Alright, it's been a while and I don't know who's reading anymore.

Whoever's left, hiya. Enjoy.

Disclaimers: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and all the rest are not mine. The rest, they're mine. OC's are mine.

Remember, the authors like it if you read AND review. So... enjoy the garbled ramblings of my brain!

-Forbidden

Chapter Five: Grieving

Riku paused in the middle of the room, his dark green eyes narrowing suspiciously at what looked like an altar. Despite what he thought of the dank place, he never figured it was a religious place. Made out of a bizarre white stone, the small stone structure seemed to gleam faintly in the dim room, despite how little sunlight was coming in through the room's cracked window. He stopped down, his curiosity and thirst for answers getting the best of him and they overwhelmed his need to continue. He ran an intrepid finger along the surface of the flat stone slab; when he received a strangely familiar tingling sensation in his hand for his troubles, he wondered where he had seen it before.

Sora, his companion through the Castle, looked over at him when he noticed that his friend wasn't following him through the door. "Um, Riku? You okay?" He asked softly, a mild look of confusion and of curiosity appearing on his face.

Riku nodded as he continued to examine the stone. "Uh huh," He said calmly as he pulled out a small notebook and read a few sentences in it. According to what he had written down before they entered the Castle, this place was once known as the Land of Departure and had been built of very expensive materials by a very wealthy ex-warrior. Hence the slab he was looking at. But there was something else about it he found a lot more interesting...

Sora wandered over lazily and he crouched down beside his friend, obviously humoring him despite the urgent looks he kept giving the door. "So... what's so special about the rock?" He asked softly and he sighed irritably, nudging Riku with an overstimulated elbow. He had had way too much coffee (or hot chocolate) when they left the station, apparently.

Riku flashed his friend an eager look before beginning his observations: "This looks like Twilight Stone. It's supposed to hold the element of 'twilight' in it, according to legend. No one really knows what it means. … But more importantly... look at this dust." He ran a finger through the inch thick layer of grime on the otherwise pristine stone. He held it up with an amused grin on his face. "Uh... So... what's that mean?" Sora asked next and he looked even more confused. As Riku was about to answer his question, he suddenly stopped and looked up.

"It means you punks are trespassing." A deep voice said calmly and the two boys immediately jumped up, startled. Riku stared at the two people that had somehow walked in without their knowledge and glared at them angrily There was something... eerily familiar about these two and he didn't like it. He put a hand to his belt, where he kept a small black revolver that Dante had given him just before he entered the castle. The two cloaked figures chuckle softly when he made the gesture, as if amused that he brought a firearm here.

"And who the heck are you guys? And why are you dressed like that?" Sora asked in confusion and he kept staring at them, scratching his head. For once, Sora was right to be confused. Despite the heat of the island, the intruders were both dressed in bizarrely long black jackets, ones that reached all the way to their ankles. On top of that, they wore black gloves and what looked like thigh-length black boots. They both had their hoods up and said hoods hid their faces in shadows. The smaller one chuckles.

"So... these two are the wannabe heroes of Destiny Island Town, huh? Riku Takamura and Sora Minami. How lame, I thought they'd be... you know, more heroic, VIII." The figure said in amusement, completely ignoring Sora's question. "Hey... how do you know our names?" Sora demanded, scowling in irritation. One of Sora's pet peeves was when he was ignored and denied information. The figure chuckled as it delicately removed her hood, revealing a girl not much older than they were but from the savage grin she wore, one that was definitely much more vicious. She smirked sadistically as her sleeve slid up her arm, revealing a trio of small knives in her hands. The figure beside her murmured a few soft words and she turned around in annoyance, glaring at him. "What?" She demanded, flicking a strand of golden-yellow hair back behind her ear.

"Don't hurt them, XII. You know who they are. … And why we need them." He said softly and Riku watched as he nodded towards the now trembling Sora who was staring at him in horror. He glanced over at his friend in confusion, startled by the sick look on his face. Sora looked like he was about to pass out and he clutched at his head, a low whimpering noise emerging from his lips. The girl scoffed, laughing for a moment before returning to her vicious serenity. She snapped her fingers loudly, making Sora flinch. "I'm not going to break the toy, Axel — just play with it. I'm not dumb." She retorted coolly to her partner as she turned her attention back to the two boys. She smirks as Sora slowly straightened up but he continued to wince in pain.

"You're part of the Organization." Riku and Sora snarled in unison and Riku was about to step forward when Sora suddenly continued. "What did you do to her?" He demanded, a feverish look of need appearing in his eyes. Riku stared at him in shock; he had never seen that expression on Sora's face before. He glared at the young woman. Just what had she done?

"Ooh, aren't you clever. The name's Larxene. Are you enjoying your stay in Castle Oblivion?" "XII" snickered in amusement. She straightened her jacket before turning back to the hidden man, the one named Axel. "You can go now, VIII... I'll be the one to finish them off." She said calmly and she clashed her knives together in emphasis. The older man shook his head. "Get that one out of here. He's not for you." Axel murmured calmly, motioning vaguely towards Riku. The girl nods. "At least I can get some fun out of this, right? It's not like he won't heal up." Larxene asked curiously and after a moment, Axel nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Riku demanded coldly and the girl laughed softly. "What's it to you, Riku? It's not like this is your story after all." She said tauntingly, smirking in amusement. She snapped her fingers loudly once more and Sora screamed, falling to the ground, clutching his head. "Sora!" He began to shout when Sora was suddenly covered in what looked like black mist. The fourteen year old vanished right before his eyes. Riku began to run towards the spot where Sora had been when he stopped short, howling in pain.

"End of the line, wannabe hero." Larxene murmured in amusement as a hot wave of blood trickled out of Riku's flesh from the puncture wounds in his back. He had been stabbed in the back by the girl and now he could feel every vein in his body throbbing as they released what was keeping him alive. He could only look at the girl for a moment before he crumpled to his knees before her, the thick crimson liquid trickling down his body and onto the white tile floor. He heard high-pitched laughter as Larxene's footsteps echoed almost too loudly in his ears; when the heel of her boot nudged the side of his face, he closed his eyes, his body slackening limply.

It would be the last thing he remembered in a very long time.

Despite the long drive, or maybe because of it, Riku keeps his eyes closed. After what he had been through at school, sleep seemed to be the best option. However, he couldn't sleep. So instead, he keeps his full attention on the small glass knife in his hands. He trails a finger down its short blade over and over, feeling the almost imperceptible imperfections in the glossy glass. It was only a few inches long, not even quite six inches he guessed. But despite its size, someone had been killed with this, or rather one just like it. Someone he had known. Someone he had wanted to kill himself at one point in time.

'So, you two are the wannabe heroes!'

Larxene Obinata's voice seems to echo in his mind as he remembers meeting the girl for the first time. He had nearly been killed by that particular meeting. Sora, in desperation to find his siblings and later on, Naminé, had also been brutally hurt. Going through Castle Oblivion had been hell for both of them, particularly for Sora in having to relive his memories as if they never existed. But they had both managed to survive their injuries and the ones they would later sustain at the hands of the other members in Castle Oblivion.

Riku re-wraps the blade in a handkerchief and puts it back on the dashboard. Dante looks over at him for a moment but refocuses on the road. It was obvious that his brother didn't want to have another accident... or a ticket. Riku decides to just stare out the window now and focus his own thoughts on solving the case. Now, Roxas and Xion and now Larxene were all dead. There had to be a connection between the three of them...

He sighs softly, shaking his head. No. The only connection between the three was Organization XIII. So the members of the group were in danger. Riku grimaces; he and the Organization had their history together, particularly between him, Roxas, Xion and their leader. Despite having fought against him numerous times to get the Minami siblings, he had never exactly known the man's real name. He knew him only by "Xemnas" and by "The Superior." He couldn't even remember what Roxas' and Xion's real names had been since the Superior had legally changed them long before. For convenience, they said. They had kept the names as a dark reminder of their former full membership.

Riku absentmindedly removes the bundle containing the glass knife from the dashboard once more, fiddling with the black cloth that covered it idly as his mind raced. If the Organization was in danger, maybe they could get answers from their relatives. That is, if they could find them. When Larxene had been zipped up into a body bag and when her possessions were removed, bagged and labeled, he had found an ID card that said where she lived in the suburbs of Traverse Town, which was where they were headed now. Riku couldn't help but grin when Dante curses violently at the cobblestone road ("You stupid piece of-! If you fuck up my car, I'll pave your ass over with cement!") and he closes his eyes, the exhaustion finally catching up to him. Within minutes, Riku's breathing slows, his consciousness disappearing into a strange but familiar darkness. In his hand, he clutches the glass dagger.

Elsewhere, Somewhere on Destiny Islands

The figure smiles coldly beneath the blank porcelain mask even as the molten stream of metal begins to cool and harden beneath his gloved fingertips and inside of the pool of ice water. It was being tempered too quickly but this batch didn't exactly matter. All that mattered was that they could fire what he needed them to fire and that was all that was important. It was only a practice group anyway. He glances over at the sealed plastic container on his desk, sitting innocently amidst the cluttered pile of scrap paper and pencil shavings. His junk lay across the room, where none of it could contaminate his weapons and give him away. He wasn't sure why he planned it out so carefully. It feels like someone had told him to do so but he couldn't remember why. Dimly, he recognizes the need to clean up his workshop but his full attention was on the slab of steel before him.

Being careful not to spill the tub's contents onto the tile floor, he gently moves the fifty gallon plastic container an inch or two closer to the metalworking part of the workshop. He wanted this done fast for some reason, but he couldn't really think of why. Moving quickly, he yanks out the hunk of cooled steel with the large tongs he held in his other hand and puts the metal into the flattened part of the anvil. Twirling his hammer, a particularly light-weight one that reminded him heavily of old-fashioned blacksmiths' rectangular hammers, he slams the head of the three pound hammer into the steel.

He could already see the knife he needed to make in his mind... sharp... pointed... long... thing... He shivers and he forces himself to pause; the tiny – almost invisible – circular scars on his wrists and forearms suddenly begin to ache, as if the skin itself was remembering something. He glances down at the neat blueprints that had been drawn up in use for his latest creation. He lets out a soft chuckle as the tear drips down his face, splashing against the surface of the water in his tub of water. Yeah... These would look exactly like the object he was imagining.

The figure continues to work.

Despite what anyone thought, going to talk to soon-to-be grieving parents was not fun.

Riku couldn't stop fidgeting, his nervous movements ranging from constantly re-wrapping the knife in its black handkerchief to shuffling his feet against the cobblestone street. He couldn't help it; it was the first time that he ever had to talk to someone's... a victim's family. This was the first time that he ever had to tell someone that their child was dead. That they wouldn't be coming home to them. Looking up the street, he notices a sign saying that they were in the First District, one that looked overly familiar.

Dante chuckles sheepishly when his younger brother gives him a nasty scowl. Apparently, his sense of direction wasn't exactly up to par when it came to shifting to another town and out of his jurisdiction. After looking around for a few minutes and standing at the corner, they debate quietly but fiercely about asking for directions from a local.

"So help me, Dante, if you don't ask for directions, I will." Riku snaps in annoyance, wanting to get his task over with as soon as possible. His brother gives him a cold look before pulling out a folded bit of paper. He opens it up, squints at it and then looks up at the street-corner sign before trooping off in a random direction, motioning his little brother to follow him. Riku sighs irritably but quickly picks up the pace, rapidly catching up to his older brother, grabbing him by the back of his jacket. Riku quickly outpaces his brother, running on ahead as he expertly makes his way through the cobblestoned streets. Dante chuckles at the childish gesture but says nothing, only mumbling out the street names to himself as he walks.

Real men don't like to ask for directions, or so his thinking went.

As they walk, Dante's hand manages to find itself around Riku's shoulder. Startled by the sudden gesture, the younger boy freezes for a moment before allowing the contact. "Hurry up, Danny. I'd like to get there before the vic gets cold." He says bluntly, pulling along his brother quickly. He sighs softly as Dante shrugs, obviously not knowing where he was going.

Another voice chuckles, freezing the brothers in their tracks. "Well, if you knew where the mechanic shop was, maybe you'd get there." Axel Blaze says in solemn amusement, folding his arms against his chest as he grins at them. The Takamuras stare at him, startled that he had just appeared out of nowhere.

"What the... hell are you doing here?" Dante asks softly, staring at him in utter confusion. Axel grins slightly, his dark green eyes sparkling with hidden humor. He shrugs lazily, his thin shoulders bobbing as he looks up toward the sky. Riku follows his gaze, silently understanding the meaning. The once blue sky was beginning to turn a nasty slate color, obviously signaling the beginning of rain. "Paying my respects." Axel says softly, motioning down his torso in emphasis.

The brothers look and for the first time, they notice the black clothes and the white lilies in Axel's hands. They look back up at him and the humor is now gone from his expression. Without another word, the Flurry of the Dancing Flames crooks a finger at them, walking on ahead in the darkening streets. The brothers quickly follow.

Larxene's guardian is quickly obvious. Riku finds him in a corner of the machine shop, sitting on a couch, his hands covering his face as he sobs. Demyx, another member of the Organization, sits beside him, gently strumming the obnoxiously painted blue instrument that he called a sitar. The soft lullaby-like tune he plays is obviously made to be soothing and the sweet notes dance in the air delicately, relaxing anyone who was listening.

Larxene's guardian stays silent, his grief deafening him to the sitar's melody. As the brothers and Axel approach, he grabs at his blonde hair, tearing at it violently. Strands of gold hair fly into the air as he lets out an anguished scream, slamming his hands into his face in fury. Startled, Riku jumps back as he continues to sob, a wordless howl of grief escaping his lips. Dante begins to reach for him but Axel quickly grabs his wrist, shaking his head no. From the solemn look on his face, it was clear that he thought it would be a very *bad* idea if anyone touched him. Small blue tendrils of electricity spark around the man, as if in emphasis.

Axel and Demyx glance at each other before they both give each other a slight smile. The sandy-blonde musician goes back to playing, singing softly to himself in a high tenor, his fingers flying along the strings rapidly. The man glances up and Riku sees for the first time that his eyes were bloodshot from the tears. He clears his throat awkwardly before looking at Axel. "Your friends?" He rasps out in a hoarse voice, nodding toward Dante and Riku. Axel shakes his head. "No. Cops. They're here about our girl, Raiden." Axel says soothingly, walking over to the man and clapping his hand onto his shoulder. Even when an arch of electricity sparks over his hand, Axel doesn't move, only smiles soothingly at him.

Raiden says nothing, only looks over at Demyx. At his irritated look, Demyx immediately stops playing, instead laying his sitar in his lap. "What can I do for you then?" Raiden says gruffly, rubbing at his eyes in anger. The man's body trembles as he begins to stand up. Axel quickly pushes him back onto the couch, instead getting up and leaving to another part of the room. Riku watches as the older man begins to pull mugs out of a small wooden cabinet hung up on the wall. It looked like he was going to make tea.

Dante clears his throat. "Sir, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your..." He trails off, obviously unsure how to classify Larxene. Raiden's green eyes flicker to Dante's face and he smiles bitterly. "Sister." He says softly, his hands clenching at his legs. Dante nods, continuing. "I'd like to ask you a few questions about your sister. Do you know if she was having any trouble? Like, maybe at school?" He asks as he takes a seat beside Raiden, obviously being very polite. The blonde's eyes flicker with brief amusement as he shakes his head, a wry smile appearing on his face.

Riku mumbles to himself, unknowingly being loud enough for everyone to hear him. "*Causing* trouble maybe." Raiden chuckles softly, amused. He lifts his head for the first and looks at Riku, observing him quietly. For a few minutes, those solemn green eyes pore into him, looking at him as if he could see into his very soul. They were so unlike Larxene's savage glance that he is startled, frozen into place by their mere force. Finally, the spell is ended when Raiden gives him a warm smile.

"I like you, kid," He says softly, nudging at a couch cushion in front of him, obviously telling Riku to sit down. Riku sits down, crossing his legs over themselves neatly, getting comfortable. "You know my sister." Raiden demands calmly, obviously knowing that he did. Riku nods and makes a slicing motion across his chest. "Only too well, I'm afraid. Your sister fought like a demon, as the scars on me and my friend Sora will testify." He jokes solemnly, making the grieving brother laugh in appreciation. He nods, smirking. "That's my girl. Refused to take shit from anyone." He says softly, a proud look appearing on his face. It's obvious how much he loved his little sister from how wide his smile was.

Dante sighs, leaning against Demyx in mild depression. He waves his hand to his younger brother, giving him permission to continue the questioning. Riku clears his throat. "Well, we both know that Larxene didn't have problems at school. So what about on the streets? Anyone we should know about?" Riku asks informally, instinctively feeling like this was the best way to get information from Raiden Obinata. Raiden looks over at Axel and Demyx, pointing at their black cloaks in emphasis. Riku smiles a little. "We know all about the Organization. Hell, I've fought against these knuckleheads." The teenage says in amusement, glancing over at Axel. He then makes a gesture as if saying that the redhead wasn't so tough.

"Hey!" Axel yelps, scowling violently. "I take offense to that!" The other men laugh, shaking their head in amusement. Then they become solemn again, allowing Riku to continue his questioning. "How did you know your sister was... gone?" Riku asks, shifting awkwardly in his seat. Raiden's eyes darken and his smile turns grim. "This." He reaches beside the couch and pulls out a small bit of cardboard, no bigger than a piece of paper. In fact, it looked like it had been pulled out of a notebook or maybe even an old art-book. He flips it over and Riku jumps.

Typed in neat letters on the cardboard were the words: 'Riku, Raiden, would you like to know what happened to Larxene? Black Box XIII lives.'

Raiden's voice is so quiet that Riku almost doesn't hear it. "Lemme guess... your name is Riku, right?"

I don't know what I was thinking with the ending.

But yeah, Raiden's character is actually one I came up after reading up on Larxene on the Kingdom Hearts Wikia.

Apparently, in the Kingdom Hearts novels that were released in Japan, she mentions that maybe having a heart was painful and that Nobodies like her might be better off without one.

Raiden came from that little idea, that maybe she had lost someone that was important to her.

So anyway, next chapter...

Chapter Six: The Savage Nymph; Where Riku discovers the meaning behind Larxene's death and who the Mysterious Figure seems to be targeting. Does Riku have a stalker? What... and who... is up next for the MF's killing spree?

Read and review, people!