Larxene struggled against the unbreakable grip as the fell through the icy blackness. She dug her claws into Leviathans tail and tried to get him to let go, but the more pain she inflicted, the tighter the tail became. She could not tell that she was loosing conscious, for nothing within the abyss was lit, leaving her in the dark.

Except for one thing.

A faint glowing yellow light coming from above? Or was it below?

Larxene did not care, nothing mattered anymore. As the monster dragged her down deeper and the light became brighter, she could only think of the Organization, and of Vexen. Would he try to save her? Did he mean all that? Did he truly love her?

The light was more dominant, but Larxene didn't know. Her eyes sagged and she drifted off into darkness.

4587954784578458794

"Sadness is an amazing feeling…"

Larxene heard a voice from up ahead.. who was it? Pulling herself off the cold hard ground, she began to stumble through the darkness, trying to find the speaker.

"It can overwhelm one in only a few moments. Or even cause insanity within one poor soul. Sadness is just like the darkness. Swallowing up the unwary and corrupting them."

The voice rang out again; Larxene started sprinting in the darkness, hoping to find whoever it was. She didn't want to be alone in this dark abyss.

"Just like loneliness."

The voice spoke again, but in a different direction. She tripped and hit the ground with a thud from stopping so fast. Larxene rolled over on the ground and looked around once more. There was so difference in the darkness.

"Being Lonely can also cause change within a person. They'll become secluded, and even push away company and become a mere shadow of who they once were."

The voice spoke out once more, but it was right behind her. It was as if the speaker was talking right in her ear. Larxene bolted around, but in the darkness, the speaker could be right in front of her and she would not know it.

"But if someone were to step into that persons life, even if that someone had a personality cold as ice, could they indeed bring back a spark of hope for this one lost soul?"

A small spark of light appeared before her. And it began to consume everything the light blinded the unknown and she held up her hands against the light.

"Vexen still believes in you…"

The silhouettes of other Organization members, she heard a meek laugh.

"Tell Vexen Hi from all of us." the voice she knew as Demyx said, "There's something keeping us out of the castle."

"But-"

"You heard him," the faint voice of Xaldin said, "Go now!"

457854875895

When Larxene woke up, she was in an alien world. The walls were black as ebony, but cracks that ran along them like veins issued beams of white-hot light. She blinked as she became used to her surroundings. What was this place? Where was Leviathan?

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps behind her. Looking over her shoulder Larxene saw someone who, for once, she was grateful to see.

"Lorenzo!"

And indeed, it was, but it was not the Lorenzo she was used to. The experiment had sprouted large leathery wings from her back. They flapped lazily as she came to Larxenes side and kneeled down. Larxene also saw what the golden light she saw from before was, for Lorenzos katal were giving off the same familiar glow.

"Lorenzo… how did you get down here?"

"Easy, I jumped."

Lorenzo gave a grin as she helped Larxene to her feet. For a while the two didn't say a word. Larxene was silent since she was still confused as to where they were. However, Lorenzo was quiet for other reasons. The silence was cut when Larxene diverted her attention to Lorenzos newly grown wings.

"You reckon you can fly with those?"

"It was only because of them that I was able to maintain altitude with you. I managed to knock you loose from Leviathan. Moreover, he kept falling. I made sure you were safe, since, well, I don't think my creator would be too happy if you were to get hurt."

Larxenes face warmed into a smile. At least she wasn't alone in the weird place. However, they couldn't stay for long. With the rest of the Organization in trouble and Leviathan still lurking within their world, she would have to do something about it.

"Didja see that big lug hit the ground?"

"No," Lorenzo replied dully, "I kept my wings out after I caught you to make sure we had a soft landing. When we hit the bottom, there was no sign of Leviathan, so…. He could be anywhere."

"Great, just perfect," Larxene scowled and absent mindedly stormed off, "here we are in the middle of God-knows-what with that monster God-knows-where and God-Knows-how-many miles away from the rest of the team!"

"Well perhaps they don't need us." Lorenzo replied as she jogged along side her, "After all, Vexen is the highest stature within castle Oblivion."

Lorenzo had a point. Vexen knew how to take care of himself, so there wouldn't be any immediate trouble. At least she hoped there wouldn't be. Still distraught she asked Lorenzo another question.

"Fine then! But what are we going to do while we try to get out of here? I'm sure those wings aren't powerful enough to CARRY me THAT high."

"Are you saying you're fat?"

"! NO!" Larxenes temper flared up again at the insult. Her voice bounced off the wall and sounded as if there were twenty Larxenes all screaming at Lorenzo.

But when the echoes died, a new sound erupted from the darkness. It was a loud bellowing roar. Over the noise Lorenzo shouted back.

"Looks like we've found him!"

48795798587954879

Silence raked the air as Vexen stared unblinking into the Abyss. He didn't even realize that Zexion was speaking to him until he put his hand on his shoulder.

"If you jump in there's no telling what will happen. You could kill yourself for no reason at all." Zexions voice was tense, as if wavering on what to tell him, "Besides, Marluxia and Axel are going to strike back once they've regained their strength. And.. with that Monster gone, you can focus on finally taking out the traitors once and for all."

Vexen remained silent. True, there wasn't anything between them and silencing Marluxia, but…

Who would share that triumph with him? Zexion and Lexaeus? No, they were only his colleagues; they were nowhere close to him. The only person that mattered was Larxene, but she was gone.

Vexen let a violent breath of air escape as he turned around and gave a sharp nod.

"You're right Zexion, being the rank I am in the Organization it is foolish of me to act in such a manner. Lets take him out now!"

Lexaeus let his hand tighten on his tomahawk as he interrupted.

"What about the keybearer? Is he of any concern?"

"No," Vexen said dully as he waved his hand, "even if that little witch Namine has disobeyed me and deserted to his ranks, it would be in our greater good not to silence him."

Lexaeus and Zexion looked taken back at Vexen's decision.

"But, Vexen! That boy is a threat to all of us!" Zexion retorted, "If he can he'll beat us to the floor."

"My point exactly, if we choose to fight him it will only mean more casualties for us in the end. It is better for us to be on good terms with Sora than to have him make an enemy of us."

"And how are we going to explain why we kidnapped Namine?"

"That's easy, we didn't, Marluxia did." Vexen stated with a bit of satisfaction, since it was true. Looking over his shoulder one last time into the darkness he spoke once more. "We'll settle with Sora after Marluxia's been taken out."

And with that they teleported as a group back to the lab

48547895489735

The group of five (six if you counted Jiminy) stormed up the stairs to the final level. When they reached the door Sora reached into his pockets for his last map card. But after a few minutes of rummaging around, alarm shot through him.

"Uh oh…"

"What's wrong Sora!" Chimed Goofy and Donald together.

Sora took his hands out of his pockets, both of which were empty.

"I don't have any more map cards guys…."

It was at that moment that Riku Replica walked forward and pushed the door. Everyone's jaws dropped as the door opened to a huge marble room. White and light blue swirls danced on the marble, while there were many bouquets and statues littering the place with the same color hue. As Sora and the others walked into the alien room they were all overcome by a sense of awe. Whatever this place was, it was most likely their last stop before getting out of the castle.

Sora scanned the room for a way out. He spotted a door on a ledge not too far ahead. Running out her shouted over his shoulder.

"Hey guys! There's the door to the next room!"

On his news everyone started sprinting to his side. As they ran across the marble floor the only sound that was heard was their echoing footsteps. But they were soon drowned out as Jiminy gave a shout.

"Sora look out!"

Sora looked up and jumped back just in time. For a Wyvern swooped down from the ceiling and landed in front of him; the shock causing Sora to loose his footing and fall. Soon more Heartless were appearing in the room. The heroes tightened into a circle as Shadows crawled from out of the ground and Defenders appeared from behind corners. But what really worried the group was the appearance of the Neo Shadow.

Greater than the shadow in strength, they also pulled themselves out of the ground. Goofy and Donald gave out mixed yelps of fear and surprise at the new monsters.

"Sora! What are those things?" shouted Donald as he readied his magic.

"Search me!" Sora called back over his shoulder, "But they're all bad news…"

Goofy held up his shield and also looked to Sora, "Do ya think we can take them?"

Sora was unsure as the room was overflowing with Heartless. Looking back one could tell that he was worried. Would they make it out? Would Namine get hurt?

But looking at Riku's determined face made him forget about his worries. If his best friend wasn't worried, he wouldn't be either. Sora took his Keyblade in his hand and shouted aloud.

"Alright then! Lets do it!"

All chaos broke loose as the five charged straight into the waves of Heartless. Donald charged up his Save the Queen and shot several fireballs at the flying Wyverns. One was struck on its wing and was sent careening around the room before crashing into a wall. But with only its wing damaged, it got up and struck out again with its claws. Donald jumped back and sent a Bizzaga spell at it, soundly freezing the monster solid

Riku Replica was in over his head. He ducked as a Defender hurled its shield at him. He then struck back at the monsters unprotected head. The force of the blow was so great that the Heartless stumbled backward and squashed several shadows.

Goofy had a better share of luck. For all he had to do was charge into the fray to send the heartless reeling. Neo Shadows were thrown back as he slammed his shield into them.

But Namine and Sora were on different terms. As Sora cut through the Heartless with his keyblade he kept a hand on Namine's shoulder to ensure that she wouldn't be torn away from him. But this double job kept him from fighting his best. And seeing weakness, a Neo Shadow leapt up at them. Sora tried to bring his keyblade up to block but the shadow was already on top of him.

But a brilliant burst of energy was shot from behind him. The ball hit the Neo Shadow and sent it flying across the room. Shocked, Sora looked over his shoulder to see Namine holding her hand out. Seeing the look on his face Namine smiled.

"I'm not completely helpless Sora, I've got your back!"

Reassured by his lost friend's words Sora diverted all of his attention to the swarms of heartless before him. His promise would be fulfilled, and all his friends would be safe under his eye.

"ARS ARCANUM!"

Aided by the beams of Namine's power Sora and the others made short work of the swarming Heartless. As the last foe disappeared into the air Sora shouldered his keyblade and looked over his shoulder.

"Come on guys! Lets get going together!"