefers being known by his rank rather than his name, does he?"

Axel held back the urge to kill him at that moment, without bothering asking any further questions. He isn't answering anything, he's just throwing more questions back in your face! But there was something that might encourage him to be a little more co-operative. If he was right...

"This didn't go completely how you were planning, did it?" Axel smirked at him. "Riku. You weren't expecting him to interfere, were you?"

He was pleased to see Ansem's face twist into an annoyed snarl.

"You wanted to use him. The part of you that's still inside him… You wanted to merge back with it, right? But he was already too strong. He started trying to use you. And I don't think that Ansem has the same thing in mind, does he?"

"If you're here to kill me Axel, then go ahead."

"You're not going to tell me what I have to do, are you?"

The grin returned. No, he won't. But what about Riku? He'd known about who he was through his connection to this Ansem. Was it possible that he might also know how to get his memories back? Or are you just so desperate, that you don't want to admit that you may never know if you kill him now?

Riku could be his last chance. But either way…

Axel smiled coldy. "Guess I don't need you anymore then."

… He was still going to enjoy this.

Author's Note: Eh, that ended up long, but not covering as much as I planned to. How odd. I blame the chattiness. Oh well, looks like the next chapter will just have to be an extra long one too!

Saddened Soul: Hehe, hmm indeed! I think I should finally be able to start tying some things up next chapter.

AloneInDespair: That was actually one fight scene that turned out quite fun to write! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

Ginger Ninja: And he got to show up in quite a bit of this chapter! There should be lots more Sora and Kaze-ness next too. ;)

Crisis Haylo: More scenes with them both here - they're pretty fun to write together. XD

sorastalker08: Yay, you updated with a juicy long one! And it was nice speaking to you the other night!