When You Are Empty, There Is Only

by ShadowCloak

Being a Nobody means no heart, only memories. Over time, the void which consumed the heart will take the memories as well. Therefore, it's much easier to make and keep to a plan while the memories are still fresh, right? Saix and Axel.

2. Concealment

EDIT: If you've read this chapter before July 12, 2010, there has been some editing from the second break downwards. Content is the same, just changed some wording and added/changed descriptions. Sorry for any inconvience it may cause!

A/N: Thanks for the reviews-! Made me smile!

I should have mentioned this last chapter, but since Axel and Saix are still new Nobodies, they're going to be more human like than they are Nobody like. Especially Axel.

Anything 'science-y' is explained at the bottom, but please look after you have read the chapter. Don't want to spoil yourself on the way down, right?

Anyways…now time for some mystery.

Disclaimer: Do not own.

When You Are Empty, There Is Only…

CONCEALMENT

OoooooO

"I'm absolutely thrilled that you have accepted my offer." Xemnas didn't look thrilled. Not pleased, not sarcastic. His face was blank, and his eyes were hollow. His hands rested quietly on top of his desk.

They were not in the round room, Where Nothing Gathers, but in Xemnas' research room. Saix had found a Corridor of Darkness opened in his room when he got up that morning. It seemed to call him, so he followed through it hesitantly. He wound up in Xemnas' research office with Xemnas flipping through papers on his desk on his right. The desk had books and papers stacked relatively neatly for being moved around so often. There was also a small computer like device on his desk as well. It was currently turned off.

To his left, Saix turned towards the sound of scratching pen on paper coming from the corner of the office where a very low seated chair was shoved between a tall bookcase and the wall. Vexen was in it, hair rougher like Saix's and not smoother like how it was normally kept, writing on a notepad with large books and charts laid out on his lap, down his long crossed legs and onto the floor, fanning out around him. Papers were caught underneath his boots and some were tangled in the bottom of his coat where it spread out. Two more full bookcases were on either side of Xemnas' desk, and there was another one behind Saix, peaking out from behind the Corridor.

There were two doors in the room; one, Saix suspected, lead out to the hallways and the other would probably lead to more storage of books and other reading materials. The room was generally white, with shades of grey, as were the other rooms in the castle. The books and charts where really the only source of colour. Even then the colours were all dull, dark, and worn out. For an office-research room, Saix expected a little more mess. Other than Vexen's corner, the room was more organized, a little untidy, but neat. It wouldn't be hard to find something, since it appeared that whoever else used this room always put the reading materials back where they were originally stored.

Neither of them noticed him at first. Vexen was the first to notice when he leaned forward to grab a chart. He glanced up briefly from his tangled blonde hair, and then returned back to his chart and writing before alerting Xemnas. It was then when Saix stepped towards Xemnas' desk and told him he 'felt honoured' to be in the higher circles of the Organization. He didn't feel anything about the opportunity. Not pleased he had gained one step higher on the ladder, nor was he fearful that he may fall down. It was too early to feel those things anyway, Saix reasoned.

Then, Xemnas reached into a drawer and pulled out three books and placed them out neatly on his desk for Saix to see. One was black with blue triangular shapes with circular pale yellow shapes that faded in and out of the black cover. The second was also black decorated with red rings overlapping, and intertwining with each other. The last one was lacking colour, decorated with white, black, and grey squares and rectangles of different sizes, but all vertically aligned, not one shifted from its angle to be a diamond shape instead.

Saix looked up from the books at Xemnas. They had the same golden coloured eyes. Only, Saix found, there was nothing in those eyes. Like if he looked inside an empty golden pot. Not that he could ever remembering looking into one, but that's what he found himself relating to. It was easy to lose interest looking at the eyes. Saix had to resist that urge. What if there was something inscribed on the inside of the pot he hadn't found? "Sir?"

"These books are for you and your comrade, Axel. This one," Xemnas indicated with his finger to the red and black one, "is for Axel. He may use it for whatever he wishes to write. No one will check it. Same goes for you with this blue and black book. Use it for whatever you wish to record or nothing at all. I have found with previous Nobodies," His eyes shifted to Vexen, and then back to Saix, "that they prefer to record their daily activities for some form of amusement. You may find it useful at the beginning but eventually you will find it pointless, as I did. Most of what you're doing is planning, which will need to be recorded and reported anyways. Rewriting it in a journal would be redundant. So this last book if for your observations, Saix. It is best to record them in here and make sense of your observations before transferring them to a final report. This will make both of our hollow existences easier. Vexen and Zexion have gone through enough of them to build a library out of them."

Vexen looked up at the mentioning of his name, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "Oh, and would that be a problem? We already have two libraries full in case you forgot." Saix couldn't tell if his lips formed a twisted and teasing smirk or twisted and serious grin. Maybe it was all of the above. Vexen summoned a sheet of ice in his hands. It shifted, transforming into a book, then multiple books stacked beside each other. Then a shelf formed around them, and then another bookcase formed beside it…

"I suppose I have forgotten. It's quite horrible; we really do need to complete Kingdom Hearts." Xemnas' mouth moved in an exaggerated frown, the same kind of acting Lea would do when he was pouting for attention. Vexen's…expression faded away, as did his ice sculpture which had built a little room around the bookcases before disappearing, as he went back to his writing. Xemnas should never be allowed to try out for a play. Never.

"When Kingdom Hearts is complete," Vexen spoke up again, but was still writing, "You're just going to forget everything again." Again? Saix kept his face blank, looking into Vexen's eyes. Icy cold spears swirled around, stabbing imaginary targets playfully.

"Vexen." Vexen looked up at Xemnas. The icy spears halted their movements and then broke into pieces, quickly reforming to make a solid wall of ice. Saix looked at Xemnas' eyes. Finally. Inside the gold pot held…chains? Of blacks, grey and whites. They extended from beyond the inner walls of the gold pot, criss-crossing over each other. The chains…or strings, had hooks extending from them…

"I-I understand…" It disappeared, leaving the gold hollow once again. Saix glanced back at Vexen, who was writing again. His eyes held an icy wall. There were cracks.

"Saix." Saix turned his attention back to Xemnas. "Soon, Zexion will summon you and Axel to have your battling style ironed out. I will have reading material sent to you tomorrow regarding our methods and steps on how we will complete Kingdom Hearts. How glorious its power shall be." A spark lit in his eyes for a moment. What else does Kingdom Hearts hold? "You can take the rest of this day off to explore the castle. Take these books with you." Saix moved to pick up the books Xemnas had given him. Xemnas turned back to papers. There was one other thing that bothered Saix.

"One question if you wouldn't mind, sir." Saix picked up the last book, placing it on top of his pile. Saix had seen ice in Vexen's eyes. Vexen's title was the Chilly Academic. Xemnas looked up, nodding. Saix locked eyes with him. "How were you able to figure out our titles? Vexen summoned ice just now, but surely he couldn't when you first found him?" If Xemnas figured out what he was really getting at, then Saix would have to learn how to lie better, or they would not be able to secure their hearts.

"That's easy. I was already aware of Vexen's power from before…" He trailed off. Vexen would be a problem, seeing that Xemnas knew him from before. "As for you, you may not remember, but," his eyes changed suddenly. There was no depth to his eyes. It was flat. "When I found you and Axel, you were still in your other clothes. Your top had an image of a moon on it, and I could sense you had a great admiration of the night sky. Axel, on the other hand, I could smell smoke. He informed me that he had to fight off some Heartless which had appeared out of the darkness and attacked the two of you." Saix didn't remember that at all. He woke up and saw Lea…or Axel at that time, and Xemnas. Did Axel mention any fighting? "From there, I gave you your names and your titles. It seems you remember that bit." Saix nodded. "Anything else?"

"No, sir. That is all." A Corridor opened beside Saix. Xemnas indicated to Saix to go through it. As Saix stepped into the Corridor, the office vanishing around him, leaving darkness for scenery, he felt a strain on his body. It was the same kind that he had felt two days ago except this time it was less draining. There were little tugs that pulled at his coat, his hair, his face, everywhere. He looked at his hand and found nothing that could be causing it, despite feeling it. He quickly walked through the Corridor, not wanting to stay here long.

It was only as he was leaving did he wonder where he would end up.

OooooooO

Axel paced around his room. He had spent his whole morning searching around the whole castle. It was white, big, empty, and boring. He found rooms with couches, rooms with just windows, and even the kitchen room with a limited supply of food. Odd, now that Axel thought about it, he hadn't been hungry for the last couple of days. Maybe as a Nobody they didn't have to eat, but only when they wanted to. He would have to ask somebody. Err...a Nobody. Anyways, Axel also found the bedrooms, doors closed and locked unfortunately, of most of the other members multiple times. Each door had a number inscribed on it. Xemnas' he couldn't find, go figure, and number II's…Xigbar, was it? He could only find it once. He searched again but no luck.

What Axel really wanted to find by the end of his search, was paint. White, white, white and grey was a real plain to look at. Who thought of this design anyways? A Nobody with a real lack of imagination. Well, the designs were fine, and intriguing Axel admitted, but the colours! The designer must be colour blinded. That's what he should do! Axel decided he would need coloured cards, red and green should do, and ask the other members if they could tell the difference. Then once he found the colour blinded designer, he could have a talk with him. Brilliant.

The first thing Axel would do is ask for a room with a beach. That wasn't too unreasonable, right? Maybe a swimming pool if they couldn't build a beach room. That would be great. However, there was still a problem. Axel didn't know where to find any colour. The cards need to have colour. He paced around his room. Where could he find some colour? Even a marker would be fine! Or coloured pens. Oh wait, he would need to find cards too. Maybe there would be spare paper he could use. He stopped in front of the mirror in his room. He stared at his red spiky haired self, green eyes reflecting back in sudden realization. Red hair. Green eyes.

Perfect! Now instead of saying, 'What's the difference between these two cards?' he could say, 'Are my eyes the same colour as my hair?' which sounded more natural. His eyes could have changed colour. Isa's eyes changed colour.

"Come on Isa, wake up!" He cried out. He glanced behind him at the silver haired cloaked figure. He hissed at the blue haired man in his arms, "There's this really weird guy here!"

"Allow me," the silver haired man circled to the other side of the unconscious man. He watched as the silver haired man place his hand across the blue haired's closed eyes. When he removed them, the man began to wake up.

"Ngh…" Eyes fluttered open. Flashes of yellow. "L-Lea…?" The eyes weren't green. They were golden. Confused.

"I-Isa?" Just then he noticed the ears. They changed too. Pointed. Was he really Isa?

Isa would be so proud. Axel flopped onto his bed. Pride, huh? It had been a while since he actually felt pride. Well, the speech the other day wasn't bad. He remembered giving stuff like that before, but he didn't actually feel prideful of creating it.

Where's Saix anyways? He wanted to know how the meeting went with Xemnas. Did Saix get lost trying to find Xemnas? Is Xemnas already making Saix work?

Suddenly a Corridor opened up in his room. A moment later Saix walked on through, holding a couple of books, glancing around the room cautiously.

What great timing. "Hey Saix!" Saix almost dropped the books at the sound of Axel's voice, locking eyes with him immediately. What? Doesn't he know how to work the Corridors yet? Saix looked as if he was going to ask something but then stopped. Instead he walked towards Axel, selecting a book from his pile and dropping it on his bed.

"Here. For you." He said simply. The book he dropped was black with red coloured rings looping with each other. "Write whatever you wish in it. Consider it a journal." Axel stared at Saix. Is he serious? Saix sat down beside Axel. Saix still had two books in his hands. From the spine on the bottom one, it was black with blue and yellow shapes decorating it. The one on top was a bunch of rectangles, white, black and grey. Boring like this castle.

"Who gave you that one?" Axel asked, pointing to the top one.

"Xemnas." Saix answered.

"And the other one?"

"Xemnas. And yours is from Xemnas as well."

That wasn't helpful. "Guess that means he's not colour blinded." It wouldn't be easy to ask him about the beach room if he was the designer. However, it might be easier to take over if he was colour blinded. To think, easiest person to take out: being colour blinded. Tell them to hit one of two switches. Make sure you don't hit the red switch which will be a cliché self-destruct switch! The green one is the one you want with the cliché emergency escape route! Axel smiled at the thought.

"Colour blinded?" Saix's face held a hint of confusion. He tilted his head slightly. "Do I want to know?"

Axel decided not to tell him this time. "It's nothing," he said as he looked away. He wanted to figure this out by himself. If he got stuck, then he would ask Saix. Saix's eyes were trained on his, even as Axel turned away. Isa was way too good at reading people's eyes.

"...and that's why. Hey um…Isa?" Lea looked back at Isa, finding Isa's green eyes gazing into his.

"You're lying." Lea was startled. He thought it was very well crafted! There wasn't a loop hole anywhere! "Tell me the truth." Isa took a step closer to where Lea was standing on the steps to the central garden and continued to focus on Lea's eyes. Arms crossed.

"Well, I…" This was too creepy. "Isa, can you stop staring? This is way too-"

"It's the only way I can tell if you're telling me the truth or not. Or how you're really feeling. Otherwise, you're too good of a liar." Lea wondered why he hadn't noticed this sooner. They had known each other for a while, unless Isa had just figured this…trick…recently.

Time to which subjects, "You can't lie at all Isa! I can just tell by your voice!" Lea shut his eyes. Some of the setting sunlight could still be seen through his eyelids. "Go on! Lie!" He stuck out his tongue.

"Lea, stop acting childish." Isa paused. He was probably frowning. "Why should I try to lie? You just told me to tell you a lie."

"Fine. Then talk about something, and lie about one thing." Lea crossed his arms.

"Alright…this still isn't fair." Lea didn't respond. "Fine, fine. Light is made up of all colours. Each colour has its own wavelength." Stupid Isa. Just like him to pick a subject to lie about something Lea hadn't studied. "Grass and trees appear green because colours at the red and purple ends get absorbed, leaving the greens primarily to be reflected into our eyes. That also explains the colour of our sky." Here. Isa was going to lie here. He was hesitating. "Our sky is blue because the wavelengths of the warm colours are much larger than the cool colours. The larger wavelengths pass by without problems. The shorter wavelengths however get hit by the particles in the atmosphere. They get scattered across the sky, making the sky appear blue to our eyes." Even though Lea didn't understand exactly what Isa was talking about, he was still telling the truth. "For sunsets, they're warmer colours because of the sun's angle. This causes the light to travel at a further angle. The wavelengths are blues die out because they have shorter wavelengths than the reds, leaving the reds to travel on because they have longer wavelengths. Then..."

"There! The last bit. About the wavelengths dying out. You're lying about that!" Lea opened his eyes to a surprised Isa. "I may not know exactly what you're talking about, but you were lying about dying wavelengths."

Isa looked up at the setting sun. "Yeah. You're right." He moved to go sit down on the stone steps where Lea was standing. Lea sat down beside him.

"So, why does the sun set red?"

"You think you would understand?" Isa questioned. Lea nodded. "Alright, I'll make it simple anyways." Thanks, Isa... "Blues get scattered so much, that hardly any reaches our eyes, only leaving the reds…"

"Anyways…" Axel dragged out the word, turning back to Saix, "what happened with Xemnas? You're still in one piece."

"He was…pleased, that I had accepted his offer." Saix paused. "He's a horrible actor," Saix said more to himself than Axel. "I don't want to end up like him."

"How bad?" Axel inquired. He hadn't seen much of Xemnas at all. "Is he that bad?"

Saix had a small amused smile on his face. "Yes. Like how you would pout for attention occasionally. That painful. That fake."

Ouch. "I gotcha. Are the other Nobodies that bad?" Axel didn't know if he would go crazy from false acting or just point and laugh. Or, would he become like them too? That was a scary thought. Wait…a thought? Again? Seriously, where were all the feelings hiding? He never thought a heart would be such a problem.

"No. Not Vexen at least." He didn't elaborate. Guess that means he was okay…for a Nobody. "Vexen will be a problem, I believe. He's close to Xemnas. I think if Xemnas were to fall, Vexen might take charge."

"Why him?"

"He was in Xemnas' office when I was there. He also knew something about Xemnas' past." Saix's voice changed as he spoke the last part. He was hiding something and he didn't continue.

"And…? What about Xemnas' past?" Axel leaned forward, seeing what he could read off of Saix's face. If he tries to look away, then he's not telling me something.

Saix looked Axel straight in the eye. "I'm not sure. Vexen was vague about it." Huh. Axel was puzzled. He was sure Saix would have looked away. Guess that meant he was being honest. His voice didn't falter slightly, or pause. "Something wrong, Axel?"

"Naw, it's fine." Axel knew he would figure it out later. Who knows how long they were going to be here anyways? "Want me to show you around? I know where everything is. Got it all memorized."

OoooooO

A few days later as promised, Zexion came to get Axel and Saix. Now the Organization needed to test their strength to see how they fitted in terms of combat.

They were both brought to a huge room with windows reaching from the floor to the ceiling along the circumference part of the semi-circular room. The windows showed only the night sky which had been eternally there since Axel and Saix had arrived. The room was void of any furniture, as Zexion informed the two, making it ideal for combat. Any damage done to the room could be fixed quite easily. Axel had inquired who would fix it and Zexion replied it wasn't his concern. Saix pondered a bit about the odd question from Axel, seeing the fire flickered in his eyes briefly before composing itself. Axel brushed it off as he walked off towards the wide windows to take a look outside.

The wall to the left of where Axel stood in front of the large set of windows was Lexaeus and Xaldin. Lexaeus leaned against the side wall with Xaldin, both talking quietly with each other. Lexaeus had his arms crossed, face as motionless as a stone carving, as he listened to Xaldin's words. His only movements were the necessity of blinking and a brief movement of his mouth to indicate a short reply to Xaldin. Xaldin was leaning on his arm against the wall, periodically glancing over at Saix dragging his long black dreads of hair from front to back of his body and then back again. About the top half of his hair was tied back, leaving the bottom half to hang freely. His other arm moved about in the air, gesturing as he spoke to his companion.

"Lexaeus will be the testing opponent," said a voice beside Saix's right arm. He looked down at Zexion who was the youngest member of the Organization. Saix could see one bored blue eye clearly focused on Lexaeus and Xaldin while the other was hidden by the layering of the silvery waterfall of hair. "No one, except Xemnas, has been able to overcome his sheer strength and defence. While that doesn't make him undefeated, it means that he will be able to test both you and Axel's abilities without an issue arising of any major injuries. Magic might be the only thing of minor concern," Zexion looked up at Saix, "but I don't think neither you nor Axel look like the type to use magic. If it does arise…I'll be the one to test it out. You're first Saix, being number VII, so summon your weapon and give try it out before you begin." Zexion finished his instructions and walked over to where Axel was standing by the window.

Saix took a moment to tuck some hair underneath his coat, not wanting it to get in the way during combat. Some still hung out, but not nearly as much as before. Saix wasn't sure on to how to summon his weapon as he held out his hand. He was not sure what to expect to be summoned. It's not like he used a weapon to fight with before. He closed his eyes. Strangely enough he did feel something. A kind of tingling hovering above his outstretched hand. Somehow he could feel it extend away from his hand like a long, thick, heavy, stick. Was this the form of his weapon?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Saix opened an eye and found Axel looking back, a small smile in place. "Troubles?" Saix remained quiet, closing his eye again. "Lemme help. You know that…hmm…vibrating feeling in your hand? Just focus on that feeling. Think if you can…like, pull the vibrations together." Axel paused and Saix tried pulling the tingling pieces together. They became slightly stronger and a bit harder to be held together. Axel continued to struggle with his explanation, "and you want to make become stronger. Stronger so that it'll appear. It happened something like that…" Magnets. It felt like small magnets a child would try to force the two south ends together. Suddenly the form of the weapon flashed in Saix's mind as he felt a heavy weight drop into his outstretched hand. "There!"

Saix opened his eyes to see a long shape in his hand. "What is it?" Saix asked. "It isn't anything I've seen before." He brought his other hand to the white hilt as he lifted it up to look at it. It was as long as he was tall, taking on a blue silvery colour with hints of yellow along the blade. The blade curved in and outwards symmetrically, ending in a large circular pattern with seven spikes sticking out. A pale yellow symbol of a Nobody was in the center, seeming to hold the end piece together.

"Well," Axel began, "This will sound stupid, but what does your mind say? My mind said mine are chakrams."

As silly as it had sounded, Saix listened. "A claymore." Saix repeated. He took a few swings as Axel went to the sidelines to lean against the window where Zexion was. Swinging horizontally was easier than vertically. Swinging his claymore wasn't much different than using a bat when…

Lea stood ready at second base. Heat from the afternoon summer sun. Families forming the audience. It was the yearly summer tournament for baseball. Isa focused on Lea's eyes. Communication was their key. The fire coiled into a spring, held down, waiting to be released. Isa turned back to the pitcher and gave the faintest of nods. Isa's bat was ready.

The pitcher eyed Isa nervously, then looking behind him to the back catcher. Isa focused on the pitcher's eyes. He wasn't going to miss this pitch. He would get Lea to Home. Isa saw the movement of a boomerang in the pitcher's eyes.

A curve ball then. Isa readied himself. The pitcher's face was kept blank, focused, as he pulled his arm back. As he threw the ball forward, Isa could still see the curved afterimages of the boomerang in flight in the pitcher's eyes. Lea sprinted forward.

Isa swung and contact the ball on it's curved path, dropping the bat immediately and sprinting to first base. Lea made home base given his head start, while Isa barely made it to second.

Lexaeus stepped forward from Xaldin. He stretched his arms as approached the center of the room where Saix was. "Ready, runt?" he taunted with a smirk on his face. Saix nodded, not letting his face show neither fear nor confidence. Lexaeus' eyes were steady, solid like the earth. There were slight cracks in the earth, where small stems of plants began to peak out. "Then come at me! You will learn your stance and your power!"

Saix held his weapon to his side with his two hands, not really sure how to hold it now that he had to fight with it. Figuring he should get over it, he ran forward, even though Lexaeus still didn't have his weapon summoned. If Lexaeus wanted to fight with a weapon, he should have summoned it sooner, Saix thought. Lexaeus stepped back to dodge the first few swings, but then began blocking once Saix had better control. Perhaps he doesn't need a weapon at this point as he seems to be doing well without it.

OooooooO

"A claymore, is it? It looks different than typical ones."

Axel was on the sidelines with Zexion. He had a notepad and pen out, preparing his pages for recording. He is younger than the rest of us, Axel noted, looking down at him. Maybe by a couple of years at least. With his silvery hair hiding half his face, it's kind of hard to tell. Being on Zexion's left Axel could easily make out a blue eye scanning over the page as he began to make some notes about the appearance of Saix's weapon.

Xaldin and Lexaeus were at one end of the room against the wall. Axel didn't like the look on Xaldin's face. Lexaeus' expression was blank but his words only seemed to encourage Xaldin. Xaldin would occasionally look over at Saix, creating a small tugging in his brain that made Axel believed he had met these two before. Unfortunately he couldn't think of anything past that. The nagging felt like a small warning. They glanced towards Saix again as Lexaeus spoke. For the first time he heard laughter from the two. It was hollow, echoing through the room. Axel couldn't help but think they were up to something. He glanced back at Zexion who was too busy preparing his papers to notice. Or to care.

Saix was focused on his weapon, ignoring Xaldin and Lexaeus. He was testing the swings, more horizontally than vertically, much like…

Isa swung the bat a few times. He changed his grip and swung a few more times before he was satisfied. "You ready Lea?" Lea nodded. Batting time.

Lea pitched, not a baseball but a stone, towards Isa. Isa tensed, then swung the bat, connecting with the stone. Lea followed the arc of the stone with his eyes as it flew off towards the large castle in the town. A satisfying sound of shattering glass reached their ears. Lea grinned. Isa had a hint of regret on his face. Lea faced Isa. "What, you regret doing his?"

"No." Isa looked away, voice faltering. He gripped the bat harder.

"Liar." Isa looked back apologetically. Lea grinned. They heard a roar from the castle. "Isa, they deserved it. It was payback time. They got lots of money.

They can repair the window easily."

"But what if we broke something really, really valuable?" Lea shrugged. Guess that means they would learn not to mess with us.

Axel couldn't remember who or why they deserved it. He felt his gaze being drawn back at Xaldin and Lexaeus as he remembered the castle. He didn't understand why and couldn't find in the scattered memories anything to support the nagging feeling.

Finally, Lexaeus stepped forward, acting rather too confident for Axel. "Ready runt? Then come at me! You will learn your stance and your power!" His feet made a wide base, his arms brought out from his side making him look like he could stop a rushing beast from a deadly charge.

"'Learn your stance?'" Axel repeated to Zexion, who had his eyes trained on Saix. His pen was poised as Saix rushed forwards towards Lexaeus who had not summoned his weapon. "And isn't Lexaeus going to use a weapon?" Zexion began to write.

Without taking his eyes off of neither Saix, nor pausing in writing, Zexion replied, "With the weapon Saix uses, a claymore you said, there is no way he can use it efficiently holding it like that. He holds it much like some kind of club children would play with. As Saix fights, he will learn a more suitable stance from experience." Axel was curious as to where Zexion had seen children 'play' with a clubs. "Lexaeus doesn't need a weapon right now. He's strong enough to fight and block with his hands at this point."

True to Zexion's words, Lexaeus was capable enough. At first he was dodging Saix's swings and occasionally blocking them. Now that the fight had progressed, he was using fists to jab at Saix, knocking Saix around a bit. Saix began to learn how to avoid some attacks from Lexaeus and block with his weapon. Axel crossed his arms and leaned his head against the chilled window, looking up at the ceiling. At least Axel had already fought once. He would be able to put on a decent show. Maybe he could summon fire again.

"Lea? Lea!" He turned toward the sound. Isa. He was alive! He could make his friend out from the Darkness as it darkened his friend.

"Isa!" He made his way carefully to his friend. The ground, even though it was hard to see, wasn't even. It was as if roots and rocks of this Dark stuff littered the ground. Everywhere was dark. Above, below, around. Lea wondered how they could even see each other when his own feet were fading from the Dark mist. He could see the blue hair more clearly now, and the dark blue shirt with a moon on it. He too was looking down at the ground, trying not to trip.

They were close. "Isa!" He was felt a dull happiness. As if he should feel thankful but he wasn't in the mood to be thankful. Blue hair began to rise up, a flash of yellow, then suddenly falling down. "Isa-?"

There was something black on his friend's back. The black thing moved. It looked up at him, circular yellow eyes watching him. They were hollow, only following instinct.

"Get off of Isa!" He yelled, swinging his arm towards the creature, summoning a circular weapon in his hands before connecting with the creature, sending it flying. He stared at the weapon. His hand held the black cross shaped handle which extended to four smaller rings, all connected by one large ring. Eight spikes jutted outward from larger ring. The inside of the rings were red while the outside were silvery. Then he noticed he had a second one in his second hand, identical to the first. "What is this?"

A word whispered inside his head. 'A chakram. Summon fire to defeat the Heartless.' He must be crazy now. This whole place was!

"Summon fire? But how?" The creature-the Heartless- was moving closer. Though he couldn't see its body, its yellow eyes gave away its position. The eyes sudden lurched forward. "No, stay back!" He flung his arm out, releasing the chakram as he would throw a Frisbee.

Suddenly he could feel a fire raging inside his body. He felt hot and was growing hotter. It wasn't uncomfortable. Like spending the afternoon in the Sun. Except this heat was felt inside, not on his skin. 'Release' and he did. He wasn't sure how, but fire jetted outwards from his shoulder along his outstretched arm to his chakram, encasing it in fire, and then spiralling out towards the Heartless.

The Heartless, trapped in the tornado of fire, could be seen- It had a small back body that reminded him of an ant with only four legs. Suddenly the fiery cage shrunk around the Heartless, incinerating it. The burning ball of fire hung for a moment before disappearing.

Axel was pulled out of his memories from Zexion's voice. "Come on Lexaeus," Zexion muttered, "pull out his strength. If not, he'll just be a weaker version of you. I was hoping for a different style of fighting for the Organization." Zexion didn't look disappointed at all as he had stopped writing and held a dead like gaze at the fight. He looked almost like he was ready to fall asleep.

The battle had shifted towards the wall opposite from where Axel and Zexion stood. As Saix swung at Lexaeus, Lexaeus rolled below the swing stopping behind Saix and immediately standing. Then Lexaeus rammed forward pinning Saix against the wall, taunting him, "What you have is okay, but I want you to show me what you have hidden. Zexion's bored."

Zexion scoffed at the comment. Axel pondered if they knew each other from before, since V and VI are close numbers.

OoooooO

Saix felt his lungs lose air and then dazed from his head hitting the wall. When he was stunned Lexaeus used one hand to twist Saix's left arm against his back and the other was holding his arm, which was holding his claymore, away from his body. Pain brought him back from his daze as Lexaeus pushed his chest against Saix, causing his arm to dig into his back.

His voice sounded very loud next to Saix's ear, "Come, and show me your hidden strength. What you have is okay, but I want you to show me what you have hidden. Zexion's bored." Saix tried to swing his weapon with one arm, but couldn't reach Lexaeus from his angle. "Hah," he whispered into Saix's ear, "I thought that maybe your weapon might make me remember fear. But no…the mere memory of a woman with shimmering hair storming up to me is far more fearful!" Saix couldn't understand why Lexaeus would mention a woman. He tried kicking back at Lexaeus, but it didn't seem to bother him. "I thought she was going to hit me with her hand all fisted up as she raised it up high, ready to strike…" he constricted his grip on Saix's arms painfully.

From the moonlight coming from his window, Isa saw her swing the dull green bottle down, clipping him on the arm. Immediately he shut his eyes just before feeling the alcohol burn on his skin soaking through his pyjamas.

"…drunk on rage…"

He opened his eyes slowly. He felt the sharp pain of where pieces of the bottle found its way onto his neck, face, arms, and even his legs. Looking down he saw sparkles of green in his pyjama shorts and t-shirt top and the hair that hung down beside his face. On the rug some more pieces lay around him, catching in the pale moonlight.

"But no," The sudden surge of memories felt out of place to Saix. He turned his head painfully, scanning Lexaeus eyes for a hint of anything, "She wasn't going to do that with our master around…" The earth was opening, large roots tearing the fissure open. Saix didn't care for a memory of Lexaeus' original self with an argument with a woman. Then, he could see himself reflected on the surface of Lexaeus' eyes. Blue hair falling out from beneath his coat, hanging along his shoulders in caught in Lexaeus' hold…

"Get it out of here!" She cried out as she shook her head, causing her silvery blue hair to flash in the night light, falling out from her lazily pinned hair. She held the neck of the bottle with its jagged pieces forming an abstract crown. She waved it at Isa.

"Get off!" Saix roared, swinging his weapon sideways with a sudden surge in strength. Lexaeus was caught off guard, receiving a cut in his arm and side as he skidded back a few feet. He stepped to his right, watching Saix. Lexaeus extended his arm summoning his weapon cautiously. With one hand he held his large black and red hooked shaped weapon. It wasn't as long as Saix's but wider, like a large axe with a shortened handle.

Isa stepped back from her waving, holding his telescope closer to him. He winced as he felt the bottle shards dig into his feet. He looked down and saw small specks of blood staining the rug. Then he eyed the window. His desk was under the window which wouldn't be a problem to get over. For once the night sky was clear. He could see the moon. Why tonight? Why, why…

"So you're going to stand up against me?" He looked back at his mom. Her hair created wispy shadows across her face as she lifted her chin. Her lips turned into a sneer. "You don't have a chance!" He shivered.

Saix dully noted his surroundings blur like looking through an unfocused lens. Only the being standing in front of him remained focused as if it was the only one with a physical presence. The being, his target, was opposing him. It still held aggression as he could see the muscles in its arms tighten as it lifted its weapon higher off the ground. The hand around the hilt tightened as its legs shifting apart, ready to move. Saix ran forward a few steps before, leaping high above it, chucking his weapon down-

Lifting the bottle above her head again, her eyes widened as did her sneer as she threw the bottle downwards-

Leaving a huge crack in the ghostly white floor where the target had stood. The claymore remained upright like a post. Saix spotted his target to his right having dodging the blow completely. Saix then twisted his right without falling-

Isa rushed to his left causing more glass from the rug cut into his feet as he headed to his desk. His heart thudded harder with each ping of pain. He clambered over it, scrunching and ripping the instructions for the telescope as he slid out open window- "Don' you dare-!"

No you don't-! Saix summoned another claymore, flinging it to the right, where the target had stopped. Its eyes expanded in shock-

He was halfway over the ledge when he felt something hit his back, causing him to gain too much momentum, tumbling over the sill. He gasped in pain and rising fear clenched his chest.

Without a problem it deflected the flying claymore, sending it to land away. Saix landed on the ground. The target was no longer cautious; it had gained a true fighting stance. It raised its weapon above its head, swinging downwards, the end hitting the floor creating a large shockwave causing pieces of white floor to separate.

He landed on his side, feeling an unsettling combination of cool grass and glass being pushed deeper into his face. He heard the fluttering of papers and then saw the pieces of newsprint landing top of him and around him. 'Another Year, Let's Keep Living: 10 Ways to Party Safely'.

"That's quite the impressive strength you have! You can stop now." His target spoke. Saix stalked forward as he swung his weapon behind him in his right hand. It was still intact.

"I'll break it till there's nothin' left!" Isa looked up. She was leaning outside his window with her hair swinging around wildly in the night with the remainder of the broken bottle neck still in her hand. Isa looked at his telescope, parts were scattered and broken peaking from the grass. If he could take it to a repairman then maybe…

"If you won't listen, then you're no good to the Organization!" It lifted its large weapon off the ground as it charged. Saix sped forward as well feeling a magnetic pull towards his target. He stopped in front of his target as it swung its weapon. Saix raised his claymore to block the swing.

Isa looked back up and felt a look of horror invade his face as she threw down the remaining bottle neck. He didn't have time to gather the pieces, scrambling away as the remaining piece shattered around the telescope. The pieces shimmering in the moonlight created a dangerous sea around the telescope remains.

It wasn't enough to completely stop the swing, as it cut into Saix's shoulder a bit, but it was enough to surprise his target. Saix swung swiftly twice before his target could react followed by a powerful third slash cutting his target deeply in the arm and sending it backwards. It clutched its non sword arm where the cut was dealt. Black and grey hooks and threads leaked out and tumbled down a bit before vanishing into nothing.

"So it's still there!" She laughed hysterically, "Look at the pretty pieces it's in! Looks like I still have some work to do. Don' want anyone to fix it."

Its target turned to the side, "Zexion! Support!" Saix rushed forward, not wanting it to be repaired.

He took one last look at sharp glass fragments, shiny black tubes and clear lens pieces of the telescope. The pieces shimmered and blurred. He ran feeling cool, wet trails on his cheeks. "I know where to find you, my dear Isa! You can't run!" He felt each step poking the glass painfully into his feet, not caring about leaving a small spotted trail of blood on the stoned path.

It turned back to face Saix, stepping back to avoid the first sweep, then rolling out of the way to avoid Saix's combo. You won't be able to run away. I know where to find you, my target. I will finish what I started.

OooooooO

Axel watched Saix struggle against Lexaeus, not feeling any urge to help. He tapped his finger against his arm as he pondered. Shouldn't he want to help Saix? Saix is basically Isa after all, so shouldn't he…?

Suddenly, Saix whipped around knocking Lexaeus back a few feet roaring "Get off!" The rough tone sent a chill creeping down his spine. Axel's hands gripped his arms harder as he watched Lexaeus slowly circle to his right summoning his weapon in his hand. The blade wasn't straight, but was hooked shaped instead. While it was not as long as Saix's it was wider it looked even heavier. Axel doubted he could lift it with two hands. The base of the blade was black with dark red lines outlining the blade. The handle was sea blue with yellow diamond shapes adorning it. Axel wondered why Lexaeus would summon his weapon now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xaldin lean forward from the wall, paying greater attention than before. Was this apart of their plan?

Zexion flipped over a new page and Axel noted he had written quite a few pages. "Yes Lexaeus, draw him out…" Zexion's whispered like his hand brushing flattening the page. Axel saw Zexion's eyes change in colour. The light blue darkened around the edges of the iris until a dark blue faintly outlined the pupil. He felt his palms sweat from inside the gloves as he thought he saw the dark blue change to olive and even a hint of gold glinting.

With a crunch a boots on the floor's grit Axel's eyes darted back to Saix as he ran toward Lexaeus. He leapt above Lexaeus throwing his weapon downwards at him. Lexaeus moved away from the massive shockwave the claymore created as it cut deeply into the floor. The claymore remained upright stuck in the ground where the huge crack supported it. Lexaeus halted in front of Axel and Zexion. Saix twisted right towards them, summoning another claymore and flung it at Lexaeus before falling to the ground. Lexaeus deflected the claymore. As it hit the ground it clattered and skidded, just stopping just before Axel and Zexion.

Axel's ears only heard the claymore's path because his eyes were focused on Saix. His mouth hung open. His arms were no longer crossed and now dangled by his sides. "What…?" His voice barely registered in his ears. Saix had landed on the ground and slowly rose up, blue hair falling away from his face. Axel's brain vaguely saw Lexaeus was still standing a few feet in front of them as he gave a quick glance backwards to Zexion. Saix's skin was paler than before contained in the framing sky hair…

"I have enough data," Zexion informed Lexaeus snapping Axel from his trance. "We can move onto Axel now." Lexaeus nodded a dangerous grin fading to a serious firm line.

"That's quite the impressive strength you have!" Lexaeus called out, "You can stop now."

"Now just to get Saix back…" Zexion muttered to his book, scribbling down more notes.

Get Saix back? Axel looked back at Saix realizing it wasn't just the skin tone that had changed. The skin itself on his face was taut, stretching hinting the skull underneath. Saix's usually ruffled hair was rougher as if static lingered among the strands, surviving a massive pillow war. His eyes trailed to the eyes which had first escaped his scan. They were wider and the pupils were dilated so much that from where Axel stood could only see yellow. There was no thought in those eyes and never shifted from Lexaeus when Zexion spoke.

It looked up at him, circular yellow eyes watching him. They were hollow, only following instinct.

"If you won't listen, then you're no good to the Organization!" Lexaeus declared loudly. Saix didn't flinch or show any sign of registering his words.

Axel turned to Zexion not flinching from his dark eye, "He won't actually destroy-?" but stopped when he saw Saix flung himself towards Lexaeus as he swung his weapon.

"If it comes down to it, then yes. We can't have a member who will not listen to orders." Zexion blinked and suddenly the darkness in his eye vanished leaving it clear blue. Saix the swing from Lexaeus and immediately hit Lexaeus rapidly in succession with a striking powerful blow to end it, sending Lexaeus backwards.

Black and grey threads and hooks leaked from his side and arm. It wasn't red and looked nothing like blood. Axel opened his mouth to ask Zexion but halted when he spotted Xaldin striding from his spot, winds from nowhere whirling around him, summoning a spear. It was long, sleek and purple with a hooked spade attached to the end. Lexaeus turned towards Zexion, growling "Zexion, support!" Zexion had stopped writing and summoned a large black book in his hands with white symbols and writing the cover. He opened the book and it began to glow green.

Axel extended his arms to summon his chakrams but stopped. What could he do here? He didn't really have any skill with them. Not enough to stop Lexaeus, Xaldin and Zexion in any case. Zexion stepped forward, pages of his book fluttering sharply…

A cool evening spring wind blew from the open window softly fluttering the pages of the textbooks laid out on the desk. Isa was sitting at his desk in his room, books and notes out before him. He held his head in his hands staring hopelessly at the pages of countless words. "I can't do it!" Isa groaned. "There's no time and I'm not ready!" Lea quietly walked on the rug and came up from behind Isa and hit him with his textbook. Isa turned around to face Lea, angered. "Lea? What was that for?" His eyes narrowed.

Axel began to follow Zexion but stopped when his boot knocked against something hard on the ground. He looked down and saw a claymore on the ground from when Lexaeus had deflected it. It had larger spikes with translucent blue peaks extending from it. Maybe...he could knock some sense into him, literally. He picked up the claymore and balanced it in his hands. Then he ran forward past Zexion.

He heard Zexion's voice as he called out after him. "Axel? Axel! Get back here! Xaldin, get Axel before-!" Axel sped up instead, not wanting Xaldin to catch him as he heard Xaldin's turbulent winds move closer. Saix had his back to Axel with his weapon locked against Lexaeus'. He wasn't going to let them destroy Saix. Isa-

"-Snap out of it. Are you going to start studying? Or are you not even going to try?" Lea's eyes looked behind Isa to the notes. Lea was thankful he didn't have to know that much detail in his lessons.

Axel felt the weapon vibrate slightly in his hands and spread outwards from his hands to cover the rest of his body. He felt it invade his mind as Lexaeus turned into an unfocused blur of black with a burnt orange top. The howling of the wind became muffled, the pages only a soft flitter. Instead he could clearly hear the grinding of the claymore against the large black axe. The being in front of him with pointed ears and azure hair appeared painfully sharp in contrast to the surroundings. His focused figure had one gloved hand on the hilt retaining its grip, another gloved hand pushing against the blue blade to fend off the other shape.

Isa shook his head, hair hitting Lea's face. "No! Lea, there's no point in starting now! It won't make any difference." Lea scrunched his nose and pulled his head back. He raised his fist and paused. He relaxed his hand. "I should just give-"

The claymore felt no more than a pipe in his hands and was strangely becoming lighter. He glanced at it and saw parts of the weapon chipping off in white and blue hooks. He ran faster towards his target swinging sideways with all the strength he could. He caught his unaware target in the upper back, freeing strands of the blue to the ground. A loud snarl pieced his ears as it turned, its waxed yellow eyes locking onto his.

Smack. Isa's widen green eyes as Lea retracted his hand. He opened his mouth.

Axel bent down from the threatening yellow gaze and swept the weapon at a downwards diagonal angle, knocking the target's feet out causing it to fall to the ground. It shut its eyes as Axel raised his weapon above his head, feeling it no lighter than a feather.

The target blinked in a daze, confusion in the golden eyes dispersing quickly. "Axel?"

"L-Lea?"

He swung the claymore downwards. He felt it fade away too quickly, feeling a sharp cold wind cutting into his hands through his gloves.

"Shut it and start studying. Even if you can't ace the test, it's better than scoring nothing at all." Even Lea had his limits when Isa can be too stubborn…and the school Isa attends is no help. High marks and all that fanciness…it occasionally results in a stinging hand.

His fist landed harshly on the ground beside the target's side. Axel fell to his knees, resting his elbows on the ground. A dull pain began to form in his fists and arms indicating how sore they were. He hung his head as he stared at the blurred cracked white ground, mind feeling blank and dizzy as the blurring cracks came into focus.

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember. Isa. Saix.

"If you won't listen, then you're no good to the Organization!"

"He won't actually destroy-?"

"If it comes down to it, then yes. We can't have a member who will not listen to orders."

He was stopped though, right?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a shadow appeared over him. He felt hands hesitantly touch his shoulders. Axel looked up, not sure if he would see Zexion, Xaldin or...

Above him, Saix was bent over him and stared into his eyes. Axel felt his muscles relax in a dull relief that Saix was safe. Saix looked unsettled, probably from the fighting Axel guessed. Axel became distracted from further thought as he noticed two faint scars on Saix's face. The one end of the scar was on his forehead above one eye, extending between his eyes reaching below the opposite eye. The second scar mirrored that first one forming a pale 'X' between his eyes. There was neither blood or shades of red to indicate if it bled nor was there any 'leaks' of those threads like with Lexaeus. Axel was sure it wasn't there before he stopped Saix. Subconsciously Axel reached his hand to examine the scar. This action broke Saix from his trace as his eyes trail the approaching hand to his face, "Axel…what-?" Axel was sure he couldn't have inflicted the scar…

"Lexaeus! Xaldin! Why didn't you stop them?" Zexion's echoing voice snapped their attention from each other to the trio of cloaks standing by the windows. Axel quickly retrieving his hand that hovered in front of Saix's face and brushed off Saix's hands from his shoulders. Zexion had joined Lexaeus and Xaldin, hitting them both with his large book.

Lexaeus eyed the book as it tapped his arm and replied, "I was trying not to get injured further. You could've done more than healing and barriers." He folded his arms, the place where the cut had been before was healed. Even the fabric of the coat was renewed.

Xaldin ignored the book and spun his lance around in his hand. "I didn't expect the runt to move so fast…" he said as he looked away, hiding a smirk. Axel's stomach fell slightly as he realized this battle to Xaldin and Lexaeus wasn't meant to be fair from the start. It wasn't just testing the strength to them. How much of this playing around and destruction was part of their plan?

Yet, with Zexion's comments, he couldn't help but feel there was more to this battle. It was like they were expecting this to happen. Zexion was done talking with Lexaeus and Xaldin as he turned to walk back towards them. He would have to fill Saix in later.

Axel stood up and extended his hand to Saix. He was acting confident when he really was still shaky. Saix took Axel's hand uncertainly, and then stumbled. "Whoa, Saix! Take it easy there. You just had one hell of a battle." Axel stretched his mouth to form a weak grin. Saix uncertainly looked around the room as he stood properly, from the cracks in the floor of the room, and to the sight of Lexaeus', Xaldin's and Zexion's weapons out. "That was some hidden strength that I didn't know you had." Saix was still uneasy. "C'mon," Axel hissed in his ear, "look more awake."

"Of course you wouldn't know," Zexion's voice startled Axel with his sudden proximity, pulling away quickly from Saix. Zexion had placed his notepad and pen on top of his closed book. "When you become a Nobody, your current power is amplified greatly or is created from seemly nowhere. It's great that we were able to knock you out of your…berserker state." Zexion face was blank as he looked Saix up and down.

"Berserker?" Saix asked. His eyes clouded slightly and his eyebrows furrowed. Did that mean Saix couldn't remember?

"Yes." Zexion looked up at Saix. "Lexaeus was able to awaken your true fighting abilities. You are able to fight with an unrestrained aggression." He gestured to the torn room. "That allows you to surpass Lexaeus' strength if you can connect your attacks properly. Your speed can even surpass his as well. What needs to be done now, is to refine your combat skills when you're not in your berserker state and discover how you entered that mode. You don't recall what happened, do you?"

"No…not really," Saix said. His eyes were unfocused as he spoke. "I remember fighting Lexaeus of course. Then at some point, there was this strange…fixation I had on him. Almost like there was nothing else I could do but fight him. And then…" Saix trailed off.

Zexion twirled his pen. "The Lunar Diviner. You introduced yourself as such, but Xemnas gave you title, didn't he?" Saix nodded. Zexion tapped his pen on his notepad. "Yet there's no moon here. Is it possible that you had any…images of the moon in your mind?" A pause from Saix and he nodded again. Saix's face was blank now, as if he the fight was nothing more than a small quarrel. The only thing that gave him away was his half vacant eyes. Zexion seemed satisfied with his answer and Axel thought he caught a hint of relief across his face. "Guess he was able to find out after all…" Zexion muttered to himself as he began to write again.

Axel tried to lean over Zexion to read his writing but it was too messy to figure it out. Axel had hoped to figure out who 'he' was and what this person had figured out. The confirmation of the title, and the moon activating Saix's strength set Axel off. Zexion and Saix agreed that the moon awaken the fighting rage, while Axel knew from his experience that he had no thoughts of the moon, just the weapon. So why didn't either of them ask about his experience? It was as if Zexion only seemed concerned about confirming a theory about the title and the moon connection. Axel's best guess of this 'he' was Xemnas. Afterall, Xemnas was the one who gave them their titles. Which raised another question; How did Xemnas know about the moon connection ahead of time? Does he have some kind of power to see into the abilities of a Nobody? As Axel leaned back Zexion looked up at him, his eye narrowed ever so slightly. Axel raised an eyebrow in response which Zexion ignored and turned back to Saix.

"…Another thing that needs to be worked on is your summoning of weapons. After you have…disposed of them, you also need to make them vanish. Otherwise your opponents, like Axel demonstrated, will knock you around and out of your berserk state. Speaking of which, you're going to need to find a way out of your berserk mode other than being knocked around. Hopefully it will wear off over time, but it still needs to be controlled." He scribbled down a few more words before glancing up at Saix. "At least now you have a battle scar," he noted.

Zexion was back at his notes again when Saix looked to Axel with his eyes questioning and mouth slightly open. Axel drew lines on his own face, copying Saix's scar and mouthed, 'later'.

Without looking back at them, Zexion' coat swished as he turned. "Saix, you come to the side with me," he said as he walked back to where he and Axel were standing earlier by the windows. "You can rest here while Axel gets tested out." Saix gave Axel a final blank look before following Zexion.

Xaldin approached Axel. "No more weird tricks alright?" He put his hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly. "Not like a frame like yours can pull something like that off." A wide grin covered his face, eyes taunting.

Axel pried Xaldin's hand off. "As long as you don't I won't. Keeping a fair trade." Then he added, "Like what you two planned with Saix…"

Xaldin's grin became devious. "So you figured it out, huh? You two deserve it though." He twirled his lance from one hand to another behind his back.

Axel narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean-?"

"Guess you haven't!" Xaldin leapt back. "Let's have some fun instead!" He summoned another spear identical to the first one, holding one each hand.

Axel held out his arms, summoning his weapons with ease. A chakram appeared in each hand as he added a little flare. Fire danced and snaked around the chakrams' rings.

"Zexion, make sure this one learns some magic! He could be quite deadly with these!" Xaldin summoned a wind, levitating above the ground by a foot. As flew forward, he used the wind to pull the fire away from the chakrams.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Axel parried a blow from Xaldin, and then swung around…

OoooooO

Saix sat down, resting his head against the cold window. He could make out Axel and Xaldin fighting but he wasn't seeing them. His memories of his battle were hazy after Lexaeus had pinned him up until he saw Axel, ready to strike him with his own weapon. He felt a cold knot in his stomach again but weaker than before, now that he knew Axel wasn't out to kill him. He tried to sort out the blurred part of the battle but they kept coming back to when…

He hit the ground, landing on his back and hitting his head as well. A dull pain registered in his head as he blinked. He felt dizzy, vision blurring more than it had been. Then the blurring sharpened and his vision felt painful with the sudden contrast. Before he could shut his eyes a black shape hovered above him making his stomach lurch. Saix blinked hard not believing the figure above him. He was still there. The Organization black coat. Red spiky hair. He was holding a large white weapon above his head…his claymore. The question of his claymore was so minor in comparison to why Axel was…

"Axel?" His teeth and mouth were bared in an inhuman manner. Saix looked at Axel's eyes. He regretted looking into his eyes for answers for the first time he could remember. His eyes were more terrifying than he had ever seen. The normally solid emerald base hung about in jewel fragments, shattered from a flaring inferno hidden behind the base. Saix felt like the fire was real, like opening a heated oven on a hot summer day, stepping barefooted onto a stove hot stone path. Except he could feel the heat inside him. The inferno was centered on a huge sphere of fire, spewing and spiralling outwards amongst the shards of green. Suddenly the twisting flares sprung forward shattering any green in the way, straight at Saix.

In reflex he shielded the side of his face as he turned away with his arms futilely; he could still the sweltering heat tearing at him from inside.

Thunck. A vibration on the ground beside him. Slowly the fire faded from inside. Removing his arms slowly, Saix looked towards his side, seeing Axel leaned over with his spiky red hair resting on his arms, on the ground. He could hear Axel's breath coming out heavily.

Axel didn't move. Cautiously, Saix sat up, getting on his knees, and approached Axel. He raised his arms up to Axel but then halted as the dreaded thought enter his mind. Was Axel trying to kill him? His hands were sweating terribly in his gloves, knees weak. He imagined his heart would have been clenching in unbearable restraining fear and was glad for once he actually didn't have a heart.

Swallowing what could be his last breath, his hands touched Axel's shoulders…

Berserker Axel, Saix called it, after learning what it was, was something he never wanted to see. Ever. Saix suspected that Axel felt the same way about him. He wondered what caused Axel to become berserk. For himself, it was exactly as Zexion had stated. Which now that Saix thought about it, it was as if Zexion already knew. He knew that he was given the title Lunar Diviner by Xemnas. Again it came back to how much Xemnas knew.

Saix closed his eyes. Lexaeus was probably in charge of testing out the Lunar Diviner's abilities. Saix sighed and heard the scratching of Zexion's pen. Saix couldn't remember what Lexaeus had said to him, blurring too much with the memory that arose from his berserker state...

Moonlight spilled onto Isa's desk as he set up his new telescope, taking care not to break any parts. It wasn't a fancy model of any sort, but after all the trouble Lea had gone through to get it to him tonight, Isa didn't want to break it. Lea insisted that the sky wasn't visible enough to until tonight. "Where's the point in giving you a present if you can't use it right away? You would be so excited, but then disappointed that you couldn't use it for another week!" Isa said that wasn't the point, and Lea smiled back sheepishly, apologizing. Isa could imagine Lea staring at the night sky each night after Christmas, waiting for the clouds to leave so he could give Isa his present.

He placed the telescope in its stand as heard his mother enter his room. "Hope you don't want any of this," Isa turned to face her as she swirled the liquid around in the green bottle she held. Under her arm she had a rolled up newspaper. "You're still too young."

"I know." Isa wasn't interested in drinking anyways. He figured he would if he wanted to when he was old enough. He still had about ten years and he wasn't planning on dying before then. "I'm fine."

"What are ya doing?" She walked into his room, getting a better look as Isa hesitantly moved aside to let her see. "What's that?"

"My Christmas present from Lea." Isa answered simply. He didn't want her to stay around. Please, he thought, please go.

"So he didn't forget! I thought you were going to drown yourself in such sorrow." She laughed. Isa flinched. Partially at the memory, and partially from his mother's laughter. Even though Lea had good intentions, he was still hurt that Lea hadn't gotten him a gift on that day. Lea had scratched his head, looked away, saying, it was taking longer than he thought. He was lying, but Isa was too hurt to find out.

He hoped she would leave soon in peace. Sometimes she would not care and go elsewhere, while other times she would pursue it. Just in case, Isa walked over to his clothes he wore earlier today and grabbed a necklace. Well, it was a string with a two keys on it. He hung it around his neck and hid it under his pyjama top. He turned around and saw his mother standing beside his telescope. His heart clutched. Please. Please don't…

"You're not thinking of going to the moon again, right?" his mother asked as she tapped his telescope. His heart thudded harder. They had had this conversation before. She forbade any thoughts about going to the moon or travelling outside of their world. What became a thought could turn into spoken words, which would lead to actions. She believed such travels would end a 'promising life' that he had.

"No, I'm just looking." While it might be cool to actually go to the moon, he knew right now it wouldn't be possible. Maybe if he worked in the research facility at the castle he could. But that was only if he was good enough to be accepted.

"You know Isa," her voice began sweetly, as she put down the newspaper on the edge of his desk and picked up the telescope with one hand. They both watched it teeter dangerously in her hand, "sometimes giving into your…desires…is rather dangerous. You're not thinking of going to that damned castle to study and build those blasted ships are you?" She turned her hazy eyes towards him.

His heart beat faster ramming against his rib cage creating strain. She saw right through his thoughts again. He couldn't lie and most certainly not to her. His mother was just as good as reading people's eyes as he was. The haze thinned.

"Isa…" Her voice hissed. "You are aren't you? And this…thing, isn't helping, isn't it?" She yelled, "It's just encouraging you!" She lifted her arm holding the telescope up, ready to throw it down-

"No!" Isa cried out, catching her arm with one hand, while catching the telescope with the other as she let go.

"Let go of me!" She shrieked as she swung the bottle down, clipping Isa on the arm. He shut his eyes. He felt the alcohol burn on his skin, soaking through his pyjamas.

Her voice continued to ring in his head. Strangely enough during the battle with Lexaeus, he could actually hear her voice. Specifically, during the parts when everything was a blur. He felt that he had fought with everything he had to destroy whatever was in front of him. Flitting through the memory again, he realized that same fixation he had was no different than her when she drunk that night. He thought he was acting on his own memories. While they weren't her memories, he could feel what she felt instead. He rolled his head against the window. He didn't know what was going on.

Instead of dwelling on it Saix watched the fire on Axel's chakrams as it danced along the rings and spikes, like children around the central statue in festival. Playful. He was having difficultly keeping the flames going as Xaldin kept putting them back out. Axel danced around Xaldin in attempts to avoid the wind and trying to land a blow. Neither was successful and at one point Axel almost slipped from something on the ground. Axel didn't look down to see what it was as he had to move immediately after regaining balance from Xaldin's spears. When Axel moved away Saix was able to see strands of light blue littered on the ground. He frowned as he realized it was the same shade as his hair.

He leaned forward and was about to look at his hair when he caught Axel taking on a different stance. Axel held his arms out in front of him. From where the centers of the chakrams where his hands were a line of flame jumped out and connected them. The line spun around forming a huge sphere of fire.

That's when Saix smelt something odd about the fire. The smell from the smoke was burnt. Like charred toasted creations that would sometimes find its way in Lea's home. However, that wasn't the strongest memory Saix had of the smell.

He smelt it before he opened his eyes. The smoke was burnt. Charred. He opened his eyes to Darkness and seeing a face with, green eyes and red hair in front of him. He was in his arms. "L-Lea..?"

He startled his friend. "I-Isa?" His green eyes travelled from his eyes to the rest of his face. What happened? Where had the smoke come from?

"You weren't…cooking were you?" he said. He didn't even know where the question came from but where else could the smell have come from? For a moment the green eyes were puzzled, then shifting to hesitant. The fire in his eyes swirling about suspiciously. Then he could tell. The smell came from his friend.

In response to the fire, Xaldin had summoned more spears, extra ones swirling around him in the air. There was a total of six spears, all identical to each other. Axel tried to mimic him by summoning spheres of fire to swirl around him in addition to the large on he already had. He made too many causing him to lose control over the fire and they wisped out, leaving Xaldin mocking him with laughter. Axel growled and leapt into the swirling lances, encasing his chakrams in fire instead.

Axel chipped himself, small pieces of grey and black leaking out, but was able to land a blow on Xaldin finally.

OoooooO

Axel's battle ended rather peacefully compared to Saix's. Zexion seemed satisfied with both results despite Axel claiming he had more to show and dismissed them for the day. Luckily Lexaeus, Xaldin and Zexion left first, allowing Axel to take Saix to his room without anyone watching. Once there Axel led Saix to his mirror stuffed in the corner in the room. There it was easy to see the cross shaped scar that had formed between his eyes. Saix stared at the unusual mark on his face before remembering about his hair and the strands on the floor. He pulled out the rest of his hair that had remained beneath his coat. He pulled his hair in front of his and noted the difference in length was about the length of his hand.

Axel stood beside him and shrugged. "It'll grow back. Unless you like the new length. Then you could cut the rest…" Saix caught Axel's frown in the mirror. "I wasn't paying attention as to when your hair got caught…I mean it could have happened anytime…"

Saix wasn't concerned about the hair as he flung it back over his shoulder hitting Axel on the way. Axel stepped away as Saix asked "So then, when did I get this during the battle?" He knew it had to be when he went berserk. He leaned closer to the mirror and was able to see the jagged lines of the scar on his face.

"When you turned berserk." Axel walked out of the mirror's reflection. Saix heard him sit down on his bed.

Saix sighed, "I figured that out. That's the only part I don't remember." Clearly. His suspicions hardly made any sense to him but he forced himself to keep his face expressionless, focusing on his scar in the reflection and emptied his mind.

"I don't know…it was there when I knocked you down." Axel said. He didn't question further about his berserk phase. The same tactic worked again. It worked a few days ago. Well, he was only hiding information about Vexen, but…if he could fool Axel, who could read him easily, then he shouldn't have any trouble fooling Xemnas.

Saix turned to Axel and saw Axel wasn't even looking at him. Saix bit on his lip in slight annoyance that his 'experiment' wasn't valid. Before having Axel taking notice Saix said, "Thank you…for bringing me back. Zexion told me that if you hadn't…" He stopped when Axel finally turned to him.

Axel smiled. "Well, I couldn't have us falling at something simple like that. Besides, saving you seems to be my job." His smile faded suddenly.

"Your job?" Saix asked suspiciously when Axel didn't continue. Was this something he didn't remember or something Axel wasn't telling him?

"Well, yeah." Axel said uneasily. Saix found it strange that Axel wasn't boasting. "Like…when you were hurt by the Darkness and I tried to save you…"

"You mean when Xemnas found us? I do recall being attacked before then. I guess that means you fought it off by yourself." Saix concluded. Was Axel unsure that he wouldn't believe him? Or remember?

Axel's eyes brightened. "Well of course! What else were you expecting?" A sturdy, fire was burning. No flickering. Nothing.

"What were you expecting me to say?" Saix decided to challenge the question head on.

Axel paused. He scratched his head. "I don't know actually. My memory is rather foggy, and I imagine yours is too. I didn't know what one might remember that the other doesn't…" The flame flickered. Saix was right about Axel's doubts.

Saix leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He debated a moment about bringing up Xemnas and Zexion's knowledge about his title but at this point it would be conjecture. If there he could find some sort of proof to support it better then he would talk with Axel.

There was one thing that bothered Saix's mind. He had lied to Axel. It was minor, so maybe that's why Axel didn't bother picking at him. He could recall previous times when Isa had lied over something small that Lea would sometimes give a know-it-all-grin and not challenge Isa. The grin would upset him, making him slightly uneasy and a bit guilty. Now however, he didn't feel uneasy or guilty. He knew in theory it was because he didn't have a heart that he shouldn't feel something, but shouldn't he at least feel a little something for lying to Axel? He was much like Lea, so why not?

He was exhausted. Perhaps he was just too tired to care.

OooooooO

'I don't know…it was there when I knocked you down.'

Saix was too busy focusing on his scar to notice Axel's lie. After examining his memories more carefully, Axel was certain that he had inflicted the scar, as much as he didn't want to admit it. He recalled vaguely that Saix had covered part of his face, but also looked away at the same time. There was still a space where he could have cut him. The weapon had already vanished by then he was sure, because he hadn't hurt Saix any further. But then Saix's arms weren't cut at all. Perhaps the coats were more durable than he had thought. Axel recalled from when Saix went berserk, there where massive shockwaves from the impacts created. Therefore, it was possible that as Axel was swinging down at Saix, a shockwave had created that cut. There was no way of knowing...

"Thank you…for bringing me back. Zexion told me that if you hadn't…" Axel turned from his thoughts, finding Saix facing him.

Axel smiled. "Well, I couldn't have us failing at something simple like that. Besides, saving you seems to be my job." Axel began to list off the times. From staying berserk, saving him from that Heartless, the consuming Darkness…Axel halted his thoughts and felt his smile fade. Consuming…

"Your job?" Was there another time? A voice echoed in his head as he recalled a day with the morning sun rising…

"You can't take this blindfold off of him until he can see light through it." A voice spoke from a face Lea didn't recognize.

"Well, yeah." Axel said uneasily. Who was that man? He couldn't picture his face properly. "Like…when you were hurt by the Darkness and I tried to save you…" Axel chose to be vague about it and see what Saix could remember. Maybe Saix knew of this other instance?

"Can't he see through it anyways?" Lea said angrily, "I mean I know you can see light through blind-"

"This one is special," the man's voice answered patiently. He continued with sorrow lingering in his voice, "Your friend, Isa, has regretfully come into contact with Darkness and any exposure to light could possibly destroy him." Lea's heart constricted painfully. Was he serious? "Until he has recovered from the Darkness, he must keep this on. When he can begin to see light through it, it will show that he is recovering. When that happens, come see me and I'll let you know what needs to be done next."

"You mean when Xemnas found us? I do recall being attacked before then. I guess that means you fought it off." Axel blinked. At least Axel knew that memory.

Axel decided prod the topic further. "Well of course! What else were you expecting?" Maybe Saix remembered something else. Unfortunately Saix was confused and focused on Axel's eyes. Axel could already tell he had no clue.

"What were you expecting me to say?" Axel felt slightly disappointed that Saix didn't know. Maybe that meant it never happened.

Axel decided there wasn't a point in telling him something he couldn't remember. He scratched his head. "I don't know actually. My memory is rather foggy, and I imagine yours is too. I didn't know what one might remember that the other doesn't…" It was the truth. He just left out the evidence of it.

Saix leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was silent. He must be tired from everything that happened today. There was just one thing Axel had to ask.

"Did Xemnas mention anything about assigning titles at all when he met with you? I mean, no one should have known about the effect of the moon on you." He needed to know just how Xemnas figured it out.

Saix opened an eye and wearily looked at Axel. He mulled something over before speaking. "Not in any detail. He said it was because of my clothes and you telling him that I found the moon quite interesting." He lazily closed his eye.

"Oh…I remember that." He said more to himself than Saix. It was the same memory of Darkness they both shared. He tried to remember that other memory, but only those words played through his mind again. Nothing new. Axel gave up on that memory and was sure that Saix would fall asleep standing if he stayed like that any longer. "Saix." Saix opened an eye again. Axel patted the bed. "Come sit. You're worn out. Why don't you…stay here tonight?" Axel didn't really know what he was saying. He didn't regret asking. Like old times…

Saix finally opened his other eye. He pushed himself off the wall. "No, I'll go back. There's work that needs to be done." Axel doubted that any work would get done tonight. Saix said his work was just reading at this point anyways. He began to walk out of his room. He paused at the doorway, hand resting uncertainly on the frame. "I'll...talk with you tomorrow, if I can."

'If I can'? Axel frowned at those words. "Yeah, sure." Axel wasn't sure what else they could talk about without any proof. Like with Lexaeus, Xaldin, Zexion and Xemnas.

Saix clarified. "I don't know how busy tomorrow will be. You have further training, and I'll be doing further reading and…" Axel nodded, cutting Saix off. Axel doubted he would be seeing Saix tomorrow given what rest Saix needed and the readings he had. Saix walked out of the room. "Get some rest."

"Good night to you too," Axel muttered. So in the end he didn't talk about the scheming that happened today. Maybe he should have, but all Axel had was the words from Xaldin and Lexaeus, and the mutterings from Zexion. Axel felt ill intent from Xaldin, but it was just a 'feeling'. Not one of them had done anything to harm Saix, only pushed him further than they should. Or expected.

Axel laid down on his bed. Lying. Saix wasn't able to pick up on it. Of course, Saix wasn't watching Axel's eyes when he lied. Usually though, when he lied like that, hiding something that could be important, there would be some guilt or a feeling that he would have to make it up to him. Perhaps, without hearts, the minor feelings couldn't reach them. Perhaps it was big things like fear that Axel knew he felt today, no matter what anyone else believed, could only be felt. Small feelings couldn't be felt because…

Axel didn't know, but it made sense to him. It had to. He turned over and faced the open window. Just as he was drifting off to sleep he remembered he hadn't asked about the cause of going berserk. He yawned and decided he would clarify the matter of whether it was the moon or the weapon when he next spoke to Saix.

OooooooO

A/N: Science-y note: When Axel is talking about colour blindness, a common form is not being able to tell the difference between red and green. More common in males than females. When Isa is talking about colours, I shortened it because I didn't want it to go on and on. You can look up the explanation if you want more info. I think you get the picture though.

-Vexen's little corner in the office. He has a lab where he does his experiments, and his room has a desk he can use to write on too. But if Vexen needed references for his research, he would have to go get it. So why waste all that energy to go back and forth between his room and the office when he can just work in there? He may not get a desk but the chair isn't bad. Of course, Xemnas doesn't allow experiments in his office. Vexen has to go to the lab for that. Right now Vexen doesn't have much of a…fear of Xemnas since the group is so small. Zexion was the other choice, because he has a higher ranking than Vexen.

-Saix's berserk mode. I know ideally the moon should be out, but as long as he thinks of the moon, there shouldn't be a problem. Besides, Kingdom Hearts didn't appear until day 94 for when Roxas was there.