Chapter 204: Reconnect

Disney Castle wasn't exactly a pleasant place—not to him, anyway. Sora's Shadow ran his hand over the walls, sliding his fingers over the separations between the stones. Logically, this world was too full of light—too protected against darkness—for him to be able to set foot in it. He could only be here because Sora was here.

Sora was here.

Sora's Shadow took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Sora's essence wasn't strong in the air, but it was present.

And just like in Neverland, the world seemed to solidify around him, like everything was only real now that he and Sora were on the same world. Like everything in the universe had been set right. Like he had finally regained his balance.

'Stop being so poetic,' the wolf chuckled, nipping at his fingertips.

He turned to it, eyes going wide.

"You can't be here!" he hissed. "They can see you!"

'So?'

"They can't see me, but they can still see you! They'll know I'm here—"

It rolled its eyes. 'No they won't…'

"Just- just go!"

'Master, really—'

"I said go!"

It bit his hand, harder this time, but obeyed.

Sora's Shadow gathered his composure and headed down the halls, following the call of Sora's presence beating in his mind. It was faint—like Sora was sleeping—but still clear as day. It was refreshing, actually. He'd missed this feeling.

He wanted so badly to take off at a run, race to Sora, but he made himself walk. For this to work, Sora couldn't know he was here. At least, it was better if Sora didn't know he was here. If Sora thought there was any danger—if Sora thought he was going to cause danger—then Sora would leave. He couldn't have Sora leave. The plan hadn't even been set in motion, and he needed Sora here for it to work.

If Sora left, he'd be in for a world of trouble.

And if Sora left, what were the chances of finding him again?

But it didn't matter. Sora wouldn't find out he was here. Nothing would go wrong.

He couldn't afford to let anything go wrong.

Sora's Shadow let out a long breath, turning down another hallway. He stopped for a second in surprise. There was someone else in this hall.A soldier, though he was some form of animal, just like everyone else in this castle.

Sora's Shadow shifted closer to the wall, giving the soldier a wide berth. Chances were he couldn't see him, but better safe than sorry. If anyone knew he was here, it could go badly.

It seemed to take agesfor them to pass each other. The soldier didn't walk quickly, though he walked with purpose, and Sora's Shadow didn't want to rush, wary of attracting attention. But, finally, the soldier was behind him. He hadn't been—

The soldier's footsteps stopped. He stopped, too, looking warily at the soldier, heart pounding in his chest. The soldier was looking straight at him. Sora's Shadow quickly pressed himself against the shadows of the wall, not that there were many, hiding as best as he could. Thankfully, the soldier didn't follow his movement, and remained focused on where he'd been previously standing.

"Is, uh, someone there?" the soldier called.

Sora's Shadow held his breath.

"Hello?"

He was smarter than that. He wasn't going to say anything.

"Donald, you aren't playing tricks on me again, are you?"

He didn't know who Donald was, and was slightly curious now, but still, he said nothing.

"Hmm." The soldier relaxed, scratching his head. "I guess there's no one there." He hesitated a moment, but slowly turned back around and continue walking.

Sora's Shadow let out the breath he was holding, clutching at the wall to support himself. That had been terribly nerve wracking. He didn't like how shaky he felt. Oh well. Sora wasn't far away now.

He only had another hallway and flight of stairs to take, and suddenly he was standing outside the room Sora was in.

He stopped in front of it, taking deep breaths, trying to repress the urge to throw the door open. He wanted to see Sora. He wanted to look Sora in the eye ask did you miss me as much as I missed you?

But he couldn't. He'd sooner die than let those words leave his lips. And it wasn't like he could go in there, anyway—Sora'd see him for sure, then, and that'd ruin everything.

Despite himself, he pressed his face up against the door, listening. He could hear voices. Two girls. Sora. He'd missed Sora's voice... He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the sound. The familiar rise and fall. The slight squeak of when he was flustered.

Control yourself, Sora's Shadow thought, slowly, and opened his eyes.

He needed to move, or he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to open that door any longer.

But he couldn't bear the thought of going to a different part of the Castle. He wanted to be near Sora.

He took three steps backwards, paused, took another breath to steady himself. Slowly, he moved to the wall by Sora's door, leaning against it, taking yet another breath. The world around him seemed to be spinning. Something was beating in his chest, in his mind.

Sora's thoughts.

Sora's emotions.

Their connection was restoring.

He sunk to the ground, resting his head against the wall, closing his eyes. Sora was thinking such stupid and useless things—no surprise—but the fact that he could hear Sora's thoughts was wonderful.

The door opened suddenly. Sora's Shadow sat up straight, looking to see who it was. Good, not Sora. One of the residents of this Castle. Still…

He quickly moved to hide himself behind a nearby statue. It was a good thing, too. Another of the world's denizens walked out, followed shortly by Sora. Normally, seeing Sora—especially under these circumstances—would be a good thing. A relief. But the moment his eyes fell on Sora, his heart stopped.

Sora looked tired. Weary. His face was smiling, but the way he carried himself was as if he were exhausted. And worse still—Sora's Shadow hadn't seen him properly for a month now. Hadn't seen him properly since Beast's Castle, after Sora's last run-in with the Mouse. He'd never seen the damage he'd done to Sora's face.

The scar was painfully obvious. It made him cringe to look at. He'd done that. That was a scar that he'd given. The mere sight of it made his stomach twist and he hated it. He'd screwed up that night and here was just a reminder. A reminder of how awful he was, and how awful he was at his job.

The pain in his stomach only made matters worse. Being what he was, he should relish Sora's pain, not feel sick because of it.

He should get out of here, before the sickness made him do anything rash.

But Sora staggered, suddenly, clutching his chest. The girl with him—Queen Minnie, her name was, according to Sora—sent a worried look at him. She said something, but Sora's Shadow didn't hear it. His pulse pounded in his ears, perfectly in sync with the beat of Sora's heart.

Sora had heard his thoughts, and Sora was shocked.

Sora was worried.

Sora was—

—looking right at him.

He quickly ducked behind the statue, praying to whoever might listen that Sora hadn't actually seen him. That Sora would discredit it. And more than anything he hoped Sora wouldn't investigate.

He shut his thoughts out from Sora, which was painful to do, seeing as they'd just reconnected. But if Sora couldn't hear him, then Sora wouldn't find him.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Queen Minnie asked.

There was a long pause.

"I- I'm fine," Sora stuttered, finally.

"If you're sure…"

Then their footsteps continued.

And they were gone.

xxx

"Have either of you seen Vexen recently?"

Namine glanced up at Alpha. He was standing behind the couch opposite them, looking a little miffed.

"Uh… no," she answered.

Riku shook his head, then laughed. "What? Worried about him or something?"

"Not exact—" Alpha broke off, then sighed. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Ah-" Riku made a face. "Oh."

"We saw him—" Namine began, but paused, pursing her lips. When had they seen him last? It wasn't that long ago. …was it? "Well, there was- uhm."

"It was… just the other… day?" Riku finished, but he didn't sound too sure about it.

"So it's definitely been more than a day since either of you saw him?" Alpha asked, sternly.

They nodded.

"Right…"

"Why's it such a big problem?" Riku laughed. "I mean, are you really worried about him? He can take care of himself, I'm sure."

"I suppose that's true…" Alpha admitted.

"Do you… uh, think he went back to the other universe?" Namine said, with a shrug. If Vexen had gone anywhere, she couldn't think of another place that could be more likely.

"Well good riddance if he did!" Riku said, immediately. "In fact, I hope he did!"

Namine turned to him, appalled, though not entirely surprised. "Riku! That's a little rude!"

"And?"

She stared at him a moment longer, then shook her head. She couldn't think of any polite way to tell him why he should be a little kinder—and she couldn't entirely tell him he should care about more Vexen—so she would just say nothing.

Alpha let out a long breath. "…part of me wants to say he'd have told someone if he'd left for the other universe," he said. "But then again… maybe not…"

"Well if he didn't tell any of us…" Riku trailed off, shrugged. "Who would he tell?"

"Joseph," Namine said, without hesitation. She stared at Riku. "Are you really self-obsessed enough to think that everyone in this castle needs to check in with you before doing anything?"

The smirk immediately fell off Riku's face.

"Well… everyone sort of just… has," he said. "Whether- whether I wanted them to or not. I mean I guess I shouldn't have expected Vexen to uh- to tell me anything." He cleared his throat.

"Well considering you seem to want him gone so badly…" Namine rolled her eyes.

"Okay, yeah." Riku swallowed. "But- but it'd be like him to merely tell Alpha out of courtesy—"

"I don't see why," Alpha interrupted. "I mean, it's never like he's been of much… He's never been… entirely helpful around here. If he left it wouldn't entirely be… detrimental to any of our plans. We don't even have plans!"

"Then why would he bother telling anyone that he left?" Riku asked.

"I never said he did tell anyone," Namine said. "I said if he did, he would've told Joseph. Because, if you haven't noticed, he and Joseph get along quite well. Also… Joseph would've thrown a fit if Vexen'd left and hadn't told him, like he did when Sora left."

Riku chuckled. "Yeah, there is that…"

"Well, 29 took Joseph and Toby to get ice cream," Alpha said. "So we'll have to wait until they get back to ask Joseph anything."

"You could always ask other people," Namine suggested.

"You aren't the first people I've asked."

"Then check the security cameras," Namine said.

Alpha rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'd love to, but I don't think I'd be able to pick him out from the twenty other Vexens in this Castle."

"Ah- good… good point." Namine swallowed.

"Do you honestly care if he's gone or not?" Riku asked, still chuckling. "I mean he probably got sick of us and went back home. It's not like he's of any use here, anyway, and I don't remember any of us being particularly nice to him."

Namine glared at him. She wasn't surprised Riku was acting like this, but it was still a little frustrating. She'd never minded Vexen.

Alpha made a face. "It's less I'm worried that he left us and more I'm worried that—"

A dark corridor, opened, then, not five feet from Alpha. It closed almost immediately, and Axel stood there, looking a little smug.

"So Vexen got himself kidnapped," he said.

Alpha groaned. "That. I was worried about that."

"How can we trust him, though?" Riku demanded. He was on his feet, hands sparking with energy. Namine groaned internally. She hoped Riku wasn't stupid enough to start a fight, but went over the basics of spell casting in her head again, just in case.

"Y'think I'd lie about something like this?" Axel scoffed.

"You do have a track record for lying," Alpha said.

"And betrayal," Riku added.

"Just pull up the security cameras for the World that Never Was!" Axel said. "That'll prove I'm not lying! Vexen's either the computer room or one of the holding cells. I just talked to him, but he could've been moved." He waved his and a little, as if dismissing his uncertainty.

"Mmm…" Riku's eyes narrowed.

"I… don't think he's lying," Namine said, quickly.

Axel grinned. "Hey! Someone believes me!"

"What?" Riku turned to her. "Did you draw Vexen being kidnapped or something?"

"No," she replied, bitterly. Why did Riku have to assume that? Was her word not good enough for him? "But I don't think Axel's ever been a good liar," she continued, firmly. "If he was lying, it'd be obvious."

"Hey!" Axel protested. "I'm not that bad of a liar!"

"Regardless, you still betrayed us," Riku snapped.

"Fine!" Axel threw up his hands in defeat. "Don't believe me! I don't have to deliver my message! I don't have to give you the passwords to the program, either."

Suddenly he was holding a piece of paper, and waved it in the air once.

Alpha's eyes went wide. "Are those really the passwords?"

"Uh, duh." Axel rolled his eyes, waved the paper a little again, shifting his weight a little. "Vexen gave them to me, of course." Axel held the paper up, then, close to his face. "It'd be a shame if they were, I don't know, to burn, wouldn't it?"

With a snap, his other fingers caught fire, and he held them dangerously close to the paper.

"Give me those!"

Alpha lunged at Axel, but Axel sidestepped and held the paper well out of Alpha's reach. He did, however, put out the fire.

"Hear me out first!"

Alpha straightened himself. "Fine."

Axel smirked, but it fell rather quickly. "I… suppose that would've been more dramatic if I actually had a message to deliver," he mused. "Vexen really only wanted me to give you these. Oh! And he told me about a bajillion times to tell you not to change the passwords because then he'll be locked out and the Organization will know that he gave them to you—or to someone here—and then they'd get skeptical and…"

"That sounds like him," Namine said.

In fact, it sounded like Axel was quoting Vexen word for word.

"Lemme see those," Riku took the paper from Axel and studied it. "Looks like Vexen's handwriting, alright."

"Give me that!" Alpha snatched the paper from Riku. Riku sent him a glare, but Alpha's attention was on Axel. "Was that all?" he asked, curtly.

"Don't change the passwords—"

"I'm not an idiot!"

Axel threw his hands up in surrender, but he was smirking. "Just making sure Vexen's only message got delivered. Anyway, I should go before someone notices I'm gone."

And he did just that.

"So… do we trust him?" Riku said, shooting a look at Alpha.

"Well…. we pretty much confirmed these are from Vexen, didn't we?" Alpha replied, after a moment. "I can check the security cameras for the World that Never Was later, though, if it'll make you feel better."

"Didn't we… already have the passwords?" Namine asked.

"He had to change them," Alpha answered, looking the paper over. "But these are—presumably—the new ones."

"That's good. I guess." Riku plopped back down on the couch. Namine scooted over a little, so he had some more room. "Why were you so afraid of Vexen being kidnapped, anyway, Alpha? I thought you wanted him to be a double agent or something."

"Well it would be one thing if he were going into it willingly and we had a plan—not to mention a form of communication—but this way…" Alpha trailed off and shook his head, shoving the paper with the passwords into his pocket. "I'm not sure."

"We should rescue him!" Namine said.

"I won't help," Riku said.

Namine shot him another dirty look. This was attitude was getting old. "Really?"

"I don't owe him anything!" Riku exclaimed, folding his arms across his chest. "And I'm not rescuing him."

"It's not a smart plan, anyway," Alpha said, before Namine could question Riku further. "Logically. Too much risk. Even if we knew where he was and managed to get past whoever's guarding him—which is likely half the Organization—they'll still want him back. It'd be a fight to keep him and it's not… worth it…" His shoulders slumped with defeat, and he just shook his head again.

"But once we rescue him, he could just go to the other universe," Namine said. "They couldn't get him there."

"Yes, they could," Alpha corrected.

"I wouldn't want to wish our Organization on the other universe, anyway," Riku said. "They've got enough to deal with."

Namine sighed. They had a point.

"Yes, exactly!" Alpha agreed. "And even if we don't tell the Organization where he went, they'll just keep attacking us until we do. Or keep raiding us, assuming we have him."

"We'd have to kill the whole Organization to get him back, from the sounds of it," Riku said, with a grimace. "I don't think any of us want to do that. I certainly don't."

Alpha nodded. "We'd basically be starting a war. However… maybe we could send someone over there to slip him a two way radio… or some form of communication. That way he could actually help us out from the inside." He nodded again, satisfied, and started off. "I'll look into it."

Namine watched him go, scowling furiously. She saw their logic, but it didn't make her any happier. Maybe rescuing Vexen was stupid, but Riku's attitude was… obnoxious, to put it kindly. She wasn't surprised by it, no, but he could at least be a little kinder.

"Are you really that upset with Vexen?" she asked.

He didn't look at her.

"What's it matter?" he said, shrugging. "Alpha's right. It's not worth rescuing him."

"Riku…"

"It's not worth it, Namine! I'm not going to start a full blown war over the man, so just let it drop, okay?"

She swallowed. She wanted to keep pestering, but she'd run out of words. So she let it drop.