CHAPTER II

Am I Heartless, Am I Soulless

(NOTE)

Okay, since the last chapter was the introduction, here comes the actual, ahem, storyline. :3 Again, for stupid people coming in on chapter two without reading chapter one, nonetheless the first two stories in this trilogy, stop being stupid and go read them. :3 Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own any Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy characters or settings or anything. I do own Charity, Nessa, etc. But I don't own Quince, goddammit.

(/NOTE)

"I missed you." Nessa found herself whispering towards Quince, much to her surprise or lack thereof. The backpack in which she packed the necessities for their 'couple day stay' clung relentlessly to her aching shoulders, much like the sad smile that clung to her face.

Before she knew it, he had been embracing her. "I'm so glad you survived all that." he murmured.

Nessa's eyes teared up lightly, but she didn't look up at him, she simply wrapped her arms around him. Did he even know how long he had been in a coma for? Did he think that they just finished battling Marluxia, Estelle, and Parker?

Charity frowned, "Nessa," she interjected as her best friend's eyes shot towards her, just as Quince's did. Quince didn't understand, but Nessa got the silent message and let go.

After all, she had Hayner.

Dark brown orbs moved from Nessa to Charity, still confused. He sat down though. "It's nice that we can all finally be together without having to go kill somebody." he mentioned. Although everyone laughed, Nessa was sure now; he had no idea he'd been asleep for so long.

"Hey, Quince, you sure you should be—..." a voice broke the awkward silence as a new presence made himself known in the room. He had medium-length, shaggy brown hair and black eyes. The look on his face was that of someone smug enough to know anything in the world, and a face was one that they had quite the past with. "Well, well. Charity and Nessa."

"In the flesh." Charity smiled. She was sure she could trust Broden now that he had been with the restoration committee for at least two years. Apparently he had done them no wrong, because they would have kicked him out long ago if he had.

"Well, well, well." a voice from inside of Charity came. Here it came; Exie stepped out of her, quickly becoming whole in front of them. She, too, had shown signs of growth, especially since her time in the Organization. Taller with more of a figure, Exie represented an eighteen year-old about as much as Charity did. Although Broden was at least a year older than her, he came close to looking at him eye-to-eye.

"Hellloooo," Broden practically howled. Kairi immediately shouted.

"Every time a girl walks in this house!" Pushing him back into the hallway, she shook her head. "Boys, too... That boy would screw anything that..." Exie followed him into the hallway, smirking as she walked.

"Um, Kairi?" asked Nessa, trying to break her rant, in a low whisper as Quince started a conversation with Charity, "Does Quince even know that it's been two years?"

Kairi's eyes widened, and then she sadly shook her head, "I think that he thinks it's only been a couple days since we unlocked Kingdom Hearts."

"I have to tell him." Nessa decided quickly, ignoring any words of discouragement from doing said task from Kairi.

"Quince," she started, "do you know how long it's been since you've been asleep?"

xxxxx

The girl floated with no direction in the darkness. Blind night covered the violet of her eyes and motionless bliss followed her through her deep slumber. No way out, no way in; how exactly was she born here? Was she born in the darkness.

A heavy weight in her left hand, almost as heavy as the burdens she had carried in her previous life.

Previous life.

Did she even have one?

Gravity built up slowly. Her feet slowly hit some kind of a ground. Solid. Thud. When was the last time she felt anything solid beneath her feet? When was the last time she felt at all?

Was it even possible for a Heartless to feel? Was it possible for a Heartless to think? To look? To even be?

She had no previous life, really. She lived within another. For the first time in her life, she felt a sensation; she felt cold on her fingertips.

What happened when you've been living in the darkness of a heart for so long? What happened when you released yourself from that darkness?

What happened when you released yourself from that darkness without the heart that you've been in being taken?

She had a name. The girl who owned the heart she was residing in; the name rang like a bell and rolled across her tongue like a marble when she spoke it aloud.

"Charity."

xxxxx

"...Two years." Quince murmured to himself. He stared down at his two, rough hands. Somehow, they had felt weaker when he woke up. His face felt different, his hair was longer, and his eyes felt like they hadn't been open in ages. It all made sense now. But two years? He put his hand to his head; it ached as if there was a scar.

"Yes." Nessa told him quietly.

Interrupting the silence, a shout was heard from inside the room. The group immediately felt mixed emotions of refusal and readiness as their weapons appeared in their hands. Not to anyone's surprise, Broden ran in the room. He was wielding a gunblade.

There was no struggle. No enemy, no Heartless, no Nobody. Charity just laid on the floor in a fetal position, screaming. Her hands covered her ears as if she was hearing a horrible sound, and her screams sounded almost like nails on a chalkboard.

"Charity!" Riku screamed, worried. He ran to her and practically covered her in a hug, as if he was shielding her from something. The screaming didn't cease or die, but he could feel her head pounding underneath him and her heart beating threefold. When he listened close enough, he could hear a voice. Saying what, he couldn't distinguish.

"There's someone inside of her!" Riku shouted.

Exie backed up a little bit; she had just walked in the room. "Don't look at me."

Charity's screaming finally ceased as a strange presence walked out of Charity as if a ghost walking through a body. Becoming solid quickly, they got a better look at the figure.

Medium length, black hair draped from her scalp. Her eyes were a pale violet; one of the rarest colors. Although her skin was paler and her lips redder, she almost looked like Charity or Exie; almost. She had a demeanor about her that separated the two from her very well.

"Who are you?" asked Sora, angrily. His clothing had changed much from the last time they met; now an electric yellow and pale pink, he looked like Easter came early. It was certainly a step up from the last two times that he had traveled with them, both of which he was wearing a sea green and plum purple outfit to.

The figure didn't speak. She simply blinked at all of them, looking around in confusion. She now knew why she was out of Charity; she had been pulled out. She was called out. A deep voice; a powerful one. One that seemed to lust for control. One that had control at a point, but possibly lost it? Why was it that she could think so clearly, but no words came to her and no ability to speak.

"Are you Charity's Heartless?" asked Riku, who helped Charity up. She was quivering and looked much paler now, almost sickly.

One word came to her in the same deep voice that had pulled her out of the brunette girl. One command. In a voice that had never been heard before, a voice that was eerily similar to Charity's, but somehow more full of breath and life, she spoke.

"Roxas."

Backing up a pace, Sora could feel Roxas now within him. The honey blond boy stepped out of Sora. His clothing hadn't changed a bit, although maybe more to fit the taller, fully-formed version of himself. Fists clenching and teeth grinding, he walked past Sora and up to the girl.

She didn't move at all. The girl stood there in confusion, or lack thereof, as she looked up at the blond boy. Speaking the word again, she repeated, "Roxas."

"What is it?!" Roxas asked, now confused, "Who told you my name? Who are you?"

Her command; she could speak this. "Get Roxas."

Roxas's heart skipped a beat. Get Roxas? "What do you mean 'Get Roxas'?"

"Get Roxas." she responded, her violet eyes narrowing towards the floor.

"Obviously," a familiar voice came. Apparently, he had been standing there for enough time to understand what was going on, "She's going to 'get Roxas'." the fiery redhead told them, and laughed quite a bit himself. His eyes flashed over to the girl, and pushed his way through the wall of keyblade wielders to the girl and Roxas.

Another command. "Get Axel." she murmured.

"What?!" he asked, now angered.

"Ya'see?" asked Roxas, "I don't get it."

As if something went off in the girl, her eyes immediately faded to black, as did the area around her. In less than five seconds, Axel, Roxas and the girl had disappeared into the darkness that she brought with her.

"Roxas!" Sora shouted. Naminé's voice came from Kairi's body as she shouted in unison with him. A girl with long, pale blonde hair and cobalt eyes sprung from the girl, her body now becoming solid and full. She stood in the area where Axel and Roxas had disappeared.

"I knew it was possible." a voice from Nessa's direction came, although not quite Nessa's voice. Although Nessa was given control of her Somebody's body because she had lived the real life, Sada never hesitated to speak up. "The ability to give away hearts."

"What'd'ya mean, Sada?" asked Quince.

Sada laughed. "Remember? You probably don't. When I first talked to Nessa, I was thinking about it. And now I'm positive; the Heartless that I first saw inside of Charity can give away hearts to Heartless, and bodies to Nobodies."

"How can you tell just that?" asked Riku, who was still kneeling next to the flushed body of Charity, who was now on the ground, looking very sick.

"Almost Somebodies can." Sada said simply, "And that's the whole reason that her Heartless can. Because she's got the Savior of Balance."

Everyone looked at Sada confused.

She sighed, "Think about it. What's the perfect in between for a Nobody and a Heartless?"

"I guess you're right." Nessa's voice came from the same body.

"Of course I am."

"Th-that doesn't explain at all," Charity rebelled as she tried to stand up but was quickly sat back down by Riku, "why she could just come out of my body and why she had to get Axel and Roxas."

"I guess," Broden said, "that's kinda weird. And why those two, anyway?"

xxxxx

"You're sick." Roxas spat in the direction of a man with beautiful, long, white hair. He carried two light brown eyes with a very yellow tint to it, and his hair was tan and exotic looking.

Xemnas laughed. "You think I'm the one that called you here?"

"No shit, unless you suddenly took on the form of a teenage girl." Axel interjected.

Xemnas laughed harder this time, "Oh, no. It's not even her that you have to thank for your being brought here. Nor is it me."

"How are you back?" asked Roxas, "Sora destroyed you and the rest of the Organization, so did Riku. How?"

"You have number XI and his calling out to thank for that, as you have him to thank for bringing you two here." Xemnas replied.

The white room in which they were sitting in, especially with every other Organization member absent from the room, was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

"Marluxia." Axel growled.

"Marluxia faded into the darkness before he could do any of that! He faded two years ago! I saw it happening!" Roxas shouted.

Looking down at them and their lower chairs, he shook his head, "He tricked you. Marluxia never really faded into the darkness."

"Liar!" Axel shouted.

Ignoring the outburst, Xemnas went on, "He spent the last two years acquiring a skill from the hearts that he had already collected; the skill to resurrect."

"But that girl!" Roxas exclaimed, "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"This girl," he remarked, "is the Heartless of the wielder of Savior of Balance, and the only known being with the ability to give hearts."

"Hearts..."

"But the fool Marluxia," he growled, "did not tell her to bring Naminé; the only one that can create the memories necessary for this Heartless to believe that she has lived her life with the Organization, with the ability to speak and actually complete this ability."

"Don't touch Naminé!" Roxas shouted out.

"Any more outbursts and I swear I will turn you into a Dusk." Xemnas said, a little too calmly for Axel's or Roxas's comfort.

"We can use portals to get around wherever we want. We're still Nobodies. What makes you think we'll actually stay here and help the Organization?"

Xemnas sighed, "I was afraid of this." He was probably lying. Only lifting his hand, a chamber underneath the high chairs opened up. Inside of it was a sleeping face; a familiar one. She had long, purple hair and was wearing a white dress. Her eyes were closed and her skin was of ivory.

Axel gasped, much to his own shock.

"I know you care for her, Axel." Xemnas smirked, "You know very well that Nobodies can read feelings. I'm just surprised you feel at all."

"They lied when they said that Nobodies can't feel." Axel got off the subject, "Roxas proved that long ago. What they didn't lie about was the typical Nobody's refusal to do so."

Roxas shook his head. Since when was Axel this intellectual?

"Maybe so." Xemnas replied; he was both upset at Ansem's misjudgement and his own alike. "But they didn't lie when they said that Nobodies had no hearts, either."

"Not real ones anyway." Axel mumbled.

"Unless you're Nessa." Roxas added.

"Okay, okay, so there have been exceptions." Xemnas sighed exasperated, and muttered something that these two had just become more impossible through the years.

Still Axel looked down at Estelle. He did care for her; but why? The feeling definitely wasn't false. How could he get out of this one? And Roxas wouldn't leave Axel, but would he.

As if reading his mind, Xemnas smirked and looked over at Roxas, "And as far as Roxas, remember that we could just as easily destroy Naminé as we could Estelle, whether or not she's here." He looked up, "In fact, I believe Zexion was sent to retrieve her soon enough."

As if admitting defeat, Roxas crushed his own hand onto his lap, probably forming a bruise. He put his other hand on his head as if to separate the clean spikes on the top.

"Something we haven't been able to explain yet, though," Xemnas went off, "is how exactly the boy with the strawberry-blond hair managed to escape his death by throwing himself into the darkness before his body died. In a sense, he's a Nobody now."

"Strawberry-blond hair?" asked Axel, raising an eyebrow.

"Now, he goes by the name of Anton."

xxxxx

"Just as I thought," a scarlet drawl voice popped out of Cid's mouth as he shifted the toothpick inside of it to the left. He stared at a screen which showed some sort of ultraviolet diagram of the Universe of kingdom Hearts, "There's a lot of activity down at The World that Never Was, but right now it's being guarded by darkness."

"Damn," Riku murmured, "and of course, the only people that would be able to bring themselves over there would be Naminé, Roxas, Axel, Broden, and Nessa. But Roxas and Axel are already there, Broden's no longer a Dark wielder, Nessa's back with her Somebody, and Naminé can't fight on her own."

"Plus," Charity grabbed Riku's arms, "I don't trust you anywhere near the darkness anymore." Since her Heartless had left her heart, her sickness seemed to evaporate and she was back to normal, although a little shaky. Riku laughed.

"I guess."

"Oh no." Charity just realized. "We've been... sucked into another journey, then?" she asked.

Nessa smirked, "Getting back Roxas and Axel?"

"Findin' out whah tha Organization seems to be... all back?" asked Cid.

"What?!" Sora, Kairi, Riku, Charity, Nessa, and Broden all exclaimed at once. Naminé, who was still outside of Kairi's body, seemed to be in too much shock to understand what was going on around them at all.

"They're all there." Cid confirmed for them. "All thirteen 'a them."

"How is that possible?!" Kairi complained.

"We have to go find out. Cid," Sora said, "Can the computer tell us how we can get rid of the darkness around The World that Never Was?"

"No, it can't," he said, "But frum mah better intuition, I'd say it'd be best to seal up all those worlds that the Light and Dark wielders unsealed two years ago. It might just reduce tha' darkness count a bit."

"We could do that." Riku nodded.

"Okay," Nessa said, "so once we seal up all of the worlds they unsealed, we can go to The World that Never Was and get Roxas and Axel back?"

"And maybe find out a little bit more about this Heartless." Charity wondered, "and what the Organization's up to in the first place."

"I just don't understand any of it." Naminé's voice finally broke the silence as she sat on the couch. Her hands were folded together as if in prayer and her eyes were looking down. Although her voice was shaking, she seemed to know exactly the point she was trying to get at. "We destroyed Marluxia, and the rest of them had been gone a long time ago. All of them except Roxas, and Axel who got back."

"They probably all got back the same way as Axel," Sora said, "Someone called out to them."

"But who?" Nobody could argue with Naminé for that one. It was a mystery; who exactly would have called them out of the darkness.

Something hit Riku like a rock to the head, "Maybe... when I took back my body from Marluxia... it didn't get rid of him."

"Don't say that," Broden interjected, "that dude's scary."

"But it might be true." Charity whispered. "He called them all out of the darkness?"

Sora shook his head, "Until we think of anything better, that's the explanation we've got. Now we have to focus on getting Axel and Roxas back.

xxxxx

"How did you even know that this Heartless could do that if there hasn't been one like her before?" asked Roxas, now calmer. They were now out of the large, white meeting room and inside of Xemnas's office. Besides themselves, there was also Zexion and Saïx, two other Organization members. Saïx seemed to be giving orders to Zexion, but Zexion just stood there and nodded quietly. This gave both Roxas and Axel a strange air of nostalgia.

Marluxia walked in quietly. His pale red hair was a little longer than before, but his face hadn't changed a bit. He stared down at Roxas and eye-to-eye at Axel; even though Axel was technically his 'elder', he never felt intimidated by the redheaded man one bit. "When I was using Riku's body, I remembered that his heart lay within his friends, hence his friends were in his heart. I read Charity's, analyzed it. This Heartless," he pointed to a girl sitting on the floor, staring at the wall, "is the one that can give out hearts and bodies."

"What we've been searching for." Xemnas remarked.

"Because all other plans have failed, from both this Organization and that newer one." Saïx interjected. Riku remembered the new Organization all too well and how annoying they seemed to be. In fact, one of the Organization members was Charity's Nobody, Exie. The first one they had ever met on their way to Merlin's house to inform Cid about their busted Gummi ship.

"How they could go that long without realizing that one of their members was the Nobody of the Somebody with this Heartless is beyond me." Saïx finished, "but they certainly didn't earn the title of an Organization."

Roxas smirked. He knew that both himself and Xemnas were just jealous.

"Go occupy your rooms," Xemnas ordered the two. Like old times, Roxas and Axel followed orders, although this time, begrudgingly. "Once we retrieve Naminé, she will begin the process of adding memories into the Heartless. In due time, she will be able to hand out hearts, but in order for her to do this, we need to retrieve one item. That will be revealed to you tomorrow. For now, be on your way."

Axel and Roxas nodded, and walked out of the room together. As they left, Zexion disappeared in a haze of black, and Saïx stayed in the room. He sat on the desk and looked at Xemnas, who sighed heavily.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What exactly is the item that we need to retrieve for the Heartless to be able to give us all hearts?" asked Saïx as he stared at Xemnas intently.

"Nothing other than her Somebody's weapon." Xemnas replied to him, "The Savior of Balance."

Author's Note: So the new journey is revealed! I hope you liked it, and I'm so happy to have an excuse to bring the Organization back. X3 Is that a bad thing? See you next chapter!