Me: Hi. I really appreciate you people reviewing this story so much. I'm gonna try and make this chapter a little bit less weird than the last one. Sorry to all Marluxia fangirls (and boys). He was a bit OOC in the last chapter, at least I think so.

So let's get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. That pretty much covers it all.

Warnings: Well, I believe there will be some language, definitely some angst, probably violence, and um…well, I can't really think of anything else. Oh yes! There also will probably be some weird Axel/Marluxia stuff in this chapter.

And because I don't know how Zexion uses his power of Shadow, I'm only guessing what he does with it in this chapter. And horsie890, I kinda make Zexion the bad guy in this chapter. Sorry.

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Chapter Five: Roxas Remembers

Demyx was gone now. He had left at about four in the morning, surprisingly not waking Axel from his deep sleep. When Axel finally did wake up, it was about eight o' clock. He got up from the floor and went over to his bed, half expecting Demyx to still be in it, but he wasn't. It was neatly made, and on top of the black comforter was a small note that read:

Dear Axel,

If you get confused about where I am right now, I've left and am now back at Deep Dive. And I hope it's okay if I used all of your shampoo, because I forgot to bring my own. And it is just now that I realize that I forgot my iPod, so I have to go back there sometime. Dang, I hate it when I forget stuff. Anyway, even though I really hate saying this, I had a really good time with you these past two days. Arrgh! Stupid pen ran out of ink! Oh wait, no it didn't…Yeah, so I guess I'll see you soon, unless you die or something.

P.S. - Tell Zexy I'm sorry about his cookies.

Peace out!

Axel laughed inwardly. He found it kinda interesting that Demyx would actually write his thoughts down along with the note. He took the little piece of paper and burnt it to a tiny crisp. Why recycle when you can burn?

He went into his bathroom and didn't even bother taking a shower, first of all because he didn't have any shampoo, and second of all because he just felt lazy today. He put his "work clothes" on and brushed his teeth, slowly but surely. Once he was all spiffy looking, he warped down to the kitchen, where Zexion was looking in the pantry for something.

"Someone stole my cookies!" came Zexion's muffled voice from inside the pantry.

"Demyx says he's sorry," piped up Axel.

Zexion turned off the light and stepped out of the pantry with a somewhat angry look on his face.

"I thought I smelled you," he said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Demyx ate all of your cookies," said Axel.

"Oh. Why are you talking to me?"

"You asked me a question, that's why. You did want me to respond, didn't you?"

"Yes and no. It all depended on the answer."

"Are you okay? You seem angry or something. Did something happen that…?"

"You happened," cut in Zexion. "That's the problem. You." He glared at Axel.

Axel suddenly remembered what happened yesterday.

"Did you really mean what you said yesterday?" he asked.

"What? You mean the fact that I would make your life a living hell if you ever came within even fifty feet of me?"

"Yes, that."

"Yes, I did. You're lucky you're approximately fifty five feet away from me right now, otherwise you'd be having some terrible, terrible headaches."

"What is it exactly that you do around here?" asked Axel. "I mean, you never do much of anything when it comes to fighting."

"Step five feet forward and you'll see."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because I'd rather let you see."

"Then why won't you let me see without me getting hurt?"

"Because I feel I don't have to use my "powers" unless I have a need to."

"Hmmmm. That's interesting. So have you ever showed anyone your "powers", or not?"

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I'm just like that."

Zexion was beginning to get annoyed.

"Do you really want to know what I do around here?"

"Yes. I thought I've been making that clear for the past minute."

"Fine, then," said Zexion with an evil little smirk. "I'll show you."

"Wait, Zex. I didn't want you show me, I…"

He was suddenly hit with a wave of euphoria, unlike any happiness he had never known. He wasn't in Castle Oblivion any longer. It was someplace he had never been before. All of the happiest memories he had ever known came back to him all at once, dancing around in his head like clouds. He felt like he was floating on a sea of color, just laying down and relaxing, not caring about anything whatsoever. But then the color turned into black and white, warmth turned to cold, happy memories turned to ones of tragedy and horror. He felt like he was falling, running away from an unknown fear that he had never known before. Everything good he had ever known was turning to bad, the people and things he had loved were all dying and turning distorted in a way he could never imagine. He suddenly felt himself in total darkness and despair, dying in a way that a person normally wouldn't. His emotions were being torn away from him, leaving only sadness and darkness. There was no more laughter, there was no more warmth, and there was no more Roxas. He started crying, wanting this nightmare to end right now, even if it meant stopping his own life… (1)

…When suddenly he found himself weeping on the cold marble floor of Castle Oblivion, sweating and whimpering in a different kind of pain. He looked around to see Zexion standing above him, smiling as evilly as he was before he had this weird hallucination.

"Wh-what was that?" he asked shakily.

"That was the darkness of your mind," answered Zexion. "It's hard to imagine that a person like you could imagine such horrible things, and yet, that is why I took you there. To get a taste of your own medicine."

"I-I thought of that?"

"In a way, yes. In most ways, no. It was partly created by me. It was quite easy to read your mind, actually. Much easier than Marluxia…"

"But why did that hurt?" Axel butted in.

"Because that was your good memories being crushed. The only pain you feel is that of your soul. It would be your heart, but you obviously don't have one. However, that was only a small fragment of the pain I could've caused you. It could've been much worse, actually. My head just hurts too much right now to have been able to do that without hurting myself."

"But how do you know what it feels like? And what it is?"

"I see what my victims see, in a way. I don't actually feel the pain, but when I see the look on one of my victim's faces, I can determine how much it hurts." (2)

"But don't you feel any sympathy for the person getting hurt?"

"No. If I did, I would be dead by now. I use my "powers" mainly for defense. If I could feel sympathy, then I would stop the attack immediately."

"So no wonder you are always expressionless."

He tried to pick himself up, but soon realized that Zexion really took more out of him than he thought.

"Would you at least have enough sympathy for me to help me up?" asked Axel.

Zexion thought about it. After he had obviously made up his mind, he walked over to where Axel was laying down and knelt down.

"Whatever," he said, extending a hand out to grasp Axel's.

"Thank you," said Axel wearily, using Zexion's weight to help pull himself up.

"You're absolutely not welcome," said Zexion. "And don't ever expect that again."

"I know," said Axel, smiling. To his surprise, Zexion managed a small sliver of a smile.

Axel turned around and limped to the bread basket. Zexion then turned around and headed for the door, but stopped almost a foot away.

"Axel…?"

Axel turned around with a blueberry muffin in his hand.

"Yes?"

"You may have some really bad nightmares tonight," said Zexion. "It's just a side effect. You'll be over it in a few days maybe."

"Gee, thanks," said Axel sarcastically, taking a bite of his muffin.

And with that said, Zexion walked out of the room, not even turning around again and saying sorry. Axel continued to eat his muffin.

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(Roxas's POV)

Roxas had never been to this part of Twilight Town before. Instead of its regular, homey feeling, it was computerized and modern. He walked around this new place aimlessly, just taking in the new things his eyes had never seen before. Suddenly a strong feeling from his mind told him to go back to his house and leave this place. After all, it was about midnight. He was just about turn around when a whole bunch of Dusks appeared behind him. He instantly whipped out his Keyblade and whacked the stuffing out of the annoying little things. Once he thought it was over, he was proven wrong. Behind him paced the man he had so many odd dreams about…

…Axel.

He looked almost angry, pacing back and forth like that. Or was he in deep concentration? Roxas couldn't tell.

"It's nice to see you again, Roxas," said the red head.

He stopped pacing and faced him, looking him straight in the eye.

"Do you remember me?" he asked in an almost whisper.

Roxas didn't dare answer him.

"I'm sure you don't…," his voice was almost inaudible.

Suddenly Roxas found himself in a giant ring of fire.

"YOU BETRAYED ME!" yelled Axel angrily.

Roxas started panicking. This fight might be dangerous. Axel stretched his arms out to the side, and in an extremely awesome way, summoned his two chakrams to his side. Immediately after that, Roxas called upon his two Keyblades: Oblivion and Oathkeeper.

"Two?" asked Axel, obviously confused.

Suddenly the ground turned so hot it nearly melted off the rubber from Roxas's shoes. He looked down and saw that the ground was practically lava. He charged forward and whacked at Axel, only two have two flaming chakrams thrown at him. He tried running around, but the ground was so hot that it was almost impossible for him to run. He did his best at whacking Axel to death, and finally the ground turned back to concrete. He took this to his advantage and practically killed Axel (which took very long, considering that he had almost ten bars of health). Axel stood there, panting, looking like he was going to fall over.

Suddenly something came over him that he couldn't quite explain. He was having about a million flashbacks all at once, all of him and this red-haired enigma playing together and having fun together. But the strangest thing was that he was wearing the same type of cloak as Axel was, and at least ten other people he had never seen before were there, all wearing the same outfit. Only a few of them had their hoods down, including himself and Axel. They all were sitting in white chairs and everyone was quiet. Then something happened that he hadn't expected. There he was, in a rainy city, walking away from Axel. Axel was begging him to come back, but he insisted on finding out something. Was that something about the other side of his heart? He couldn't tell. The memory was too short. But one thing was clear: he used to be best friends with Axel, and now Axel wanted him back.

"Axel," he said along with caring eyes.

"You remember, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes."

All of a sudden a dark, purplish mist formed around Axel.

"I wish I could talk to you more," he said. "But you just took it out of me. I guess I'll see you later, Roxas."

"Axel…"

The mist formed all around him and he was gone. Roxas walked over to where his friend once stood and smiled.

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(Axel's POV)

Axel was beat. It was kinda sad that he got beaten by someone half his age, but whatever. No hard feelings, right? He plopped down lazily on his bed and almost fell asleep when…

"Hey Axel," said a voice from behind him.

Axel forced himself to pick his head up and see who it was. There was Marluxia, standing in his doorway with his head cocked to one side.

"You sick or something?" he asked.

"No, I just got the crap beaten out of me," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

Before he knew it, Marluxia was sitting down on his bed.

"Oh, I was just wondering."

Marly scooted closer to Axel.

"So why are you in here, Marly?" asked Axel.

"Well, I just had to tell you that you have a job to do."

"What job would that be?"

"You have to fight the Keyblade Master, duh. He's on the first floor."

Axel bolted upright. He had totally forgotten that Sora was going to be here! This day was the only good day he had in a while. But just as soon as he bolted upright, Marluxia pushed him back into a laying down position.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You're tired. You need your rest."

"But Sora…"

"Sora will wait. You can meet up with him on the second floor."

"But I want to see him now!"

Marluxia placed his finger on Axel's lips to quiet him.

"You will see him, I promise," said Marluxia in an almost-whisper.

Axel was too freaked out to talk. Here he was in a laying-down position, with Marluxia laying down next to him, way too close for comfort. And what made things even worse was that he was way too tired to do much of anything right now, giving Marluxia the upper hand.

"Do you even know how beautiful you are?" he asked, staring into Axel's frightened green eyes.

Axel shook his head and started squirming. But because Marluxia was much stronger than him right now, he was pinned down onto the bed and had been forced to stop squirming.

"You shouldn't be so frightened, Axel," said Marluxia. "You might actually like this."

Axel felt like he wanted to scream like a little girl. Marluxia was now sitting on his stomach and was holding him down by the shoulders. This had to be a nightmare. Before he knew it, Marluxia leaned down and started kissing him wildly; ignoring the fact that Axel needed air. He soon figured out that it was hopeless to put up a fight and gave in to Marluxia, actually kissing him back. Marluxia slipped his tongue into Axel's mouth, earning a small moan from Axel. Then all of a sudden he pulled away, leaving a whimpering Axel still lying down on the bed.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" asked Marly.

"It wasn't the best thing ever," answered Axel. "The least you could do was let me breathe."

Marluxia lay down upon Axel.

"Would you want to do that again?" he asked, putting his hand on Axel's cheek.

"I don't know. Since when is it your right to come into my room and start making out with me whenever you want?"

"I was just testing you. I really want you to like me."

"If you want me to like you, then you should leave me alone. That would make me really happy."

He kissed Axel again.

"I meant that I want you to like me in the way that a girl would like a boy."

"But we're both guys. Unless you're not one, which I could understand…"

"I am. Don't make a big fuss about it."

Marluxia moved both of his hands to each side of Axel's face and kissed him again. Axel relaxed and kissed back. But just as soon as he relaxed, something started poking him hard on the right shoulder. Both of Marluxia's hands were on the sides of his face, so it couldn't be him. He opened his eyes and Marluxia was standing above him with his finger still on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Of course not! You just tried to make out with me, fag!"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Axel. You've been asleep for the past hour! When I came in here, you were tossing and turning and sweating. I just woke you up. What happened?"

"I just told you! You tried to make out with me! You were straddling my tummy and then you started kissing me against my will!"

"Axel, I just got in here two minutes ago. You must've been hallucinating."

Axel thought of only one thing when Marluxia said that. Zexion. He must've been playing with his mind again.

"Thanks Marly," he said as he got up from his bed. "I really appreciate the help."

"Um, yeah, no problem," said Marluxia scratching his head.

Axel raced out of his room and patted a very confused Marluxia on the back on the way out.

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(Roxas's POV)

Roxas walked into the alleyway where his friends were usually waiting for him. His friends were there, happily telling jokes and laughing. He walked into the alleyway right behind Heyner.

"Hey guys!" he said. "Sorry everything took so long. I kinda slept in this morning."

They continued talking and laughing, totally ignoring him.

"Um, hello? Did you just hear me?"

They ignored him once more.

He walked over and tapped Hayner on the shoulder. His finger went right through him! All of a sudden Hayner ran backwards and passed right through him. Pence and Olette followed behind him, not even noticing he was ever there. Roxas stood there flabbergasted. Was this some kind of sick joke? He walked forward and picked up the picture that he and his friends always kept at their hideout. Pence was in it, Olette was in it, and Hayner was in it. He was nowhere to be seen. He put the picture back and walked back down the alleyway, feeling a mixture of anger and confusion.

Had his friends left him, or was this some kind of twisted nightmare?

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(Axel's POV)

Axel practically stormed down the hall that eventually led into Zexion's room. Axel was ever so pissed. That was probably the worst thing that Zexion could ever do to him. No matter what the cost, he had to give Zex a proper punishment. Even if he dosed out more evil hallucinations, Zexion would pay. He stormed into Zexion's room, only to find Zexion dead asleep on his bed with a book open on his lap. Axel walked over and closed the book and put it on his nightstand, noticing the title. It was called The Inferno by Dante. That had always been one of Axel's favorite books.

He also noticed a small black book that was labeled "Keep Out" on his nightstand. Of course, being Axel, he picked it up and opened it. It was Zexion's diary! This was perfect revenge! He scanned the pages and searched for his name, hoping that Zexion wouldn't wake up. There was no sign of his name except for in the very beginning and the most recent entries. He read them as fast as he could, still afraid that Zexion would wake up and catch him. He stirred a few times, but nothing too serious. When he finally got to the last two day's worth of entries, he figured out that it was all about him. Zexion's small handwriting was hard to read, so he had to slow down a bit.

March 27, 1315.

A few days ago, when torturing Axel with his own memories, I discovered something that did not belong. I didn't know what the heck it was at first, but while scanning his mind while he was asleep, I found out everything about his past. (Axel's eyes widened while he was reading this) Believe it or not, we used to be best friends. I was a lab assistant and he was a general in the Radiant Garden army. Apparently we had been best friends since we were three. We were both the same age and we saw each other everyday. When I died, he was the only person in that whole world who wept for my death. I had no funeral, but I would've if he had enough munny. Seeing him cry over me made me cry too, strangely. I wonder why we aren't friends now. What is worse: death or not being remembered?

March 28, 1315.

It seems that because we forgot everything about our previous lives, we forgot what good friends we were. I am both sad and angry at myself for not ever trying to befriend Axel, and I am sad that we're all doomed to die in a few days. I think that his name used to be Lea. I know that mine used to be Ienzo. Ienzo and Lea. Sounds totally weird, I know, but I believe that's what it used to be like. This also brings me to another question: shall I tell him all that I've figured out, or just bottle it up inside myself? He might think I'm lying, or he might not. I could show him, but we both looked almost nothing like we do now in the previous life. I have to decide quickly, for I have had visions lately of everybody's deaths, including mine. Everything is so confusing now. I don't have much time to think upon it either, so what do I do?

Axel put the book down and looked at Zexion, who was just waking up, much to his despise. Zexion sat up and looked at him. Axel looked back.

"I thought I smelled you," he said. "What did I say about personal space?"

"I know what you said," said Axel. "And I'm sorry. I'll get out now."

"Oh no you won't. I know what you just did. You looked in my diary, didn't you?"

Axel sat down on Zexion's bed and embraced the blue-haired man. Surprisingly, Zexion embraced him back. He felt warm tears slide down his neck from Zexion. He had made Zexion cry. Axel had probablynever felt worse in his entire life.

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(1) Kinda makes him sound like he's on marijuana, from what I hear.

(2) Ha. He calls them victims. Don't know why I made him do that.

I know I ended that on a short note, but my parents are begging me to go to bed now, so I gotta hurry up now.

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