I don't really think there will be any new characters at this late point in the story...I guess that ends the fun thank yous.

"We need all the hearts we can get, blah, blah, blah," the right hand said.

"And we're so pathetic now, we can't even get them because we let a stupid lobster live with us," the left hand replied squeakily.

Roxas sighed. Sora, I'm bored, he complained. How long can one man honestly talk about hearts?

You have no idea Roxas, Sora answered. Every time I've ever seen him, that's all he's ever talked about: hearts.

Roxas just sighed again and stared blankly across the room. It, like everything else in the castle, was overwhelmingly white. The walls were lined with chairs raised to various heights to designate rank in the organization. Roxas occupied the lowest seat, forcing half a dozen "Number XIII's" who had been asked to replace him to leave the meeting. After almost an hour, Roxas was wishing one of them had taken his place.

Maybe you should pay a little attention, Sora suggested. It might make things less boring. I've learned a lot.

Right…sure, maybe, Roxas responded sarcastically. He zoned out again a little while later, not to be brought back to reality until the leader had called his name at least three times. Finally he looked up with a, "Huh?"

"So you've forgotten your own name now, along with the directions to the meeting room," the leader pointed out.

"No, I haven't," Roxas insisted, "I just—" then he stopped.

"Don't remember," he finished for Roxas.

"Wasn't paying attention."

"Are you implying that if you had been paying attention, you would have remembered? Because it is imperative that you remember."

"I'll do better next time…I promise."

"Because it's also been brought to my attention that you walked to the castle."

Roxas frowned, his mouth opening slightly for a moment before he asked, "So?"

"You certainly had to concentrate hard enough on that to realize you could have just made a portal…given that you actually remember."

"A portal?...I just felt like walking…you know, so I could give myself enough time to make sure I actually wanted to come," Roxas explained unsurely.

"Then why didn't you just think about it at home before you came?" A blonde girl across the way questioned harshly.

"Because…" Roxas drew out the 'because' as he thought. "Then I would have talked myself out of coming instead of into coming because…it's…darker in the forest."

Roxas looked hopefully over to Axel who sat there continuing to take note of Roxas's symptoms. He knew Axel wasn't going to help him out of this one. On the contrary, Axel suggested, "I propose a test."

"What exactly are you suggesting Number VIII?" The leader inquired curiously.

"A test of his memory, in which you come up with a bunch of questions you think are important and a couple days from now—"

"Marvelous idea Number VIII…ask him something."

Axel looked over to Roxas with a worried look on his face. "Now? 'Cause I was thinking—"

"Now," the leader insisted roughly.

Actually understanding how vital it was that Roxas remember, Axel tried to think of a question that seemed important that Roxas would know the answer to. He recalled that he only knew Roxas remembered him in Twilight Town. But what had they talked about in Twilight Town that was important at all? He knew he'd asked Roxas what their boss's name was…but had he ever actually answered that question?

"Axel," the leader probed.

"What's our boss's name?" Axel questioned quickly, hoping Roxas would suddenly get his memory back.

Fear flashed across Roxas's face as his mind once again was void of all thought. He blinked his eyes a couple times, trying to remember. Sora caught that Roxas needed help, so he started racking his brain as well. What was it that Axel had said that one day?

"C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII." No, it wasn't that…

"Destroy the Heartless—that's his big, master plan." Getting closer…

"The guy you just saw, he's their leader. Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S."

That's it! Sora exclaimed to Roxas, X-E-M, N-A-S.

Roxas slowly repeated the letters. The leader, Xemnas, gave Roxas a questioning look. Why had he spelled the name as opposed to saying it? And why did it take him so long to answer? After pondering it over for a while, he turned to a different section of the room.

"Vexen, I put you in charge of making sure all his memories are put back in proper order."

"No!" Roxas called out, but then he caught himself and continued more calmly, "I don't want to be one of Vexen's experiments."

"You remember Vexen?" Xemnas wondered.

"Y-yeah," Roxas answered, trying to make it seem obvious.

"Which one is he?"

Roxas looked around the room once and then closed his eyes to think. There's thirteen. X-E-M, N-A-S is the one in front of me, Axel is to my side, Demyx is across the way.

Jokingly, Sora added, Well, we know he isn't the girl.

That leaves…Roxas counted on his fingers, nine. No, eight 'cuz I'm here. Those aren't very good chances if I just guess.

Wait Roxas. Why eight? I only counted seven.

Roxas opened his eyes again, once more searching the room. Sora was right. The whole meeting one of the chairs had been empty. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "Where's Saix?"

Axel dropped his head to his hands in confusion, commenting silently to himself, "He remembers Saix?"

"You're avoiding the question," Xemnas noted. "Which one is Vexen?"

Knowing he would have no choice but to just pick one, Roxas focused on the group of people Xemnas had looked at when addressing Vexen. There were four people there that he didn't recognize. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and just pointed randomly in their direction.

"That one," he decided as he opened his eyes again to see who exactly he had chosen.

Demyx couldn't help but break out laughing. "Ha, Luxord! I'd like to see him try to do chemistry."

Roxas dropped his eyes down and looked at his hands folded in his lap mumbling, "Why's it so important I remember anyways?"

"You are the Keyblade's Chosen One, the Nobody of our archenemy Sora. You already left us once for that Denizen of Light…back when you still remembered us. If you remember nothing of us, what is there to prevent you from abandoning us again?"

Roxas was silent again. They had a good point. He was only there to turn against them again. Having memories of the place might make it harder to leave.

"You do remember leaving, don't you?"

Nodding slightly, Roxas replied, "Axel tried to stop me."

"Well, it's clear you have a small amount of memory left; though, it is not quite as apparent why you've chosen to remember the things you remember…My orders remain the same. Vexen is to be in charge of determining what you remember and what you don't…preferably by some method not involving experimentation," Xemnas added specifically for Vexen. "Then we will decide how to proceed from there. This meeting is now adjourned."

Everyone turned to leave the meeting. A guy with long blonde hair that looked kind of girly smiled at Roxas from a few feet away as he left the room. That was a creepy smile, Roxas noticed.

I think that was Vexen, Sora replied.

I think that was Vexen… I think that was Vexen…repeated through Roxas's mind as he laid in bed that night, unable to sleep because he kept pondering every possible variation of past that Vexen would dig up in the voids of his mind. That was the third time the whole meeting had replayed across his memory. He knew there was nothing he could have done to make it better, but still…he couldn't sleep.

Exhaustedly he crawled out of bed and wandered over to Axel's room. He knocked softly. A couple seconds later the redhead grumpily opened the door, stretching with one hand and scratching his spiky hair with the other. He looked like he would be really, really angry, until he opened his eyes and realized who was standing at his door in the middle of the night.

Immediately his face softened as he inquired, "Roxas? What are you doing?"

"I can't remember," Roxas finally admitted.

"What?" Axel questioned, still too asleep to get it.

"You knew it all along, and I kept hiding it from you, but mostly I was hiding it from myself. And I do remember some things—like that you're my best friend, which means you should want to help me with this, right?"

Axel opened the door the rest of the way, letting Roxas into the room. After shutting the door behind him, Axel rubbed his eyes and asked, "What are we doing again?"

"You have to make me remember, so that Vexen doesn't get to."

"So I get to do my favorite thing in the world…"

"Whaz that?"

"Here's a hint," Axel tapped his finger on his temple as he questioned, "Got it memorized?"

Roxas sat down on the bed with a smile. "I remember that."

It was several hours later…probably close to three in the morning. Axel had long since run out of questions to ask, and Roxas was almost asleep on his bed. That wasn't too great for Axel because Axel was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. Not the greatest way to sleep by most standards. He closed his eyes drowsily, but just before he would have drifted off to sleep, something came to him.

"Roxas," he began drowsily, "why'd you leave?"

Roxas didn't answer at first, so he questioned, "Are you asleep?"

"No," Roxas replied.

"Do you not remember why you left?"

"No, just…give me a second." He rubbed his eyes, rolled onto his front, and propped himself up on his elbows. "I thought I told you already. Because…I had to know why the keyblade chose me."

"No, not that time Roxas," Axel corrected. "You've done that a thousand times, in all the various stories. By now, how could you not remember? But even after that you stayed with us…in real life, until one morning you just weren't there. In real life, why'd you leave?"

After a couple seconds of silence, Roxas recounted, "Sora told me once."

"Sora?" Axel questioned, concerned.

"Yeah, I couldn't remember, so I asked him if he knew, and he told me that I told him that I was tired of watching you die…Because, like, all of you guys die…at the end of every story, and yeah, you get replaced, but not by the same person. You have none of the same memories—unless they're like really generic ones like…what position you are in the organization. And he said I told him it was like starting over, again, and again, and again. So I couldn't take it anymore, but I couldn't tell you guys because…well, you're not supposed to know you die."

"It's kinda ironic how the rolls have changed."

"How?"

"You, Roxas…It's like starting over with a brand new Roxas because you can't remember hardly anything." Roxas smiled sadly but didn't say anything, so Axel continued, "I know how you feel, about the whole dying thing. Somehow my author didn't kill Demyx and I…We've been through…three Organization XIII's already. One batch didn't even act like themselves at all. They're the ones that let Lionel move in. It's a pain."

It was kind of quiet for a while after that, and Roxas was once again drifting off to sleep when Axel couldn't hold in his curiosity any longer, "Well, if being here is such a pain for you, why'd you come back?"

"Come back?" Roxas repeated in shock, adding to himself, God, I can't tell you that!...Well, I don't want to lie to you, but... "I felt bad, for leaving you all…knowing I had a heart—which is what we all wanted, it's what we were all here for—and you guys still didn't. So I came back…'cuz you're my friends, and I just feel bad being happy if you aren't too. Sora's waiting for me…as soon as everyone finds their Somebody, I'll go back. We'll all leave happy together."

Axel smiled. "You'd really give all that up for us? You know, you'll have to fight Sora, right? Because Xemnas hates him…he might die. What would you do then?"

A guilty look came over Roxas, so Axel asked, "You never thought about it, did you?"

"No," Roxas answered sheepishly, both of them laughing quietly.

"Well, I'm not tired anymore. Let's keep memorizing. What is it Zexion makes for breakfast again?"

"Pancakes?" Roxas replied unsurely, but then he repeated, "Yeah, pancakes."

Wesley gazed mindlessly out the window at the open sea. Usually being on a ship made him feel better, but this time it wasn't working. He just sat there and stared at the waves as they rolled by, as gloomily as he had been the day before. A chain smoker with blonde hair that covered his left eye came into the room to grab the empty dinner plate from a small table.

Without ever looking away from the sea, Wesley glumly noted, "Tell the cook the food was good."

"Actually," the man replied, "I'm the cook."

"Oh, sorry," Wesley said looking over to him, wondering why they let the smoker on the ship, much less near the food. The food was good, though, so he could ignore that.

"But I always enjoy hearing that my food is appreciated…even if it comes from someone who hasn't said a word all day."

Wesley just shrugged.

At the same time, Zoro peeked his head through the door inquiring, "Is the same thing still bothering you Kid?"

"Aye, I guess," Wesley admitted with a sigh.

Zoro shot a glance at the blonde to let him know he should leave the two alone for a while. After the blonde left, Zoro joined Wesley at the bed by the window and asked, "Why does it bother you so much that you killed him?"

"Because I've never killed anyone…ever. It's an act of cowardice and desperateness. Y'know, to be able to fight so many people and escape every battle, clearly the victor, without once killing any of them, and then to blow my opponent up with a grenade…" He paused for a very long time. "Was I scared? Why did I want him dead so badly?"

"Well, he did attack you first. You were just protecting your own life."

"Right, like that makes me feel better. I didn't win; I cheated. So maybe I'm alive, but I'm a complete failure now. I attacked from the back, and it most certainly wasn't a fair sword fight."

"Because what he was using was obviously a sword…" Zoro added sarcastically.

"Never, I've never killed anyone. I spent seven years as a pirate and never had to kill anyone. I've spent weeks running away from the same person, and still never felt the need to turn around and kill him so he'd stop following me. And here I am…it's hardly even been two days, an' I blew someone up with a bloody grenade!"

After a very long silence, Zoro questioned, "Would it make you feel better to know he isn't entirely dead?"

"Aye, so now he's gonna come back an' wanna get bloo'y revenge? Is tha' s'posed ta make me feel betteh?"

"Well, he can't exactly do that. You were right when you said we can't die…at least without being killed by our stories. Now, he's in a place called Tartarus. It's a realm for dead people who aren't really dead. He'll still be able to fully enjoy the pleasures of whatever story he's involved in…he just can't do anything other than that."

Wesley thought for a very long time before he answered, "Not really."

Suddenly, a hard wave crashed against the side the ship and the ship rocked roughly from side to side. A storm had swept up. Zoro knew he would be needed on deck, so he stood up and quickly ended the conversation with, "Just know you did the right thing."

Wesley mumbled a few things under his breath, mentioning something about his father as Zoro headed back to the door. "Do you want my help?" He asked, hopefully before Zoro had left.

"Nah, we'll be all right without you," Zoro replied.

As soon as Zoro was out of ear shot, Wesley complained, "At least if I were helping, I could get my mind off of it."

"Why do you want me to get him?" Demyx questioned.

"Because," Xaldin responded with a hint of agitation in his voice. He was in the process of stirring up a huge storm with his special wind powers—not a good time to annoy him—"he's in the middle of the ocean, and you're the one who likes water."

"Yeah, but—" Demyx argued.

"Because it's the plan," Zexion added, shivering in the background. "Now just quit arguing and get it over with before we all catch a cold in this storm."

Demyx didn't complain further. He simply dove into the rough ocean and swam out to the ship as if it were as easy as doing laps in an indoor pool would be. Once he reached the ship, he climbed up to the deck to make sure all the crew was accounted for there before heading to the room Wesley was in. He also dispatched a couple dusks to guard the door so no one would enter the room without at least causing a ruckus that he would notice. When he was sure all the precautions had been take, he quietly made a portal and slipped into the room below deck.

Silently, he snuck up behind the pirate and held the gauze over his mouth. It should have made him pass out within three seconds, but after five, when Wesley was standing up and elbowing him in the groin, he knew the poison hadn't worked. He fell to the ground in pain as Wesley drew his sword. Knowing he'd need a bit of a distraction, Demyx reached a hand into the air and immediately his sitar appeared. Wesley closed his eyes trying to calm himself, as he repeated in his mind, Stupid magic, stupid magic. Demyx struck a chord on the sitar, and suddenly twenty clones of himself surrounded Wesley.

Wesley dropped his sword to his side, protesting, "I can't do that!"

"We've been ordered to take you into the Castle That Never Was," all twenty of them stated, "There's no time for fair fighting."

In utter frustration, Wesley charged the version of Demyx that was in the same place the original had been in and stabbed him in the gut. "You killed the wrong one," echoed through the room as the Demyx dissolved before his eyes.

Wesley stumbled dizzily, and he fell to his knees holding his head as he stuttered, "K-killed. I-I can't kill an-anyone."

The Demyx's all combined back into one, and he had a very concerned look on his face to see the way Wesley was acting. Was he cursed in some way? Was he going to die because he killed the clone? Or was the poison finally starting to kick in? What was happening?

A second later, Wesley shot back to his feet and charged the one Demyx, bragging, "Got ye!"

Unexpectedly, a stick came out from behind him and grabbed him by the throat saying, "And I got you." Wesley recognized the voice as coming from the man with six weird sticks—Xaldin. Xaldin continued, asking Demyx, "What took you so long? We're out of time."

"The poison didn't work," Demyx replied, seeming quite confused about what just happened.

"That's impossible," Zexion noted, appearing through a portal but leaving it open for them all to leave through. Xaldin walked through first with a firm hand over Wesley's mouth. Dejected Demyx followed, and Zexion ended the procession stating, "It always works."