This the fixed upload of the previous chapter 7. Continuity kills me, you see. The dates down there were a hundred years off before. Now, they're fixed. Why doesn't anyone tell me about these things?

Things went rather quiet after that. Demyx blinked a few times before realizing what had happened. Zexion had just about admitted he was wrong. That never happened. Ever. Axel was just as shocked. But he was also very confused.

"Wait a minute. Care to run that by me again?" Zexion and Roxas both turned to look at him. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit slow, but I didn't understand anything you guys were going on about except for that part right at the end." All around him, the others were agreeing.

"Yeah," said Larxene. "Axel's right, though I hate to admit it. I just don't see how you got the lover as the evil one. Didn't the crazy grandpa—no offense, Roxas—kill everyone?"

"You're partially right, Larxene. You see, Jonathan only killed two people: the lady of the house and Victor, the latter of which he never intended to kill at all. His two companions killed the rest of them," Roxas explained.

"Then how come they keep callin' you Jonathan and asking how you could do that to them?"

"They're just echoing Victor's thoughts. His last words were "Why are you doing this to me, Jonathan?" so it makes sense that he'd be stuck on those words, stuck on the fact that Jonathan killed him before he could explain things. He's not going to move on until one of two things happens: he either tells Jonathan he loves him, or he kills Jonathan either as himself or one of the trapped party guests. His spirit has gone mad."

"Oh. Okay then, what are we waiting for?"

--

The search for Victor's grave took two months. Zexion was ashamed that it took that long, but Demyx and the rest of them managed to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Records back then were shoddy, and that was putting it nicely.

Research turned up that the grave of a Victor could be found in the local cemetery, about 2 miles out of town.

"Why didn't we check there first?" Axel asked as they boarded the school bus, shovels in hand.

"We had to be sure," Zexion answered tartly. Obviously, he was just as miffed as Axel.

Roxas was the last exorcist to get on the bus. He sat next to Axel, not looking pale for once. But Axel wasn't convinced.

"You don't have to come, kid," he whispered, leaning close to the younger boy.

"Yeah I do," Roxas replied through tight lips. Axel sighed, but laid a comforting hand on Roxas's shoulder. He kept it there for the whole drive.

--

Roxas had never been to a cemetery before. It wasn't too bad, he decided as he walked through the rows of headstones, looking for Victor. Xemnas had gotten the city's and the family's approval for Victor's exhumation, so all that was left was to find the grave.

Lexaeus was the one who found it.

"Here it is!" It turned out that Victor was buried in the back row, in the grave next to the lady of the house.

"Fitting, huh?" Axel remarked as the others set up a salt perimeter.

"This," Zexion explained to Roxas as he laid the salt down, "is to keep the spirit form escaping once the grave is opened."

"Oh." Roxas said. That made sense. He studied the gravestone as the others prepared to begin.

'Victor Takibi. Born December 5, 1899. Died August 21, 1928.' Funny, it looked like something else had been written there…

The shovels dug into the ground with a steady rhythm, and soon the dull thunk of wood was heard.

"That's him," Xemnas said as Demyx, Luxord, and Xigbar reached down and pulled out the coffin.

"Give me hand with this," Luxord said and Axel and Roxas helped him pull one end out of the ground. Xigbar and Demyx had the other end out soon after.

"Well Axel," Zexion said, "say hello to your great-grandfather," and the lid of the coffin was removed.

--

Axel's cry of, "My what?" was drowned out by Demyx's shout.

"Where is he?!" Axel tore his astonished gaze off of Zexion long enough to glance at the casket. The empty casket.

"Holy hell," Zexion breathed.

"This is bad," Saix agreed.

"Where is he?!" Demyx asked again.

"My what?!" Axel demanded again.

"Your great-grandfather, Axel," Zexion answered distractedly, making his way to the other side of the coffin.. Once he had completed his circuit, Zexion made his way over to the discarded shovels. "We might as well put it back. We're not going to find him here. The spirit must have taken the remains."

Demyx sprinkled some salt into the coffin for good measure before he, Lexaeus, and Xaldin lowered it back into the ground.

--

An hour later, 13 tired and confused exorcists got back on the bus and returned to the school. It was oddly silent throughout the whole trip back, except for Axel's mutterings of, "My great-grandfather, huh? Interesting…"

Xemnas said that the meeting that night was cancelled, and that everyone should just head up to bed. Maybe they would have a meeting tomorrow.

Roxas went to his room, followed by Demyx, Zexion, and Marluxia. All were yawning as they went they're separate ways, and Roxas didn't even bother changing into his pajamas before he fell asleep.

The precession moved slowly, leading the caskets slowly into the cemetery. Row upon row, they were lowered down into the ground. As the last one was covered with dirt, a priest stepped forward and began the blessing of the dead.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of so many beloved friends and relatives…" The voice became a dull drone in the background as the headstones came into focus.

'Mary Yulston. Born August 1, 1900. Died August 21, 1928.'

'Damien French. Born November 9, 1891. Died August 21, 1928.'

They continued like this, until the last headstone in the back row slid into view.

'Victor Takibi. Born December 5, 1899. Died August 21, 1928. Body not recovered.'

Roxas shot out of bed, nearly tripped and killed himself on Demyx's sitar case, and barreled into Zexion and Marluxia's room. Unsurprisingly, both were still awake and researching. All of their muttering and conferring about the missing body stopped as Roxas shoved the door open.

Marluxia let out a very manly shriek. Zexion jumped. But Roxas didn't have time to apologize.

"It didn't take it," he gasped out, too excited to say anything else. Zexion calmly put his book on the table while Marluxia surreptitiously took his hand off his heart.

"Who didn't take what, Roxas?" Zexion asked.

"Victor's spirit. It couldn't have taken the remains from that casket because they were never buried there."

"Did you dream it?"

"Yeah! I actually think Jonathan is trying to help us!"

"I'll call Xemnas. This can't wait."

--

Twenty minutes later found 13 disgruntled exorcists in the Records Room.

"Now, what was so important that it had to wake us up at 3 in the morning?" Larxene growled, pushing her hair out of her face. Axel turned a bleary stare on her.

"You look funny without gel in your hair."

"Shut it, hedgehog!"

"Calm down everyone," Xemnas said, and immediately there was silence. "Now, Zexion and Roxas have brought it to my attention that Victor was never buried in the graveyard. Instead, his body was never found."

"What?" asked Demyx. He hadn't been listening when Zexion was telling him earlier.

"Huh," was all Axel could come up with.

The meeting continued with all of the exorcists forming plans and deciding how to move on from there. Axel slipped out of the circle and covered Roxas's mouth with his hand.

"Shhh…" he whispered as he dragged the boy backward and behind a bookshelf. Mentally, Axel had been preparing himself for this for days. But now that the time was here, he didn't know if he could do it.

"What?" Roxas snapped irritably. It was too early to be manhandled. Axel placed his hands on either side of Roxas's face and leaned in, taking a deep breath. Roxas fidgeted.

"Kid, will you go out with me?"

What will Roxas say? The next chapter's up, go find out!

But first, REVIEW!

EDIT: Due to continuity errors, I had to rewrite art of this chapter to make Victor Axel's great-grandfather. Everything works out, now.