Chapter 10

Lumaria's POV

Pain. That was the only thing I could feel. Blood spat from my mouth as I screamed, straining my throat even more. My life was whizzing past me faster than an express train. Memories of my life blew past me and…Renale entered my thoughts. The only girl that made my heart pound whenever I saw her, the only girl who I kissed passionately, and the only girl who understood me. My whole body was numb with immense pain, but my heart was aching for her.

The look in my beloved's eyes made me want to scream even more. But my throat was killing me from coughing up so much blood. Blackness started pulling at my vision and the world spun. All this pain was worth it, knowing that Renale was safe and, most importantly, alive. The ground rushed up to meet my body, sending a tsunami of pain through me. Numbness washed away the pain in both my chest and heart as darkness ruled my vision. Death caught me in open arms.

Whatever happened to me while I was out was a mystery. Fuzzy outlines of people danced in my vision and their voices flowed around me. I tried to listen but head was buzzing. My voice wouldn't work either; my throat was dry and sore from my screaming. What's going on? Where am I? Questions I yearned to ask remained inside my head, unsaid and unheard. The chattering figures strolled over to where I was and stood above me. One of the men waved his hand above me, making blurry gold shapes appear.

"You want to feel again?" The golden shapes spun as the man loomed over me. "I can help you achieve that goal number XI, or should I say…" A flash of golden light cloaked my vision for a second. "…Marluxia,"

I fell back into inky blackness before I could even think about what just happened.

The next time I finally came around for good. My eyes cracked open as I groaned in pain. My whole body was stiff and my chest felt like a brick of lead was sitting on it. I turned my head to the side, slowly clenching and unclenching my hands into fists, making sure I could still feel my hands and arms. My head buzzed as s figure dressed in a long black garment strode into the room and stood over me. The only feature that stood out on his blurry face was his golden eyes. Or should I say eye?

"Rise n' shine sleeping beauty! You've been out for days!" He exclaimed.

"Where…what…happened?" Those three words made my throat sting.

My vision cleared, along with my surroundings. The room I was in had dusty white colored walls with a weird grey symbol painted all over the walls. I was lying on a bed with a soft white sheet pulled over my aching body. The man standing above me had long black hair streaked with grey tied back into a low ponytail and golden eyes, err…eye. An eye patch hid his left eye and a faded red scar stretched up from his chin and ended right below his right eye. He was dressed in a long black coat with silver beads decorating the front along with black boots with silver lining the top.

The man shook his head. "Dude, when Vexen first brought you in you were bleeding like HELL. Vexen almost couldn't stitch your wounds closed they were so bad. But after he did you were sound asleep, but then again you were out cold when he brought you in anyway," He explained. "So now here you are, three days later as number XI in Organization XIII!" He added over-enthusiastically.

I propped myself up onto my elbows, mindful of my pain-stricken wounds. The blanket slid off my injured body, revealing my chest covered in bandages. I was also pretty sure my brow was bandaged too, but that didn't stop me from flashing the man a crazed look.

"What the hell is Organization XIII and why do you want me?" I asked.

"You don't have a heart anymore, a mental one at least, that's means you can't feel emotion. Wondering how you lost it? Your heart was eaten or consumed by darkness," The man leaned against wall and ran his finger along the scar on his cheek.

It took a few minutes to processes what he just said. "But…shouldn't I be a heartless?" My head buzzed loudly and I forced myself to lie back down.

"Yes and no, my friend. Usually when people's hearts get eaten, BOOM they're a heartless. But if a heart has a strong will, like our's, the shell acts on its own and wha-la! Nobodies are born, which is what you and me are," The man flashed me a smirk. "The name's Xigbar by the way,"

I opened my mouth to introduce myself, but I stopped. The man who was in my room before called me Marluxia, and so did the other me from my…dream. Everything clicked into place at the moment. When I heard myself roaring like a heartless, it meant I was going to get attacked by one and lose my heart! The black coat, its Organization XIII's coat! Marluxia, the name the man called me while I was still half-asleep! That dream was trying to warn me! I wanted to kick myself, knowing that I could've prevented this.

I was so caught up in my thoughts; I didn't notice the two men standing above me. One had long steel-colored hair that brushed past his shoulders and intimidating amber eyes. The man next to him had long blue hair, slightly spiked in the back, a faded red X scar across his face and the same golden eyes as Xigbar and silver head. The only difference was, his gaze made me want to crawl out of my skin, hide under a rock, and sit there in my sea of fear for the rest of my life.

"You're finally awake, XI. I was actually starting to think you were dead," The silver-haired man smirked at his morbid joke.

"Cut the crap. Why the hell do you want me here?" I demanded.

"That's certainly no way to talk to your superior…Marluxia," The silver-haired man's gaze lingered on me, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"I'm Lumaria! Not Marluxia!" I screamed, throwing off the blankets and standing up against my so-called superior; ignoring my screaming muscles.

The blue-haired man shifted his gaze towards me. "Don't you get it? You've lost your heart, the one thing that separates a Nobody from a Somebody. Lumaria had a heart, but now its gone," The sharp tint to his voice sent a memory flying at me. "You've been Marluxia ever since you heart has been eaten, do you finally understand?"

His words sent a knife through me. But the anger that could've been boiling inside me wasn't there. I placed a hand over my heart, only to feel the reassuring thump-thump. The sound that lets me know I'm still alive. But now, as numb and empty as I felt from either my wounds or lack of emotion, I didn't feel alive at all. Defeat should've been coursing through my veins right now, the emotion that should've been there was gone. The blue-haired man was right.

"…Fine, I'll be part of this organization. But you have to promise me that I'll see Renale again, soon. Weather I have my heart or not," The only thing I wanted my beloved to know was that I was okay.

The silver-haired man nodded. "I'll grant your wish as long you fill your quota. If you don't, I'll stop you from seeing your beloved and send you out on more missions. Now come, Saix and I have much to show you," He gestured towards the doorway and threw a black coat onto my bed-the same one that he, the blue haired man (Saix I assumed), and Xigbar were wearing.

The two left the room as I threw the coat on over my bandaged chest and black pants and followed them. I swear the place was a maze of endless corridors, but that wasn't what I was paying attention to. There was something about Saix's blue hair and face that brought back memories from Radiant Garden. It was how he waited to speak at the right moment that made me so nostalgic about him.

"Isa…? Isa, is that you?" I asked Saix.

Saix stopped in his tracks and then I was against the wall, his hand clutching my throat. His hair bristled and his golden eyes burned straight through mine. Even his scar stood out a little more on his furious features.

"Say that name one more time…" His voice was now a threatening growl as opposed to his normally calm voice. "…and I will make sure you never see the light of Kingdom Hearts,"

Saix took his hand off my throat as his hair settled back onto his shoulders. He shot me one last death glare before he continued following Xemnas as if nothing ever happened. Forcing myself to breathe slowly, I ran my fingers over the bruises dotting my neck. Even the slightest touch of a feather would've caused them to sting painfully. What was that all about? What's gotten into Isa over the years?

Renale's POV

The painted charcoal clouds that hung over the town reflected my mournful mood. Rain soaked through my black jacket and my drenched hair hugged my neck, but I didn't a crap. I stood alone in Clocktower Square while everyone else was inside. Lumaria's final moments replayed in my head persistently, which lead to me waking up in the middle of the night crying my devastated heart out. My fingers tightened around the bouquet of red roses in my hands as tears gathered behind my eyelids.

I walked out towards where Lumaria lay before he was taken and gently set down the bouquet of roses. A tiny smile made its way across my lips, despite the unbearable pain that numbed my heart. When Lumaria entered my thoughts, I still thought of the pink-haired, ocean-eyed, and down to earth teenager I fell in love with. Not the man that lay on the ground coated in blood because of his will to protect me. I ran my finger along the crimson rose petals, almost feeling Lumaria beside me.

"Renale?"

I jumped and whirled around, face-to-face with Aerith. A red raincoat replaced her shrug and the hem of her dress was damp with rainwater. Melancholic understanding shone through her normally bright orbs.

"What are you doing out here? You must be freezing," She took a step towards me as she examined my waterlogged appearance.

"I'm just…reflecting. I'm okay, you didn't need to come out here," I replied shiver started to work their way through my body.

"You're just sad because you lost someone dear to you, and your heart is grieving," Aerith put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I lost someone dear to me, too. It still hurts when I think about him, and it always will,"

I took her hand off my shoulder. "You don't know how much Lumaria meant to me! If it weren't for him, I'd still be wasting my life in Radiant Garden!" The water behind my eyelids broke through and poured down my face. "He-he-he died just to protect me!" Sobs and shivers overtook my body as tears dripped off my face.

Aerith's arms wrapped around my body pulled me into a warm, motherly embrace. Her dress was probably soaked because of me, but that probably wasn't number one on her problems list.

"He did it, because he wanted to keep you safe. Wherever he is now, he at least knows you're okay," Her voice caressed my saddened hearted. "If Lumaria was here now, he would heartbroken at the sight of your tears. I know it hurts, but you don't have to suffer through it, I'm always here,"

We both stood there, trapped in each other's arms as the rain drenched us even more. Aerith stepped back, slid out of her raincoat, and draped it over my shoulders. My gazed shifted back to the roses for Lumaria that lay on the ground. They were gonna get trampled after this storm clears and people start walking around, but at least Lumaria could see I still love him. Aerith gently took my hand and lead me out of my mournful state, comforting me all the way back to Leon's place.

Sky blue orbs studied the pair as they strode away from Clocktower Square, grief lingering in the air. A figure stepped out from his umbrella of tree leaves and picked up the bouquet of roses lying on the ground. Raindrops dripped off the petals like his tears should've been. But Nobodies can't cry. Mother Nature's breath blew his hood back, revealing his shoulder-length pink hair. Marluxia's gripped the roses left by his beloved, her cries still buzzing in his head.

"Ya done yet, Marly? I'm freezing and soaked to the bone," Axel complained, clutching his skinny arms.

Marluxia turned back towards a shivering Axel, whose normally spiky mane, was stuck to his head. Being aware of Axel's disdain towards water, Marluxia opened up a Dark Corridor, reluctantly stepping in. He surveyed the area of his death one last time before it disappeared from his sight.

Author: I'M NOT DEAD! Sorry for the terribly long update, school has taken my free time and thrown it out the window :( But it's almost Christmas so I might get around to updating when the holidays roll around. Happy belated Hannukah to anyone who celebrates! Also Happy Kwanzaa and Merry Chirstmas!

~yukihikari99