Nexis walked around the hallways, looking for Laska. He had felt a strong surge of energy recently, and it seemed to be centered on her aura. He found her room, and knocked on the door. When she didn't answer, he assumed she wasn't there and turned to go, but almost ran into her.

"Hey Laska."
"Hi. And you are…" she said, looking up at him. He towered over her by about five inches.
"I'm Nexis. I've been trying to find you."

"Why me?" she said inquisitively.
"Has anything really huge happened to you recently?" She froze, then looked away.

"Well, you could say that…"
"Why don't you tell me what?"

"I just got all my memories back, then lost all of them again, plus some other ones, if that helps."
"How strange. I thought it might be something like that. Laska, I know you from somewhere, but I'm not sure…"

"I know. I feel the same way. But how can that be? I've never seen you before."
"I think you might know me more than you think." He held up her hand, the one with the bracelet, and fingered the beads.

"But my friend gave that to me, and he died."

"Not exactly." He pulled the hair back behind his ear, revealing his other eye. A long, deep scar ran through it, showing on both sides, and the center of it was a milky white with a black iris.

Laska was shocked for a moment, then suddenly choked him with a hug.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE ALIVE!" Nexis pushed her away.

"Please don't kill me if you can avoid it."
"Sorry. I'm just so happy!"
"Wow, I couldn't tell," he said flatly. Laska was taken aback.
"Why aren't you happy?"
"I'm happy, believe me. But I can't show any emotion."
"Why not?" she asked indignantly.
"Because. I just can't."

And he left without another word.

"Hey, Zexy, do you have any idea where Nexis has gone off to?" Axel's voice rose bitterly on the word Nexis.
"Don't call me that. And why do you want to see him?" Zexion knew to shut up when he saw Axel's face
"JUST TELL ME." Zexion backed up a step, frightened a bit at Axel's anger.
"Oh, all right. I think he's-"

"Right here?" Nexis had just faded in. His hair was tucked behind his ears, revealing his usually covered left eye and showing the scar. Zexion cringed when he saw it, but Axel remained stoically angry. "If you need me, I'll be somewhere he's not." Axel turned away from Nexis and swiftly faded out.

"Oh, that Axel... never mind. He told me to tell you to do something, now what-"

"Go to the fourth floor exit, wait for an ugly brown haired kid to show up, attack but don't kill him, and then bring him back here?" Zexion was lost for words, but shook his head quickly and continued.

"Yeah. So, do that, and...good luck."

"I don't need luck." With that, Nexis was gone as well. Zexion stood there for a moment, and then muttered, "I wish they'd stop interrupting me…" He teleported away.

At the fourth floor exit, Sora and co. were just about to ascend the stairs, when a man silently appeared behind them.

"Leaving so soon?" Nexis asked calmly, arms crossed in front of himself. Sora whirled around and pulled out his Keyblade, Donald and Goofy at his sides.
"Actually, we were about to leave. Got a problem with it?" Sora readied his weapon.

"Yes, I do. So, if you don't mind..." Nexis extended his right arm and pointed it at the door leading to the fifth floor. Small bolts of electricity sparked from his hand, then the door, and it noisily slammed shut. Donald ran to open it, but upon contact with the handle, he was shocked and hit the floor with a thud.

"Donald!" Goofy ran to his aid, but was also shocked by the electric door.
"Grr...why don't you quit stalling and fight me!" Sora shouted in anger. He prepared to charge.
"Oh, I don't want to fight you. Too messy. But I do need to do this." Nexis teleported right behind Sora. Before he could react, Nexis placed his hands on Sora's shoulders. Thousands of volts of electricity were charged into him, and he screamed in agony before fainting moments later.

"Done and done." Nexis smirked for a second. However, his stern look returned moments later, his mind chiding him for smiling like that. He picked up Sora's limp body like it was contaminated, quickly waved his hand towards the door, which returned to normal instantaneously. A moment later, he teleported away, leaving the room empty except for Donald and Goofy lying sprawled on the floor.

Sora slowly opened his eyes, dazed and confused. He weakly tried to move, but heavy shackles restrained his hands.

None of this mattered when he realized he couldn't summon the Keyblade.

"What…what happened to me?" he whispered weakly. He heard dark laughter and regretted speaking.

"It appears as though Nexis did a better job than I thought. Although I'd have preferred your friends to join you…well, it doesn't matter. At least we have the Keyblade. And now-" The person snapped his fingers, and the room lit up. Sora found that he was chained to a wheel. Axel stood in front of him.

"Let the Wheel of Torture begin!"

Laska's heart had broken all over again. Although it hadn't even been whole to begin with, it hurt just the same.

"He doesn't even care…" she whispered to herself. She couldn't cry; she had forgotten how. She certainly felt sad, but could not cry, could not show any emotions.

Just like him.

She still thought it was a lame excuse.

"Anyone can show emotion. It doesn't take a rocket scientist." Laska had loved him so much, and he didn't even care. Her heart seemed to be growing faint, like it was giving up on her, on love. It weaker and weaker. 'I just can't.'

In another part of the castle, Nexis was focusing immensely. He was trying to hold someone's heart, if not for more than a few seconds. This particular one was very strong yet very delicate. It could be easily broken, thus he had to be careful. Holding out a gloved hand, the familiar transparent orb appeared in it, a faint image of a heart inside. He tried to 'tell' the heart that he was not there to control it, only to look at it. The orb, now tinted with the slightest hint of gold, allowed the heart to emerge. Its rounded, perfect shape showed a brilliant, shimmering white that awed Nexis. It would have been flawless- if not for the hideous black vein coursing through its center. The edges of the vein were smoky silver, trying to blend with the white without disturbing its pure tone. The heart radiated a soft song, one that Nexis had always found light and pleasing each time he saw this heart. But the music had changed. It was dark and depressing, almost like the heart was…

"Crying? How can that be? Could it really be that bad?"

The heart glowed red with sudden hatred, and burst out of Nexis's hand. It sent a jolt of electricity up his right arm, causing him to recoil in pain. It vanished, leaving him weak and confused. He held his left hand to his right shoulder, unable to move the limb.

"Are you okay?" It was Zexion, who had just appeared.
" I'm fine. It's not like I need your help," he said sourly, vanishing.
"Fine, so sue me for asking."