Chapter Eight: Dans La Mer Du Japon
Author's notes: Seven was a lucky chapter. It seems to have gotten more attention than any other chapter. Well.. good! This one's the longest I've written so far, and I don't plan on the chapters getting shorter or even remaining this length (although I might reach a sort of limit) I will address new reviews next chapter (but indicate my thanks for them now). Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: do I need this anymore? Refer to earlier disclaimers..

Sora's fatigued body was only vaguely aware of the morning hours. He had been stranded in strange and uncomfortable dreams. Riku had Kairi, and he married her by driving the keyblade through her heart. Sora was just a spectator, and could not interfere. Axel caught Sora's cheek, and turned his face away. Axel pressed Sora's lips against his and would not let him see what was going on. He wanted very badly to throw Axel off of him, and to run and help Kairi. Why couldn't he move? "You don't want to see this," Axel would breathe into his mouth. Sora felt as if Axel's words were an enchantment. Each time he said them he felt less and less concerned. No, that wasn't true. He felt like his concern was growing, but that it was being banished to some distant recess in his brain. It was all being locked away in an inconspicuous chamber, and the electric pulse that connected him to this part of himself was feeble and erratic. "You don't want to see this, say it." Sora was breathing in Axel's words like honey. He was a bee, or maybe a hummingbird sucking nectar from Axel's lips. Sora was split in half. He could see his own eyes glaze over.

"I don't want to see that."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't."

But the real Sora, whose voice was unfairly stolen, did want to see very badly. His defiant rage began to cause a fissure in his very being. He was being expelled; driven out of his own body. He panicked in exile. He was one half of a person. How could anyone be one half of a person?

As Sora's mind was relieved of the nightmare, it began to speak in different tongues. It was manipulated and mutated until it had no connection to him. Reality brimmed in the vacated whole of his uncontrolled imagination. He shook off the dream. Dreams are just dreams. The knowledge they provide is negligible.

Sora felt alleviated when hazy memories of last night nudged back into the forefront of his consciousness. Stale wine softened his tongue. He had been somewhat drunk.. and.. Axel had been even more than him. He remembered Axel crawling clumsily into Sora's bed in his bright red boxers. His hands depressed the bed on either side of Sora's head. The dramatic shadows in the room gave it a lustful appearance, and Sora's flawless skin was smoothed even more so by the liquid darkness that oiled his face. The same applied to Axel. He was so corporeal. His knees pushed down the cushion of the bed around Sora's thighs and pressed into his waist. He was so heavy and feral looking. Sora wanted Axel to crush him into delirium. The cocoon of heat and evaporation of sweat enveloped Sora. Axel was baking him like the sun. Sora's foreign eyes begged to be made a victim. Victimize me, Axel.

Axel struck Sora's mouth with wet and drunken kisses. He sucked shamelessly on Sora's bottom lip, and his tongue writhed in Sora's mouth. He giggled into the kiss. "I hate you Roxas. J'en perds la raison." His alcohol sweetened voice made Sora's skin tingle. The sensuous giggles teased at his anticipation. He wondered how far Axel would go when he couldn't control himself. Sora certainly would not stop him. He didn't even mind the strange nickname Axel had given him at all, in fact, he felt like a bit of a Roxas. "I can't believe you. Don't leave like that again, Roxasss.." The thickness of his voice was exciting.

Curiously enough, Roxas had the same exact eyes as Sora. No, Sora had the same exact eyes as Roxas. Except, why did it seem like Roxas' eyes were an ocean turned steely by the sunset and storm. Right now, Roxas' eyes were a quenching blue colored by the atmosphere. This was because they weren't Roxas' eyes at all.

The wheels in Axel's mind turned viciously. His face slid past Sora's and his laughter was muffled in the pillows. "I'm such a fucking idiot." His laughter gently shifted from manic to tired. "Good night, Sora." Sora's buzz crashed, and he sighed disappointedly. Still, he fell asleep with a gorgeous man on top of him, and that seemed to be okay.

The close past linked seamlessly to the present as a quiet Axel nudged open Sora's bedroom door. "Oh, hey.. Good morning." Axel held his head gingerly. It was strange seeing so many Axels juxtaposed in his mind. He had to brush away the other two and focus on the one in front of him now. That is a lot of Axel's to manage. "I must admit, I didn't expect you to be awake. You weren't yesterday and I woke you up later than I am this morning. C'mon, we can have breakfast with some of the others."

Sora nodded. He was so good-natured.He was so endearing.

Axel ducked out of Sora's room, and Sora quickly got dressed. More and more clothes in his size had been filling his closet. He must been up to at least four similar black outfits. He still had the clothes he woke up in, but they were a little small. Maybe they had shrunken somehow. Everything was still something of a mystery. He couldn't wait for the fog of amnesia to clear. Sora stopped. Why hadn't he been worrying more about his head? Sora was normally very conscious of his health. You haven't had time to worry, give yourself a break.

Sora ran to catch up with Axel on his way to the dining room. The smell of fresh creams and butter hung on the air. He could hear a gruff voice complaining.

"Demyx, this is all very French."

"Plus ou moines."

"Could you be more French?"

"Shut up and eat the food. It's delicious. I know because I made it."

It was Xigbar. He scoffed at this explanation. "Whatever." His eyes roved all over the dining room. "Oh. Good morning Sora. Axel." He smiled genuinely. Sora, happy to be accepted, smiled too.

Xigbar's plate was cleaned off, and he appeared to have no reason to stay other than to be polite. "How have you been feeling Sora? Are you starting to get the hang of things again?" Sora answered politely that, "well.. yeah.. I'm doing great." Xigbar nodded knowingly. "So, memories resurfacing?" Sora frowned at the question. "Well.. not very well." "Give it time. Well boys.. uh.. now that I can feel my arteries again.. I had better get going."

A distance voice from the kitchen shouted jokingly, "Fuck you!"

Demyx expertly balanced three breakfast plates all the way to where he joined Axel and Sora. "Well, you guys are late, but much closer to being on time then yesterday morning." The three cleaned their plates in no time at all.

"So, what are you two doing today?" Demyx had given the question a passive inflection, but beneath it he was curious to know how long Axel would be allowed to keep Axel from the other organization members. The natural answer was of course: as long as Xemnas saw fit to do so.

"Well, actually, I need to talk to Xemnas in private to see what Sora's next mission is. Do you think he could hang around with you while I'm taking care of that?"

"Why not? I'm sure I could find some mundane thing like washing dishes for him to do." Sora gave a timid smile, and Demyx followed him into the kitchen with Axel's dishes. As the door swung closed he could hear Demyx pointing Roxas over to the sink.

Axel stepped through a corridor which delivered him to Xemnas' office. "So, it seems that maleficent has been released. She's already been filling worlds with heartless. I suppose you've come to ask what else I have planned for Sora. The truth is, I'm not so sure. His usefulness lies in using his keyblade to destroy as many heartless as we need, so we'll have to stage a heartless attack on some unfortunate peoples that Sora can sympathize with. We'll let him destroy as many as he can and emphasize the importance of killing every heartless he sees. We will construct it carefully so as not to endanger him, or let him off too easily. Somehow we'll have to convince him that this will help him find his two friends as well. I've already included Demyx in this portion of the plans. He'll be visiting Riku and taking a few pictures for us to show Sora." Axel nodded meaningfully. "I'll prep him for the mission."

"It will be in Hollow Bastion."

"Why Hollow Bastion?!"

Xemnas took on an appearance of amused surprise. "Now, you question my judgment? I want to see just how much he remembers those people. I want to see if this will really work, or if we should make plans to cut off Sora from the organization at some point. We don't want a loose cannon in our halls. If his affection towards you is stronger than the desire to remember them, then it is safe to keep him here."

Axel felt sick, but nodded.

"Well excellent. Take him back to Hollow Bastion. Test his strength, his endurance, and his curiosity."

Axel's stomach lurched, but his steely expression allowed him to disguise his panic as he slipped back into the corridor, and back into the dining hall.

He heard Demyx's muffled voice shouting, "Oh shit, bend over Sora. Yeah, good, bend over the sink."

"Auuuugh! Demyx! Are you about to-"

"Yeah almost!"

Axel bolted into the kitchen and knocked Demyx to the ground. "WHAT WHAT?! WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?!" Axel's brain only faintly registered that

Demyx and Sora were on two opposite ends of the kitchen. "Axel, I got all wet!" Sora held out the front of his shirt to show that it had been soaked and a small puddle layed at his feet.

"YOU ARE A QUITE THE POSSESSIVE BOYFRIEND, huh?" Axel, embarrassed, helped Demyx back up. Sora blushed at the word boyfriend. "He was washing a plate, and he heard me drop something so when he turned around he neglected to pull the plate out from under the water and a cascade of dishwater went everywhere." Demyx had a mop in hand, and was apparently about to remedy the problem.

"Well.. sorrysorrysorry. Um, I don't mean to steal your help, but Sora has been assigned another mission."

"Oh yeah?" Demyx feigned surprise. "Well, go ahead then. I wouldn't want to get in the way of Xemnas' orders.

Axel led Sora out of the kitchen. "Today, we're going to strain your fighting abilities in Hollow Bastion. We want to see if you can handle cleaning out an entire world of heartless." Sora's eyes widened. "No, don't worry! We'll be helping you, but we think you have a certain potential to be able to do it." Axel absolutely under no circumstances wanted to take Sora back to Hollow Bastion. He wondered in futility for a moment if he could sneak back to Hollow Bastion before-hand and kill everyone still living their, and then take Sora back in safety, but he knew that would not please Xemnas. Still, he would not let them take Sora away. He would not give Xemnas a reason to remove Sora either. They stepped into corridor, and Axel made the trip purposefully short.

"Roxas, c'mon. If you don't go to the mansion we'll fade into nothing." It was Hayner this time. He was practically begging. "Something is wrong. You can't be Hayner. Hayner wouldn't care about the old mansion. Who are you?"

"Roxas, go to the mansion. Look at me! I'm disappearing." Hayner was shaking him with each syllable. His hands rocked Roxas back and forth. Roxas dared to look. Hayner was translucent and he could see the red light of twilight town bending through him. "You're really going to let me die?! To let your friends die?!"

"WHY WOULD GOING TO THE MANSION STOP THIS?! WHAT AREN'T YOU TELLING ME?!" There was a narrow path that hadn't been erased that led into the hole in the wall in the Trams Common. This hole led to a forest that was much more apparent now that everything else had been erased. Hayner's body wavered in light, and he crumpled to the ground.

"I'm sorry! Please don't die!" Roxas lifted Hayner into his arms. He was limp and scarcely breathing. DiZ appeared on the steps to the train station. "You must go, or he'll die Roxas. I'm surprised you waited this long. I didn't think you were such a cruel person."

"I'M A CRUEL PERSON," he shouted incredulously. "AM I THE ONE DESTROYING TWILIGHT TOWN?! I'M CRUEL?!"

"Roxas, you must run to the my manor. They are coming for you." Roxas leaped up off the ground as DiZ's digitalized form vanished. He couldn't take this anymore. He dashed down the only path that led from the train station. In a manner of minutes Roxas encountered Donald and Goofy running in the opposite direction. "Hey, get out of our way! We've got to get to the train station," quacked Donald irritably. There was no room for either party to run passed the other. They would knock each other off into.. into.. oblivion. There was nothing below them. Suddenly, as though the path could feel their collective desperation, it widened just enough for them to slip passed each other.

As Donald ran passed the now traffic freed path, Goofy stopped him. "Hey, d'ya think maybe that was Roxas?"

Roxas stopped at the mentioning of his name. "Yeah, I'm Roxas."

"Oh, you'd better hurry! DiZ is waitin' for yeah. He's gonna tell you the truth about everything." Goofy nodded excitedly. "C'mon Goofy! We don't have time. We'll miss the train to Yen Sid's castle." Goofy waved as Donald dragged him away towards the train station. Roxas watched them go in complete confusion. "The truth about everything?" And since when was there a train that ran to a castle? He had no time to question anything as dusks danced whimsically after him. He ran blindly into the forest and toward the gleaming pinnacle of DiZ's manor. Namine met him at the edge of the forest. "Hello Roxas. My name is Namine, and I've wanted to meet you for a long time." She ran along side him.

"Who are you? How do you know me?"

"I'll tell you when we get there." She pointed to the old mansion. The path had been deleted behind him, and the forest was dilluted in a blinding fog. The dusks pursued them up to the gates.

The train ride was unrealistically short, and the train seemed to glide through space. "Look Donald! A'hyuck. We're here aren't we?" The tumbled out of the train, and up towards the castle's front doors. A giant cat in decorative armor was talking to himself in front of them. "We'll have this place wrapped up in no time."

"Pete?!" Goofy gawked at the back of the cat's head.

"What what what? I don't have time for you," he said without bothering to turn around.

"Pete.. I thought Pete was banished to another dimension."

"Heh heh. Shows what you know. I've been outta that place for ages. I've got Maleficent helping me take over all of the worlds."

"Maleficent?!" Donald's sharp duck voice was filled with skepticism.

"Maleficent is dead," said Goofy matter-of-factly.

"Shyeah, what?!" Pete decided to turn around. "Pah, not you two!"

"It's true Pete. Her heart was taken by the heartless!"

"What a load! You two just get out of here. I suppose the king sent you two to stop me. Probably too afraid to face me himself."

Both Donald and Goofy shook there heads no. "We were sent here to see Yen Sid."

"Pah, that old hermit. He's probably already been turned into a heartless by now."

"Out of our the, Pete!" Donald brandished his staff threateningly.

"Hah! Out of the way he says." Several shadows seeped out of the ground.

"Thunder!" A bolt of lightning evaporated one of the frog-faced monsters into a gaseous cloud of black.

Goofy spun around with his shield, something he dubbed the "Goofy Tornado", and three shadow heartless dissapeared.

"Fira!" Two more heartless vanished. One more heartless leapt at Donald who had evaded his fire attack, and Donald bashed it on the head with his staff.

It dizzily sank back into the ground. As soon as it popped back up, it was taken care of by Goofy's shield.

"Augh! You two just mind your own business. You really think I'm gonna let you in the castle?!"

Donald raised an eyebrow. "THUNDAGA!" A flurry of lightning exploded Pete out of their way. He vanished in some shrubbery with the clanking of armor.

"Hurry, before he gets back up." Donald and Goofy ran inside. They quickly made their way up the spiral staircase mostly ignoring the growing crowd of heartless they continued to leave behind, and in greater numbers. "Gawrsh, Pete's really gonna try to destroy this castle!" A few soldier heartless twirled up the staircase after them. Donald blindly pointed his staff over his shoulder and shouted, "Thundara!" They came upon a door at the top of the stairs. "This could be it. Gawrsh, I didn't realize how many heartless were chasin' after us." They slipped in the door, and quickly shut it behind them.

"Hey, are you Yen Sid," quacked Donald irritably.

"Conditionally. Are you Donald and Goofy?"

"Yeah!"

"Then I am Yen Sid."

The venerable old man turned to face them. He was previously gazing disdainfully out of the tower window. He looked strangely indomitable, but also very harassed.

"DiZ has sent you here to find your Gummi Ship, is this correct?"

"Yessir!"

The Gummi Ship hovered noiselessly where Yen Sid had been staring.

"Here. This is a star chart to The World That Never Was. I had to pluck it from my extensive library, and add DiZ's calculations to the star chart. So please, in light of our strenuous efforts, do not fail to bring Sora back with you."

"Of course sir Yen Sid." Goofy saluted.

"Waiiiit as second. Who exactly are we rescuing Sora from?"

"Organization Thirteen. They are a group of elite nobodies, that is to say, the heart-hollowed remains of heartless attack victims."

"Uhhh.. soo.." Donald hadn't quite dissected the sentence when Yen Sid saw fit to explain further.

"When a heartless attacks a person, it removes their heart."

Goofy and Donald nodded.

"The heart exposed to darkness is corrupted, and becomes it's own being. A heartless. Now, the body and soul that remain behind after the heart is separated, change into a being as well. These are called nobodies. For every heartless their should theoretically be an equal nobody. When heartless are destroyed, their captive hearts are returned to kingdom hearts. Nobodies seek to take these freed hearts for themselves, and become whole again. As understandable as this may sound, they are not creatures of morality. They will do whatever it takes to get to those hearts, even if they don't belong to them. Taking Sora prisoner is one of your methods, and I dare say you'll agree that it's wrong."

"OF COURSE!"

"Good. This 'Organization Thirteen' are a group of elite nobodies. They are more powerful and intelligent than any other nobodies. They are the ring leaders of this dark circus, and they must be stopped. You'll easily recognize them, as most nobodies are reduced to monsters and lesser forms, while the members of Organization Thirteen have retained their human appearance. Do not be fooled. They are not human in the sense that they cannot feel, and do not care. They are only consumed with a desire to be whole again. This makes them very dangerous beings. You don't remember it, but you've already faced and defeated a few of these organization members."

"Uhhh.. um.. are you sure about that? I don't ever remember-"

Yen Sid's scoffing interrupted Donald's skepticism. "Didn't I just say you may not remember it. Afterall.. the Organization destroyed your natural memories, and even reconstructed a false past for Sora. Those pods you woke up in were reconstructing your true memories. In exchange, you had to give up your recollection of the events in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?!"

"No, no more time for explanations. If you are successful you are to use the star chart in reverse to reach me again. I will reveal much more then. Off you go."

The window swung open, and Yen Sid pointed out of it insistently. He wanted them to jump out and hopefully land in the gummi ship without crashing to the ground far below.

As they climbed into their ship, Merryweather burst into Yen Sid's study. "Horrible news! Terrible!" Her face was ashen and terrified.

Just at the edge of Hollow Bastion, and the dim-lit edge of the corridor, Axel stopped Sora. He spun him around into an affirming kiss. Axel was desperate. He wanted to feel connected to Sora. He wanted to strengthen their connection out of fear. Fear of loss. It was a dizzying kiss that Axel poured his passions and frustrations into. Sora was swelling with joy. His soul ascended, and then dived adventurously. Reality tilted effortlessly, and pleasurably. The dizziness Sora felt caused him to lean into Axel and hold on to him as the concreteness of his surroundings drained away. A divine spotlight wound Sora tightly to him. He was burning up.

Axel felt differently, he felt as though he were chaining Sora to him right before they stupidly swaggered into a hurricane wind.

Author's Notes: This was a conflict building chapter! Yes it was.