Sorry for the long and boring chapter but never fear, we're getting along nicely now, aren't we. Now that Tom's finally out of his slump we can get the story moving again…for the most part. XD

11: Off the Dark End


"We are like fireworks…rising, shining, and finally…scattering and fading. So until that moment comes…when we vanish like fireworks…let us sparkle brightly…always." –From Tite Kubo's Bleach


What is this?

This. This. What. This.

Who said that?

That. This. Said. That.

Why can't I see anything?

Darkness.

It's night?

Darkness. Us. You. Darkness.

I don't understand.

Don't. Us. Darkness. Under. Hunger.

Where am I? Who am I!?

"Come on, faster! Faster! We have to get out of here!" Tom kept repeating the words over and over and over again like a mystic chant that would somehow make it so. He and Kaz raced down an endless stretch of white hall with no doors or windows or markings of any kind.

It just kept going on forever.

"Tom…I can't…" Kaz dropped to his knees on the floor, barely able to draw breath, "I can't…"

"You have to!" Tom moaned, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling at him, "Come ON, Kaz! Don't give up on me now!"

His blue eyes flickered up and he saw a wall of black slowly consuming the hallways, gaining speed as it moved towards them.

"Kaz! Get up! Move your legs!" Tom screamed, yanking at his friend but Kaz wasn't moving, "Kaz! What're you doing!? We have to MOVE!"

"Help me Tom…" Kaz was crying, looking at him with pleading eyes, "Help me! I can't move! Help me! Help me!"

"I'M TRYING!" Tom was pulling hopelessly at his best friend's immobile form, tears streaking down his face as the darkness bore down on them, "I'M TRYING! WHY CAN'T I HELP YOU!? I'M TRYING!"

"You didn't try hard enough." Kaz murmured through his tears as the darkness consumed him.

Tom gave a groggy yell of grief as he shot upright in the makeshift bed he was sprawled in. Then, as he sat there panting and fighting back the wave of dizziness, he listened to make sure he hadn't woken anyone else with his shouting. Slow and steady breathing came from all around him in the darkness.

With a shaky sigh, Tom slid back beneath the heavy covers and sank into the squishy air mattress that made up his bed. But he couldn't get back to sleep. It was too dark for him to see anything in the Overworld themed Cafeteria where they'd made camp but he was aware of the other warm bodies around him, sleeping peacefully for the most part. A few people were even snoring.

Lucky them… Tom snorted, anger bubbling just beneath the surface, They can sleep all nice and sound because they didn't lose their best friend. The anger was mixed with pain and sorrow, Kaz didn't stand a chance. And it's my fault. He's always stuck with me, no matter how much of a jerk I've been, and I let him down. I let him down really bad this time.

Tom rolled onto his back, throwing a hand over his eyes with a heavy sigh. He suddenly felt a whole lot younger than fourteen.

Something shifted against the door across the room and Tom whipped his head up to look around, not that he could see anyway. There was a low "twang" of a stringed instrument and Tom fell back onto his bed to bury his face in his pillow. It was Demyx, Number IX and the Melodious Nocturne with his sitar.

A few more tuning notes rang across the room and then a slow melody drifted from the instrument that no one could see.

A lullaby.

Tom's anger boiled and he felt a fiery sensation burning in his chest. Never had he hated a group of people as much as he hated Organization XIII. They had ruined his summer vacation, they had ruined Perim, they had ruined Chaotic, they could ruin Khaos Corporation for good, and they had allowed so many innocent people to get hurt.

They had let Kaz get hurt.

And they didn't care.

Tom's eyes burned with hot angry tears as he shoved his face deeper into his pillow, trying to bury himself in his rage and pain.

It hurt to realize that he could do nothing to save his best friend.

A chocked cry managed to wiggle its way past his lips and even though it was muffled by the pillow, the music still stopped. Tom quickly pulled the covers over his head and curled up into a little ball, squeezing his eyes shut and willing that stupid Demyx to leave him alone. A few more moments of silence and then the tune picked up again; a little slower, a little sadder.

Tom stuck his head out from underneath the blankets with a snort of discomfort and abhorrence and then settled down, ready to go back to sleep.

Even if it meant more nightmares…

Tom was in a foul mood when the next morning approached though he tried his best to hide it.

He ate breakfast by himself in the far corner of the Cafeteria next to a window. After he'd finished, he slouched in his seat and started poking the glass, watching with mild interest as glowing hexagonal shapes sparked and flickered wherever his fingers traced along the glass.

"Bottling things up inside can give you an ulcer, you know." Izaak Khaos said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice that made Tom jump and hit his head on the window. The man had snuck up on him without him even noticing.

"Go away." The boy grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"No." Izaak smirked and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his nose in the air, "Tell me what's eating you."

"Go ask your brother." Tom growled, jerking his head in Tobias' direction. The oldest Khaos brother was busy settling a dispute between two of the teenage girls.

Izaak gave a crooked smile, "Tobias is good for giving your life story to but for spilling your guts," He ruffled his dirty-blonde hair so it stuck up even more than usual, "I'd go to me or Leon."

"Hmph, I don't have anything to say to you." Tom grumbled, folding his arms on the table top and burying his face there, "You couldn't possibly understand how I feel right now."

Izaak didn't say anything but he didn't get up and leave either, he kept his eyes on Tom with a patient expression on his face. A flash of blue eyes gleamed through Tom's folded arms as he glared at the Khaos sibling.

"I told you to go away." The boy snapped, voice muffled by his arms.

"And I told you no." Izaak replied, sending a warm smile Tom's way. Tom scowled at him but straightened up and looked at Izaak.

"Fine, you want to know what I'm feeling?" The black haired boy hissed, "I hate them!" He pointed a finger at an Organization member (Number X, Luxord, The Gambler of Fate) who was standing guard against one door, "I hate them! I hate them! I hate them!" Tom slammed his fists onto the tabletop, rocking the whole piece of furniture. His breath hissed out quickly from between his teeth and he seethed for a moment or two. Then he hunched over the table, curling his face into his arms, shoulders shaking, and started crying tears of anger and loss, "My best friend is gone because of them! I hate them!"

"Hush." Izaak commanded, reaching over and patting Tom's back, "As Dorian says: alles wird in ordrung. It means "everything will be alright" in German."

"Unless Kaz can come back somehow…" Tom chocked out rubbing his face furiously with the palms of his hands, "Then nothing will be alright…"

"Alright, enough of the pity party!" Izaak grabbed Tom's upper arms, heaved him out of the chair, dragged him across the room, and dropped him in front of two girls who were busy chanting away about something. Both of them stopped when a very flustered Thomas Majors scrambled into a sitting position in front of them.

"Hey girls," Izaak spoke over Tom's head, "This is Tom Majors, aka MajorTom!" The girls giggled and blushed. They recognized the name of the Overworlder's biggest player, "He's a little depressed right now so why don't you sweet things cheer him up, hm?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Izaak," One of the girls smiled, "I think Scotty and Conner can give us a hand; we need to get some…" She grinned at Tom who's face turned a delicate shade of pink, "Things to do what we need to do. Right?" She looked at her friend who nodded enthusiastically, "We do this all the time."

"W-wait a second!" Tom flushed a brilliant red color as the two girls started dragging him off, "Izaak! What're you doing!? Let go of me!" He weakly jerked at the girls' grips but somewhere in the back of his head he didn't seem to mind being hauled off to who-knows-where by a couple of girls who weren't that bad looking, "IIIIZAAAAAAA—!" The doors to the Mipedian themed Cafeteria room slammed shut and cut the boy off.

Izaak laughed and turned around to face his older brother. Tobias frowned and shook his head, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Was that completely necessary?" The eldest Khaos brother asked, unable to hide the amusement in his voice.

"You know as well as I do that if he continued to brood like that he'd only be hurting himself." Izaak said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "I took psychology in college for a reason, Big Brother. Helping these people is one of the things I do best." He stuck his hands in his pockets and started to wander off, "Tom will be okay but I can't get him out of his slump; he has to do that himself."

Roxas paused as he passed one of the many doors within the Khaos Corporation building and listened. It sounded as though someone was fighting in the room beyond. Wondering if it was one of his fellow Organization members, he pushed the door open. His eyes widened at the sight he beheld.

At least two dozen Heartless were congregating around a single part of the room. Most of them were Shadows or Neo Shadows but there were a handful of Soldiers jittering about. Roxas scowled and burst through the door, spinning his weapons in his hands.

Oathkeeper! He thought as he batted away several Heartless, Oblivion! Don't fail me now! A silent pray that had become a ritual of late.

But as he stepped back to catch his breath and launch another attack, something warm pressed against his back. Expecting a Heartless, the Nobody spun on his heel, blades at the ready.

What he saw made the Heartless regrouping around him an irrelevant factor.

(peeks around from behind a barricade) Um…I'm not going to have sharp pointy objects thrown at me for that cliffhanger am I? Well, anyone want to take a stab at what it is that's got Roxas tied in knots? Hm? Any guesses?

This turned into a filler chapter, didn't it?

Yes, well the ending to this chapter was a little different before somebody punched a bunch of plot holes in it! You know who you are! (gigglesnort)

Aaaannnyyyway, I have do idea when I'm next going to update this so bear with me. I can feel a wave of that horrid Writer's Block rearing over me right now. It's like somebody watching you from across a crowded room. Brrrrr.

Well, thanks for reading, please leave a review, and byes!