LIFE'S NO FUN WITHOUT A GOOD SCARE

I have not written in so long, but I'm too lazy to make up excuses as to why, so, I'll just cut to the chase.

LET'S GO!

(Though, I will say this. Halloween is COMING! I bought the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack in celebration. That's why the title up there is 'Life's no fun without a good scare'. That's a line in the song, 'This is Halloween'.)

He was falling… falling, into darkness…

Axel slowly flipped around, landing on a platform, turning his head and body about to examine the area. Suddenly, light blinded him and he covered his eyes, as dark birds flew into the sky away from the platform, revealing what was beneath him.

(OH THE CLICHÉ OF IT ALL!)

The platform was like stained glass, and in the center was a close up of the World that Never Was, and of Roxas and Axel standing nearby each other; it was a perfect copy of the scene where Roxas left the Organization, and Axel came after him.

No one would miss me.

Confused, Axel looked to the keychain in his hand. Somehow, it had triggered this… this…

DIVE INTO THE HEART

But he didn't have a heart, did he?

Axel put the keychain in his pocket as he looked around again.

The power of your mind has been given form.

A voice spoke out of nowhere in Axel's mind to him, as he felt imaginary flames tickle him; yes, fire was already his power.

But what is the power of your heart? If you give it form, it will give you strength, being of Nothing.

Axel sighed contently at the statement as three pedestals appeared. Out of thin air, items appeared on them. One was half a sun; a necklace with a pendant that held half a sun. The next was the same, but with a crescent moon. The last seemed to be a star necklace, a small star barely larger than Axel's finger tip, while the half sun and crescent moon were half the size of his palm.

Axel, his hands in his pockets, fingered the Hinode keychain.

"Here goes nothing. Weird fucking place." He muttered. Approaching the sun, Axel held his hand near it, in awe of it as it shone brightly in the dark.

The Power of the Sun.

Invincible faith.

Unbending resolve.

A light to outshine all nightmares.

Is this the power you seek?

Looking across the room to the moon, Axel shook his head; he needed to look over all his options.

Sauntering to the other pedestal, he held his hand out once more.

The Power of the Moon.

Serene wisdom.

Calm wraith.

A guide to lead you into Dreams.

Is this the power you seek?

Again, Axel shook his head, eager to weigh all his options. Stepping over to the star, he looked at it, and touched it.

The Power of the Star.

Fiery strength.

Outlasting courage.

Passion that defies all logic.

Is this the power you seek?

"The moon, the sun, or the star." Axel pondered aloud, looking about him. Which did he want?

Choose carefully.

"No shit." Axel retorted to the enigmatic voice.

Which did he want?

The star was kind of redundant, since it sort of resembled the power he already had. So, Axel decided against the star. But did he want the sun, or moon?

Invincible faith, unbending resolve. Serene wisdom and calm wraith.

"I'll take the moon." Axel announced. Immediately, the crescent moon pedant appeared around his neck.

"'What a fashion fou-paw'". Axel joked with a smirk, slurring the word and thinking of Marluxia.

Now, what will you give up in return?

He didn't even have to think about that one. Still fingering the keychain in his pocket, Axel answered, "Star".

You've chosen the power of the Moon. You've given up the power of the Star.

Is this the path you seek?

"Hell, why not," Axel muttered.

The star flickered away with a flash, and suddenly, the glass beneath him broke, and Axel plummeted far below.

Landing on another stain glass platform, Axel found a doorway, a box, a crate, and a treasure chest.

"Wrong one. I'm not a newbie!" Axel shouted.

Oh, sorry. One second.

The glass shattered, and Axel fell again, this time getting bonked multiple times by a crate, a box, and a treasure chest. If he'd been hit by the door, something would've died.

Landing again, Axel found he was by a new doorway. It was one of the doors of darkness, the corridors used to travel between worlds. Oddly, light was streaming from it. Carefully, Axel looked it over, and then charged in.

Axel found himself on top of Naught's Altar, with four people standing around him. Roxas was leaning against the railing of the stairway, arms crossed, looking down. Farther away, Demyx was seated on the floor, strumming his sitar. Xemnas was standing off, looking out into the distance, and in the center was Sora, happily watching the stars.

A bit confused, Axel walked up to Roxas.

Before he could say a word, Roxas spoke. "What is darkness to you?"

A bit surprised by the odd, out-of-nowhere question, Axel thought for a moment. What is darkness…?

"…Intimidating, I guess. I don't… want to be taken away again." Axel nodded a bit surprised he was so open in his answer. But then, this was Roxas. Roxas smirk-smiled.

"Is Darkness so scary?" He asked. Axel shrugged, and walked off.

This time, he approached Sora, and when he was asked a weird question, he wasn't so surprised.

"What would you do if you were human again?" Sora asked, still star gazing. Axel was taken back by the particular question, a bit unsure of what he would do. But, he came up with an answer.

"Come back here. This place is home, whether I'm human or not." Sora grinned at Axel's answered.

"Is the Never World so special?" He asked. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Are humans so special?" He retorted, walking past Sora to Demyx. Again, he received an odd question.

"What emotion do you want?" Demyx asked with a Demyx-like smile, still playing the beautiful sitar. Axel came up with this answer quickly.

"Contentment. To be able to just wake up in the morning and be glad I'm alive." Axel smiled at the idea. Maybe he'd be able to do that soon, since the others could. Wasn't he one of the only ones without a heart left? Wasn't it only he, Namine, and Roxas left?

"Are the simple things that great?" Demyx asked half heartedly. Axel rolled his eyes, sauntering up to Xemnas as he spoke.

"No idea. You tell me…" The last part of his sentence was quiet. "You're real."

Nobodies have four questions, unlike the usual three.

Ignoring the odd voice, Axel walked up to Xemnas. Without turning, Xemnas spoke, his deep, drawling voice filling the dark air.

"If I were in danger… would you risk your life for mine?"

Axel was really shocked by this question.

It took him a moment. He was back with the group, everyone had made amends…, but would he really put his life on the line for Xemnas? This was a deep question if there ever was one.

"Yeah. I guess. I mean, it's not like I don't owe you. And sure, maybe… I dunno…" Axel shrugged, dragging on. Xemnas turned. There was actually a small, serene smile on his face. Axel blushed; he'd actually admitted that he cared for the Superior's safety!

"Is my life that important to you?"

As the world around him faded away, Axel found this was one question he didn't have a sharp remark for. "Yeah. It is."

Your journey begins in Early Morning, as the darkness fades away. The light will burn your eyes, but continue on, and the day will reveal itself to you.

Is this the path you seek?

"Yeah", Axel muttered as he floated through nothingness. "Sure".

Axel landed on a platform again, and this platform had stairs leading up to a different platform. Axel looked down.

This stained glass work of art was of all of them; it was of the entire Organization XIII and RGRC together, like they had all posed for a picture. Axel noticed he was standing on Aerith's head, and moved. Happily, he grinned and stood on Marluxia's head instead, snickering to himself.

To amuse himself, since he was bored, Axel stomped up and down on Marluxia's head, grinning all the while. Then, he moved and made fun of Vexen instead, jumping on the man's forehead.

Are you quite done?

Axel rhetorically jumped, and then nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Suddenly, something came up out of the ground.

The closer you get to the light, the greater your Shadow becomes.

Then, Axel noticed the creature was coming out of his shadow, elongating, forming into flesh from nothing. Black flames surrounded its grinning face, as it seemed like it was made of only flames.

Axel grinned, and summoned his chakrams.

Suddenly, the necklace around his neck glowed. Groaning, Axel covered his eyes and blinked as the light reacted to his weapons.

New strength flowed through his arms as Axel lifted the chakrams. Now, instead of their usual coloring, the two circle weapons were also tinted light blue. It was an odd combination, but the power boost was well worth it.

Axel grinned and swung his chakram at the beast.

FAR FAR AWAY

Roxas swung down on Seifer with a mad grin, enjoying the hell out of this. He was a seasoned fighter now, and Seifer had no clue what he was in for.

Swinging around, Roxas brought the bat against Seifer's ear, who groaned and turned, swinging at Roxas. He hit the boy's leg, but without pause, Roxas raced back to attack again.

The fight was over before you could blink, with Roxas as the victor by a long shot. The crowd roared with happiness as Roxas felt more alive than he had for a while.

Seifer sat up, wiping his mouth. Roxas looked to him.

"Not bad." Seifer muttered with a smirk.

"Friends?" Roxas asked, outstretching his hand. Seifer examined it like it was an alien object.

Slapping Roxas' palm in a friendly gesture, Seifer stalked off with a call of, "Later, dork!" Roxas laughed.

It seemed like everything was the same way it had been. But it wasn't; and for once, Roxas was glad it wasn't.

Leaping off the platform, Roxas was crowded by three people he'd hoped would leave him alone. Sighing, Roxas greeted Hayner, who introduced Pence and Olette.

"Hey, Roxas!" Pence greeted. Olette nodded. Was she blushing?

"That was awesome!" Hayner grinned happily. "Seifer got his ass handed to him." Roxas had to laugh at that.

"You must be hungry. We have pizza back at the Usual Spot. Wanna eat with us?" Olette implored.

Roxas sighed; part of him wanted to, and part of him said it was a bad idea. With a nod, Roxas agreed. It's what Namine would want, he told himself.

"All right! Let's go!" Hayner waved to them, and the three followed after, running towards the Usual Spot.

And Roxas thought, nothing had changed from illusion to reality.

FARTHER AWAY

"Is this it?" Leon asked the man standing behind him.

"Hellsing Manor, yes." Vincent answered.

Vincent, sent by Xemnas, had informed Leon of the odd Tidu bloodline, and after, Vincent had aided Leon by helping him find Hellsing headquarters.

"Do you need help getting in?" Vincent implored. Leon shook his head.

"I'll take care of the rest. Good evening to you, Valentine." With that, Leon sauntered through the bushes he'd been hiding in. Vincent smirked.

"Good luck." With that, he was gone.

Leon looked up to the intimidating doorway that wasn't intimidating to him. Taking firm hold of the bronze door knobs, he swung three times, sending tremors through out the manor.

A vampire in the basement laughed.

"He's here", Alucard announced with a grin.

BACK TO AXEL

"That was easy." Axel told himself as the fiery beast melted away. Brandishing his weapons, Axel sighed and let them melt away.

Suddenly, darkness began eating away at him, dragging him down. With a snarl, Axel began fighting back, trying to burn it away.

- BuT dON't be aFraid –

Axel shouted as he fought, "I am not 'afraid', dammit!"

- YOu arE tHeOne –

Suddenly, there was silence as Axel fell into the darkness slowly. He glared around him.

"Well?" He demanded.

One second, I have my lines mixed up!

The voice snarled, and the sound of paper being flipped around was heard. Axel blinked stupidly. "What the hell?"

Here we are!

- YOu arE tHeOne –

Axel fell into the darkness, but saw a light as he heard the voice speak.

- Who will sAVe the Prince

Aisu was in her room, looking over the odd 'summon gem' as Sora talked with the two newcomers. What was so special about this gem?

Tossing it into the air, Aisu watched it. Suddenly, the stone began to glow.

Axel yelped as he fell onto Aisu's bed, looking around in confusion. As the gem fell back into Aisu's hand, the girl stared dumbfounded at the boy sitting in her bed.

"Uh…" Axel stared at Aisu as she stared back. "Hi?"

FAR AWAY

Ariel couldn't believe what she was hearing. Looking to Yuffie, the girl sobbed silently, trying to cover it. Unable to cover it, Yuffie wiped a tear from her eye.

"Are you sure?" Ariel asked Xigbar. The man nodded.

"I… told Paine. The others didn't want to tell you, or worry you. Paine still wants to be with me, and I don't have the right to tell her no, if I love her. But I am doing my best to protect her, and I'm aiding Vexen in his study as much as I can." Xigbar reached over, placing his hand over Ariel.

"We're trying to save you, and your baby, Ariel." Xigbar told the woman as tears streamed from her eyes. "We're trying to help you all."

Yuffie leaned back against the sofa. "Demyx… was just trying to save me. He chose the lesser of two evils." The girl sighed deeply.

Xigbar leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

Ariel shook her head. "You've nothing to be sorry about." The woman stood a hand on her pregnant stomach. She was almost three months into her pregnancy.

With a sigh, Ariel walked over to the window and leaned against it. It was snowing outside lightly; winter lasted long in Hallow Bastion.

"This just goes to show." She muttered quietly her hand trailing along the stream of a snow flake melting on the window.

"How deep the lines between Dark and Light really are…"