Chapter 10

Normal POV

The Castle That Never Was- 9:07 pm

Kisuke sighed as he thought to himself. He was at the Alter of Naught thinking to himself. The night was cold and there was a slight breeze. He was debuting weather it was a good idea to send Axel. From what Xemnas had told him he was tense and concerned about Roxas. Judging by how fondly Axel spoke of him, they were close. Saix had told him that at night he could hear Axel pacing outside of the other members' rooms.

Kisuke heard footsteps behind him, snapping out of his thoughts. He turned and saw Saix walking towards him. His expression was serous, as usual, but he had more an edge to his expression.

"Saix…I haven't gotten a chance to speak with you. When I first met you, when you first joined, you hardly said a word. What brings you here?" He wondered.

"Something was concerning Xemnas and I," Saix began. "A couple weeks ago Xemnas dreamed of a man dressed in black and white with brown hair. From how you describe Aizen, it's the same man from Xemnas's dream. He's having more and more dreams with him in them ever since," He explained.

"Strange…" Kisuke thought to himself for a second. "Maybe Aizen is sending these dreams to him by using the glitches in our world to send them. What was the latest one about?"

"This whole word was destroyed and all of us were eliminated. Roxas was standing beside Aizen looking guilty. He said something like, "I'm sorry," before the scene faded. Next, a huge building stood in the place of the castle. It was white and had two huge towers on the sides," Saix replied.

"Well…that has end of this world written all over it," Kisuke chuckled to himself.

"This isn't a joke!" Saix snapped as he summoned his Claymore. His eyes seemed to glow and his hair looked messier. "You don't understand what might happen if the Keyblade wielder falls into the wrong hands!" He screamed, swinging his Claymore at Kisuke.

Kisuke jumped back, dodging the first attack; but Saix was quicker. He ran behind Kisuke with his Claymore raised above his head, ready to strike. Kisuke drew his sword and met match with Saix. Saix roared out in anger and swung his Claymore at Kisuke once more. Kisuke jumped above Saix and leaped over him.

What happened to him? One second he was calm and the next he went berserk! Kisuke thought.

Saix ran towards Kisuke at full speed. His hair was now tangled and his scar suddenly seemed a shade darker. Saix swung it at Kisuke, but Kisuke blocked it. Saix roared again and swung his Claymore at Kisuke once more; knocking Benihime out of his hands and knocking Kisuke to the ground. Saix smirked as he tossed back his head and let out a loud, joyous howl. Kisuke shut his eyes and braced himself as Saix raised his Claymore above his head, ready to register the killing blow.

Kisuke wait for pain to overthrow his body. He waited for eternal darkness. Seconds passed. Moments passed. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and almost jumped out of his skin! He took a closer look and saw that Saix was frozen solid. His Claymore was only inches above his head, and his body was still in a light blue block of ice.

"Kisuke! Are you alright?" Xemnas asked running over to him.

Kisuke waited for his racing heart to slow down. "Yeah…what happened to him? One second he was perfectly calm, the next he went berserk!" He exclaimed.

"Maybe you should have told him what happens to Saix in moonlight," Vexen suggested walking over to where the two were talking.

Xemnas helped Kisuke stand up and sighed. "Maybe I should have told you. When ever Saix is in, any, moonlight he goes berserk. That's why we never let him near any windows, let alone outside, when the moon is out," Xemnas explained.

"So in simplest form he's a werewolf?" Kisuke wondered.

Xemnas nodded and turned towards the sky. "Clouds are moving in. Hopefully they'll cover up the moon by the time he thaws out," He thought to himself.

"How long will it take him to thaw out?" Kisuke wondered looking at Saix, who still stood frozen in a block of ice.

"Usually a couple hours," Vexen answered. "The most time it took for someone to thaw out two days. But that was in the middle of winter. But tonight is pretty cold…he'll thaw out by morning at the longest," He explained as the three walked back inside, leaving Saix to thaw out.

Back In Hueco Mundo…

Rukia, Demyx, and Zexion raced through Las Noches's endless hallways. The group decided to split up so they could find Roxas quicker. Renji, Demyx, and Zexion were one group; and Ichigo, Renji, and Axel were the other group. Rukia and her group had been running non-stop for ages through white hallways.

"Geez! Can you slow down a bit?" Demyx exclaimed as he lagged behind Rukia and Zexion.

"We need to keep moving," Zexion replied, turning towards number IX with a serous look in his eyes. "If we stop, then the enemy might catch us. Then we'll have to waste our energy fighting," He explained.

"But what's the point if we can't use magic or summon our weapons?" Demyx pointed out. "Can we just slow down a little? My legs feel like melted jelly,"

"Quit your complaining, Demyx!" Rukia shouted at him. "Do what the espada to know we're here?" She screamed.

I grumbled as Rukia came to a sudden stop. She was painting like dog that had just run a marathon, but she had definitely felt something. Zexion caught onto her as a familiar scent wafted through the air. He gasped in disbelief; it was Roxas!

He was about to tell Rukia about it when something stopped him. In the past his nose had tricked him into thinking that it was somebody else when it was really a double or something. Zexion knew this situation and judging by how Kisuke spoke of them, they were powerful. But this time, the scent was exactly like Roxas's. He took a whiff at it again and was now one hundred percent sure it was Roxas.

"I've picked up Roxas's scent! Come, the scent leads this way!" He told them as he pointed down the hall.

The group took off running again. Demyx couldn't help but feel uneasy. There was something weird about Zexion suddenly picking up a scent in a strange place like this. He shook off the thought as they made a sharp left leading into another hallway. The feeling got stronger as they neared where Roxas was expected to be held. They soon came to a large grey door that loomed over them. Rukia carefully stepped forward, but a voice stopped her.

"Wait, it doesn't make sense that there aren't any guards," Zexion pointed out.

"You're right…" Demyx agreed glancing around their surroundings. "If they were serious about keeping Roxas out of our grasp…there would be guards crawling everywhere,"

Rukia hesitated just like Zexion and Demyx. "Can you still smell Roxas behind this door?" She asked Zexion.

Zexion nodded. Rukia drew in a shaky breath before she pushed opened the door; her eyes scanned every inch of the room carefully. Dark walls surrounded them and a small, feeble-looking figure was curled in a ball in the corner of the room. He was dressed in a black and white robe. His blonde hair hung over his exhausted blue eyes in messy strands.

"Roxas!" Demyx gasped in astonishment as he rushed towards number XIII's side.

Roxas looked up and Demyx. His eyes grew wide as Rukia and Zexion joined him. He slowly stood up, his legs trembling beneath him. He drew in his breath and faced Demyx and Zexion.

"You shouldn't have come here," He began. "Lord Aizen will have all of his espada after you in minutes,"

"We barley ran into anything on our way here, so why the espada attack us now?" Rukia wondered.

Roxas drew in his breath. "Aizen knows you're here…" He started.

"…And now you're fallen into my trap," A voice finished. "Good work, Roxas,"

With Ichigo and the others….

"…And here I thought the Castle That Never Was and Castle Oblivion were big," Axel commented as he gazed around the huge palace.

"I wonder how the espada know their way around this place," Ichigo wondered as well.

"Probably need to carry around a map," Renji joked.

The group became dead silent again. Axel wondered if Zexion and Demyx were all right. If he still couldn't summon his Chakrams, Zexion and Demyx couldn't summon their weapons either. But ever since their encounter Ulquiorra he felt that blocked feeling lift. He still never tried to summon his Chakrams, but now would be a good time. He concentrated for a couple seconds before his Chakrams appeared in his hands in a swirl of flames. Ichigo turned around and his eyes grew wide.

"Whoa-you got your powers back!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah…when I couldn't use magic I had this blocked feeling. But after our encounter with Ul-whatever, the feeling lifted. I never tried summoning them…until now," Axel explained. "Heh, now I can fight with something I'm used too,"

"Does everyone in the organization have some sort of weapon?" Renji wondered.

"Yeah, like Zexion has his Lexicon, Xaldin has his six lances-"

"Six?!" Renji exclaimed. "He carries around six lances at once?"

"Nah, he uses wind to control five of them. Imagine if he was another element," Axel replied.

"Quit the chit-chat," Ichigo decided. "If you were Aizen where would you put a prison cell?"

"Hell if I know," Renji told him. "What's weird is that we haven't seem any Arrancars, aside from Ulquiorra," He pointed out.

"You're right. Did everyone here die or something?" Ichigo joked.

"Quit the jokes," Renji told Ichigo sharply. "If they were really serious about keeping Roxas out of our reach, there would be more guards," He pointed out as he took out the map of the palace.

He carefully retraced their steps on the blueprints and put his finger on the spot where they now were. According to the map, they were only a few hallways down from the prison hold. Renji cleared his throat and put the blueprints away.

"The blueprints say we're only a few hallways away from Roxas," Renji told them. "We just need to make a left, head down the next hall, and the prison hold is the only room there," He explained.

Axel took off as soon as Renji stopped speaking. Renji called after him, but Axel was focused on getting Roxas. Ichigo and Renji took off after Axel, as he turned left into another endless hallway. Axel's chest was on fire, but he didn't care. They were so close to finding Roxas! He soon came to a grey door that was bolted shut from the inside. As exhausted as Axel was, he summoned up all of his energy and launched a HUGE fireball at the door. When the smoke cleared, the door was still standing. Axel growled under his breath; only a thick wall of spiritual pressure separated him and Roxas.

Chest heaving Axel launched another fireball at the door. Renji and Ichigo stood by Axel's side as the smoke cleared, Axel's fireballs weren't making any process.

"D*mn…how do we break this?" Axel asked in between breath.

Ichigo stepped forwards and swung his sword at full force at the door.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo yelled as a ray of blue struck the door.

Axel lit his Chakrams on fire and threw them at the door. The two attacks gnawed at the door like mice nibbling at cheese. Axel grit his teeth in determination as he threw his Chakrams at the door once more. A loud CRASH echoed through the hall. Axel caught his Chakrams as the think smoke cleared, reveling the empty doorway.

Axel ran inside and gazed around. He saw a miserable-looking boy sitting on the couch dressed in a black and white robe. He had spiky blonde hair that hung over his dull blue eyes. He looked up as the door blew off its hinges and hit the wall. The boy turned as Axel stormed in. The boy felt happiness fill his non-existent heart.

"Axel!" Roxas cried running over to him.

Axel's green eyes filled with at the sight of Roxas. Roxas threw his arms around Axel and held him tight. Axel was the first person who he wanted to see when he was rescued.

"Roxas! Man, you do not know what we have been through looking for you!" He exclaimed wiping a tear from his eye.

Roxas turned his head and saw Ichigo and Renji walk into the room. Roxas gave the two a confused glance.

"Oh! Right…these two are Ichigo and Renji," Axel explained. "One of Xemnas's old friends found a way to get here and these guys went with us to rescue you,"

"I thought you were dead! This mad man has been trying to get me to tell him how to destroy the organization's castle," Roxas told them. "I managed to tell him a couple of quick lies while he tried to get me to tell. He even sealed off the building to stop me from using magic," Roxas explained.

"Same, but after we ran into Ul-whatever I could suddenly use magic again. Demyx and Zexion even came to help you get outta here, got it memorized?" Axel replied.

"You guys musta had a hard time getting here," Roxas commented looking at Ichigo and Renji.

"Actually…we just walked in through the front door," Renji answered. "This place has some really crappy security if you ask me," He added with a mumble.

"…Okay," Roxas mumbled, feeling weirded out. "Now let's-wait. Where are Demyx and Zexion?" Roxas wondered.

"Right…we need to find them now," Ichigo realized.