Summary: Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

Queen's Quornor: Wow, working on two chapters in the same night! I must be in a good mood! And do you know why I'm in such a good mood? It's because I've been reading my PSM, and found out that Square Enix is planning on redoing Chain of Memories and bringing it to the PS2! I AM BEYOND THRILLED!!! I will finally be able to find out what the heck happens in complete detail in Castle Oblivion and play through as Riku! SO VERY HAPPY!!! (ahem) Sorry about that. Axel is telling me to shut up and get writing. Or at least stop raving. So I will. He's pretty damn creative as to where he burns you if you piss him off. Oh, and I apologize to the Reno lovers out there. One of my friends and I were discussing who Axel's true identity could have been, and we settled on Reno. Don't think I hate him, because he's awesome, but I just felt like I had to throw that in here, especially since Onyx is the Nobody of a character I made to pair Reno with in a fic I never got around to writing. Axel again. I now have no hair. BTW, sorry if this chapter is depressing. I was listening to Nickelback's "Far Away" while typing this. Song seems to fit the situation and the characters, somehow.

Fires Extinguished

I had to wait until curfew hours to sneak down to the dungeon. Xemnas, you see, has imposed a curfew on the Nobodies in the Castle that Never Was. He says it's so our discipline will increase and we will practice with our weapons instead of wandering about doing absolutely nothing, but I'll tell you what I think his real reason is. Xemnas, you see, has a thing going with Sa'ix. I think he placed this curfew on us so he can bang the Lunar Diviner in relative peace and quiet. I've walked in on him a few times just in time to see Sa'ix diving under the bed or shutting the closet door or something, and I know Demyx was treated to the sight of Fearless Leader reaming VII. I think that may have scarred the kid for life.

I'm getting off-track again. Must be more nervous than I thought I was. Regardless, once I was absolutely certain that the hallways would be empty, I ran down to the dungeons and started looking for 'the brightest cell of all.' Believe me, it wasn't that hard to find. I rounded a corner and was suddenly blinded by the light.

Literally. The cell they had dumped Onyx in was ringed by so many fires, lights, and other assorted darkness-banishing devices that I could feel myself getting a tan. It took a few minutes for me to let my eyes adjust, and then I approached the bars. Onyx was sitting against the far wall with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring at absolutely nothing in particular. There was complete hopelessness in her amytheyst eyes, something I had never seen in them before. I think if I had a heart, it would have been breaking at that moment. I just wanted to get her out of that deep blue funk.

"You know, you gotta blink sometimes. I hear not doing it is bad for your eyes."

She looked up at me, and I could see mingled surprise and relief in her eyes. She got up and raced to the cells, gripping two of them and leaning her head against the ones in the middle. "Axel."

"Yeah, that's my name. Just don't wear it out." I tried to give her a grin, but neither of us was laughing. Humor just seemed really inappropriate right then. Know what I mean?

I sighed, and went up to the bars, taking her hands off the bars and interlocking our fingers. I just had to touch her, one last time. "I'm sorry I didn't help you in there, Shad."

"It's no big deal. I didn't expect you to." She gave me this bittersweet smile, a shadow of its full beauty. "Xemnas didn't single you out, after all. You're far too useful to him, Flamer."

Those were our pet names for each other, Shad and Flamer. Don't know where they came from. We just started calling each other that in the middle of fucking one night, and the names stuck.

"We thought you were too, because your powers are so damn unique. Hell, I would have thought he would do this to me before he did this to you." I leaned my head against the bars, and she lowered her head as well so that our heads touched through the separation. "Xemnas has never liked me, and he did order you to his rooms that one time. I figured he'd be a little more lenient with you."

"That was just him asserting his dominance over me. He never called me back after that one night, remember? He's way too absorbed with Sa'ix to possibly be interested in me." She laughed humorlessly. "If anything, he'd see me as a threat. Remember, he's got control of darkness-oriented powers as well. If someone went to him with some kind of lie about me, it would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of me, a Nobody he doesn't have complete control over."

"Yeah, I know." My fingers tightened around hers. "I swear, I'm not going to forget about you, Shad. You're as much a part of me as I am of you. Part of me is going to die with you tommorow."

"Hey, that means that as long as you live, I will too." She reached out and gently stroked my cheek. "So long as someone remembers them, a person is never truly gone."

"But where am I supposed to keep you? If I were whole, I'd say that you'll be in my heart, but that doesn't mean anything to us. We don't have hearts." I leaned my head into her touch, not wanting to forget this. I know it made me look like an oversized cat, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want this to end.

"Then keep me in your head. You still have a brain, after all. I've seen you use it." She stepped even closer to the bars, dropping her head again so I couldn't see her face. "Axel... I'm scared."

"Don't be. If you lose everything tommorow, I'll take care of it." She looked up, and I think she knew what I meant, because a tear dripped down her cheek and she smiled sadly.

"Are you sure you can? I mean..."

"I don't have a heart, remember?"

"I know." She grabbed me through the bars and pulled me as close to her as she possibly could. We both needed this near-embrace, so I didn't resist. "Thanks, Flamer."

"Least I can do."

We stood there for a really long time, I have no idea how long. As long as we were together, we felt complete. We always had.

And that night was the last time we would ever feel complete.

"If I had a heart, Axel, it would have belonged to you. You know that, right?" Her voice sounded pretty muffled. Guess it was because she was basically burrowing into my chest through the bars.

"Yeah, I do. Mine would've been your's, if I had one." I reached through the bars and held her, stroking her hair and back. Fuck the bars. I had to hold her. "Do you think we may have known each other...before?"

"I don't know. When I first saw you, it was as if I recognized you from somewhere. But I have no idea where." She relaxed slightly. "It would explain where this ring came from."

I frowned. "What ring?"

"I woke up with it on my finger, and kept it ever since." She moved a little bit back from me and removed one of her gloves, revealing a ring on her left hand. It was made of pure, polished obsidian, just absorbed the light and held it, refusing to let it go. I thought it suited her very well indeed. She pulled it off her hand. "There's an inscription inside the band. It says 'from Reno.' I don't know who this 'Reno' is, but I think..."

"You think I may have been him when I had a heart?"

She shrugged, and handed me the ring. "Here. Just something to remember me by."

I didn't need a ring to remember her, but I took it anyway. I wanted to make her happy.

We stood there in each other's arms, the bars a cold, hard wall between us. At long last, I knew it was time to go. "I'll never forget you, Shad. And I promise, if he takes everything away from you tommorow, I'll take care of it."

"I know you will." Both of us had tears in our eyes at this point. "See ya in the next life, Flamer. Take good care of yourself until then, ok?"

"I promise." We heard a scuffle from around the corner. Someone was coming. "Good-bye, Shad." Then I teleported out, leaving her alone in her cell once more. There were so many things I wanted to say to her. So much more than I had time to say. But I got the main stuff out.

I put her ring on as soon as I got back to my rooms. Then I, big tough bad boy Axel, the great Flurry of Dancing Flames, buried my head in a pillow and cried.

A few hours later, I got out of bed and did up my eyes in kohl, same as always. But this time I added something, two black tears right under my eyes. A sign of my mourning that none of the others would question. I'd done different designs with my kohl before, just trying to make them stand out even more. I'd settled into simply outlining them, but still messed around some. As I stared into my reflection, I told myself that my days of experimentation were over. This was me now, and I wasn't going to change the design until the day I either faded, or got my heart back. Another self-reminder of what I was losing.

Then I steeled myself, and went to the Throne Room. Xemnas would want all of us there, to witness Onyx's punishment. I was one of the first to arrive, and, as expected, nobody thought anything of my new look. Demyx even told me that he thought it looked really cool. Kid's way too innocent for his own good sometimes. But I did appreciate the compliment.

Once Fearless Leader arrived, we all teleported onto our thrones. The punishment was beginning.

Onyx was led into the room by Larxene, lightning bolts once more crashing down around her in a brilliant cage. There were shackles around her wrists attached to a chain, which the Savage Bitch was using to jerk her along. I could tell Larxene was enjoying this. Her biggest rival in the Organization, about to lose the beauty and individuality that every man in our number, including her precious Marluxia, admired and coveted so very much? It's a wonder she wasn't dancing circles around Onyx.

She took her to the very center of the room and stood off the to side, as far away as the chain would let her get. But not before slamming her fist into her rival's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her double over in pain, holding her stomach. It was damned hard not to flame-broil the bitch then and there, but I managed to hold onto my temper. That's one of my regrets, that the Keyblade Kid killed her before I did. That's a victory I would have savored.

Xemnas read out her crimes one more time, and then told her that she would belong to him and the entire Organization until such time as Kingdom Hearts was completed and our hearts returned to us. Even while her freedom and self were gone, she would continue to serve us. Then he said it was midnight, and summoned his power, directing it upon Onyx and Onyx alone. A spear of red light flew from his hands to her chest, slamming into her hard enough to knock her back a couple of steps.

Her eyes searched me out, two thrones away from Xemnas'.

And then the transformation began.

She kept her eyes on me the entire time. She watched me while her body shrunk and her hair shriveled up, as her black robes turned white and melded to her flesh. Those purple eyes stayed on my aqua ones even as her fingers melted together and the breasts I had admired for so long shrank into her chest. She grew unbelievably thin and her lips split her head nearly in two, a metal zipper appearing out of nowhere. Her eyes disappeared into her head as her skull grew pointy and all outward signs of the woman I had known and shared so many nights of passion with vanished. Then the symbol of the Organization appeared on her head, and then it was done.

Onyx had been transformed into a Dusk.

Her wrists were too thin to stay in the shackles now. They fell to the floor with a loud clang! as she stared up at Xemnas, swaying/dancing/moving in place like all the Dusks do while she awaited his orders. He grinned at her while the other Nobodies simply stared, visibly horrified. Only Vexen seemed unfazed by all this. Yet another reason I am sooo glad I burned his ass. Bastard deserved far more than what I did to him, for smiling while Onyx was turned into something completely opposite from the free spirit she once had been. Xemnas told her to walk through the castle and join the other Dusks outside, in the City that Never Was. None of the lesser Nobodies, you see, had been allowed in the castle today. I guesss Xemnas didn't want the ones he had transformed like this to recall what happened to them, and turn against us. All the Dusks look the same, so there's no telling which one were former Organization members and which were not. Onyx, her legs stretching far beyond what she had formerly been capable of, began walking out of the Throne Room.

After some trifling matters, the meeting was dismissed. I don't even remember what was said and done. I was just...numb. Painfully conscious of Onyx's empty throne across from me. As soon as I could, I got the hell out of that room.

I waited by one of the doors I knew she would have to pass through. Sure enough, Onyx soon arrived, still walking. She stopped when I stepped in front of her. I knew what I would probably have to do, but I wanted to make sure of it. I examined every inch of her for some reminder of the woman I had cared so deeply for, trying to find some reason to prevent what I had promised to do.

There was nothing.

"Onyx?" I asked. She didn't give any sign that she had heard or understood.

That's when I found my confirmation. The Onyx I had known, had shared so much with, the woman I would have loved if I had a heart, was gone. This Dusk was an abomination, a shell of what she had been.

I had a promise to keep.

I summoned my chakrams, said I was sorry, and then obliterated her. I burned the ashes in my fires, scoured the area thoroughly with my flames, until I was certain no trace of her remained. Xemnas would never know that she had never made it outside. All the Dusks look alike, so there would be no way he would find out.

Then I just walked away, locking my memories of her deep inside my head.

Xemnas had killed her, not me.

The fires had been extinguished.

AOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAO

Queen: This isn't the end of it! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Now excuse me while I go find a wig...