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…)

Chain of Hearts, Chapter 13: World That Never Was (part 2) By Nagori Kirashi

As Naminé stumbled out the other side of the portal, she heard several voices behind her speak out in surprise. When she turned, she nearly ran straight into Hayner, who was currently leading the now startled group. Donald had to cut his noisy reaction off by holding his own beak shut.

"Oh—hi!" the newcomer gasped, deeply thankful that she didn't have to look too far to find the safety of her friends.

At least Naminé still apparently remembered a thing or two about portals.

"N-Naminé, hi," Hayner said, taken back at first. He then cleared his throat and stepped aside, as though signaling for someone more in charge of the group to take his place. Secretly, though, Hayner felt that, were he not to back away, he might make a fool of himself.

Riku, having seen Hayner's sign for him to step in, took his place in front of Naminé, who had to crane her neck backwards slightly in order to see his face. She felt embarrassed to be so short in comparison to him.

"How'd you get here?" Riku asked her curiously, studying her short complexion. He seemed suspicious, as though expecting a trap. "Did they release you, or did you escape?"

"I—"

Just as she was about to reply, Goofy whispered for them to get down, and with each of them grabbing onto another's sleeve faster than a handshake can spread, they were all pulled down towards the ground.

Hayner volunteered to glance around the next corner, and what he saw was Larxene, who he remembered from the train. She was muttering furiously to herself.

Having been the one closest to Naminé when they had pulled eachother to the ground, Riku had ended up grabbing Naminé's wrist, and to him there was no doubt this was the real Naminé; he could feel Kairi through her. She could tell this from the way he now looked at her, with a much easier expression and a softer tone.

"…Naminé, how did you get here?" Riku repeated, now lowering his voice to near a whisper as they kept out of view from the female lookout who was just around the corner.

"I…used the darkness," Naminé answered, sincere as she looked back at him.

"So where's Kairi?" Riku's face was so grave that the blonde girl was unable to respond for a moment.

"I don't know…they took her somewhere, I'm sorry…for Kairi's sake…" Her face, sincere and solemn, lowered itself as though in shame, and at last Riku slowly spared her a comforting smile while briefly touching one of her shoulders, while a few of the others whom she hadn't even realized were listening smiled.

"We're just glad you're safe," he said seriously, and Naminé smiled.

Suddenly the group turned around when there was another sound that caught their attention.

Two familiar boys were stepping through a portal, and all the one boy had to do to make it disappear was wave his hand and suddenly the vortex was gone. He and Sora now stood next to eachother, and it looked like the only reason Sora was still standing was because of the help he was receiving from the second boy.

"Rox—!" Namine began, but found Riku's hand covering her mouth. She could hear the older boy whispering for her to keep her voice down, so she did. Naminé's eyes still looked thrilled, like she would spring forward any moment and hug him. Roxas smiled at her brightly in return.

"Hey, sorry I kept you all waiting with my decision," Roxas said quietly to them all, almost jokingly. He noticed the group he returned to was mostly silent as it crouched behind a corner, and he used his instincts and kept his own voice down. "But erm, Sora needs help."

"N—no I don't," Sora tried to deny at first, then found that, were one of them to correct him, he wouldn't even have the strength left to lie again.

"Here, I've got a spare potion," Riku said, tossing the strangely-complex vile to Roxas. The blonde shook it out on top of Sora for him, and this time a shower of golden sparkles that remained undimmed by the dark surroundings covered Sora like a light snow before disappearing. The cut above his eye suddenly looked as if it were hours closer to healed, and his entire body was thanking Riku inside for the revived stamina.

After inhaling deeply several times, Sora knelt down with the rest of the group, his seriousness restored along with his strength. Roxas was kneeling next to Naminé, who looked as if she were unsure whether what was happening was actually a dream or not. Although he still wore his black leather outfit, sleek with the rain that still fell occasionally, she was sure it was the Roxas she knew who she saw every time she now glanced over at his face.

"Alright, so why're we all quiet?" Roxas asked quietly. "Is something up?"

"It's Larxene," Riku replied softly. "She's just around the corner."

"Aw, her?" Roxas said, standing casually and barely attempting any longer to keep his voice down. "I can deal with her. You guys just hang tight. I'll be right back."

"Roxas, what are you, insane?!" Hayner said in a sharp undertone voice, tugging on the thick bottom of the long leather coat that Roxas wore. "Just what're you gonna do to her?! You wanna end up like Sora?!"

Hayner received a distasteful look from the brunette next to him, and he smiled back as if embarrassed. After a moment, Sora whispered darkly to Hayner, "Just forget about it." The Keyblade weilder looked as if he were hiding his embarrassment from the fight, despite knowing that he had not only won but he had put up a fairly harsh fight in the mean time.

Then, forgetting Hayner altogether, Sora thought in his mind to his other, 'Hey, Roxas…Just what are you going to do, though?'

"Just wait," Roxas said smugly to the group outloud, answering the same question that lingered on the others' minds as well. "I have a feeling I can talk her into gettin' out of our way."

There was no stopping him: he had already stepped out from the corner.

"Oh boy," Donald sighed hopelessly. "He's just like Sora, isn't he?"

They couldn't see the blonde's face, but Sora and Roxas both grinned to themselves.

-,-,-

Larxene continued to pace back and forth impatiently, muttering to herself. When she saw Roxas approach, her face took on an entirely different expression, one of surprise and possibly even delight.

"Roxas!" she said somewhat pleasantly, turning around so she could look at him. He was way too short for her taste, but other than that he met all the criteria. "Did Saïx send you out on patrol too?"

"Yeah," Roxas shrugged carelessly, turning a shoulder to her. "I don't care, nothing else to do anyway."

"What about that meeting?" she said. Her tone suddenly became somewhat bitter. "Aren't you upset that you had to miss that?" Her voice lowered as she added, "I am. What, am I so special that I have to wait until the second meeting until I get to know what's going on?"

"Meeting?" Roxas asked, glancing at Larxene over his own shoulder while pacing in front of her casually. "Sounds boring anyway."

Sora, who was watching just around the corner, shifted uneasily. He wasn't used to seeing Roxas behave like this. He was so much more…serious.

"Didn't you hear?" Larxene asked the shorter member in surprise, flickering her eyelashes in an innocent attempt to seduce him at the same time. "There's going to be two of them. I guess I have to wait until the second one. Anyway, I'm supposed to keep an eye out for some kids running around. Seen any?"

Roxas paused for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder. Sora, who was still watching, held his breath.

"…Nope, nothing but a few Dusks now and then," Roxas replied at last. Sora let out his breath so loudly that he covered his own mouth and Roxas nearly glanced in his direction. "Hey, Larxene?"

"Yes?" she asked sweetly. Roxas felt that, for someone with eyelashes as dark and thick Larxene's were, she should have longer hair to contrast it, but instead her hair was quite short and slicked back with the exception of two long whisps that trailed backwards almost like a pair of blonde antennae. She blinked at him almost innocently, yet he also had been around her enough to know that she was usually quite the opposite.

"What d'you think that meeting is about?" Roxas asked. "The new Superior's talked quite a bit lately about something having to do with not needing a few of us…You don't suppose he means us, do you?"

Roxas' tone was one-hundred percent calm as he stared up at her in the corner of his eye dauntingly and continued to pace, yet when Larxene replied, she sounded shaken—more with a spark of growing fury than with actual fear.

"Just why would he do something like that?" she demanded, no longer holding up her princess disposition. After stomping in a short back and forth pace that matched Roxas' direction but was double the speed, she turned at last and demanded, "Not that I even care, but did Saïx tell you anything?! Something that I don't know?!"

"I dunno, did he?" Roxas said, unable to resist the grin appearing on his face. He began to turn his shoulder to her as if about to walk away, rubbing his chin in thought, when at last she fell for his lure like the dog he viewed her as.

"Come on, alright, what did he say?" Larxene asked. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!!"

Roxas looked slightly taken back that his behavior had drawn in her curiosity so deeply. Still, he continued with his unforthcoming performance. "Alright, whatever, but it's no big deal."

"Rrgh, fine," Larxene said with a stomp. "I'll go find them myself and ask. There's no way Saïx is getting rid of this bitch!!" Then, upon seeing the grin that enlarged itself on Roxas' face, she finished before disappearing, "God, you loser, I never liked you anyway!!"

Then she was gone, and Sora along with the others who had joined him to watch the scene all began laughing at Roxas. They made sure not to let the scene grow to become too loud, but still—Larxene's lust for him had been so obvious, not to mention quite immature. And Roxas had evaded it all, managing to make her furious.

"What's so funny, damn it?!" Roxas said, turning. Sora, who had rarely heard his other side swear in the past, calmed down enough to where he was able to bite his lip and be quiet. The others slowly followed his example.

Roxas shook his head, then began walking over to them. He didn't bother to make himself look any different than he had around Larxene; his eyes were a darker blue than usual, and his eyebrows were lowered just enough to make up for him holding his chin straight. The dark leather coat he wore trailed behind him with each step, a blackened reminder to his friends that he hadn't been on their side before.

By the time Roxas had joined them again, they were all staring at the ground; all except for Goofy and Donald, who each said something to eachother quietly, and Naminé, whose sky blue eyes locked with his in a worried expression.

"What's…wrong?" Roxas asked them, wondering what was up. Now it was his turn to shift uncomfortably as Sora forced their eyes to meet.

"Eh, nothing," Hayner suddenly commented casually, making up for the group's silence.

All at once they seemed back to normal, and those of them who had been sitting were now standing as those already on their feet continued to grin once more at Roxas over the scene with Larxene they had just witnessed. A look of confusion came onto Roxas' face for a moment, though he wiped it away. It was much easier for Roxas to move on, he found, when he had barely recovered from his darker identity.

Without him knowing it, though, a weight was pressing itself on the group that he couldn't see, a burden—they really did have one of Them on their side now.

And he had already turned on them once, after all.

"Alright," Riku said at last, looking at the group. "Are we all ready to move on, then?"

Despite the internal conflict Sora now faced with how well he really knew his own other side, the expression on his face suggested that he had never felt more whole as he smiled at Riku in confirmation. Yet Riku knew the main reason Sora fought on at this point was because part of them was still missing: Kairi.

"Let's try to catch them in that meeting they were talking about," Sora suggested.

Riku, after glancing around at several of their faces, noticed that all eyes were on him, and he wondered if it had something to do with him being the tallest there. "I doubt if we'll make it," he replied unsurely, then added, "but we can sure try. Sora, Roxas, you two…lead the way."

"My pleasure," Roxas said with a smile, then looked at Sora. Still not quite used to the new behavior Roxas was displaying, Sora actually hesitated slightly before smiling back, though when he did, their smiles still matched.

Then, together, they began to make their way onward, in search of their last missing companion.

-,-,-

The meeting was just drawing to a close. The room they sat in was large and had the symbol of the Nobodies imprinted along its curved, white walls. There were thirteen tall chairs, each one with a roman numeral number engraved into the backrest, and all the members who were present made sure to sit in their assigned seats.

Saïx had told them everything; from his plan to bring back Xemnas so he could restore Kingdom Hearts, his idea to lure Sora and now Roxas to him, and the steps required to ressurect the mighty former leader from scratch, which included the sacrifice of the two teenagers. He even told them how he still expected to treat him as the Superior, and as soon as Kingdom Hearts was back, Xemnas would be done for.

Axel had said nothing the entire meeting, only sat and listened with hope slowly draining from him like a punctured balloon.

'It won't be long now,' he kept thinking to himself dismally. 'If Saïx's plan really does work, then Roxas…he'll be…'

Just as Saïx was standing to dismiss the group for the next five people to come to the meeting, he was surprised to find Larxene appearing out of nowhere and getting up in his face.

"Saïx, you fucking traitor!!" she screamed at him. By the time she had arrived at the meeting, a few seconds was all she needed to build up the temper of a lifetime. Saïx's face was wrung with shock as she continued. "You tell us all this fancy shit and what do you do?! You get rid of us!! What's so much more important about Roxas that you would tell him, anyway?!"

"Roxas told you…what?" Saïx asked her in a calm, simple voice. He was acting now as if she had simply begun a regular conversation with him and were waiting for her to give him a chance to calmly explain. "Well, if you had simply waited until the second meeting like I told you, then you would know that Roxas has turned on us again."

Axel looked up. He had heard about it, alright; but was now the time for him to join his best friend and turn on the Organization once more?

After all, Saïx didn't really need him, did he…?

"Why the hell should I trust you, you bastard?!" Larxene continued. She took a fierce step forward, her teeth openly clenched, then held the handful of uniquely-carved knives she usually held in her hands so they were brushing the edge of Saïx' throat. He didn't seem to notice, and she began to press them closer until they formed dimples and threatened to puncture his skin.

"Why should you trust Roxas, Larxene?" Saïx asked her. "I thought he was the traitor. Why me all of a sudden?"

She stopped, then backed away. Her eyes grew slightly wide as she realized the chain of events that had just taken place by her will.

She, Larxene, had just challenged the new Superior?

"Now, now, my lady," Saïx said quietly, glancing at her as he turned. "No need to worry; I understand exactly how you feel. You wish to redeem yourself."

Larxene was too stunned to speak at first, then studdered, "H-how?"

"Why don't you just take a seat, and we'll talk about it after the meeting." He gave her a subtle smile, and afraid of the feeling that the shiver traveling down her spine gave her, she took her place almost across from Vexen as he appeared.

After a moment, Xigbar also took his place in the number two chair, but the number three and number five chairs were left empty.

"Where the hell are Lexaeus and Xaldin?!" Saïx demanded, slamming his fist onto the table's white, glossy surface. "I told them to be here, did I not?!"

"Saïx, just get on without them," Vexen said impatiently. "Who cares if they're not here?"

Just then a black mist formed into Xaldin, who ran instantly over to Saïx and handed him a piece of paper.

"I swear to God, there was nothing I could do, the little b—!" He looked both desperate to prove himself and furious at the same time. Saïx looked amused as he read the note.

"Don't worry," he said, handing the note back to Xaldin. "Let's get on with the meeting. Later I'll have Zexion scent out that lazy-ass Lexaeus for me. In the meantime, let's just get this over with."

-,-,-

Kairi was sitting on the chair in the small room, glaring up at her watcher that had just gotten out of the first meeting.

Luxford only laughed.

"Are you still angry with me for last time?" he cooed mockingly, and she responded by tugging at the cloth that tied her hands to the back of the chair. "I wasn't that rude, was I?"

"Where's Sora, and what've you done to him?!" she asked him instead.

"Oh, me?" the gambler replied innocently, making sure to draumatize himself. "I've done nothing to your little prince. No, he's still playing around outside from what I've heard. But in a little bit Saïx said we're going to have fun signing our names all over the walls with the little brat's blood."

Kairi began to yell and struggle harder than ever, yet Luxford only pretended to glance at his watch and laugh to himself despite her loud, screaming protests.

At last, growing sick of her yelling, he said, "Stop it before I conjure a Gambler to send after you."

She stopped for a moment, then sneered as rudely as she could in her soft voice, "What're you going to do, huh? You can't kill me; that'd make me worthless. I can do whatever I want and you know it."

"You may be no good dead," Luxford said, suddenly leaning over her appealingly, "but there are lots of things I could do to you that would be much worse, trust me."

She shuddered severely as one of his gloved hands brushed her ear.

"Don't you dare," she warned in a deep voice, though she was shaking in spite of herself.

Luxford laughed again, then went back to lean against the wall in the same place he had been moments ago. He continued to stare at her while he brushed his short mustache with one hand as if in thought, then pulled out a small deck of cards and began shuffling it absently.

Kairi, lost in fear, could no longer force herself to remove her eyes from him.

-,-,-

The group was moving along at a fair pace. The Castle That Never Was was barely a street away when suddenly they were taken back as they noticed a layed-back figure relaxing on a crate that was leaned back slightly and hidden in a shadow. As dark as it was already, they had no chance of seeing the person until they were right next to him.

After a moment, their eyes adjusted to the neon blue lighting that barely seemed to help it was so far above them. It was Demyx, number nine in the Organization.

"Hey, Roxas," Demyx said casually at first. "I see it's true; you really did turn on us again."

"What, are you gonna do something about it?" Roxas asked with eyebrows raised slightly and a tone that seemed as if it were challenging Demyx to. "Because I'm right here, and I'm waiting."

"Naw, I'll leave that to Saïx," Demyx said. "But you know he's gonna majorly kick your—" Demyx paused, then coughed to himself.

"You know, Roxas?" he continued to the boy standing in front of him. By this time the rest of the group had caught up, but for those who had witnessed several encounters that Demyx had with Sora, they weren't surprised that Demyx was acting as if he didn't notice the group. "We barely ever got to know eachother. Kinda sad, huh? You an' me, we're a lot alike, you know."

"Pfft, right," Hayner said quietly, but was surprised when Roxas looked thoughtfully back at the member before them and replied instead, "Yeah, you're right. I guess we are."

"Why don't you join us again?" Demyx asked, leaning back casually. "Then maybe Saïx won't have to do that stuff to you guys."

"What 'stuff'?" Roxas questioned almost suspiciously. He motioned his head to one side slightly, eyeing Demyx with one eye.

Demyx, however, must have said more than he planned, for suddenly he was looking away and bowing his head while muttering at himself and pounding his own fists into his forehead repeatedly.

"Hey, cool it!!" Roxas said, putting a hand on the member's shoulder.

Demyx, however, only looked up at Roxas and said, "Man, I didn't just say any of that. Just forget it, alright?"

Then he was gone. Sora didn't blame him for not wanting to challenge the group again, but he had no idea as to why he had just toyed around with them like he had.

"Um…kay," Roxas said at last. Though he was somewhat taken back from what had happened, he didn't want to delay the group any more than he had to, so at last he turned and said, "We're almost to the castle, guys; let's keep moving."

-,-,-

Once they entered the castle, Roxas and Sora using their Keyblades to open a crystalline path similar to last time they had been led into the castle floating off in the distance, they realized where the army had gone.

"Holy…" Hayner was stunned as the humming crowd of creatures drew nearer, crowding the intangible castle's insides from wall to wall. "Talk about reinforcements…"

"Maybe they are reinforcements, but I really don't think they expected us to get this far," Sora said, then ducked with his Keyblade in front of him as what looked like an ocean of white Nobodies began flowing towards them.

Right before they struck the group, though, Riku put up one of his shields, and the entire group was surrounded. He shook with effort as he tried to hold up the shield.

"I can't keep it up much longer," he yelled to them over the clamour of creatures trying to get at them. "Brace yourselves!"

"No, hold on!" Roxas yelled back, and everyone stepped back and tried to give him as much room as they could inside the small shield. Roxas, still clothed in black, held up his arms, and all of a sudden the creatures surrounding the shield were his own, tearing apart the army that Saïx had left for them.

Riku, not trusting Roxas, refused to let down his shield.

"C'mon, let us out, we have to fight!!" Roxas ordered the older friend, the frusteration he felt reflected loudly in his voice. The noise was now caused by that of Roxas' many Samurai as they waged violent battle against their own kind.

Sweat was beginning to form on Riku's skin, yet still he held up the shield.

"How do I know those things won't destroy us when we're out?!" Riku yelled over the clamour. "There's so many of them, and—"

"You'll just have to trust me!!" Roxas yelled more loudly than ever, but not too loudly, for Riku could still barely hear him over the blood that was pumping in his ears.

At last Riku had no choice, and the shield disappeared. The darkness had become too much for him to control after that long amout of time, and while his first few breaths were thick as he tried to catch it once more, the next few were nearly stolen away as he watched the sight of the armed and dangerous enemies bounding past him and cutting down the numbers of Saïx's and the rest of the Organization's army.

Sora was having a similar experience. He could occasionally feel the arm of an actual Samurai brushing past him as it surged into the battle, yet it made no move against Sora.

"I can't believe this," Hayner said to himself quietly. Naminé, Donald, and Goofy simply watched the scene in awe.

Roxas, now that he had summoned his army, knew that he had another whole job to do, and he showed the others just how seriously he took it. He stepped forward in front of them, then held up his arm and held it straight out to one side as if tossing something sideways. All of the Samurai present froze as he held his arm out.

Now that it was quiet enough for them to hear him, the suddenly-mysterious friend said without looking at the others; "I could leave most of the work to these guys…but it's still our battle, and that means we have to fight. Just don't die before the real fight even begins."

Relaxing his arm, Roxas marched far ahead of the group so he was standing in front of the line. All the enemy Nobodies were forced to stop as well, until a sort of boundary had formed between the two armies. Some of the abstract creatures screeched out awkward noises, eager to fight, while those too impatient to wait were destroyed.

Turning so he was looking back at his friends, Roxas said, "Hey, you gonna join me up here or what?"

Sora, Hayner, Riku, Donald, and Goofy's eyes all met, and they each ran through the parting crowd so they caught up with Roxas. Sora felt as if he were in a dream, dashing with all of his friends through an endless crowd of Nobodies that were on his side.

Naminé, however, hung back. She felt awkward and out of place, being the only one there not good for fighting. And that counted the seemingly thousands of Nobody creatures that would soon be dancing around her in the name of combat as well. She stepped back insecurely, praying that none of the creatures would notice her, when she saw four of the tall Samurai walk over to her and stand with their swords out, protecting her. Glancing through them, she could just see Roxas in the distance as he winked at her.

"Alright," Roxas began, suddenly serious as he turned and held his arm in front of him towards their enemies. "Everyone ready?"

"Let's do it," Sora replied quietly, and together, Roxas and Sora held their Keyblades out and bolted towards the crowd. They were the first into combat, and their cry sounded as one as they all began to clear out the neverending mass of Nobodies.

-,-,-

Luxford was just beginning to fall asleep, to Kairi's great comfort, when suddenly Axel appeared. The first thing he noticed was Kairi, and she made a small "Shh!", but she was too late. Luxford nodded awake again.

'Aw, Axel,' she thought desperately. 'If you had only come a few seconds later…'

"Hey, how's she doing?" Axel asked the droopy-eyed man before him. "I'm supposed to get back to Saïx."

"Oh bloody right you are," Luxford said, apparently not unconscious enough yet to overlook who he thought of as a traitor. "You annoying prick, you were probably coming to take her back to your little friends. Jerk off already."

"Hey, woa," Axel said, offended. "What's your issue? And besides, so what if I'm a little curious about how she's doing. I have kidnapped her like fifteen times already. She's like a sister, if you get what I mean."

"Oh please," Luxford said, rolling his eyes in an adult-like way while crossing his arms. "How many times were for the benefit of what we're doing and not just for you?"

"Well, if you want to get all technical, then…none, I suppose," Axel replied casually, then shrugged. "Same difference, whatever…but really, has she been any trouble? I wouldn't mind taking her off your hands for awhile, you know…"

Kairi looked eternally grateful at the moment, utterly positive that Axel was trying once more to help Sora out by bringing her back to him. She needed to believe that she would be rescued.

Her guard, she noticed, wasn't falling for it, though.

"I said jerk off already," Luxford repeated harshly, then turned his shoulder to Axel so he could shuffle his deck. Axel stood by silently for a moment as Luxford began to lay out a game of solitaire on an invisible surface made of air in front of himself, a sure sign that he was bored.

At last, sick of being ignored, Axel sweeped his hand through the nonexistant surface in front of Luxford, sending the cards held up by nothing in particular flying to the ground. The gambler shut his eyes as if he were restraining himself from exploding, and for a moment Kairi thought he was going to slit Axel's neck, especially when the pyro commented, "Hey, old guy, I'm serious. I asked you one question, is that too much?"

"She's fucking fine, alright?!" Luxford yelled. Kairi found a sob escaping her. "Now jerk off! And tell Saïx he can go shove it."

The red-headed member stood silent for a moment, then met eyes with Kairi in a way that told her he was sorry. She wanted to run up and hug him, tell him she forgave him and was grateful to him anyway, but she was still bound by cloth to her chair and was therefore unable to.

At last Axel disappeared, muttering something in irritation towards Luxford when he did so that the agitated gambler was even more angry in appearance by the time Axel was gone.

Kairi was alone with Luxford once more, and the tall, crude member was kneeling down and seemed furious as he gathered all his cards back into one deck.

"I hope the little princess is still happy." He glared up at her, and another sob escaped Kairi.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, yet he didn't seem to care.

-,-,-

The army was growing thinner on both sides. During the fight to take back the castle from the Heartless, Roxas had only lost a few Samurai, and that was to Malificent herself. Now he felt like it was him who was in the disadvantage. His Samurai could only do so much, and that left much of the larger ones to the six friends.

But to the others fighting by his side, Roxas and Sora looked all but invinsible with their combined techniques. There had been one move that happened too fast for the others to comprehend, but from what they made of it, they swore it had something to do with Roxas flipping upside down while high up in midair, bending down and holding onto one of Sora's arms with both hands while swinging Sora in a large, incredibly fast circle as the friend held out his Kingdom Keyblade, destroying every Nobody in a range of at least ten feet. The move would have been easily classified as impossible for anyone who lacked the gravitational skill of a Nobody, as little as Roxas could actually control it.

Together with Sora's agile and reflexive maneuvers, it seemed the two were unstoppable.

"C'mon, Hayner!" Roxas yelled at one point as he hurled Oathkeeper in the direction of one creature. The Keyblade struck the creature's tail, pinning it to the floor so Sora could finish it off.

Don't worry about me, I'm fine," Hayner yelled back right before taking a hit in the back. Each still used their own fighting tactics, despite Sora and Roxas, who were combining them this time. The Nobody that attacked Hayner was faced suddenly with Hayner's own fighting style, which was a totally brutal and pitiless fighting method that combined both strength and fury itself to finish of his enemies. Hayner increasingly reminded Sora of some kind of Berzerker whenever he noticed the friend fighting nearby, yet for Roxas it was no surprise, having been in more than one fight with the die-hard combatant from Twilight Town already in the past.

Roxas decided to go one-on-one with a particular Dragoon Nobody that was annoying him for some time, and it, followed by Roxas, lept into the air at an incredible height. They then seemed to pause for a moment in midair, everything becoming a blur as Roxas tore it apart with his Keyblades. He wasn't the only who was able to attack the airborne Nobodies; both Riku and Sora were also seen occasionally using things like strike-raid to take down enemies they couldn't reach.

As Roxas fell back towards the ground, he made sure to glance around and see how many were left.

"We're getting there, guys!" he said loudly. "There's gonna be more ahead; we should try to push things forward a bit, get closer to Kairi before we wear ourselves out on round one."

"Good idea," Riku said, landing limberly on the ground with his Keyblade held out to his side after reaching the height of a flying Nobody and destroying it. Naminé, who still stood by watching and had somehow gotten the message to one of the Samurai's to let her sit on its shoulder, was suddenly heard crying out in delight as the creature grabbed her from its shoulders, then held her in its strong arms and danced over the tops of the rest of the creatures. Naminé, they could tell, was just enjoying the view as the helpless protected bystander, and several of them envied her slightly for a moment.

Then, with the Samurai still carrying Naminé as it followed behind the group, Roxas and Sora led them slowly onward towards the next level of their plight.

-,-,-

It was known now. Every member in the Organization except for Xemnas and Roxas himself were now in official search of the group. Axel was making sure to take his time, they all noticed, but like usual Demyx just didn't care.

Still, even Demyx was on a sharp alert for the group were they to cross paths a second time. It helped some of the members that there was a reward; this reward, however, was much different than the kind that comes to most people's mind when they hear the word spoken.

"The one who brings me Roxas and Sora," Saïx had announced to them loudly, making sure to take his time on the word 'and,' "…will get to chose which one dies first!"

Several of them seemed especially excited to hear this, such as Vexen and Marluxia.

Even later, as they each did their own patrol, Marluxia and Vexen hung back in a corner somewhere and continued to talk about it.

"Who would you choose?" Vexen asked Marluxia, referring to the announcement. "Sora or Roxas?"

Marluxia thought about it for a moment before responding; "I don't know, they're both so damn annoying…You?"

"Roxas," Vexen replied right away. His face showed he wasn't lying. "Or maybe Sora, but that's only if it meant that little blonde prick's death were prolonged so much that the Keybearer just happened to die first."

"Such morbid conversation," Axel told them, coming over. He hadn't given up on Kairi yet, but was stalling until another chance might come by. Assuming with even himself that saving her was what he was really trying to do, and for some reason even he still wasn't sure. "Why do you talk about this kind of stuff?"

"Hey, how about you, Axel?" Marluxia asked suddenly, a huge grin appearing as he imagined what the pyromaniac's face would look like as he was forced to answer. "The traitor or the slayer?"

Axel was quiet as he glanced away for a moment, then turned back to them with an odd look on his face.

"…What?"

Vexen and Marluxia began to laugh. It wasn't a friendly laugh, and Axel stood by waiting patiently for their laughter to stop. He wasn't sure if he was growing sick of the rejection he kept receiving from the other members, or if he was just plain becoming used to it by now.

"You know what, I…have to go," he told them, and he received no reply except for more laughter. Now the two members pretended to conceal it somewhat, but it only made Axel feel worse as he walked away.

"Okay, gotta keep our hopes up, man," he told himself aloud. "Right now, just find Roxas. Don't mind those guys."

He sighed.

"Where to look…?" Just then, Axel noticed an injured Dragoon flying in the opposite direction from the Castle That Never Was. One of its wings had a deep tear across it, forcing it to flap that wing at a speed nearly triple that of the other one. Axel stared at the lop-sided creature as it disappeared over the next street.

Then he turned in the direction of the castle.

"Thanks for the tip," he muttered, as if Sora and Roxas were right there.

Then, in a swirl of black, Axel was gone.

-,-,-,-