For the first time, the steps to the balcony seemed to go on forever. But finally, he was out on the thin ledge, and what he saw stopped him dead.

Saïx was crumpled on the ledge, one of his hands still clutching his head. The other had clawed at his chest until the coat had actually torn open, and through the rips, Axel could see pulsating veins of Darkness running across his chest. Those veins were giving off thick black smoke, and it was that black smoke that was manifesting the lupine Heartless.

"SAIX!"

Axel ran to him, and knelt down as best he could next to the other man's head.

"Saïx, what's happening? What's going on! Are you okay?"

Saïx didn't hear him. Now, up close, Axel could see he was repeating something over and over to himself, and there were actual tears on his face.

"Saïx…?"

He leaned in closer, straining to hear the words.

"Oh God I killed my best friend, oh God I killed my best friend…"

Axel's head shot back up, and in an instant he was shaking Saïx's shoulders and yelling desperately into his face.

"You didn't kill me! You didn't! It was an accident, and I'm fine! I just slipped, is all! You didn't kill me!"

He faintly heard a corridor opening below, and knew Demyx had come back with the others. Glancing back down to the throbbing black veins across Saïx's chest, he frowned suddenly and pulled the rest of Saïx's coat off.

The veins coursed all across his chest, from his waistline to his collarbone, and reached out to his shoulders. They all spread out from a point right under and between his collarbones, where a slightly glowing black-and-purple parasitic mass had dug in its tendrils.

Axel felt all the color drain from his face, and the only thought that remained in his head was that he had to get Saïx to Vexen, immediately.

Opening a corridor next to him, Axel pulled Saïx into a sitting position, and then picked him up and carried him through the portal. On the other side, he was in the plaza, and almost the entire Organization was there fighting the lupine Heartless. Glancing around, he saw Vexen speaking quickly to Demyx off to the side, and he ran over.

"Vexen!"

Vexen looked up. "Oh, it's you, Axel. What did you do thi-" He stopped speaking as his eyes fell on the parasite of Saïx's chest.

"Sweet mother of God, Axel. Do you know what that is?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "I was hoping you'd know what it was and why the hell it was on Saïx's chest. You are the smart one, after all." He remarked dryly.

Vexen ignored the jibe, and motioned for him to put Saïx down. Axel gingerly propped Saïx up against the wall of the plaza, and looked expectantly at the scientist.

"That is a parasite. Not a Heartless, but made of Darkness. It attaches itself to a host, and feeds off their inner Darkness and negative emotions. It uses the Darkness it takes, and creates a Heartless from it. The parasite then uses the host's body to incubate the Heartless as it gets stronger. When the negative emotions reach a peak, the Heartless is released. Then, the host is…well, let me just say it is imperative we get this thing off of Saïx-and thus destroy its Heartless spawn-immediately."

"Would it…would it have caused his personality to…change?"

Surprised by Axel's anxiety, Vexen took a few moments to answer.

"Most likely, yes. That considerable amount of pure Darkness gathering inside of him would have caused a drastic change in personality. His negative personality traits would have been amplified, and the positive ones repressed."

"Oh…I see…" Axel looked relieved. "So it wasn't my fault…"

Demyx had been quiet throughout this exchange, but now he spoke up.

"Hey, Vexen? Um, how'd it affect Saïx, anyways? He's got no heart to have emotions, right?"

Axel blinked. "Oh, yeah..."

Vexen frowned. "That's what's bothering me, actually. There are two possible reasons. The first is that he still has his heart, which is impossible. The second and more likely is that the parasite attached itself before he lost his heart, and the negative emotions it assimilated while Saïx was still in possession of a heart were enough to create this. The lack of a heart would have made a perfect incubator, and the Darkness of the corridors would only have served to nourish it more. But…how on earth would one have latched onto him…?"

"Are they common?"

"Not at all. In fact, the only one I know of was in our lab at the Garden- excuse me, our homeworld. How would it have found its way onto him…?"

Axel, already pale, had paled even more as Vexen spoke. "The…Garden? Radiant Garden? That- that's our homeworld too, me 'n' Saïx…"

Vexen turned sharply to look at Axel. "What? It is?"

A nod was his only answer.

"Tell me; were the two of you ever inside the castle?"

"Ye- yeah…we snuck in there all the time when we were kids…we were always thrown out by some stupid guard though…"

Vexen smiled for a moment, and then went back to business. "Well, the last time you were in the castle, how long after did you lose your hearts?

"Um…the last time we went in was two days before the Heartless overran the Garden…"

"Oh, damn it all…and were the two of you separated at any time then?"

"Yeah…we split up to explore the lower floors. We were apart for about an hour or two…d'you think that's when it…?"

"Most likely." Vexen turned away. He reached one finger out and lightly touched the parasite's body. He spoke again, almost to himself.

"Xehanort…what were you thinking…?"

"Xeha- Isn't that- you think Xemnas did this to him?"

"I don't know what to think, Axel. I just don't know."

Vexen frowned at the parasite as if it was the cause of everything, and then he was once more a cold, heartless scientist.

"Axel, you'll need to burn it off."

"What? You want me to what?"

"It's either that, or let it kill him."

"Okay, okay…"

Axel pulled a glove off, and let a small, bright flame come to life on his fingertips. Trying to keep it from growing too large, he hesitantly touched the flame to the parasite. It caught fire almost instantly, and as it burned, the veins retreated along their paths and back into its small body. Then, when the veins were completely gone, it simply let go of Saïx's chest and fell to the ground, fading into wisps.

Meanwhile, the other Organization members were rather taken aback as the large, lupine Heartless faded away as well.

Saïx's face relaxed, no longer twisted in pain, and he slumped forward unconscious. Axel caught him gently by one shoulder, and leaned him back up against the wall.

"It's okay, bro. That thing's not gonna mess with you anymore." He said softly, not really caring if the blue-haired man could hear him or not.

Zexion hurried over. "Vexen, what in Darkness's name was that all about? What happened?"

Vexen turned and eyed Zexion solemnly. "We'll speak of this later, in private, Zexion. There are others present that don't need to hear."

Zexion seemed to catch the implications in the other Nobody's voice, and went quickly back to relay the message to the others in the original six.

Vexen turned to Axel, and, remembering who else was near, motioned for Demyx to come closer.

"The two of you are not to speak of the cause of this incident, understood? No one else needs to know that the Superior did something like this. Do you hear me?"

Demyx quickly nodded, obviously frightened of punishment. Axel was a little slower, but he agreed as well.

"Alright, Vexen. I won't talk, but I have to tell Saïx. He needs to know what happened to him, no?" He picked up his unconscious friend, and opened a corridor.

"I'm taking him to his room, and I'll be there 'til he wakes up. If you need me…"

Vexen nodded. "Go."

Axel left, and the rest of the Organization dispersed as well.

I love my little evil parasite. Poor Isa, getting knocked out and experimented on.

And YES DEMYX KNOWING WILL COME INTO PLAY. IT WILL.

I love writing Vexen. I really do.