A/N: So sorry it's took me so long to post-truthfully the original Chapter Two was a little different and quite a bit longer, but i've been in the middle of moving houses, and prepping for Christmas, so it sadly was cut short. But fear not dear readers- Chapter Three is already in the works :D So, R&R please! 3

Chapter Two: Fighting

What am I fighting for?

There must be something more

"Xion, Xigbar told me your mission yesterday was very successful," Saïx said, as I stood beside him, looking out the window of the Grey area. "Yes, I like to think it went well," I replied, smiling at my minimal accomplishment. "Since it went so well, I'm raising your workload. Today, I'm sending you to Twilight Town with Zexion to eliminate a Flying Heartless. Zexion will also be teaching you about magic. Once you return, we're going to set you up in the training room with Axel, who will be working with you to raise your strength, agility, and defense." Saïx said, as I nodded. Magic with Zexion seemed fitting, however having Axel train me? That was another concern. "Axel will be training me?" I asked, as Saïx looked over at me. "Yes. He trained Roxas as well. Zexion is waiting, when you're ready, go speak to him," Saïx said, before turning his attention away from me. With Saïx looking out the window, I turned my attention to the rest of the room, spotting Larxene sitting in the farthest seat away from me, with Zexion sitting across from her. On the other side of the room, Demyx was asleep, laying across the white sofa. Ignoring the fact that sleeping was Demyx's favourite past-time, I turned my attention back to the Cloaked Schemer. He was quiet, having his weapon, a large-magical book: Lexicon, sitting in his lap. His short, silver-white hair was down, covering half his face. As Zexion slowly looked up from his Lexicon, I began to make my way towards him, ready to begin the day's mission.

What kind of magic spell to use?

Thunder or lightning-something frightening

The streets of Tran-Com were empty, and Zexion and I stood in a back alley, preparing to practice some magic before heading out to find the Heartless threat. "Magic. Just feel it, allow yourself to relax, and it will be yours," Zexion said, as the Lexicon opened in his hands and he stood in battle stance. He held his arm out, with his palm facing the wall in front of us. He then yelled: "FIRE" and a bolt of fire came from his hand and collided with the wall. "At first, only a few spells will work: Fire, Ice, and Lighting," he said, as he then turned and looked over at me, letting me know it was my time to try. I summoned my Keyblade, and held it to where it pointed at the wall. I tried to relax, but the more I tried to relax and not think about anything else-the more I worried I had no clue what I was doing. I then relaxed, took a deep breath, and yelled "FIRE" and just like Zexion, a fire bolt appeared and collided with the wall. "Good," Zexion said, as I smiled. Without much hesitation, I decided to try another spell. "ICE!" I yelled, as Zexion laughed behind me. "What?" I asked, as Zexion smiled. "Not that simple," he said, as I turned and glared at him. "Blizzard," he said, as I groaned, before turning my attention back to the wall. "BLIZZARD!" I yelled, as a chunk of ice shattered into the wall. "Any catch with lightning?" I asked, as Zexion smirked. "Thunder. Instead of aiming your Keyblade at the wall, aim it into the sky-Lightning works differently than the others," Zexion said, as I nodded. I then lifted my Keyblade into the sky, ready to see what would happen. "THUNDER!" I yelled, as lightning crashed down all around me. "Awesome," I said, smiling. "There are rules and tips. Some Heartless have weaknesses, pay attention and use logic to find them. Magic is not unlimited, the more you use magic back to back, the more you'll be drained of energy. The less energy you have-the more of a risk you'll be," Zexion said, as I nodded. "Ready?" Zexion asked, as I smiled. "Oh yeah-let's go crème this Heartless!" I said, as we headed off towards where the Heartless had been spotted.

"FIRE!" I yelled as a blast of fire hit the flying Heartless. For some reason Zexion was 'letting' me do most the work. I guess for real scenario-training. I hunched over slightly, feeling tired and weak from the fight. "FIRE!" I yelled- but nothing happened. "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" I yelled, as the Heartless swooped down and attacked me-sending me flying to the ground. "I warned you," Zexion said, as he moved between the Heartless and me. "FIRA!" he yelled, as a fire attack twice the size of mine hit the Heartless. I then stood up and decided to let my Keyblade do the fighting instead of magic. Once I began to use the Keyblade-the fight seemed to be much shorter, I felt bad for using my Keyblade when I was supposed to be practicing magic. "Sorry," I said, looking down as Zexion opened a dark cloud. "Magic takes practice, you'll get better with time," Zexion said, as we both RTC.

"Zexion, report," Saïx said, as Zexion and I stood before him in the Grey Area. "Her magic needs practice-but she knows the basics and the target was defeated," Zexion said, as I gazed out the window. I gazed out the window, watching the rain fall down across the dreary city. The rain was coming down soaking the city in more darkness- the always setting sun of Twilight Town looked more and more desirable by the second. "Zexion, you may go. Xion, you are to go to the Training Room with Axel," Saïx said, as I nodded before turning and walking out of the Grey Area.

Maybe there's a devil

Somewhere really deep inside me

"Ugh!" I collapsed hard onto the ground as Axel laughed. "Up!" he yelled, as I tried to push myself up off the ground. My arms were throbbing and my body ached all over. Before I could get up, a fireball exploded a few feet away from me-sending me spiraling to the ground. "You're too slow-you're giving me plenty of opportunities to attack," Axel said, as I gritted my teeth. "Axel-cut me some slack," I said, as I finally managed to stand up. "No, because here you are safe- no Heartless will cut you some slack out there," Axel said, getting ready to throw another fireball at me. "I know-but geez, I just started!" I said, as he launched another fireball at me. This time, since I was standing, I held my Keyblade out in front of me and blocked his attack, sending his fireball back towards him. He then dodged the fireball and smiled at me. "That's it!" he said, as I gritted my teeth. Axel then smirked as he darted across the room, making it almost impossible for me to hit him. "Ugh!" I screamed, as I got into my fighting stance-I was sick of games-I was tired, and sore, and ready to relax-but I knew Axel wouldn't let me until I at least got a hit in. "THUNDER!" I yelled, as I held the Keyblade into the sky. I saw the lightning crash all around me, but none of them hit Axel. "FIRA!" Axel yelled, as a huge fireball hit me-sending me colliding into the wall. As I slowly tried to sit up, I looked up and noticed we had an audience- Roxas. "Come on Xion! Get him so we can get ice cream!" Roxas yelled, as I sighed. "I'm..trying!" I yelled, as I tried to stand up. "CURA!" I heard Roxas yell, and then I saw a swirl of green around me- and I felt better than before. "Hey-don't help her Roxas!" Axel yelled, as he quit moving. "BLIZZARD!" I yelled, as a block of ice collided with Axel, sending him spiraling backwards. "Way to go Xion!" Roxas yelled, as I stood up, smiling. I then rushed over and swung my Keyblade at Axel, who managed to block it-but barely. "Alright, not bad," Axel said, as he glared up at Roxas. "Even if you did get some help," he added, as I smiled. "Hey, you were winning for a long time, and I'm beyond sore and tired, what do you say we take Roxas's advice and get some ice-cream? We can train some more tomorrow," I said, as Axel smirked. "Deal," he said, as we both dismissed our weapons. Moments later, Roxas walked into the room with us. "Helping her much dude?" Axel said, as Roxas blushed. "I wanted ice-cream, and she needed some help," Roxas said, as I smiled. "Thanks Roxas," I said, as he smiled at me. "Ice-cream?" he asked, as Axel and I nodded. "Oh yeah," I said, as we turned to leave the training area. "Hold it," a voice said, as we turned to see Xaldin behind us. "When'd you-"Roxas started, as Xaldin held his hand up-motioning for Roxas to shut up. "Mission time." Xaldin said, as Axel, Roxas and I all looked at each other. "Who?" I asked, as Xaldin sighed. "You and Roxas," Xaldin said, as Roxas sighed. "No ice cream," he said, as I nudged him with my elbow. "At least we get to go on a mission together," I said, as Roxas instantly perked up. "Alright! Let's go-where to Xaldin?" Roxas asked, as Xaldin rolled his eyes. "Report to Saïx," Xaldin said, as Roxas and I rushed off to the Grey Area.

A thousand times before

I've wondered if there's something more

Beast's Castle. Somehow when Saïx told us that's where we'd be going, I imagined something more…magical. The Castle was a dark, dreary looking place. The gargoyles around the top looked vicious, and battered. The Castle itself had broken stones and shattered windows. It seemed like it was abandoned. "This place looks-dreary," I said, as Roxas nodded in agreement. "It does," he said, as he looked around. "So, recon huh?" I said, as Roxas smiled. "Which means we'll finish in time for ice cream!" Roxas said, as I laughed. "Well, we can tell something has been happening here. Based on the hole in the Castle wall, and the claw marks across the ground," I said, as I took in things around me. "You're right. But I don't think the claw marks are from a Heartless," Roxas said, as I nodded. "Are we, are we going inside?" I asked, motioning at the hole in the wall. "Saïx would kill us if we didn't, we'll go inside and peek around a bit," Roxas said, as we both approached the hole in the wall.

Sadly, the inside of the Castle was almost as bad as the outside. The wallpaper had claw marks and was falling from the walls. The brick walls were chipped and breaking all over the place-it looked like a war was fought both inside and outside of the Castle. As we silently walked through the upper parts of the Castle, we saw a door the looked opened, and decided to venture inside. "Oh wow, this room looks-amazing," I said, as we looked around the bright room. We were on a small walkway about a hardwood floor room below us. There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling and books were everywhere. It was both a library, and a ballroom. "Why isn't this room damaged?" I asked, as Roxas shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it sure is odd," he said, as he jumped down from our walkway to the floor below us. After I took one last look from the upper floor, I jumped down and joined Roxas on the hardwood floor. We both slowly walked over to the doors that lead out of the room, and we entered the main hall of the castle. There were three sets of stairs, one leading down in front of us to the main hall floors, one leading up to the right, and one leading up to the left. As Roxas looked around, I ventured down the small set of stairs in front of us and looked around the main hall. There were six doors- three on either side of the room. A light was peering through the crack of one of them. "Roxas," I said, motioning for him to come look. As Roxas walked over to the door, I followed, trying to figure out what was on the other side. "Master, you need to give her time, she'll see soon enough" "we don't have time-the rose is almost wilted-then the spell can't be broken" "but sir-" "enough!" we then heard the sound of things shattering to the floor. Roxas and I then looked at each other, before backing away from the door, and walking towards the front door. "The first voice sounded almost scared," Roxas said, as we opened the front door and walked back outside to where we began. "And the second voice almost sounded like it was growling," I said, as Roxas nodded. "I wonder what the spell is," I added, as Roxas nodded. "And who the girl is they mentioned, and why she needs time. And what about the Rose," Roxas added, as he opened a dark cloud, "Let's head to Twilight Town and get some ice-cream, then we'll RTC," Roxas said, as I smiled and nodded.

I laugh a lot before I cry

I don't understand how you could lie to me

How could you lie to me?

Something was different. Axel was different. We met up with him in Twilight Town for Ice Cream-but he wasn't himself. Axel wasn't his 'cheery' self, not like he was during training. "Axel, you okay?" I asked, as I took a bite of my ice cream. The wind was blowing slightly, sending a chill down my spine as I swallowed the ice cream bite. "I can't feel-remember?" he said, faking a smile. "You know what I mean, you just don't seem yourself," I said, as Roxas nodded. "She's right, it's like you're dead or something," he said, as he too took a bite of his ice cream. "Yeah-just a lot going on back home, stuff above your levels," Axel said, as his green eyes gazed out into the horizon. Somehow, even though he wouldn't admit it, I could tell he was laying: I could tell he was hiding something. As the three of us continued to gaze out at the town below, we sat in silence, each of us with our own thoughts on our minds, each of us concerned about the future.