Sorry about the massive delay – I have a new job, which is taking up way more of my time than I'd like it to.

But I hope to finish Nonexistence soon! Keep in touch!

Disclaimer.

.oOo.

Kingdom Hearts: Nonexistence

11: Lacking Existence

.oOo.

Axel, Roxas, Naminé, Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat in the basement of the Twilight Town mansion, each one thinking as hard as they could. They'd been given a challenge: to come up with a way to take Roxas to Nonexistence without killing him.

No one had any ideas so far.

"What do we know about Nonexistence?" Sora asked Axel.

"Nonexistence is the afterlife of a Nobody. Nobodies have hearts and find themselves to exist there," Axel replied. "Those who existed with hearts in the living realm find themselves to be heartless, resorting to being the Nobodies of Nonexistence. The Organization is the strongest group of those who exist in Nonexistence, but have been oppressed by the Nonexistence version of Sora. Ansem the Wise's counterpart had studied the ties between the living realm and Nonexistence to the point of being able to send me in digitized form to this realm, but he died before I made it all the way here."

"It seems that everything that happens in this realm corresponds to that one," Riku added. "Seeing as how Xigbar was the next Organization member to appear in Nonexistence, and he was also the first Organization member after Axel to bite the dust."

"Ansem died, too, in this realm," Kairi mentioned. "His counterpart died off as well."

Naminé gave her a curious look. "But how does that correlate? I mean…if Axel dies and appears in Nonexistence, how did Ansem die in both places at once?"

"Maybe it's because he isn't a Nobody," Sora suggested. "It seems that the Nobodies have the strongest tie to Nonexistence."

"Well, sure," Roxas agreed. "After all, they gain a heart in death."

Everyone was silent for a minute, deep in thought. That didn't help much.

"So that means that Xemnas is in Nonexistence now," Riku noted. "And supposedly, I have a counterpart there, too. I wonder if he's evil, like Sora's?"

"I don't know," Axel said in uncertainty. "Sora had been a Heartless at one point. His counterpart is closely tied with Roxas. I think that's the main reason he's even in Nonexistence."

"No, you mentioned Donald, too," Kairi argued. "Donald was never a Heartless."

"And if any of us have come close without actually becoming a Heartless, it's me," Riku added. Everyone chuckled nervously at this.

"We're running out of time," Roxas reminded everyone. "Axel doesn't have long until he pops back to the afterlife. We need to get a plan going, here."

Footsteps caught the attention of everyone in the room. Turning to the doorway leading to the library, everyone saw Hayner, Olette, and Pence appear.

"We thought you'd be here," Hayner said as they surrounded the group sitting on the floor.

"It's nice to see you guys again," Roxas said. "But I doubt you remember me."

"Nope, can't say that we do," Pence said. "But it's odd. I feel like I should."

"We know what you mean," Roxas said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'm Roxas. I'm a friend of Sora's. A really close friend," he added. Sora laughed, while the Twilight Gang just looked at each other in confusion.

"Our problem now is getting Roxas to the afterlife without dying," Kairi reminded people. "We have to keep focused, guys!"

Everyone got quiet, then Pence spoke up. "Afterlife? Wha?"

"We don't have time to explain," Sora said with a wave of his hand. "But Axel here is only here to take Roxas back to the afterlife with him."

Pence's eyes went wide. "Axel's a ghost?"

Axel laughed nervously, then stopped as the thought occurred to him. He was a ghost.

The conversation from that point faded out of Axel's mind. He felt like he was floating…floating…a ghost…there, but not. It existed, yet it didn't. Just like a Nobody…

Axel jumped to his feet. "That's it!" he cried, surprising everyone in the room.

"What's it?" Sora demanded.

"I'm a ghost! I don't exist here, but I do! Roxas and Naminé are the same way. We're Nobodies!"

Riku crossed his arms. "So?"

Hayner raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Pence, what's so special about being a ghost?" he asked.

Pence cleared his throat, glad to be of intellectual help. "A ghost is able to traverse the planes of existence, ranging from the living realm to the afterlife and back, as well as the theories explaining alternate realities. After one becomes a ghost, it is said that they should be able to consistently enter the living realm or the afterlife at any point they choose."

Everyone was speechless, the significance of that definition dawning on them immediately.

"You mean Nobodies have had access to the afterlife the entire time?" Roxas demanded.

Pence shrugged. "If that's what a Nobody really is, then yeah."

"One who exists, but isn't supposed to, forced to roam the living realm without that which defines the real: a heart," Naminé defined. "I…I never thought of Nobodies as ghosts, but they fit the description almost to the letter, don't they?"

No one spoke for what seemed like eternity. It was Roxas who spoke next:

"Hey, Axel, can you tell me –"

"Roxas? Something wrong?" Sora asked, looking over at the blonde.

Roxas' eyes were wide as he stared at the space where he'd seen Axel moments before.

The fiery redhead was gone.

"Where'd Axel go?" Kairi asked, quickly standing to her feet and looking around.

"He just vanished!" Roxas cried, leaping to his own stance.

Naminé rose as well, though slower and more delicately than the others. "He must have been taken back to Nonexistence. Roxas, what are we going to do?"

Roxas looked over at Sora with a concerned look in his eye. "We have to try opening a way to the afterlife," he said. Sora nodded.

Roxas reached forward and placed his hand against an invisible wall. A flash of light revealed a magnificent white Keyblade with a thalassa shell necklace being used as a keychain. Kairi gasped.

"Roxas, that keychain…"

Roxas nodded. "It's Sora's. Err…yours. It's…hard to explain."

Kairi's eyes were flooded with tears, but she smiled and nodded. She understood. She didn't know how she knew, but something inside her told her the entire story.

Naminé grasped Roxas' hand and they stood there as the blonde Keybearer raised the Oathkeeper Keyblade high into the air. A strange wind began to stir through the room, despite its being underground. Hayner, Pence, and Olette collected together to stand near Sora, Riku, and Kairi, who stood opposite the two Nobodies.

"Be careful," Kairi called.

A black and white light had began to illuminate from the tip of the Oathkeeper as Naminé and Roxas smiled at their group of friends. The light engulfed the entire room, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When the light dimmed, the two Nobodies were gone.

Axel's eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up, shaking his had. He had a massive headache. He looked around, immediately recognizing his surroundings as Ansem's laboratory in the middle of Nonexistence's wastelands.

"I'm back," Axel muttered. He made his way to his feet, standing to his lithe, tall height. He sighed and leaned back against the wall behind him, his arms beginning to shake as the tears began to form in his eyes.

Roxas…Naminé…Axel had failed to bring them with him. Not only was Nonexistence doomed to suffer the torture of its Sora incarnation, but Axel would never see his friends again…

The white throne room of Organization XIII popped into the fiery man's mind. He pointed a finger and a dark portal appeared in front of him. He stepped through and immediately found himself surrounded by every single member of Organization XIII.

Axel took a bow, completely aware of what has happened in his absence. Sora had killed every remaining member of the Organization, sending them here. Now he quite possibly remembered more than anyone in Nonexistence, due to Naminé's talents.

"It's good to see you all here," Axel said with a smirk. "You're all looking quite healthy. I think."

Axel looked up at the Number Three spot. It was filled by a burly man with sideburns and tied braids that dangled down his bulky frame. "Ah, Xaldin. Where have you been? After all, you died before me, you should have been here before me, right?"

Zexion's eyes shot open. Axel knows that Xaldin died before him? That's impossible.

Axel felt the stare from the scientist's chair. Without looking at the blue-haired Organization member, Axel laughed. "Oh yeah, Zexion. I remember. I remember everything. Even the stuff you'd 'forgotten' to mention to me earlier in Nonexistence." His chakrams found their way to his sides as he grinned up at his fellow members. "I wonder if I should kill all of you and put you out of your misery here in Nonexistence? What would happen if you die in the afterlife, anyway? I'm curious…"

Every person in the room was on their feet, now, weapons drawn, except for Xemnas, Zexion, and Marluxia. "Stand down, Axel," Xemnas said, his deep voice booming through the room.

"Ah, the Superior," Axel said with a deeper bow than before. "It is an honor to once again stand in your presence. It is an even bigger honor to turn my back to you a second time."

Axel turned on his heel and opened a portal of darkness. Before stepping through, he looked to the faces of each individual member of the Organization. Some showed no expression, but most were utterly shocked at the conjuration of a portal of darkness. After all, no one remembered how to do that…

Axel grinned and stepped through the portal, which abruptly closed upon his penetration.

A portal of darkness appeared in front of the massive skyscraper standing in the center of the city of Nonexistence. A red-haired man stepped out of it, causing it to cease its function and disappear. He looked up the height of the skyscraper and laughed.

"You think you're so tall, don't you?" Axel asked mockingly. His chakrams appeared in his hands and he lifted off the ground, shooting high into the air, powered by the masterfully-manipulated flames burning deep inside him.

Roxas isn't here. Sora hasn't been weakened. The world of Nonexistence hasn't changed at all, Axel told himself. There is little left to live for, if I cannot be a free person. Maybe I can put the hurt on those morons. Maybe I can make a difference.

After all, don't all Nobodies wish to belong?

.oOo.

Booya, one of the final chapters! Again, sorry it took so long.

And I apologize for this moving kind of fast. I really tried to figure out a good way to do this chapter, but I just couldn't do anything realistically. After all, you try to find a way to get the living to appear in the afterlife without dying!

Read and review:D