Chapter 2:
"I miss Twilight Town…It was so nice and warm." Sora sighed as he shivered for a second.
The mysterious place was oddly frigid even though it maintained the appearance of a tropical forest. The black palm trees became more abundant as they headed away from the shore. Sora was trying to keep his spirits up, but he noticed Riku limping, so he went over to help hold him up. Riku smiled back in appreciation.
"Sora, why did you keep searching for me? Why do you keep helping me after everything I put you through? After I gave up to the darkness, I put you through so much pain and torment, both physically and mentally, yet you kept coming back for me. Why?"
"Maybe it's the fact that I missed kicking your butt with wooden swords," he chuckled, "But I think that the reason I kept searching for you and continue to help you is because you are one of my best friends and after being turned into a Heartless, being brought back by Kairi, and having the craziest adventure ever with Goofy and Donald and the King, I've learned that there is nothing more valuable than friendship. We've had our tough times, but at the end of the day, you are my friend and I will stop at nothing to protect and find you or any of my friends!"
Riku tried to hold it in and succeeded mostly by only letting a single tear out.
"Oh, don't cry you big baby!"Sora laughed.
Their moment was interrupted by a hooded figure standing in the distance through the dark lush forest. The two stood there, jaws dropped, not expecting to see another member of Organization XIII, but he seemed injured and showed an overall lack of interest in the boys. He removed his hood and their expression intensified.
"Oh god, not you two! Can't you two just leave any Organization members alone? Actually, ignore that. Kill that flaming bastard that put me here. Burn in hell, Axel. Which begs the question of your presence here anyway. Did Xemnas finally get to you two?"
"Hey jerk! We got him first! He just happened to trap us in a blank white room which led us here…"Sora elaborated. "Wait, didn't Axel deep fry you?!"
"To a burning goddamn crisp!"
The boys burst out in laughter for a few seconds until they immediately realized what this meant.
"Does this mean we're….dead?" Riku questioned this concept.
"No you daft creature. You have been removed from existence by Xemnas. What do you think that white room was? Why do you think that you came here? This is the place where Nobodies go when they just… stop being. It appears like this because we Nobodies are unfortunately considered dark beings, which also means we have a few lingering Heartless here and…."
"Stop this! We get it! We're in Nobody hell!" Sora interrupted abruptly. "What does this mean for us? What about Donald and Goofy?"
Riku, still being held up, solemnly looked to the ground.
"The King? O-or Kairi?"
Zexion chuckled under his breath.
"Is something funny to you, bookworm?!" Riku shouted at him.
"This poor child believes that there is hope still, but you can hear it fading in his voice. Hmph! Just be careful because if this is where Nobodies go after "death", all of the Organization members will be here. You're lucky that I really don't care about you two whatsoever, and also the fact that my former brethren turned on me, especially that no good piece of trash Axel."
"You're saying that every member of the Organization is here? Including the one that we supposedly ended not minutes ago?" Sora said with uncertainty.
"The dull child is beginning to catch on quickly. Well, lucky for you two, I've been here long enough to know a way out. Not for Nobodies, however, but I can show you where it is." Zexion grinned suspiciously.
"What?! What do you want in return?!" Sora shouted. Riku nodded at Sora signaling that he would be okay to walk on his own.
"I won't reveal that until we get there. So are you in or should I leave you to Marluxia's man-eating plants?"
"We will be perfectly f-fine on our own. We shred through Heartless like it's nothing," Sora smiled as he attempted to put Zexion in his place. This sense of security was quickly shattered when he heard the sound of trees being chopped down in large groups. This could be the cause of a very feminine man's giant pink scythe, or the most intimidating large red sword he has ever seen. In his mind, he pictured spiky, yet flowing pink hair, and spiked brown hair. Either way, the noise was getting closer and fear struck both of them. The Organization… they knew.
A black portal opened up behind Zexion. "Are you idiots coming or not?"
The two disgruntled boys looked at each other and headed towards the portal, trying not to look back.