(( I'm so so SO sorry for the massive delay everyone! Life and school have been kicking me in the ass lately. At long last, here's chapter 3 -- and hopefully I can stay on top of things this time around. Summer's coming soon! ))

Day 14

"So, got any plans?"

Roxas glanced up at Axel. The man was looking down at him expectantly.

"I was just gonna report to Saix and then go to my room like I always do."

"Go to your room?" Axel said, the shock visible on his face. He sighed, then shook his head. "Oh, Roxas, Roxas..."

A boy with sandy brown hair and camo shorts suddenly charged down the street before them. "Move it, Pence!" He was soon followed by a girl with long brown hair, and a larger boy wearing a headband.

"Hey, wait up!" the boy moaned, panting.

"Last one there has to buy the winner an ice cream!"

The girl sighed. "Oh, sure, now you tell us!"

"No fair, Hayner!"

The first boy grinned. "Better get flyin' if you don't wanna end up buyin'!" With that, the three children ran down the street and out of sight.

"Who were they?" Roxas asked quietly.

"Hmm. Must be some kids who live here."

"Really?" He looked up at Axel. "They sure acted weird."

Axel smirked. "Yeah? How do you figure?"

"Why did those last two seem to enjoy getting pushed around like that? They were even making those 'haha' noises."

Axel chuckled. "You mean laughter? Sometimes people with hearts do that even when it doesn't make any sense."

"Oh," Roxas said quietly, looking down at his chest. "Then I guess they're different from us."

"C'mon," Axel said, pointing. "Let's get some ice cream."

"Why?"

"Whaddaya mean, why?" Axel patted Roxas heartily on the back. "Because we're friends!"

"So... friends are people who have ice cream together?"

Axel rolled his eyes, but was smiling despite himself. "Sort of. That, or laugh at stupid stuff that doesn't make any sense. Like those kids we just saw -- they were friends. C'mon, I'll show you how it works."

Xurik walked back to his room wearily. Today had been his first real mission -- defeating a bunch of Heartless. So far, he seemed to be getting the hang of things decently... the Keyblade felt like a part of him, as if he had been using it for months.

He settled down on his bed. The better he did, the sooner Kingdom Hearts would be completed... and the sooner he would gain a heart.

That was what they all wanted, wasn't it?

Day 15

Xurik and Roxas stepped forth from the dark corridors, arriving in Twilight Town. Roxas glanced around them, then turned to Xurik.

"We have to destroy Heartless, right?"

Xurik nodded. Most of his missions involved destroying the creatures -- after all, it was only with the power of the Keyblade that hearts could be collected. That was his primary use within the Organization, it would seem.

"Alright," Roxas said quietly.

There was a long, awkward pause. Neither of the boys were very talkative, and it was usually the senior members of the Organization that provided the majority of the conversation during their missions. Put together, they were at a loss for things to say.

"Er... let's do our best," Xurik said awkwardly, feeling a need to fill the silence. Roxas said nothing in response, but the two were suddenly saved by the appearance of several Heartless. Xurik silently gave thanks for the distraction.

Xurik and Roxas immediately jumped to work, hacking away at the dark monsters with Keyblade and sword alike. Hearts flew into the sky, vanishing into darkness as they travelled to... wherever they went. Honestly, Xurik had no idea. He hadn't seen the Kingdom Hearts thing they were building, and he had already killed a decent amount of Heartless...

"Watch out!" Roxas suddenly shouted. An orb of light exploded from the tip of his sword, destroying the Heartless creeping up behind Xurik.

"Thanks," Xurik said, taken by surprise. He smiled awkwardly.

"No... problem." Roxas said. The two shuffled their feet for a moment before continuing deeper into the town. Might as well stay busy... the more Heartless they fought, the less they would have to talk.

"I think that's probably enough," Xurik said, panting as he smashed his Keyblade through yet another Heartless. "We've collected a good bit of hearts, I think."

"Yeah," Roxas said. His sword vanished with a flash of silvery light as he straightened from his battle stance.

There was another pause. "Er... good job today," Xurik said, feeling the need to say something. "You... fight well.

"Oh. Thanks... you too."

"I guess we should RTC," Xurik said, extending his hand and creating a dark portal. He began to walk towards it, but Roxas grabbed his sleeve.

"Oh, wait a second," he said suddenly. "I'm supposed to be meeting Axel after work. Do you want to come?"

"Meeting him? Why?"

"For ice cream. Because we're friends, I guess."

"Oh." Xurik paused. "I had ice cream with Axel too. Does that make us friends?"

Roxas shrugged. He still wasn't sure how all of this worked, not exactly.

"I think you have to laugh about things too. Or something."

"Oh," Xurik said, frowning. He was a bit confused, but Roxas seemed like a nice enough guy. Why not give it a try?

"Good, you made it," Axel said cheerfully as Roxas rounded the corner on the clock tower. His eyes widened as Xurik appeared behind him. "Well well, what have we here? The Keybearer decided to tag along too?"

"Hello, Axel," Xurik said.

Axel scratched his head. "Well, I only brought two ice creams, but... just this once I'll take one for the team." He produced two of the familiar-looking ice cream bars, handing one to each boy. The two sat and began eating.

"How were your missions?" Axel said after a moment. "You two were teamed up today, right?"

"Yes," Roxas said.

"We defeated Heartless," Xurik said simply.

"That's good." Axel paused for a moment, staring out into the sunset. When the two other boys said nothing, he sighed. "Jeez. You'd think two halves would make a whole, but you're just as silent together."

Xurik and Roxas continued to sit in silence. Axel chuckled despite himself.

"Wow. You both have a talent, I'll give you that. No way I could stay quiet that long." He flopped down on his back, staring up at the coppery sky overhead. "Well, just keep coming around here after missions. Maybe you can get some conversation practice or something. The sooner you de-zombify, the better!"

Day 22

"Hey, Xurik. You and me are teamed up for today," Axel said with a smirk as the boy emerged from his bedroom. He gave him a pat on the back, then walked off to speak with Saix.

"Oh, okay," Xurik said, giving a slight smile. He, Axel, and Roxas had been meeting up after missions for the past week -- and slowly Xurik found himself talking more and more. It was an odd, vaguely familiar feeling. That was what friends did, right?

"Heading out, are ya?" Xigbar said, passing Xurik. He chuckled, glancing at Axel to make sure that he wasn't listening. "It's nice in here with the loudmouths gone."

Luxord sighed. "Perhaps, but what shall I do without half the poker league?"

"What are you talking about?" Xurik asked, confused. Xaldin, reclining on one of the sofas, shook his head slowly.

"Just go about your mission. Nothing else need concern you."

Xurik paused for a moment, then shrugged. He had no idea what they were talking about, but then again he was fairly used to being kept in the dark on matters of the Organization. His job was collecting hearts -- that didn't require him to be informed. That was the impression he had received, at any rate.

His eyes fell upon the pale grey floor. His purpose lay within the Organization, and he was an essential part of it because of the Keyblade. Why, then, did he not truly feel like a part of it? Would he someday earn his place within the ranks, or would he always be taking orders blindly, like some kind of tool?

"Okay, let's get this done fast," Axel said, yawning and stretching his lanky arms. He peered out at the city, warmed by the eternal sunset. "What was today's target again? A Guardian?"

Xurik glanced up, brought out of his thoughts. "Uh, I think so. Yeah."

Axel rolled his eyes. "You are such a zombie. Want me to have all the fun while you figure it out? C'mon."

They began to walk through the city, searching for the Heartless. Xurik was beginning to get his bearings within Twilight Town; it was the only place he knew aside from The Castle That Never Was, and all of his missions had been there so far. Vexen had told him that there were other worlds, although he had yet to see any of them.

They rounded a corner, finding themselves at the wide square sandlot. Some kind of tournament was advertised in the posters surrounding the clearing.

The shadows suddenly melded together; an enormous flying Heartless materialized in midair. Xurik quickly summoned his Keyblade in a flash of light as Axel readied his flaming chakrams.

"Here we go, Xurik!" he called out. "Keep your head out of the clouds!"

Xurik nodded. He quickly dashed forward, leaping into the air and slashing at the Heartless. It appeared to be made of a thick metal armor, but upon closer inspection Xurik could see that the metal was actually made from extremely compact amounts of darkness. The Heartless suddenly began to give off an odd glow.

"Watch out!" Axel shouted, shoving Xurik out of the way and then jumping to the side as well. Xurik stumbled across the sandy ground, just barely avoiding a huge laser beam sweeping across the ground.

"Th...thanks," he panted.

Axel nodded, keeping his eyes on the Heartless. "You've gotta look sharp out here, kiddo. Don't let your guard down for a second!" He leapt into the air, tossing his chakrams at the Heartless; they flew in a wide arc, trailing flames, then smashed into the thick hide of the creature. It collapsed to the ground, momentarily dazed.

Xurik quickly took advantage of the brief opening, dashing forward and smashing his Keyblade into the Heartless with all the force he could muster. It shrieked, then slowly began to fade away into darkness -- its heart drifted into the air and vanished.

"Mission accomplished," Axel said cheerfully. He twirled one of his wheel-like weapons around his finger. "Heh, gotta say, man, you've come a long way in just a handful of days. Roxas has too. You ready to head back?"

Xurik nodded. The concept had seemed strange at first, but he was beginning to grow accustomed to their afternoons on the clock tower. Roxas and Axel were good company... and they treated him differently than the others in the Organization. He wasn't quite sure what it was... but he liked it.

The three boys sat on the ledge of the clock tower yet again, peering out over the city. Axel slowly lapped up a melting drop of sea-salt ice cream, then sighed.

"I'm gonna miss this ice cream thing we do."

Roxas lifted his head. "Huh? Why?"

"Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna be away."

Xurik frowned, confused. "Away where?" Where was there to go besides the Castle and the worlds they carried out missions in? Surely he wasn't staying in one of those worlds for an extended period of time. Why would he? The only interesting things there were Heartless.

Axel smirked. "Well, since you're my buddies, I guess I can fill you in. I'm gonna be at Castle Oblivion for a while."

"Castle Oblivion?" Xurik repeated quietly.

Axel nodded. "The Organization's got a second castle situated in the world between worlds. It's called Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah," Roxas said. "I wish people told me these things."

Xurik nodded. He hated being kept in the dark, but from what he gathered Roxas was usually in the same position. He would have guessed that they were all taking orders from higher ups like Xemnas and Saix, but Axel seemed pretty well-informed...

The flame-haired man stood with a groan. "Well, I gotta head back and get ready. Fun, fun, fun. Anyway, you two take your time." He turned and rounded the corner, vanishing from sight.

"I wonder what's at Castle Oblivion?" Roxas wondered aloud. Xurik shrugged.

"Who knows. It's not like any of them are going to tell us."

Roxas nodded glumly. He glanced down at his ice cream stick, the ice cream long-gone, and suddenly gasped, wide-eyed.

"Xurik... what does this mean?"

The steely-haired boy glanced down at the wooden stick. Printed in faded ink was the word "WINNER".

"I guess it means you're a winner."

"But what did I win?" Roxas muttered. "Maybe we can ask Axel tomorrow. He'd probably know."

Xurik nodded, standing to go now that the two were both finished with their ice creams. He tossed his wooden stick over the side of the building -- Roxas clutched his tightly, then discretely slipped it into his cloak pocket.

Day 23

Footsteps echoed through the silent corridor as Axel made his way through the castle, the sounds reverberating through the emptiness. He paused as Saix rounded a corner in front of him.

"Axel. I have a message from Lord Xemnas." Saix folded his arms, no hint of of a smile on his face. "We have reason to believe that one or more of the members assigned to Castle Oblivion intend to betray us. Find them, and dispose of them."

Axel considered this for a moment, then smirked.

"And I take it that's straight from Lord Xemnas's lips, huh?"

"Axel!" Roxas called, walking into the Grey Area and scanning the room for the older man. Xurik soon followed, having woken just moments after Roxas.

"What is it?" Xurik asked, but Roxas had already sprinted off to Saix. The blond boy had scarcely opened his mouth when Saix answered the question for him.

"Axel already left."

"He did?" Roxas said quietly as Saix walked away. He reached into his pocket and extracted the wooden popsicle stick. "But... this ice cream stick that says WINNER... I have to ask him what I won."

"Well... ask him when he gets back," Xurik suggested. Roxas nodded glumly.

"Xurik," Saix called, and the boy obediently approached. He realized that Number XV was standing beside the blue-haired man, as hooded and silent as always.

"Starting today you will be executing missions alongside Xion. We need you to eliminate a specific Heartless. Xurik, you are in charge."

"Oh," Xurik said, slightly surprised. He had never been in charge of anyone else before -- but then again, didn't his being Number XIV imply a higher rank than Number XV? It was a feeling that he was hardly used to, considering how he was usually ordered about by everyone else in the Organization.

He held out his hand, summoning a dark portal to Twilight Town. He looked at Xion; her expressionless face remained masked by her hood.

"Come on."

The mission passed by fairly smoothly, although Xion continued to act without saying a word. They searched through Twilight Town until they found the Heartless -- a large Poison Plant. Xurik defeated it with ease, although Xion was mostly using magic to fight. Did she even have a weapon?

After they finished, Xurik opened a dark portal for Xion.

"You go on ahead," he said quietly. "I... have to go somewhere first."

Xion accepted this explanation wordlessly and vanished through the darkness. Xurik shook his head; he was fairly quiet now, but had he really been as silent as Xion when he first joined the Organization? Surely not.

He met Roxas at the clock tower, and the two soon began eating ice cream. It was oddly quiet -- Axel typically provided most of the conversation-starters.

"I had a mission with Xion today," Xurik said finally, after nearly ten minutes of silent eating.

"Oh," Roxas said blankly. "I haven't had any with her yet. She seems... I don't know. She doesn't seem like anything."

"That's basically how she is," Xurik agreed. "Like... a blank slate, almost. Was that how we were?"

"I guess. I don't really remember."

The two boys lapsed into silence once more.

Day 24

"This place is, like, a hundred times better minus all the bossy coworkers, am I right?" Demyx said cheerfully, leaning on his sitar. Roxas tilted his head, confused.

"Bossy coworkers?"

"Yeah, the 'dream team' that got shipped off to Castle Oblivion." The older boy grinned. "Dreamy for me, because they're gone!"

"Oh," Roxas said quielty. Xurik sighed -- it was strange not having Axel around. It was as if as soon as they had made a friend, he was taken away from them. At least Xurik still had Roxas to hang out with...

"Too bad you three didn't get to spend more quality time with them," Xigbar said with a grin, as if reading Xurik's thoughts.

He nodded, then frowed. "Wait -- who do you mean? What three?"

"Oh, you know. You, Roxas, and Poppet. The three newbies."

"Poppet? Who's that?" Roxas asked, coming into the conversation.

"Xion, of course. Who else, kiddo?"

"My name's not 'kiddo,'" Roxas muttered sullenly; Xurik glanced at him. Axel called them both 'kiddo', didn't he? Was that why Roxas was getting touchy about Xigbar using it? Either way, the absence of their friend had put both of the boys in a sour mood -- but Roxas especially.

Xurik was paired with Xion once again -- he wasn't sure why, but perhaps he was expected to help train the new recruit now that half of the Organization had gone to Castle Oblivion. It went smoothly enough... defeating Heartless was rarely a difficult task. Xurik was distracted the entire time; Axel's departure was on his mind, and all he wanted to do was finish the mission so that he could hang out with Roxas.

"Good job," Xurik said distractedly once they finished their mission. He turned, barely glancing at the silent, hooded figure. "You go on ahead without me. I have someplace I need to go again."

He began to walk towards the train station, but was stopped by a sudden noise behind him.

"Xu... Xurik..." a small, girlish voice whispered.

"W...what?" he said, turning in surprise to Xion. "Did you say something?"

"Your name... it's... Xurik, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Xurik said, brow furrowed. The hood was still up, maskin her face, but her lips had definitely been moving. "That's right... Xion." He hesitated for a moment, then continued walking towards the train station to meet Roxas. Just then... was that the first time Xion had spoken? And if so, did that make his name her first word?

"...Be that as it may, you are ready to take on Castle Oblivion," Axel said with a grin. The Keyblade master had fought well... he could see where Xurik got it from. "Trust what you remember, and seek what you forget. Then you will find someone very special..."

The boy's turquoise eyes narrowed. "You mean King Mickey and Sora?"

Of course that's what his first guess would be. Naminé had barely made a dent in replacing his memories. Xemnas and Saix already suspected that Marluxia was going to try to use the boy against them, but for now Axel would have to play along with Marly's little plot. He pressed a gloved finger to his chin thoughtfully.

"You'll just have to give some more thought to who it is that's... most important to you." He moved his hand to his chest. "Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they're out of reach. But I'm sure that you can find yours... Riku."