Disclaimer: Honest, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just this story, people, that's all…(And I wish I could say Roxas was mine too.) But I hold myself liable for the town Ecstasy; that was my idea…

Chain of Hearts, Chapter 8:

Disney Castle

By Nagori Kirashi

I have Aerith to thank for inspiring me to do this part (even though I won't deny that Donald and Goofy can be a bit annoying sometimes), so, erm, thanks, and you too, Olette, for keeping on my case and forcing me to really get into this story. Finally, I'd like to thank all of you, Kairi, Aerith, Olette, Nana, and all the rest of you guys at school for really getting me into Kingdom Hearts in the first place. Thanks, guys.

Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering what Sora and Kairi did that made them late to the Hotel, well, I wasn't thinking anything too sick; I just kind of imagined them standing in the shade on that little bridge, holding eachothers' hands and gazing into eachother's eyes, maybe moving their faces closer together…The more romantic scene. But if you wanna think it was something different and /or more explicit, well, nobody's stopping you, I guess……

-,-,-,-

When they began to land in the next world, Sora's heart began to beat harder with excitement. Roxas was affected by Sora's excitement as well, but if Hayner was at all excited, it was because he knew he would be getting out of the ship soon.

Strangely enough, there was a place already designed for their ship to land, as well as many other ships that might be arriving. The underground garage was strangely animated and colorful, yet at the same time it was a huge and incredibly third dimensional warehouse, full of all kinds of working parts that helped to build, monitor, and sustain the many Gummi Ships expected to arrive there or that needed fixing up.

When Hayner stepped out of the ship, again making sure to be the first out, he looked woozy to some extent. His reaction wasn't as over-draumatisized as the last time he had stepped off of the ship had been, but he still envied a seemingly fine Roxas and Sora as they strode past him off the ship.

"I can't believe we're back," Sora said. Roxas, who had experienced most of what Sora knew through a second hand perspective inside of Sora's mind, was also quite excited, knowing who it was who stayed here. This garage was only the underground section; above ground there would be a luscious courtyard surrounded by a gorgeous castle belonging to none other than King Mickey.

Then, not wanting to get left behind but also not sure where it was they were at, Hayner ran after Roxas with Sora in the lead as they bolted up a flight of stairs and into the courtyard.

When they arrived, Sora saw that not only was it much more peaceful than the last time he had seen it, but two of his best friends were there as well. Hayner broke into a large smile as he realized who exactly Sora was so excited to see again, yet he still remained behind with Roxas while Sora ran over to them. Hayner had heard so much about them.

"Donald, Goofy!" Sora cried, and they all said eachother's names while hugging. Daisy Duck took a kind step backwards to make more room for their reunion celebration. She didn't look as if she minded at all that Sora was there.

"Aw, he already looks so much bigger than last time we saw him, don'cha think, Donald?" Goofy asked Donald, and the shorter companion agreed with a happy, quack-like, "Sure does, Goofy!"

"How's things going around here?" Sora asked them, kneeling down so he was at Donald's height as he looked back and forth between them. "Is the King here?"

"Gawrsh, he should be, ain't he?" Goofy replied, looking around.

"Aww, don't worry," Donald said with a huge beaky smile. "We just saw him today, didn't we, Goofy?"

Hayner and Roxas came over finally. Hayner was just about to proclaim how much he'd heard about them when suddenly Donald jumped nearly a foot and pointed next to Hayner. He lowered his finger, knowing it was rude to point, but he couldn't help it. "Hey, you look kinda familiar!" he boasted.

"Hi, er…I already know you guys, but I'm Roxas," the blonde replied uneasily, revealing a smile that looked as if it were still a perfect imitation of Sora's while he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Roxas? Did he say what I think he said?" Goofy asked Donald, also now pointing to Roxas yet making it less obvious.

"Yep, he sure did." They glanced at Sora's dark side wearily, then turned their backs to them and began to whisper to eachother so the others couldn't hear. After a moment Sora's face took on an impatient grin.

"Hey, stop that," Sora said, tapping their shoulders firmly.

"Ooh, guests?" asked a high, delicate voice delightedly. Hayner gained an odd look on his face as Queen Minnie walked out into the courtyard, assisted by one of the castle's walking brooms that was carrying a plate of neatly-assembled treats in each hand while it balanced a third on the tip of its handle expertly. She walked over to them with a smile on her face as the broom waddled along, finally setting the treats on a fancily-carved stone table set up just outside of the group.

Sora and Roxas both bowed onto one knee for Minnie, and after looking at them both and looking around for a minute as even Goofy, Donald and Daisy Duck spared a bow or a curtsy, Hayner also joined his friends on the ground.

Queen Minnie looked amused, and one of her large, mouse-like ears twitched slightly.

"Welcome back, Sora. You seem to have very nice friends with you," she said politely, then giggled. "Oh dear, you may relax now."

Sora stood, as did the rest. Hayner was the last to stand, hesitant as if it were his first day in church and he wasn't sure whether it was okay to be reseated yet or not.

"You're looking very nice today, your Highness," Sora said politely and cheerfully with another slight bow, causing the queen to giggle again.

"Hayner, Roxas, this is Queen Minnie," Goofy introduced. "She's the Queen here at Disney Castle!"

Hayner looked quite amazed, though Roxas only acted as if he didn't know this. He wasn't quite sure if Donald and Goofy knew that Roxas basically knew everything that Sora had done within the last so many months when they had been reunited into one person, not to mention much of Sora's life beforehand. Despite this, Roxas really was still trying to act as if honored to be acquainted to her, and to some extent he really was.

Sora lowered his voice to talk to Queen Minnie about something, and Hayner, Roxas, Donald, and Goofy all hushed to listen.

"You're sure you haven't seen him around lately?" Sora asked her again. "Like you don't know where he is in the castle?"

"Like I said," the short queen replied regretfully, "I haven't seen the King all afternoon. I expect he may be out, but hopefully he didn't leave us with nothing but a note again."

"Yeah," Sora went along with the joke. "That does get a bit annoying, huh?"

To all of their relief and to Sora and Roxas' humble shock, King Mickey bounded outside towards Donald and Goofy.

"Your Majesty!" Sora said, dropping to his knees almost instantly while Roxas landed on one of his knees so hard that he nearly winced.

"I'm sorry, there's no time, Sora," the King said to him seriously. "I don't know if you got my message or not"—Sora and Roxas' eyes met—"but I was hoping I could turn to you for help once more. It seems the Organization has returned, and I have news about their plans."

Sora looked down at the King before him with a look of both responsibility and dismay. Now that the king had mentioned it, Sora did remember a message he had gotten on the Islands some time ago but had set aside at the time, being he had just reunited with his friends.

"What do you want us to do?" he asked.

"There's not much more to ask of you," he heard King Mickey say. "Just keep fighting off the Organization, and whatever you do, don't let Roxas turn against you. That's all I can tell you for now"

Sora paused, thoughtfully tapping his forehead with one finger and trying to reflect the king's words in his head.

"Hey, we're comin' with you, right, Sora?" Goofy asked him suddenly.

"We gotta help the King, too!" Donald added enthusiastically.

Sora jumped and spun around with a smile on his face, then suddenly seemed to wither in the truth.

"I'm sorry, there's no room for anyone else in the Gummi Ship," Sora said sadly. "I mean, it looks like there could be in this ship, but there's still not enough seats—"

"Don't worry, Sora," King Mickey told him. "I'll have my Gummi Crew get right on it. We'll get you two more seats, don't worry about it."

"What? Really?!" Sora was stunned, as were Roxas and Hayner. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to dance around eachother, but Hayner just shook his head at them.

"We're going to get to travel together again!" they could hear Sora say happily.

King Mickey, Queen Minnie, and even Daisy gave eachother different looks, then backed away from the group several steps to talk to eachother.

"It's all up to Sora now," the queen said softly. "Do you think he'll be alright this time?"

"He'll be fine," Mickey said confidently, yet his voice was still hinted with worry. "Sora didn't really lose any power by becoming separate from Roxas; as long as they're standing by eachother, that same strength will still exist within him between the bond he and Roxas both share."

"Well, as long as Donald is with him, then he had better be fine," Daisy Duck added somewhat stubbornly.

The King sighed. "It's not Sora I'm worried about, though…It's his other side. Created by the darkness, and now that darkness is trying to draw him in once more. I'm worried he might lose faith in Sora and end up turning against us all, in which case Sora really may lose half of his own strength."

"Oh dear," Minnie agreed, covering her mouth with her hands. "I hope that doesn't happen…"

"I wouldn't worry yet," he reassured them. "For now, let's just wait. I have to go look for someone as well, but I'm sure I'll be back much sooner. Don't worry about me; just keep praying for the Keyblade Bearers…For now there are two of them."

The two ladies nodded.

-,-,-

Riku wandered along the trail just outside of the huge town Ecstasy. He was following along its path, and he could just feel that Sora and his friends had been there.

Kairi had been there too, he was sure of it, though her invisible tracks stopped far short of Sora's.

'So this was the first world,' Riku thought. The first to have fallen victim to the Heartless brigade, and the first according to rumors and legend to have broken apart when the worlds had first separated.

He wandered on for some time, almost drawn towards something, and eventually after walking along for what seemed like miles, he was led to a sign that he couldn't quite read. Taking advantage of his height and touching the sign itself, he could almost feel the magic pulsing around it that had helped to create it.

'I'm relying too much on my dark powers again,' he thought to himself. 'The King said it doesn't belong with me, and for awhile there I couldn't use it, but now…That's why I had to leave them. It's not my fault.'

A clear image of Sora, Kairi, and even Roxas and Naminé came into his head. He remembered leaving them behind, and it had felt similar to when he had been forced to leave Sora behind to stay by the King's side and help him close Kingdom Hearts more than a year ago.

Closing his deep azure eyes, he followed another invisible trail that led him off the path itself, and he stopped in the same spot that Sora had stood days before him. When he turned, he could read the sign, and remaining the same distance from the path, he followed along its general direction until he was standing where Hayner had stood.

"This must be it."

Nowhere. He'd received a tip off of a particularly shady figure whose scent had seemed familiar in the Black District that a place outside of Ecstasy would lead him to where he wanted to go. How the man had known, Riku didn't know, but having nowhere else to turn at the moment, he decided to follow his words.

But now that he knew the name of where he was going, he wasn't so sure he wanted to go there anymore.

Continuing forth, he came at last to a large shaded area, surrounded by doors that each had the name of some other place carved onto it. They looked incredibly awkward and out of place, and Riku could almost tell that no one had ventured here for a long time. Few of the names sounded familiar, yet he had an instinctive feeling that it would reflect the theme of Ecstasy; one door would lead to happiness, another would lead to fear, and maybe even death. He hoped he was wrong.

If the legends still proved to be true, then there would be a door leading to any world he wanted. Remembering this, he looked around, and thought he noticed countless more in the distance.

Riku walked along the many doors, each one of these currently set up in a circle around the area, when at last he touched one and it seemed to pull him towards itself. He prayed it wasn't a door to some kind of darkness that was trying to draw him in even more.

However, his heart continued to be drawn towards this door. As he glanced at the name carved above it in some other language, not even bothering to try and read it, he tried to open it.

It wouldn't budge.

A swirl of light appeared around his right hand, and suddenly he was holding his own strange Keyblade, Way to Dawn. He pointed it at the small lock on the door, and suddenly the door swung open.

"Bingo."

-,-,-

"O boy o boy," Donald said while buckling into his new seat excitedly. "Here we were hoping you'd just send a letter or something, and now we got another whole trip together! It doesn't get much better than this!"

"Hy-uck, sure don't," Goofy agreed with his large buck-toothed smile.

The seats were now arranged in a tight sort of pentagon formation, with Donald and Goofy behind Sora in a back row, Hayner to his right, and Roxas to his left. Hayner was glancing over his shoulder and staring at the two new passengers with a smile on his face. Turning to Sora he said, "Your friends are sure weird."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, then added, "you're right. Kinda like you."

Hayner laughed and reached over so he could hit Sora lightly in the shoulder. After that he left Sora alone so he could start the large ship and set the vessel into take-off.

"So, d'ya…think maybe we could have a bit of an update?" Goofy asked the boys in front of and next to Donald and himself. All three, even Sora, took a moment to exchange looks before Roxas nodded. All at once, another familiar face—though a much smaller one—sprung out from Sora's hood, a cricket-sized top hat on their head and a miniscule journal in their one hand.

"Don't leave anything out," the miniscule Jiminy Cricket said. "It's my job not to miss anything that the King would need to know."

"Well, it's kind of long, so where should we start?" Roxas asked Sora, who replied to Roxas in his head that he was too busy concentrating to listen at the moment. Hayner was the one to respond instead.

"Why don't we just start whenever Sora left off?" he asked. "That can't have been that long ago."

"Say, good idea, Hayner!" Donald replied in his quack-like voice. "For one, how did Roxas, um…you know? Where'd he come from?"

Roxas took a deep breath, turned his head to look at them, then began.

-,-,-

After they finally had lifted off, Sora drifted into deep thoughts about his departure with Kairi.

'I'll be waiting for you, just like I told you I would be,' he remembered her saying before adding, 'And I'll always be thinking of you.'

Watching Leon's ship carry her and Tifa away felt as if it would break his heart, but his two friends present at the time had reminded him how much more excited this should make him to get to the next world, find Naminé, Riku, and maybe even dominate some Heartless while they were at it.

Other than these thoughts, along with several others, Sora's mind was clear of anything besides the trance-like state he went into when controlling his ship. It took skill and concentration to handle a ship like the one Cid had custom-built for them, yet at the same time it felt so much more natural.

Roxas was still talking to Donald and Goofy to his left while the two new passengers behind him asked questions and confirmed replies now and then, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Then Sora began to wonder about the memory that he and Roxas both had suddenly remembered at the Hotel in Ecstasy.

Coincidence?

And why was Roxas so upset? It had obviously been Roxas who was the one trying to put Sora down, or it was in his view, anyway.

'I guess he did seem hurt,' Sora thought optimistically. 'I shouldn't be mad at him for being upset that I still don't understand. Maybe I should talk to him later.'

Sora decided against it. The argument was over for the moment, and he wanted it to stay that way. They had settled their argument with a fair truce, so there was no reason bringing it up again, no matter how bad he felt about it.

'No,' Sora thought silently. 'That would be selfish.'

-,-,-

This time when they all got off the Gummi Ship, Hayner looked as if he were used to it already. By now he was hoping he could later talk Sora into letting him drive, but he doubted Sora would; his ship was his baby when he was at the controls. Only Roxas had ever been able to steal the proud ship from his brunette twin.

"Woa, what is this place?" Donald asked, holding his staff at the ready. Hayner looked around and realized what they meant, and before they knew it, all of them were wielding some sort of weapon or another.

"I know this place," Sora whispered, taking a step forward while looking around.

The area they were in looked exactly like the world they had glanced into when they had opened that set of doors in the District of Roses. Everything was light blue, and they each felt chills crawling along their skin as they felt somehow surrounded. To their left side they were surrounded by a bottomless fissure that curved around one side of where they stood like a large crescent, and straight in front of them and trailing to their right was a wall of tall jagged ice that looked as if it had been pushed into its current formation by something large, possibly glaciers. The same kind of wall lined the other side of the fissure, making them feel trapped.

Only a small path led out of the area, and it didn't even seem safe to turn their backs for that long. Somehow it didn't feel as if their occasional shivers were caused by the cold air, but by another presence. Even so, they could still see their breath as it crystallized in front of their faces.

Goofy glanced around and commented nervously, "I don't know what this here place is, but this sure isn't Hallow Bastion."

All of a sudden, the three boys felt a chill along their spine stronger than the rest, and all at the same time, they jumped and turned.

Donald and Goofy were gone.

"Donald, Goofy!" Sora began to run towards where they had been standing, but stopped and turned angrily when he heard something.

Blocking them from the path, a dark figure began to appear from one of the deep black portals Sora had so greatly learned to hate. This time the person who entered their area was tall with dusty burgundy-colored hair that came messily to his shoulders, and at the moment he was wielding nothing, though usually he could be seen with a large, crimson scythe.

"Don't mind your two friends," the figure said to Hayner, Roxas, and Sora. "It's you three I wanted to talk to."

Roxas recognized the figure as Marluxia. Were it not for how it had ended up in Castle Oblivion, then Sora would have remembered him as well.

"We miss you back at the Organization," the devious Nobody said to Roxas. "And so does Naminé."

Roxas jumped.

"You leave her alone!" he threatened. "What would someone like you want with her, anyway?"

Marluxia had dozens of comebacks, but his intentions were not to infuriate Roxas; he had been chosen almost as a last resort, and he wasn't about to disappoint anyone.

"Roxas, sorry to say it, but it's time to come home. You've been out playing around with the children for too long."

Sora could already feel his dark side filling with emotion drawn from Sora's own heart. The whirlpool of lust and fury were stirring deep inside of Sora as well, and he began to grow as intense as Roxas himself was. His own heart began to beat faster, but both seemed to feel it.

"Why would I listen to you, huh?" Roxas shouted at the Organization XIII member. "You've betrayed my friends enough; I shouldn't have to listen to you either. Just go back to that pit-full of darkness you crawled out of, before we send you there ourselves!"

"Don't you understand, Roxas? You are darkness…Why should you have even the slightest hesitation to welcome it? Take it in, feel it, smell it, breathe it…" They could hear Marluxia's voice almost fading into a whisper as he spoke in a deep, sincere voice that gave his audience chills.

"Roxas, don't listen!" Sora said loudly. "Do you remember what Ansem said once? Even hearts are born from darkness…just because you're from the wrong side or you don't have a heart, it doesn't mean you can't belong with the right side and still do what you believe in!"

Roxas hesitated, then glanced to one side, just so he could see Sora in the corner of his eye. How could anyone know what was the right side or not?

Just then, Roxas felt himself gasp as a new random memory hit him like a thousand bricks. He took a step backwards as it all began to flood his mind.

-,-,-

Twilight Town was calm that day, and Roxas was enjoying himself as he rode his skateboard along at a slow pace. A golden sunset tinted itself across the smooth buildings and streets, turning everything an equally-stimulating gold color while the sky washed itself in red and violet wisps. The only thing Roxas felt at the moment was the familiar air rushing past him as he sped into it on his skateboard. He raised his head a bit more as if tasting the wind.

That's when he noticed Sora nearby, leaning against a shaded brick wall with his arms crossed and his head hung slightly. As Roxas shifted his skateboard's direction towards him, he could tell that Sora's face was clouded with stubborn frustration.

"Hey, what's up?" Roxas asked him kindly, putting a foot out so his skateboard came to a halt in front of his friend. The skateboard skid to a stop beneath him, and he could feel and hear the tires scraping sideways with friction.

Sora only glared at Roxas, then turned away.

Just then Hayner and Pence ran up to the group.

"Hey, Sora," Pence said to him. "The girls are out browsing shops; wanna come with?"

"In a bit," Sora replied slyly. "I have a certain nobody to deal with right now. I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay, well, see ya!" Pence and Hayner said to them, not even seeming to notice Sora's words, and Roxas longed to join them. He noticed, however, that they hadn't invited him in particular, and though he usually would have caught up and reminded them both with a firm punch that he was right there the whole time, this time Roxas just felt left out.

"Anyway," the blonde said at last, turning to Sora. "Please, seriously, what's up? You were like this on the Island a few times too."

"It just bothers me to have your face all over," Sora said. "Not to mention you had to go and drag us here, after we finally got back to the island. After all that time, as if I weren't homesick already."

"Hey, Sora," Roxas said cooly. "I missed the island too. But didn't you kind of miss this place at all?"

"The only thing I miss right now is the quiet," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "That and having nobody else around…and you don't count."

Roxas felt hurt again.

"Why're you always like this?" he asked Sora, his voice growing angry. The sun continued to sink farther in the sky, turning it a darker crimson color.

"See what I mean?" Sora said. "Now you're getting mad at me? Wait, that's right. You can't, you're a Nobody."

"Will you just quit that?!" Roxas yelled at Sora, now truly feeling anger through the heart they both seemed to share. The skateboard rolled into a wall nearby, then sat there, abandoned by its owner. "You know I can't help it, so why don't you just forget about it? We're really not all that different!"

Sora had turned away while Roxas spoke, not even meeting his other side's eyes as he was lectured by him. Finally, with an almost lethargic expression, he turned his face back towards Roxas and said quietly with a dark tone, "Nobodies can't become somebody. Seeing as I actually am somebody…we're nothing alike."

Then Sora walked off, kicking Roxas' skateboard with the heel of his foot, then speeding up to a run and disappearing around a corner while he could be heard yelling for the others. He was gone almost instantly, it felt, leaving Roxas to feel more alone than he had ever felt.

Then again, supposedly he had never felt anything.

-,-,-

"Roxas!" Sora noticed the hesitant look of perplexity on Roxas' face as his other side couldn't even force their eyes to meet.

"So, which side will it be?" Marluxia said to him, no farther away now from Roxas than Sora and Hayner were. "The dark side, with your own kind? You know that's where you belong."

"Roxas!" Sora yelled. "C'mon, do the right thing—I know you won't leave us!"

"No," Roxas said at last, facing in Marluxia's direction with a calm expression. "You're wrong…"

A smile, mostly of relief, spread across Sora's face, and he relaxed slightly.

"…Sora."

Sora became rigid.

Had Roxas been speaking to him? He looked up at his blonde alter-ego, who still stood with his back to him as he spoke.

"Marluxia is right," Roxas said after a moment, turning so Sora could see one half of his face. "I can feel it…The dark side is where I belong…and away from you."

"Roxas, I don't know what your problem is all of a sudden," Hayner yelled, now stepping forward himself, "but whatever it is, you know hiding in the dark isn't gonna save you from any shadows! What's up with you all of a sudden?"

Roxas barely listened as he felt all emotions draining from him. It was as if he suddenly had remembered a purpose that he was born to fulfill. The feelings he felt around Sora and his friends were draining away; hatred, sorrow, happiness, loneliness. It felt almost a relief, as if giving up those feelings and not having them in the way was simply a way of lifting weight off his shoulders. Yet he didn't feel relief, either; maybe he had lost that emotion as well.

"What's wrong with you for askin', huh?" Roxas said to Hayner, turning suddenly so he was facing him and Sora. Oblivion appeared in his right hand, Oathkeeper in his left, and he spun one around with ease before gripping them each next to his side as if he were about to plunge them into someone's gut.

Sora took a step backwards at first, until his own Keyblade appeared, at which point he took an even larger step forward and held it over his shoulder, ready to hit anything that might come his way…now including Roxas.

'What's going on?' Sora thought in his head. He could feel his own eyes were wide with disbelief, and he was shaking slightly. 'I thought me and Roxas were best friends! He's part of me, and I'm part of him! Now we've turned on eachother…?'

"Why're you doing this?" Sora said aloud to Roxas, and his only reply was a distant, unnerving laugh. How was this the same Roxas that had been standing by his side just seconds ago?

Just then, a wave of darkness as if the sun were passing over a black cloud washed over most of Roxas like a dark cobalt wave. When it had disappeared as soon as it had come, Roxas was no longer in the casual, bright skater clothes that made Sora feel so comfortably within the presence of his own kind.

Now two people stood before the remaining two friends that were dressed in black leather, and a small, inevitable breeze caused the lower half of Roxas' long leather coat to sway just slightly. Black gloves separated his hands from the Keyblades, and his black hood was pushed down as a contrast against his furiously blonde hair. The brilliant blue eyes that Sora saw his reflection in even from where he stood were now glaring in a way that made Sora feel as if he were looking in a mirror while hating himself.

"Give it up, he's right. I'm done with you guys," Roxas said to Sora plainly and almost arrogantly. There was a strange feeling inside of him, one that he easily used to replace the dejected emotions he had just now lost. It was the feeling of power, that which he had accepted once more as his own since the moment he had turned his back to Sora and his friends for what he thought to be the last time.

Marluxia smiled in the background like a proud parent.

"Roxas…" Sora hung his head, and the Keyblade began to fall from his hand.

Hayner, who saw this, pulled out his own knife, which he had been grasping onto after it had been left open inside its sheath. "Come on, Sora—I can't lose you, too!"

Sora looked up with regained confidence.

"You're right," he replied to Hayner, and both nodded at eachother and smiled slightly.

"Oh, pu-leeze," Roxas sneered, rolling his eyes as the Keyblades disappeared. If embarrassment had still been on the list of emotions he felt less than a minute ago, then he would have been feeling it right then." "How's this for a happy reunion? You know what, let me introduce you to the guys."

Just then, Roxas held out one of his hands, and a legion of at least fifteen or twenty dark orbs began to form quickly behind him. Sora and Hayner barely had time to brace themselves when they saw what looked like countless Samurai Nobodies appear.

"Roxas, you control the Samurai?!" Sora's face took on an expression of stunned awe. He had almost picked up on it once before, but he had never actually seen or thought about it.

"Well I haven't lately until now, thanks to you," Roxas said, the ignorant and almost snobby expression still on his face and heavily laden in his voice. Adding a more sardonic, friendly tone to his voice, he finished while turning, "Anyway, have fun with my friends, will you?"

Sora reached his free hand out somewhat longingly as Roxas began to disappear. "No, don't go…"

The last thing they saw of Roxas was him bowing his head backwards slightly with his hands placed on his side as he laughed tauntingly.

It was like no laugh Sora had ever heard from his other side, and Sora barely even noticed Marluxia disappear at the same time as Roxas.

Just then, he noticed Hayner jump into action against the invading intruders. As soon as he attacked one, two more were suddenly behind him, attacking him with two swords at once. Sora winced and drew his Keyblade at his side.

"There's too many of them—!!" Hayner cried just before receiving a large gash on his shoulder. He was knocked down almost as soon as he finished his sentence.

"Hayner!" Sora yelled to him, bolting over to where his fallen comrade was being attacked ruthlessly.

For someone who was pinned to his back on the ground by unlimited creatures that out-weaponed him in both size and number, Hayner was defending himself well. While he waited for Sora's aid, he tried slicing his knife through the air and severing one sword in half just before it hit him, but he soon realized that was a large mistake, as the Samurai didn't seem to notice its weapon was sevored in half and continued in a painful attempt to impale Hayner with its flat-tipped sword.

Finally Sora had managed to knock enough of the creatures away from Hayner so that the fighter could stand, and together, with only eachother to rely on anymore, they tried to flee with what life they had left towards safety.

Donald and Goofy were suddenly standing nearby again.

"Woa-oa, where'd these guys all come from?!" Goofy asked in shock, as if not remembering his disappearance at all.

"Hayner!" Donald yelled, looking at the boy who held his left hand over his right shoulder while blood seeped through his fingers. Donald had to do nothing more than raise his staff, and suddenly the injury was gone. "Watch out for their swords, remember!"

"Thanks!!" Hayner's face lit up immensely with gratitude, and he turned once more to face the opponents as his other remaining friend was already there again, working to defeat the Samurai with his Kingdom Keyblade.

Sora looked much weaker.

It was as if Sora were struggling as much as Hayner was as a newbie, and even from where he was standing, Hayner could tell that there was a passionate gleam missing in his partner's eyes that had been there for almost the entire time he had known him.

"We can't take 'em all," Goofy said suddenly, attacking several with his shield but failing to do more than damage them.

Just then, almost as if out of nowhere, they saw a familiar grayish-haired ally leap into action, destroying one Samurai with his first blow of his Keyblade. Sora looked up, recognized him, and smiled, his faith in himself partially restored.

"Riku!" Sora said, not looking at the friend as he blocked off the attack of one Samurai.

"Sorry, Sora, I can't talk right now," Riku said almost jokingly before delivering another attack. "I'll get back to you in a minute."

They both spared a smile at eachother before going back to their battle. Now all five of them were working together to beat the enemies, and despite Roxas' absence, with Riku by his side Sora felt as if their group were almost complete.

At last, just as their enemy's numbers looked like they were dwindling, several more appeared, and Riku and Sora's eyes met. They combined their powers and unleashed an attack that combined both of their skills into one dynamic display, and moments later Hayner was gawking around the area that was empty except for themselves.

"…Let's go," Riku said to them, "before any more appear. Sora, lead the way. This world doesn't have anything else in it anyway. It was taken over by Nobodies a long time ago, but they've been cleared out for some reason…And let's hope I'm wrong about why."

Sora nodded, and all five bolted towards the narrow path that would lead them to their ship nearby.

-,-,-

"Roxas…"

Saïx was standing in the middle of a large, dark area. Nobodies of all kinds were standing along the outside of the spot where the three Organization XIII members stood facing eachother, giving them at least ten feet of space from every side as they stared intently at the black-dressed men.

"So you're in charge now," Roxas said to Saïx, standing by Marluxia who had placed a hand on his shoulder as if leading him, or as if to symbolize that Roxas was his own find.

"For now," Saïx said almost slyly. "So, what made you decide to join us? I don't need more than one member like Axel on my side right now; then again, maybe he'll lighten up now that his 'friend' is back."

"Doubtful," Roxas said casually. "What do you want me to do? And don't expect me to jump through hoops to prove I'm not like Sora."

Saïx laughed, and it seemed to match the empty sinister theme that filled the World That Never Was.

"Don't worry," the tall leader said, still studying Roxas from behind the large scar on his face. "We don't have time for that, but don't think I'm letting you slide that easily. You've put us through a lot of trouble within the last few months."

Roxas didn't apologize, and Saïx smiled again. It was as if he had planned these questions and replies out for Roxas ahead of time and was now testing Roxas to see if he responded correctly enough for him to continue.

It was a mini test, and so far Roxas was passing.

"I'm going to put you in charge of our next little mission to see how you do," Saïx informed him. "Right now we're taking back our castle; I want you to lead the Samurai in first. Clear as much of that place out as you can. I'll send in the rest after one hour. If you're still alive then, well…you get the idea."

"Yeah," Roxas said with a ominous nod. "I get it."

"Alright," Saïx said, nodding his approval at Marluxia, who seemed to be itching to challenge Saïx at a stare-down. He only glanced at the shaggy, pinkish haired member as if it were a side-thought, then turned back to Roxas. "I'll give you a few hours now to get ready if you'd like."

The many Nobodies that were still surrounding them seemed to be crowding closer, as if longing to be by their side.

"I have someone I want to talk to first," Roxas said to him. "Then I'll be ready."

"I figured as much," Saïx said, turning a shoulder to Roxas and looking in the distance. Axel could be seen far down one of the streets, bowing his head with his arms crossed while he leaned his back against one building and as vast amounts of Nobodies of all kinds swarmed around him. "Take your time; this could get interesting."

"I doubt it," Roxas said, then turned.

As he walked in Axel's direction, the Nobodies all parted slightly for him to get through. Every Samurai Nobody that Roxas passed bowed, crossing their swords on the ground in front of them as a symbol of their loyalty after his return.

-,-,-,-